To solve congestion problems, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure) wants to give the A27 motorway more lanes. Mobility experts are critical: the costs would not outweigh the benefits.
The widening plans for the A27 motorway have been going on for years and have met with resistance for just as long. The municipality and province of Utrecht are against it, as are many local residents. Last Sunday, for example, two thousand residents took part in a bicycle protest from Utrecht CS train station to the forest area on the outskirts of the city. Message: there are alternatives for mobility. But what about the benefits of the plan? If you think from traffic jams, it seems quite simple: more asphalt, more cars will fit on the road, so you have a better flow, and therefore a shorter travel time.
One minute of time savings
That gain averages about a minute, say critics. An expensive minute: the costs of the widening have been estimated at € 1.5 billion. It is also a problem that only plays during the rush hour. Professor Bert van Wee of Delft University of Technology doubts whether the striker will remain busy. “The corona crisis has broken old habits and employees and their managers have gained experience with working from home. If travel during rush hour continues to decline, the extension of the A27 will be less profitable. I would therefore say: wait at least a year after the corona crisis. is over, and investigate whether it is still profitable. ” Van Wee also mentions another catch: “The Dutch will still be in the car for as long as they were fifty years ago. That is because people always travel longer distances after traveling time reductions. One minute of time gain is then evaporated.”
Costs and benefits
Carlo van de Weijer of Eindhoven University of Technology is even more certain: “The cost-benefit analysis never materializes. These types of projects are based on prestige, a gut feeling that traffic should not stand still and that it costs a lot of money if it does. which just isn’t right. ” According to Van de Weijer, you can also turn the problem around and see where you can better spend the money: “The alternative is that you polish up a bit within the possibilities and just accept that it can get stuck during rush hour. Those rush hour drivers just have to adapt. You can then spend that € 1.5 billion much better. For example, make all roads and intersections in the province of Utrecht safer, so that fewer road casualties occur. problem is exactly. “
‘More asphalt leads to more cars’
Mobility expert Gijs Diercks of the DRIFT transition institute at Erasmus University also wonders which problem will be solved with extra lanes. If the problem is the amount of cars, you just won’t solve it. “For decades, the belief has been that more asphalt is the solution to alleviate traffic bottlenecks, while we already know for a long time: more asphalt is more traffic. Structural solutions lie in distribution, a different living-work relationship, and the stimulation of alternatives for individual car mobility.”
Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen announced in November that he wanted to implement the expansion plans. An appeal can be lodged until 12 January.
Read more about this at NU.nl.