The need
The general objective of the ECOROADS project is to overcome the barrier established by the formal interpretation of the two Directives 2008/96/EC (on road infrastructure safety management) and 2004/54/EC (on tunnels), that in practice do not foresee the same Road Safety Audits/Inspections to be performed on open roads and in tunnels.
The main problem is that, while from the user (driver) point of view a road is a unique linear infrastructure generally in open terrain and sometimes in closed environment (tunnels), the strict application of the two Directives may lead to a non-uniform approach to the infrastructure safety management outside and inside tunnels.
Objectives
To overcome this barrier, ECOROADS projects aims at the establishment of a common enhanced approach to road infrastructure and tunnel safety management by using the concepts and criteria of the Directive 2008/96/CE on road infrastructure safety management and the results of the two related
European Commission’s (EC) studies on Directive 2008/96/EC, covering the open road safety management and Directive 2004/54/EC, covering the tunnels.
Such an objective will be achieved through the following specific activities:
- Workshops with the stakeholders (European tunnel and road managers);
- Exchange of best practices and experiences between European tunnel experts and road safety professionals
- Pilot joint safety operations in (at least) five European road sections in transition (which feature both open roads and tunnels)
- Recommendations and guidelines for the application of the RSA and RSI concepts within the tunnel safety procedures and operations
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 652821
