Why is the Belgian road surface so substandard? – Advertising Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen | Zeeuwsch Flemish Advertisement Magazine

Fri May 3, 1:46 pm

General

‘Because the income from parking fines and traffic violations is invested elsewhere’. The Belgian counterpart of the ANWB, Touring, criticizes the unsafe approach to traffic.

The cliché goes that you feel with your eyes closed when you enter Belgium. What about the Expressway to the Beveren Tunnel, which then leads to the Liefkenshoek Tunnel (a road for which you also have to pay a toll!). That highway is a real challenge for even the most experienced driver. The poor condition of the road surface sometimes seems to come straight from a checklist of driving irritations.

It starts with the inevitable series of potholes and pits that put your vehicle to the test mercilessly. Every bump and bump seems to scream for attention, a rhythmic symphony of jerks and bumps that accompany the seemingly endless road to the tunnel.

Despite all these challenges, the road through the Liefkenshoek tunnel remains a necessary passage for many East Zeeland Flemish people who have to travel to Brabant or the rest of the Netherlands. It is a test of patience and skill for any driver who undertakes this journey.

More and more fines

‘Millions in parking fines but still no better roads’, was the recent headline in the Belgian press. The number of fines issued is increasing year after year, especially now that many municipalities use external companies to enforce their parking policy. Add to that scanning vehicles that work much faster (but not necessarily more accurately) and you understand why income from parking violations has risen sharply in recent years. The result is that a city like Antwerp simply collected 13.5 million euros in 2023, while Brussels easily earned double that. Extrapolate that to the whole of Belgium and the income from parking fines alone amounts to tens of millions.

Such a fundraising not only causes bad blood among the offenders, Touring also does not agree with the way of working. The mobility organization criticizes the fact that these revenues are not reinvested in the road network or traffic infrastructure. Instead, the proceeds go into a common pot that is allocated to other budget items such as education, culture, sports infrastructure and the environment. However, not only the Belgian road network but also the mobility infrastructure is in urgent need of an injection of money, especially in Wallonia where the number of charging stations continues to lag behind and the road surface is often even worse.

Hundreds of millions in revenue

The same applies to other traffic fines such as speeding tickets. These have also increased significantly in recent years due to new section controls and additional speed cameras, especially in Flanders. According to Touring, that money does not flow back enough into the traffic infrastructure, although the amounts involved are even larger. Meanwhile, the Belgian government is also pursuing 433 million in overdue collections from previous fines and convictions. Thanks to an integrated approach with customs and other services, offenders who are stopped can be obliged to pay everything in one go. Otherwise their vehicle will be confiscated. (Source: Autoweek)