Making the Mark – ERF , RFB and Touring encourage Belgian road authorities to step-up maintenance of road markings

70% of road markings in good condition

26  July 2016 | Brussels, Belgium

Based on an inspection of more than 600km of motorways and ring roads in Wallonia and Flanders, the European and Belgian Road Federation (ERF and RFB) and Touring believe that efforts to render road markings more visible should be intensified.  ‘This is essential if we are to meet both the demands of road users and lane detection systems which are becoming commonplace in new vehicles’.

The Belgian road survey is part of a campaign by ERF and its members to promote the quality of road marking on major European axis.

For Flanders, the ERF survey has found that approximately:

–         70% of road markings inspected comply with the national specifications of 150 mcd/m2/lx.

–          20% of road markings inspected on should be marked again within the year

–          10% of road markings inspected should be renewed immediately

For the Walloon region, the ERF survey has found that approximately:

–          80% of road markings inspected comply with the old national specifications of 100 mcd/m2/lx (effective until 31 December 2015)

–          55 % of road markings inspected comply with the new national specifications of 150 mcd/m2/lx (effective as of 1 January 2016)

–          20% of road markings inspected should be replaced immediately

‘In view of an ageing population and the expected increase of lane assist functions in new cars and more  autonomous vehicles, road markings will actually become increasingly important in the foreseeable future’, explains George Lee,  Chairman of the ERF Working Group on Horizontal Signage.

‘In this sense, we are rather pleased about the condition of the road markings in both Flanders and Wallonia checked against their regional specifications.  While we were unable to cover the entire motorway network, we believe that results presented can provide an accurate snapshot of the situation on the main roads of Belgium’ continues Lee.

‘For Flanders, we are pleased to see that almost 70% of markings are line with what the authorities specify in the national guidelines.  In the Walloon region, we should highlight that the authorities took that decision to upgrade their national specifications from 100 mcd/m2/lx to 150 mcd/m2/lx in line with European best practice for main roads.  Checked against the new specifications, 55% of inspected roads comply with regional requirements, however, we are confident that the Walloon authorities will step up efforts in the coming months to ensure that the new rules in place become a reality on the ground.’

While welcoming the results, the ERF, Touring Club and RFB encourage the respective authorities in Belgium to continue their annual inspections and maintenance programmes in order to achieve even better results in the future.

‘From a user perspective, we are definitely please to see that a majority road markings on Belgian motorways are in good condition’ explains Danny Smagghe, Corporate Spokeperson of Touring.  ‘That being said, we encourage authorities to prioritise road maintenance so the situations improve in the near future.  In particular, we would be happy to see the current specifications in Flanders which apply only on motorways to be extended to all other A-roads as is the case in the Walloon region’.

– End of Press release –

Contact persons

Touring: Danny Smagghe, tel 02/233.24.78 of 0476/542.142

ERF: Konstandinos Diamandouros, tel 02-6445877 or 0496/497322

* The survey was carried out by a Delta LTL-M retro-reflectometer www.roadsensors.madebydelta.com/products

** McD / m2 / lux is the technical unit to express the intensity of light reflected back to the user from a road

28 January 2016 | Brussels, Belgium

Last week, the Vice-President of the Walloon Government and Minister for Public Works, Traffic Safety and Waterways, presented the Walloon Government’s ambitious Infrastructure Plan for 2016-2019.

This plan, endowed with unprecedented budgetary resources of € 640 million is articulated around four axes:
– The continued rehabilitation of highways (€ 128 million);
– Renovation and safety for the secondary road network (€ 347.5 million) – i.e. 54% of the whole budget
– The development of “Roads of Employment” (€ 89.5 million);
– Investments in Inland waterways (€ 75 million).

The Infrastructure Plan is the result of collaboration and concerted methodology with the PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting firm, commissioned to study the major infrastructure challenges in Wallonia and socio-economic gains associated with its maintenance and its strategic development.

It deploys a strategy of investment in order to meet a selection of highest priority structuring needs for Wallonia in terms of rehabilitation, security, mobility and sustainable economic development.

Thanks to this unprecedented budget and a clear control and time setting, this plan is estimated to generate between € 418 and € 624 million of added value and contribute to the creation of between 5800 and 8300 new jobs.

Needs are substantial and resources are limited. Therefore, it was imperative to develop a strong methodological approach to identify priority projects with maximum relevance and transparency. This was the sine qua non for deploying the strategic vision aiming at the socio-economic development of Wallonia.

Different strategic directions were established, among which:

• Devoted resources for the rehabilitation of surfaces and bridges (with a special investment for rehabilitation of bridges with critical conditions)
• Sufficient means for guaranteeing safe road sections and urban crossings
• Strengthen complementarity between transport modes
• Integrate roads into their environment

This plan required a significant inventory of the Walloon road network; this was done through the “GPS” Plan (Gestion des Projets Routiers – Management of Road Projects). This plan listed all the requirements and weighed them according to different criteria.

The Plan will be implemented with the highest quality standards and a continuous quality control will be applied through the whole process (from first sketches to the final work control).

The original budget of € 320 million, which was planned to be financed by the kilometer levy for trucks over 3.5 tonnes (implemented as from April 2016), has doubled to reach € 640 million, in order to respond more relevant and effective needs expressed. The extent of such an investment will not only enable the modernisation of the Walloon road and river infrastructure, but will also foster the socio-economic development of the region.

Information can be found on  http://www.n931.be/images/Pdf/Documents/PLan-infrastructure-2016_2019.pdf