​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishGENERAL, MOBILITY, INNOVATIONLongest bike and pedestrian bridge in Belgium inaugurated in Machelen 4 October 2024 A new bike and pedestrian bridge was inaugurated in the Flemish municipality of Machelen it’s the longest bridge of its kind in Belgium Work on the bridge started in December 2022 The bridge directly connects the Harenweg in Zaventem with the Sint-Stevens-Woluwestraat in Machelen spanning the busy Leopold III Avenue or A201 cyclists and pedestrians had to cross that avenue via the Bourgetlaan and Raketstraat which involved some potentially dangerous crossings and caused a detour of almost a kilometre The new construction addresses these issues It’s also a welcome investment for nearby companies The new structure also covers the existing tram line on the avenue Stairs on the side of the bridge will provide a connection to the tram stops The new bridge will furthermore form a link between the future Ring Cycle Path the cycle path that follows the Ring road around Brussels The Flemish government has invested 11.7 million euros in the project The bridge is part of the Work on the Ring road programme through which the organisation De Werkvennootschap is building a total of 115 km of new cycling infrastructure along the Ring road around Brussels representing an investment of 300 million euros “We are working to open up the whole region properly so that cycling becomes a fully-fledged alternative to the car to get to Brussels,” said Stijn Quaghebeur #FlandersNewsService | Bike and pedestrian bridge with a length of 710 m between Machelen and Zaventem © BELGA PHOTO INE GILLIS & © BELGA VIDEO INE GILLIS Copy linkGet updates in your mailboxYour email addressSubscribeBy clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy rapid and high-quality information 24 hours a day from Belgium and abroad to all Belgian media not to mention entertainment and lifestyle our journalists and press photographers produce hundreds of photos and news stories Since the end of March 2022 English has been added as a language businesses and various organisations that need reliable information Belga News Agency also offers a comprehensive range of corporate services to meet all their communication needs www.belganewsagency.eu Read on for more on the resolutions of this urban plan after the break. The site, Machelen-Diegem, presents itself as a series of contrasts. It is located in the large urban area; yet often is reminiscent of a small community. It is divided by a series of imposed infrastructural lines (rail, highway and international airport); while its long term economic vitality hinges upon the proximity to these networks. Historically it is two distinct villages; that now function under one governmental body. These potentials and problems present a rich set of questions. site 03The preliminary designs focus on the current realities and long term futures of residents of the villages. Firstly, it addresses the specific impacts of the regional infrastructure that have been rolled out over the villages without much consideration. The work seeks to both remedy the unresolved spaces that have emerged and to harness the economic potential that being tied to these large networks offer. housing diagrams 03Architects: Maxwan Architects + Urbanists Rients Dijkstra and René Sangers with Artur Borejzso Collabrator: Architect 1010 Architecture Urbanism Consultant U: Traffic Engineer Peter Brogt – Goudappel Coffeng BV You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email a fire broke out in a warehouse at Brussels Cargo Airport Brugargo in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Machelen It took firefighters all night to extinguish the blaze The fire that broke out at around 4pm on Thursday produced a large cloud of smoke that could been seen over a wide area Residents of the municipalities of Machelen and Steenokkerzeel (both Flemish Brabant) were advised to keep their doors and windows closed Firefighters from several local fire services worked on tackling the blaze Initial efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered by an explosion inside the burning building The fire was brought under control during the course of the evening firefighters remained on site until Friday morning in case the fire flared up again With the help of the Civil Defence Service the roof of the collapsed building was removed in order to find and extinguish possible sources of the fire Fund Australia’s home of LGBTQ+ journalism Ben MacEllen says the “gay” part of his identity often gets overlooked “It is a part of who I am and it hasn’t always been easy to be an out gay trans man,” says MacEllen “It was difficult for some workmates to fathom that I could be a trans man and same-sex attracted I’ve even been asked – why I would bother ‘changing’ gender if I was just going to end up with a man.”  MacEllen will address these and other intrusive questions that he gets in his show Transmansplaining which will debut in Melbourne at the Midsumma Festival 2023 a good sprinkling of advocacy and education” and importantly a happy ending is how MacEllen describes Transmansplaining “I share my journey from pre-transition (assigned female at birth) to discovering my sexuality and gender identity and going through social and medical transition to reveal my true self,” says MacEllen The first half is based on his 2011 memoir A Cut Closer to Whole MacEllen unpacks what it is to live as a man after 33 years “There’s a lot to unpack about the gender divide once you’re living life as your true gender,” says MacEllen The show premiered in 2019 and MacEllen has taken it to regional audiences in Castlemaine “Capital cities often get the first look at queer stories and LGBTIQA+ audiences from regional and especially rural areas don’t often see performers or stories that mirror their experience It can be so difficult for trans and gender diverse people especially kids and teens living in remote areas to feel accepted and be seen as valued and part of a broader community.” The Midsumma 2023 audience will watch an updated version of the show with MacEllen taking on the political rhetoric around trans and gender-diverse people here in Australia and abroad “The trans community has been in the firing line and so Transmansplaining has evolved because of that focus,” says MacEllen trans issues are in the media for all the wrong reasons Creatives like myself want to focus on positive changes needed for the TGD community and not have to be correcting misinformation and challenging messages of hate and fear.” “I think Transmansplaining has a good balance of doing that while always finding humour and hope,” adds MacEllen Catch ”Transmansplaining at the Victorian Pride Centre – Theatrette on January 25 & 26 Editorial Submissions