News item | 23-06-2022 | 22:09
In the short term, the speed on the N50 Kampen – Kampen Zuid will be temporarily adjusted to 80 km/h in order to improve road safety. Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management has decided this after consultation with regional parties, including the municipality of Kampen and the province of Overijssel. Work is also being done on installing a physical lane separation to prevent head-on collisions. These measures are being implemented to reduce the number of accidents on the relatively unsafe N50. In the long term, the N50 between Kampen and Kampen South will be definitively tackled by widening the road and separating lanes. The widening has been delayed due to the nitrogen problem, which is why these temporary measures are now being implemented.
The narrowest part of the N50 is between Kampen-Zuid and Kampen. In the short term, the speed here will be reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h in order to reduce the number of accidents. Rijkswaterstaat will make a traffic decision and adjust the road markings to reduce the speed. The temporary speed reduction, including the adjustments to the road and signs, is expected to be completed within a few months.
Work is also underway on temporary lane separation in the form of a concrete barrier. This barrier ensures that traffic cannot enter the opposite side of the road and thus prevent head-on collisions. In addition to this, semi-paving is also placed in the verges. This way the emergency services can still carry out their work safely. We are doing everything we can to realize the temporary lane separation by 2023.
In the long term, the N50 between Kampen and Kampen Zuid will be definitively tackled by widening the road and various road safety measures, including lane separation. However, this project has been delayed due to the nitrogen problem, but will be tackled as soon as possible. Preparations must be made in order to be able and allowed to make adjustments to the N50 Kampen – Kampen Zuid. Part of these preparations is the calculation and assessment of the effects of nitrogen on nature due to these adjustments to the N50. The expertise to perform these calculations and assessments is limited and cannot be expanded in the short term. The N50 is one of the projects that will be the first to lay claim to this expertise.
Until the realization of these measures, the aforementioned temporary measures will be taken.
Road safety is one of Minister Harbers’ priorities. Together with the regional parties, we will use this package of temporary measures to improve road safety on the N50 between Kampen and Kampen Zuid until this section is finally tackled through the widening.