Maximum speed
By René Lukassen·1 minute ago·Edit: 1 minute ago
© ANPRTL
Driving 130 during the day where that was still allowed in 2019. Minister Madlener of Infrastructure and Water Management would love to arrange it in one fell swoop, but that is ‘unrealistic’ and will take ‘years’. That’s why he chooses a snail’s pace.
Madlener now also knows that increasing speed on all routes at once is not possible due to legal rules regarding nitrogen and noise. This was previously apparent from an analysis by RTL News. All motorways are close to Natura 2000 areas and are in poor condition.
This is due to the amount of nitrogen that precipitates in those areas. The vast majority of nature reserves are already nitrogen overloaded. If people drive faster in the area, the extra nitrogen emitted by petrol and diesel cars could fall on areas that are already overloaded. And they must not deteriorate.
Nature must not deteriorate
Only if it can be ruled out in advance that a nature reserve will deteriorate further, Minister Madlener can increase the maximum speed on a route section. The problem is that he cannot rule this out in advance. After months of (part-time) work, 15 civil servants have found four stretches of highway where an increase in speed is ‘promising’.
These four sections – a few percent of all motorways in the Netherlands – are largely located near Natura 2000 areas that are not nitrogen overloaded. The extra deposition created by driving faster will – Madlener hopes – do no harm. But this still needs to be investigated and substantiated with objective data.
Overloaded
One route section is located near overloaded Natura 2000 areas. This concerns the A37 between Holsloot and the German border. This road is located in the vicinity of nature reserves Bargerveen, Mantingerbos and Mantingerzand. All three are almost 100 percent nitrogen overloaded.
The minister wants to investigate these four processes.
Ecological research must now show in all four cases whether significant negative consequences on the nature reserves can be ruled out. If this is not the case, the speed increase will not take place. This research takes time. Madlener hopes to hear the results in the first quarter of 2025 and can then make a traffic decision.
1 to 3 minutes time saving
If the speed increase is implemented, this will mean a time saving on the four track sections that varies from more than 1 to more than 3 minutes. Then you should not be bothered by traffic jams, roadworks or open bridges, because these will probably more than cancel out the time savings.
© RTL Z
To implement the speed increase, Madlener must make a traffic decision. This can be done in two ways. With participation, where a design decision is first made to which everyone can respond with an opinion. Or without participation, where the final decision is made in one go and 130 can be driven in one go.
Officials recommend a decision with consultation, even if it takes 10 weeks longer. Participation promotes openness and participation, can resolve concerns or objections at an early stage and a similar procedure has been followed for previous traffic decisions. A ministry spokesperson cannot yet say which variant will be chosen.
Once a final traffic decision has been made, citizens or nature organizations can go to court.
Not made easy
It is not clear whether other sections after these four sections will be eligible for a speed increase. Madlener has not made it easy for himself by focusing his approach on routes or parts thereof where speeds can be increased without having to compensate for additional deposition by buying out farmers.
The minister is thus responding to a wish of the House. He wants the deposition space that is created to be used primarily to legalize so-called PAS detectors and to help shrimp fishermen obtain a nature permit. PAS reporters are farmers who found themselves without a permit when the Council of State overturned government policy in 2019.
The government should first solve this problem caused by the government, the House believes, before increasing the maximum speed on motorways during the day. This means that it may indeed take years before we drive 130 again, wherever that was allowed in 2019.