and Enquirieseditor@starobserver.com.au Advertising and Salessales@starobserver.com.au Accountsaccounts@starobserver.com.au On 15 July 1921 Roger Raveel was born in Machelen-aan-de-Leie It is not surprising that he chose the life of an artist His father also was often to be found tinkering with objects you understand me,” he said on his deathbed “In other words: also somebody who did not feel he was understood,” said Roger Raveel on his own 81st birthday obstinacy is a family trait of the Raveels Because at a time when the world was becoming increasingly international and throughout his life the village remained one of his greatest sources of inspiration For Raveel art was not about major events or the great and the good Raveel’s village and immediate surroundings – his wife a coffee pot – are constantly present in his work Yet he was anything but blind to the world around him he allowed modernity to creep into his art Concrete posts and walls stand in sharp contrast to the nature he loved so much Raveel was a man who stood up for the environment for the conservation of the Leie landscape and for the Bruges swans Roger Raveel said that 1948 marked the birth of his work Very early on he began to paint nature as faithfully as possible but Flemish expressionism showed him that another approach was possible he destroyed a lot of his work and began anew He developed a very distinctive style: his own realism By omitting specific characteristics of a scene or a figure he sought to achieve a “universal” realism and sometimes he is even described as the Belgian David Hockney Raveel came to literally include reality in his work He sought out the limits of the canvas by attaching objects to it He first used objects such as windows and curtains as a means of directly involving the environment and the person looking at the painting he did something that fulfilled his desire to ultimately connect art and life He included live animals in his work: first a dove and later in the monumental work The terrible beautiful life A retrospective from 18 March to 21 July inclusive Choose your interests and get the latest news from Bozar straight to your mailbox Centre for Fine ArtsRue Ravensteinstraat 231000 Brussels Offices: Offices : +32 (0)25078430 Tickets: tickets@bozar.be Call center: +32 (0)25078200 has been identified as Shpëtim Ayvazi the name of the Albanian executed in the neighborhood of Machelen The perpetrator of the crime is the suspected Italian Renato F. while the motive of the incident is reported by the investigations so far and the dynamics of the crime that it is the ongoing fight for a parking space for the victim's van in front of the residential building the Italian also shot at the latter's cousin seriously injuring the 19-year-old and more He fired bullets at the victim's wife and her 15-year-old son  "He then pointed the gun at Shpetim's wife and son, as if they were next," a family member told  Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper. Neighbors confessed that between the two men there were constant verbal clashes and harassment for a long time as the authorities had not been able to resolve the quarrel who will appear in court today for a measure He was generally described as a calm person but from time to time he was also "very hot-tempered" who worked as a foreman in a plastering company When his 19-year-old cousin (severely injured) he left the house and got behind the wheel of a "Golf 5" to free up some space for his van While the two vehicles were parked one behind the other some unexpected shots were heard on the road "My husband and I first thought of fireworks Young people often blow them up on the street," says a neighbor Then I saw our neighbor across the street – we call him 'the Italian' – on the street lives in the house next door to the victim one in the shoulder and the other in the neck and the young man is still fighting for his life in hospital but the Brussels metro hosts the work of a lot of artists including Raoul de Keyser and Stephan Vanfleteren But in this living museum, Vive la Sociale (1976) by Roger Raveel at Merode Station is perhaps one of the most striking works Raveel succeeds in introducing the many passers-by – whether they want it or not – to this work influences from two other great masters of our own There's life even in the title of this work but when you walk along the Rue Royale outside the Centre for Fine Arts you'll come across two reproductions of Raveel's monumental paintings. In the exhibition itself you'll discover the real works. A Terrible Beautiful Life flows out into reality with how monumental it is Raveel has breathed new life into this painting because in 1965 he had two live canaries fluttering in the cage The other life-size reproduction bears the appropriate name of The painting parade of 1978 in Machelen-aan-de-Leie. The work is an imaginative performance on canvas you'll find a striking nod to one of Raveel's inspirations an iconic old image from art history also pops up among all the contemporary works: the famous Judas Kiss by Giotto Raveel took to the streets and descended upon the Brussels Mont des Arts from the Centre of Fine Arts to the Grand-Place The performance aimed to commemorate the outbreak of World War II and was entitled The Meaning of the Meaningless because his art had now completely detached itself from the framework of the canvas a Retrospective at Bozar until 21 July Work on the first phase of the tram link between Brussels and Brussels Airport (Flemish Brabant) will start at the end of this year The works start with the construction of a tram and cycle viaduct over the Brussels orbital ring road in Machelen (Flemish Brabant) The airport tram line will connect NATO headquarters in Haren (City of Brussels) with Brussels Airport in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) It involves the construction of 4 kilometres of tramline providing 6 additional stops 13 kilometres of additional cycling infrastructure will be built and green spaces will be upgraded The project involves a total investment of some 240 million euros The Flemish government is focusing on sustainable mobility and improving the quality of life on and along the Brussels ring road ‘The new tram line will connect several business zones and residential areas in Machelen and Zaventem with the airport and Brussels-North railway station,’ Flemish mobility minister Annick De Ridder (Flemish nationalist N-VA) notes ‘The new airport tram line will further facilitate the connection between Brussels and the airport for travellers and employees alike,’ adds Brussels Airport CEO Arnaud Feist ‘The project is fully in line with our strategy aiming to expand public transport to and from the airport and make the transfer between different means of transport even more efficient.’