Traffic around Antwerp towards the Netherlands is, as predicted, completely stuck: “Find an alternative of yours is stuck for hours” (Merksem)
The traffic map around Antwerp shows that this enormous traffic nuisance will continue for the next few hours. Towards the Netherlands it is many kilometers long on the Antwerp Ring and all major approach roads. The main cause is again the repair of the bridge joint at Merksem, combined with a defective truck just in front of the yard.
Jonas Rosquin
Also today, just like last weekend, we worked on the broken bridge joint on the Antwerp Ring towards the Netherlands near Merksem. As a result, two lanes are currently blocked, resulting in major delays, unsurprisingly.
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“Towards the Netherlands, only two narrowed lanes are available all day,” says Peter Bruyninckx of the Flemish Traffic Center. “That creates a bottleneck, we already notice delays all day long. Add to that the typical Friday afternoon crowds and a broken down truck that has been blocking the right lane just in front of the yard since 1.45 pm and you know that the current capacity of the Ring is absolutely insufficient to swallow all the traffic.”
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The defective truck that causes even greater funnel formation at the Merksem viaduct still has to be hoisted, but that will take some time.
Only one lane is available locally and will become one of the most important in the wider Antwerp area. “On all axes from west to east there are already strong ones from well beyond the hour,” the ruling says. “Coming from the E17, you already come to a complete standstill near Haasdonk. This is the case from Vrasene on the E34. We see the same story on the E19 from Brussels and on the E313/E34 from the Kempen/Limburg.”
The Liefkenshoek tunnel was made toll-free in the direction of the Netherlands as a precaution, but that too can hardly offer any solace. “Many people have followed our advice to detour through there, with the result that it is currently also queuing there.”
Bruyninckx has only one advice: “Try to find an alternative and avoid the area around Antwerp in the future. The traffic jams will remain for a while, because they can hardly resolve, even when the defective truck has been towed.”
Also next weekend work is being done on the via, delayed traffic is expected towards the Netherlands.