City Council Member Gives the Green Light for a Pilot Program Involving Cable Troughs

More and more environmentally conscious residents are choosing to drive electric cars. Residents who don’t live near a charging station prefer to plug in their charging cable at home, especially if they want to use their own solar panels. But a charging cable on the sidewalk is a nuisance for pedestrians, wheelchair users, and people with strollers, for example. That’s why it’s not allowed.

Possible solution

Through a one-year pilot program for cable troughs, the municipality is exploring a potential solution. A cable channel consists of a continuous strip of sidewalk tiles, with a small channel for the charging cable in the center of each tile. The channel is covered with a rubber strip to keep debris out. The charging cable then runs from the electric charging point on the participant’s private property to the electric car in a public parking space.

Major Sustainability Challenge

Councilor Schokker spoke today with one of the participants in the pilot program, who uses electricity from solar panels to charge his car. “I’m very pleased that, with this relatively simple measure, we can contribute to the important goal of sustainability,” said the alderman. “The first cable trenches have already been installed. After the pilot year, we’ll weigh the pros and cons and decide whether to continue offering the cable trench.”

Pilot

Ten residents are participating in the pilot program. Certain conditions apply to these participants. For example, the resident must not have access to private property where they can already park and charge their vehicle. Additionally, there must be no green space or bike path between the residence and the parking space.