The city and the port of Antwerp are situated in the heart of the Trans European Road Network (TERN). The Antwerp Ring Road (R1) assures the mobility of the agglomeration and the access from the port. The Ring Road has been functioning for 35 years and has not been serviced since 1977. A quick and fundamental renovation had become necessary in 1999. The pavement and the foundations, the sewer system and the drainage system, the safety equipment and many constructions were in a bad shape. The rehabilitation worksalso wanted at one hand to improve the road security and at the other hand to assure the exploitation of the traffic. When the idea of rehabilitation was launched by the Flemish government, experts announced a big economic loss. Together with the world of entrepreneurs and the other actors in the domain of traffic and transport, the administration drew up an action program in order to reduce inconvenience and to guarantee mobility. The action program contained among other things: the reorientation of the traffic, the construction of temporary bridges, the improvement of the public transport and of the bicycle network, the realisation of Park and Ride scheme, a pro-active communication, the choice of technical solutions and the organization of the work site with a minimum of impact on the traffic. The road works were successfully carried out in 2004-2005 without big perturbations. At the end of the works an evaluation of the accompanying measures has been made. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract