In mid-July, the new Brussels Council of Ministers formally gave the green light to the redevelopment of General Meiser Square in Schaerbeek, popularly known as Misery Square. The original plan was to begin the redevelopment in the spring of 2025, but the current goal is to start construction by the summer of 2027.

For a long time, there were plans for a combination of a tram tunnel and a car tunnel under the square. However, the car tunnel was scrapped because it was too expensive.

Plans to run tram line 7 specifically under the square itself have now also been put on hold due to the cost of nearly 200 million euros plus ongoing maintenance costs, combined with the Region’s difficult financial situation.

Multimodal hub

Specifically, the well-known, or infamous, roundabout – a complex, chaotic intersection – will be removed to make way for two separate intersections: one from the Reyers Avenue-Whahis Avenue corridor, and one for traffic from Cambier Street, Rogier Avenue, Louvain Road, and Plasky Avenue.

The diagonal crossing of the square created by the tram track will also be removed, simplifying the management of the stops. The square is set to become a true multimodal hub, connected to the Meiser NMBS/SNCB station, with wider, safer pedestrian and cycling spaces, as well as more greenery and trees.

Difficult financial situation

The specifications for the current reconstruction project will be published shortly, so many technical details have not yet been made public, but it is already clear that the plan for a tunnel specifically intended for Tram 7 – or the Big Ring Tram – including an underground tram station, has been put on hold.

Earlier plans for tunnels 3 stories deep for both trams and cars have also been scrapped due to the enormous cost and construction time, more than 15 years.

Such an underground tram tunnel would greatly speed up tram traffic at Meiser Square, but for now, it won’t be built. “According to the latest estimates, it will cost close to 200 million euros to build a tram tunnel under Meiser Square,” says the office of Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) in La Dernière Heure, referring to the current financial difficulties facing the Brussels-Capital Region.

That is not to say that plans for a streetcar tunnel have been definitively shelved. “The current redevelopment project leaves open the possibility of building a tunnel in the future, which will have to be seriously considered once regional finances allow for it again,” emphasizes Elke Van den Brandt.

‘Low-cost’ solution

The ‘low-cost’ solution now being implemented, with an estimated cost of 6 million euros, involves providing the trams with a clearly separated dedicated track at street level to reduce conflicts with car traffic.

In fact, some mobility experts point out that while a tunnel at a single intersection may speed up tram service locally, it does not solve the problem elsewhere in the network, and that well-designed traffic lights and dedicated tram lanes can often deliver a significant portion of the benefits at a fraction of the cost.

On the other hand, a tram that does not conflict with car traffic, pedestrians, or cyclists travels faster and experiences fewer delays. In contrast, an underground tram can more easily handle higher frequencies, which is important if public transportation in that area is to grow.

Future Mediatram

And that may be where the problem lies. The nearby Mediapark plan aims to redevelop the Reyers site, with 20,000 m² of media-related activities, some 1,400 residential units, retail spaces, and community facilities, all centered around a new park spanning nearly 10 hectares.

There are also plans for a ‘Mediatram’, an extension/branch of tram line 25, and the route that would link the North Station via Meiser to the Cora Shop in Woluwe, had already been approved by the previous Brussels government.

But that tram project – to be clear: the current reconstruction plans already take the Mediatram branch line into account – has now also been put on the back burner by the new government until the next term of office…

In any case, with projects such as Metro Line 3, which won’t be completed for years, and Meiser Square, which won’t start until 2027 at the earliest, the feeling that Brussels, including the Ring Road, is one big road construction site is likely to persist for some time to come.

Hopefully, the ‘a little inconvenience now’ principle will lead to a payoff in the form of ‘less chaos later.’ However, that’s little consolation if, for example, Meiser Square were to be redeveloped again around 2037.