The Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management, Regional Department Utrecht, has given TNO Inro the assignment to analyse the spatial and economic effects of a reconstruction of the A12 motorway Utrecht - Veenendaal. In the project the direct and indirect benefits were calculated for different alternatives of reconstruction (for example, opening or closing exits, use of parallel main road systems or a dedicated lane). This was done based on information taken from the traffic study performed by DHV. The alternatives differed not only in the capacity but also on the function that the A12 serves for long and short distance travel. In other words their differ in the share of freight, business and other traffic. This means that the direct economic effects are strongly connected to the function assigned to the A12. For indirect effects this counts to an even greater extent. Analysing the effects for long-distance traffic, regional traffic and motives (business-, freight- and passenger traffic), was therefore also an important part of this study. The direct economic effects (break down in travel time equals loss of costs) formed the base for the interpretation of the indirect spatial and economic effects. The reconstruction of the A12 motorway (adding lanes) can result in direct economic benefits of approximately 46 million guilders per year. The 2x4 lanes alternatives do better, by 6 to 10 million guilders, than the 2x3 lanes alternatives. The improved accessibility of the Middengebied (Middle Area) and Ede/Veenendaal can increase the attractiveness of the area for businesses and households. An improvement of the accessibility of 4% is not spectacular but still of importance. Spatial policy will have to control the expected urbanisation pressure, in particular in the vulnerable area around the Heuvelrug. Because of the lack of space in the urban area of Utrecht, extra attention for this is essential. (A)
Abstract