The planned partial closure of a section of the ring road in Groningen over the summer has been called off.
Translation by Traci White
UPDATE: Thursday, 19 July, 10:39 a.m.
Due to the cancellation of planned roadworks in July and August, Dagblad van het Noorden reports that the deadline for completion of the ring road upgrades is expected to take six years in total – current projections are for the construction to be finished in 2024.
Original story follows below:
The Groninger Internet Courant reports that the planned roadworks between 20 July and 24 August will not be moving forward. The section of the ring road between the Julianaplein and the Europaweg heading toward Hoogezand was supposed to be closed for more than a month during the summer holidays.
The plans were apparently called off because it was not clear that they could be carried out safely. The roadworks would also have a significant impact on the surrounding area. Combinatie Herepoort, the consortium carrying out the road works, was planning to drive sheet piling into the ground in order to prepare the construction site where a lowered roadway will eventually be built.
2023
The month-long closure was meant to shorten delays in the project: it was recently announced that the ambitious infrastructure project would take until 2023 to be completed, which is three years later than originally intended. The upcoming closure was supposed to limit that delay to two years.
The planned roadworks needed permission from Aanpak Ring Zuid to move forward. After analysing the proposal, the project organisers decided not to approve of the temporary closure plans. “The submitted construction plans did not adequately take the impact on the surroundings, namely the buildings, cables, pipelines and green spaces, into consideration.”
Other options to limit the delays are now being evaluated.
