Antwerp (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): This weekend roadworks will close lanes towards the Netherlands at two locations. Expect heavy traffic on 23rd August friday evening but lighter conditions Saturday and Sunday. Plan for delays and lane closures.
This weekend roadworks will take place towards the Netherlands at two locations. The first location is one kilometer past the Kennedy Tunnel where repairs will begin on 23rd August at friday evening at 9 pm. Initially two of the four lanes will be closed allowing the contractor to carry out the necessary work. This phase will continue until Saturday morning at 5 am. After that three lanes will be reopened to traffic but the repaired lane will remain closed to allow the concrete to harden.
What are the expected traffic delays due to roadworks in Antwerp this weekend?
From 24th August Saturday evening at 5 pm until Monday morning at 5 am, three lanes will stay open but there won’t be any workers on site. The concrete in the repaired lane will keep hardening during this time making sure it’s ready to use when the work is finished. Even though most of the work will be done by Saturday morning this extra time for lane closure is needed to make sure the repairs last a long time.
A similar situation will happen at a second location just before the exit in Borgerhout. Here concrete repairs will also take place over the weekend. During the first phase of the work which starts on Friday evening at 9 pm three out of the five lanes will be closed so the workers can do the necessary repairs. This phase will continue through the night and into Saturday morning. At 5 am on Saturday the number of closed lanes will increase to four out of the five. This stricter lane closure is needed to make sure the concrete repairs are done correctly and can harden properly. Because of this only one lane will be open for traffic until the work is finished on Monday morning at 5 am. It has been said that the fewer lanes during this time show how important the repairs are and the need to manage traffic carefully in the area.
Traffic won’t be too bad during the day on Saturday and Sunday but Friday evening have heavy jams heading to the Netherlands so it’s smart to plan for extra travel time. The next weekend from Friday night September 13 at 10 pm to Monday morning September 16, at 5 am, work will happen at three spots on the way to Ghent. The Roads and Traffic Agency says plans might change if the weather gets bad.
