The Northern Netherlands is downright angry about Rijkswaterstaat’s decision to postpone maintenance on Northern roads. It ranges from ‘unacceptable’, via ‘indignant’ to ‘sour’. The region wants to increase the pressure to change ‘The Hague’.
“Honestly? As a council we fell from our chairs. We are very indignant,” says Drenthe deputy Bart van Dekken (CDA). “You get the idea that we are at the end of the discussion, that this is mainly at the expense of the Northern Netherlands. We cannot tolerate that. You do not treat us like that.”
And employers’ organization VNO-NCW Noord is also angry. Foreman Johannes Bos: “It is not about a new project or a new road or anything like that. This is necessary maintenance, not a luxury. So this is a political choice. After everything we have had to endure in the Northern Netherlands, it is inexplicable that we seem to be at the back of the queue again.”
In short, the last word has not yet been said on this matter. Starting this week, when Deputy Van Dekken has an introductory meeting with the chief engineer-director of Rijkswaterstaat. “That will be tough. I read that it concerns proposed decisions to postpone maintenance. So they will have to change.”
Bos also believes that the solution lies in The Hague. “This is not a technical problem, but a choice. The fact that it is hitting our region so hard is especially sad because we have wonderful solutions here to make maintenance better and cheaper. This problem arose in The Hague, and they also have to fix it there.”
For the next two years, Rijkswaterstaat does not have enough money to replace 92 kilometers of asphalt and maintain 94 viaducts on the northern roads. Road markings and sewers are also not receiving the previously planned maintenance. A spokesperson says that less maintenance means less safe roads. He also states that the risk of disruptions increases.”
VNO-NCW concludes that postponing maintenance is bad for the northern economy. “People have to go to work, shops have to be supplied, trucks have to move on. But this decision especially affects the road builders. They suddenly see their assignment evaporate or postponed. This causes economic damage, but also a blow to northern confidence in the national government.”