Road maintenance shortfall in Belgium

A lack of sufficient road maintenance poses future problems for Belgium’s road network, according to the country’s planning office. Unless investment is made, the Belgium Planning Office (BPO) believes the nation’s road network will become overcrowded and dilapidated by 2020. BPO says that this could result in travel speeds falling 29% from 2008 to 2030 due to congestion and with a corresponding rise in journey times. Belgium's roads are amongst those with the heaviest traffic volumes in Europe. The BPO bel
November 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

A lack of sufficient road maintenance poses future problems for Belgium’s road network, according to the country’s planning office.

Unless investment is made, the Belgium Planning Office (BPO) believes the nation’s road network will become overcrowded and dilapidated by 2020. BPO says that this could result in travel speeds falling 29% from 2008 to 2030 due to congestion and with a corresponding rise in journey times.

Belgium's roads are amongst those with the heaviest traffic volumes in Europe. The BPO believes that a journey that took one hour and 18 minutes in 2008 will take one hour and 51 minutes in 2030.

Meanwhile, traffic at off-peak times could have speeds cut by 16%. The report produced by the BPO claims that cars will still be the most used form of transport in 2030, accounting for 80% of passenger km travelled. Goods transport by road will also increase, accounting for 71% of km tonnes in 2030. But if transport policy remains unaltered then greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 12% between 2008 and 2030, despite energy efficiency improvements in vehicles.

Related Content

  • India’s longest tolled expressway is open to traffic
    January 2, 2013
    Earlier this year, a new expressway was opened to traffic in India, adding connectivity to the country’s road network - Mike Woof reports. India’s economic growth has fuelled a massive construction boom in the country. Road building has been set as a priority by the Indian Government to help ensure continued economic development and improve connectivity between major population centres. One major new expressway has recently opened to traffic, having been designed to international standards and provides insi
    Read More
  • “It’s road maintenance stupid,” MEP Michael Cramer tells pavement preservation and recycling summit PPRS Paris 2015
    February 23, 2015
    Road owners around the world “need a highway to heaven” according to Michael Cramer MEP, chairman of the European Parliament transport committee. Speaking at PPRS Paris 2015, the pavement preservation and recycling summit, Cramer said that Europe’s current road policy “lies somewhere between AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven” and that, to mis-quote Bill Clinton, the EU needs to start thinking “it’s road maintenance stupid” whenever the subject of highway investment is under consi
    Read More
  • Carry on Movin’ On - Michelin’s mobility event
    October 15, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just
    Read More
  • Highway 407 Revisited – smart tollroad extension
    June 7, 2016
    In the late 1990s, World Highways published a supplement on construction of Canada’s Highway 407, the world’s first all-electronic toll road. But how successful has it been? David Arminas reports from Toronto The head office for 407 ETR Concession Company is a low-rise building next to exit 59, just north of Toronto, Canada’s economic powerhouse. The building may be non-descript but inside is the advanced technical heart of Highway 407 ETR – Express Toll Route. It houses the latest toll monitoring techno
    Read More

Highlighted Content