Banana bridge
A car driver got stuck on the temporary bicycle bridge over the lock complex in Wijnegem yesterday.
The woman apparently did not know that the ‘Banana Bridge’ was recently demolished. Coming from Schilde, she maneuvered her BMW over the towpath and then drove onto the bicycle and pedestrian bridge in the wheel of several cyclists. The ride ended at the top of the lock gates. The tubes there are only just wide enough to allow cyclists and pedestrians to pass through. The woman’s BMW was immediately stuck.
“She couldn’t go anywhere anymore,” says Liliane Stinissen of De Vlaamse Waterweg. “Our dike guards rushed to the confused lady and guided her back down. That way back was only possible by very carefully backing up. Our bicycle bridge is of course much too narrow to turn around.”
The Vlaamse Waterweg checks whether the unusual passer-by has not caused any damage to the bicycle bridge. The bridge was once again declared safe for its regular users.
The driver escaped unscathed. It is not yet clear whether a fine will follow. The local police would not have been on the scene.