Glabbeek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Glabbeek is enforcing stricter rules to prevent companies from digging up newly fixed roads. Mayor Peter Reekmans stresses collaboration to save money, protect roads, and minimise disruptions.
Glbbeek is enforcing stricter rules to prevent companies from digging up newly fixed roads. Most companies are now on board with their plan to fix roads all at once. Companies are realising that it’s cheaper and easier to work together instead of digging up roads separately.
In most places, companies can’t dig up a road for 5 years after it’s been fixed. But Glabbeek wants to make that time even longer, almost 10 years. They will talk about this plan at their next meeting.
Will Glabbeek’s stricter rules stop companies from digging up newly fixed roads?
Glabbeek doesn’t want companies to be able to dig up roads whenever they want for small jobs, like fixing cables. The mayor says that they don’t want to see streets, sidewalks, and bike paths getting messed up all the time. They want to make sure that digging only happens when it’s needed and that everyone works together to plan it out.
According to the officials, it was a big problem because companies that worked on things like gas, water, electricity, and internet would often dig up a road just after it had been fixed. The town had to spend a lot of money and time fixing the same roads over and over again.
In 2018, Glabbeek came up with a plan. They made a rule that all the companies that worked on underground things had to work together when a road was being fixed. That way, they could all upgrade their stuff at the same time, and the road wouldn’t have to be dug up again.
Officials mentioned that some companies didn’t follow the plan. They waited and then asked to dig up the roads again, sometimes right after the roads were fixed. The town is not happy because it’s a waste of money and time.
The town made stricter rules in 2023 and is making them even stricter in 2025. They’re telling the companies that they have to work together to fix everything at the same time. If they don’t, they might get punished.
Glabbeek wants to make sure that the money they spend on roads isn’t wasted and that the roads are only dug up when it’s really necessary. They say that working together is the only way to save money, protect the environment, and make sure that everyone is happy.
“When we dig up our streets for new sewers, a new road surface and new footpaths and cycle paths, all utility companies will be invited in good time to participate in our road works file and to provide the necessary conduits, extensions or renewal of their cables. This way, a new street does not have to be dug up again in no time for the installation of a utility line,”
Says Mayor Peter.
