Municipalities and entrepreneurs from South Drenthe and North Overijssel are committed to a safer N36 and N48. According to them, the road creates dangerous traffic situations and that has to change. Together they wrote a letter to Minister Mark Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management to take another look at the roads.
The N36 and the N48 is the most important connection between Twente and Drenthe, but it is flawed. According to the authors of the letter, the route no longer meets the requirements of the time. There is too much delay in traffic, and the places along the route are burdened with cut-through traffic. The N36 in particular is a problem and is known as one of the most dangerous roads in the country.
Over the past five years, 360 accidents have been registered on the Rijksweg. 33 people were injured and eight people were killed. In the past, a behavioral campaign was launched to improve the situation. “Unfortunately, this has not proved sufficient to prevent the accidents,” the letter reads. Experts have previously called for the installation of middle conductors, but there are not yet any.
Hoogeveen and De Wolden are co-submitters of the letter in Drenthe. They also believe that both roads should be tackled simultaneously. According to all parties involved, now is also the time to take action. In the coalition agreement, the cabinet indicates that it will invest 200 million in N-roads. “We wholeheartedly support this intention and request that you urgently make the biggest bottlenecks for the N36 future-proof,” said the authors.