2023-06-14 05:53:00
While the motorways and major national roads managed by Sofico are still doing well, in particular due to a stable budget over the past few years, the roads of the non-structural network are clearly less well off. And some suffer from more holes than the most pockmarked of French Gruyères.
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Potholes that are oh so dangerous for the safety of users, motorcyclists and cyclists in mind, which also have a significant impact on motorists. According to figures released at the start of the year, the Walloon Region and Sofico paid out 2.7 million euros to compensate for the damage caused by a road in poor condition in the south of the country. “The current state of the roads has returned to a catastrophic levelplague the Walloon deputy François Dequesnes (Les Engagés). I have personally observed this in the Center region but it is the same everywhere, according to what my fellow municipal councilors tell me. The mapping of the situation is really not very good. There are really roads that are deteriorating in terms of the surface. And with the hot weather (Editor’s note: which facilitate the lifting of the roadway), it might get even worse. However, you can’t really say that the last winter was harsh.”
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According to the Engagés, you don’t have to look very far to understand why the roads in the south are in such a bad state. “catastrophic” : the annual budget allocated to road maintenance and repair would be insufficient to provide quality service to road users.
In July 2020, the Minister of Mobility Philippe Henry unveiled his new Mobility and Infrastructure for All plan (PMIPT), providing for two billion euros of investment between 2020 and 2026. “But the plan has since been extended for a year without additional funding.tempers François Desquesnes. We must therefore hold out for another year with the same budget, even though it does not only concern roads since it also includes investments in hydraulic roads.
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The Engagés have gone through the regional budget invested since the beginning of the legislature. “The latest budget of Carlo Di Antonio (Editor’s note: CDH predecessor of Philippe Henry) expected an amount of 122 million to be invested in 2019. In his first year, Henry proposed a budget of only 75 million. It can happen for a new minister to underestimate the investments to be made. But, normally, he reviews these investments upwards the following year. However, Minister Henry’s budgets for road maintenance and repair were 85 million in 2021, 83 in 2022 and 82 in 2023. When underinvestment occurs four years in a row, it is no longer a mistake but a political choice. It shows the real will to under-invest in our roads.”
According to the Committed, this under-investment would be made worse by the high inflation experienced in Belgium last year. “For 2023, Henry budgeted 40 million less than Di Antonio in 2019 even as inflation has driven material costs up considerably. If we had maintained a mechanism for investment and maintenance of the network, it would In reality, it would have been necessary to invest 147 million in 2023, not 82. With the big ladle, we have under-invested by 200 million euros in our roads over the last four years. As a result, we observe an astonishing deterioration of the road network.
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However, specifies François Desquesnes, it will be necessary to repair these roads one day or the other. “And unfortunately, this under-investment will be paid for in cash. Because repairs will cost more because of inflation. But it will also cost more because road wear will accelerate. The damage will be deeper than if we hadn’t intervened right away. It’s a corpse that the government will leave for the next legislature. And for the Walloons and Walloons who will pay the final bill.”
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