Verapazbrug, Bridge construction site in Ghent, Belgium

Verapazbrug is a double road bridge with 2x2 lanes over the Handelsdok in Ghent, linking Muidelaan to Afrikalaan as part of the R40 city ring. It opened on 11 July 2025 and also carries separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

The name comes from a 19th-century Belgian emigration movement when settlers from Ghent established a community in Guatemala. The bridge site was chosen as a symbolic reference to this historical chapter.

The bridge takes its name from Verapaz in Guatemala, where colonists from Ghent sailed in 1843 under the patronage of King Leopold I; the venture went bankrupt in 1845. Near the Doornzelestraat, beyond the Bataviabrug, a shelter for homeless asylum seekers has been called Verapa since 2004, a deliberate echo of that migration story.

The bridge opened on 11 July 2025 and carries the R40 city ring over the Handelsdok between Muidelaan and Afrikalaan. Cyclists and pedestrians crossing the dock can choose between the Verapazbrug and three cycle bridges: Bataviabrug (Doornzelestraat), Calcuttabrug (Metselaarsstraat) and Matadibrug (Kraankinderstraat).

The name also lives on in Verapa, a shelter for homeless asylum seekers in Doornzelestraat, just beyond the Bataviabrug. Its founders say the slightly altered name recalls the immigration venture of 1843, when colonists sailed from Ghent to Guatemala and the scheme collapsed in 1845.