Dutch Provincial roads comprise only 6% of the country’s road network but account for a quarter of all deaths. Dutch Founder EuroRAP Member, ANWB, presented the results of Europe’s first comprehensive provincial road inspection results and lessons learnt at the General Assembly meetings.
ANWB, with technical support from EuroRAP Member AMSS, has completed inspections of 8,000 kms of road across 11 Dutch provinces. Although Dutch national roads are managed to minimum 3-star levels, nearly 2/3rds of the 8,000kms of Provincial Road inspected achieve just 1- or 2-star.
ANWB’s Road Shows presenting results to each Province has stimulated new debate about the risks on Provincial Roads which are 5 times greater than on national roads. Despite the much lower traffic levels, illustrative improvement packages from RAP’s ViDA programme suggest benefit cost ratios of 2 can be achieved. Measures such as guard rails, road edge rumble strips, roundabouts and Swedish style ‘2+1’ roads all featured as economic candidates in the analysis.
ANWB emphasised to the General Assembly the need to work in partnership with in-country research agencies and road authorities to build shared understanding of how risks on roads can now be measured and priorities set to remove known high risks.