Today, Rijkswaterstaat is starting large-scale maintenance at several locations on the A28 in Drenthe. The road network operator is working until June 8 to repair the road surface, viaducts and tunnels.
“We will be working on various routes,” says Anne van der Meer of Rijkswaterstaat. “We are applying new asphalt in some places, we are working on viaducts and we are also tackling the tunnel at Hoogeveen.” There were many problems with the tunnel over the highway last winter due to the road surface freezing, causing the A28 to be closed several times.
The work starts today between Fluitenberg and the Hoogeveen junction, where three entrances and exits are being tackled. This means that the stretch of highway in a southerly direction will be closed until June 8. The Hoogeveen exit and Fluitenberg and Hoogeveen exits are also not open during this period. During the last two weekends of the work, the connections at the Hoogeveen junction towards Meppel, Ommen and Emmen will also be covered.
From May 3, Rijkswaterstaat will also carry out major maintenance between Beilen and Assen-Zuid for three weeks. The road network operator will renew the asphalt on the right-hand lane and replace the crash barriers and road markings. There will also be maintenance on the bridge over the Oranjekanaal.
During the work, motorists can continue their way across four narrowed lanes, on one carriageway. The A28 will therefore remain open in parts, albeit with a lower maximum speed.
Van der Meer expects that traffic will regularly be affected by the work during this period. “It will cause delays, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. In some cases a lane is closed, where we will increase the speed to 70 kilometers per hour. This automatically means that traffic jams will arise.”
All equipment has been sent to the locations in recent days, so Rijkswaterstaat is ready for the major maintenance job on the A28. “We just have to do that every now and then to keep the roads in good quality.”
