Hoogeveen will increase the budget for road maintenance by about six tons from 2024. Some of the roads, cycle paths and footpaths need to be replaced, but maintenance has become considerably more expensive due to a rise in the price of asphalt in particular.
A few years ago, a plan was adopted by the city council to maintain the roads on time so that they remain of good quality. Now it is true that a number of roads are no longer. The bottom line is that this problem must be solved in the coming years. Hoogeveen already had that intention, but the budget is not sufficient at the moment.
There is around three million euros in the pot, but another six thousand will be added from next year. “This expansion of the budget will shape the catching up of the arrears,” the municipality writes.
It has been agreed in the Roads Act that municipalities must ensure safe and comfortable roads. It is also a requirement that the network must continue to retain its value. Roads can have a quality score from A to D, with A+ being the best and D being the worst. With a score of an A or B score, a road meets the right quality requirements in Hoogeveen, but if you fall below it, it is wrong.
Recent (2022) research by the municipality shows that sixteen percent of the network does not meet the correct requirements. The majority is of such low quality that it is even referred to as capital destruction. “By carrying out maintenance too late, the quality of the roads decreases. This leads to accelerated depreciation of roads and thus to capital destruction. This can be prevented with timely maintenance.”
Failure to properly maintain paths and roads increases the risk of complaints and accidents, according to the council. Road damage usually accelerates after it has occurred. For example, you can think of cracks in asphalt. It also ensures that the municipality has to invest more money in the future if no maintenance is done now.
Hoogeveen thinks that without the extra money, part of the roads can be maintained in the coming years. In that case, it is necessary to review each year which places are given priority. In the long term, this means that the network will structurally lose quality. In the end, the costs will also be higher.