Antwerp traffic plan gets good report

The proposed Oosterweel connection on the Antwerp Ring has been voted the best of three alternatives by an independent panel on the basis of mobility.

The Oosterweel connection is a plan to ease traffic congestion in Antwerp by completing the Ring, allowing traffic – mainly freight – to pass from the port area in the west to the Netherlands and Germany via the north. At present that traffic has to travel via the south and east, where it adds to traffic to France, as well as traffic from Brussels to the Netherlands.

The panel was considering three plans for their effects on the environment: the Oosterweel option, a slight variation on that plan called Oosterweel-North, and the Meccano route put forward by the Antwerp community action groups StRaten-Generaal and Ademloos.

The plan scored highest of the three in terms of mobility. On the second criterion, environment, the Meccano plan loses points because it passes through what the panel described as valuable agricultural land. The Meccano proposal scored best, however, when it came to living conditions for the communities affected.

The full Environmental Effects Report from the panel will now be sent out to some 25 advisory bodies for their comments and criticisms, with a view to preparing a definitive version by January. Based on that report, the government will make a choice among the three options.