The North-West Tangent will not infringe on the campus. The plan for the ring road to connect the Oldenzaalsestraat and the Hengelosestraat, which was going to be built partially over the UT-terrain, has been called off by the Enschede council.
Lack of funds was ultimately the reason for the council to abandon the infamous ring road. The most probably route of the tangent ran immediately behind the WB-building and partly over the Achterhorst. Four campus houses, the Euros Sailing boat shed, the WOT-terrain and the biomagnetic centre would have to be razed.
Jorg Krywkow, UT-employee and spokesperson for the action committee No North-West Tangent: 'Our resistance has perhaps helped a little bit. Especially to make people aware of the problem. In the beginning hardly anybody know that the plan existed. That has changed, but ultimately the decision has been taken purely on financial grounds.'
During the process Krywkow's trust in the way the council takes decisions has been damaged. 'If money had been available, they would have built the road. And why? Because most council members thought that it had been proven that the road should be built. But we have made an in-depth study of the documents, together with a number of traffic experts here at the UT, and the need is not apparent anywhere! Someone said it once and then everyone believed it. And no-one thinks about causes or alternatives. That is what I found most revealing about this case.'
