Expatica news

Brussels ‘choking’ with traffic congestion

20 April 2004

BRUSSELS – Traffic congestion on the main roads leading into Brussels has got steadily worse over the last 18 years and is danger of choking the capital, Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure reported on Tuesday.

Citing a major new report by the Brussels authorities, La Derniere Heure said that the number of cars driving in to Brussels between 6am and 9am increased by 40 percent between 1986 and 2002.

The study shows that 45,030 more vehicles are on roads into Brussels during today’s morning rush hours than there were 18 years ago.

But while the overall figures are alarming enough, La Derniere Heure said the individual statistics for some of the major access roads into the capital are even more worrying.

The A12, which links Brussels to Boom, has seen traffic increase by over 135 percent, the study found.  

The situation is not much better for the E19 from Charleroi, which has registered a 134 percent increase.

The E411 meanwhile, which links Brussels and Namur now carries 14,170 vehicles during the morning rush, compared with 9,285 20 years ago.

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject: Belgian news