In the coming years, the government and the province will invest around two billion euros in roads and public transport in Brabant. The Hague is releasing 126 million euros to widen the A58 between Tilburg and Eindhoven to three lanes. Only that is only a partial solution, according to the employers’ organization VNO-NCW. Because between Breda and Tilburg, the highway will remain only two lanes wide.
The A58 has been in the traffic jam top-10 for years. A few years ago it was calculated that the economic damage caused by traffic jams on no other highway in the Netherlands is as high. Not surprising, because no less than 40 percent of freight transport in the Netherlands is on the A58.
“If you want to build enough houses, this is simply necessary.”
Employers’ organization VNO-NCW is pleased that the amount has been reserved for the stretch of highway between Tilburg and Eindhoven, says Rik Derksen. “It is badly needed if you want to be able to build enough houses in and around the Eindhoven region.” Accessibility is under pressure due to the already overloaded road network. More jobs and more homes also mean more traffic.
VNO-NCW Brabant-Zeeland has been arguing for the widening of the A58 for at least twelve years. It has already been postponed several times due to the nitrogen crisis alone. After all, the decision to make the highway between Tilburg and Eindhoven three-lane was already taken in 2015, but time and time again the construction was postponed due to the nitrogen crisis.
“There is still no prospect of a rapid expansion.”
Transport and Logistics Netherlands (TLN) are therefore sceptical. “The province of North Brabant will supply nitrogen experts to the ministry to calculate this expansion,” explains Vincent Triest. ‘Hopeful’, he thinks, but there is still uncertainty about the available nitrogen capacity. Rijkswaterstaat expects that it will take a number of years before the expansion really starts, given all the procedures that still have to be completed.
In addition, there is another problem, according to VNO-NCW: the A58 between Breda and Tilburg is not yet being addressed. “There is no nitrogen space to make the road between the Galder and Sint-Annabosch junctions three-lane,” explains Erik Derksen of VNO-NCW. He doubts whether the A58 between Breda and Tilburg will ever be widened. “The forest near Ulvenhout is very vulnerable nature.”
“Node Galder becomes a huge bottleneck.”
This is a major setback for the transport sector. “Forty percent of freight transport in the Netherlands goes over the A58 and Tilburg is a logistics hub. I think that the Galder junction near Breda will become a huge bottleneck,” Derksen fears.
According to VNO-NCW, it is necessary to completely widen the A58 from Breda to Eindhoven. The nitrogen problem is now stopping this. Still, quick action is needed. “We are therefore also looking at freight transport by rail and even by water via the Wilhelmina Canal. It is a drop in the ocean, but every drop is one.”
“The province is doing what is possible and that is better than nothing.”
It is striking that the cabinet is not currently reserving any money to tackle the A67 and A50 motorways in Brabant. “That is disappointing. Just like the A58, the A67 is part of the Rotterdam-Venlo-Germany freight corridor and is therefore important for the transport sector,” says Vincent Triest of TLN.
“The A67 really needs to be addressed in order for Brainport to grow, according to research,” emphasizes Derksen. “On the other hand, the province does what it can and that is better than nothing.”
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