The Oosterweel Link is a construction project first proposed in 1996, intended to complete the R1 Antwerp Ring Road in Antwerp, Belgium. The firm Antwerp Mobility Management Company (name changed to Lantis in 2019), is the Flemish Government controlled organisation assigned responsibility for the project. The Oosterweel link will connect the Expressweg (E34) near Blokkersdijk via a toll tunnel (the Oosterweeltunnel) underneath the Scheldt, leading to a dual-layered tunnel under the Albert Canal and connecting with the Antwerp Ring Road at Merksem and Deurne.
The cost of "the project of the century", as this large infrastructure project is often called in Belgium, is estimated at 10 billion euros. In an independent cost-benefit analysis conducted by Transport & Mobility Leuven in 2010, it was found that for the Oosterweel connection the estimated infrastructure costs were approximately five times higher than the societal benefits, such as travel time gains, reduced traffic congestion, lower environmental damage, and fewer accidents. The study also found that road pricing has a significant positive effect on congestion levels and travel times.Verkeerskundige analyse en MKBA van het Meccanotracé en de Oosterweelverbinding in Antwerpen, Transport & Mobility Leuven, 15 september 2010 In an earlier study by KU Leuven (2005), in which alternative investment and tolling regimes for a Scheldt crossing were modelled, the net welfare gain of tolling the Kennedytunnel was estimated at €466,804 per day.
Characteristics The Flemish Government wishes to improve access to the city of Antwerp as well as to the port, to relieve traffic congestion on the Antwerp Ring Road and to reduce "rat running" commuter traffic in the larger urban area.
The Oosterweel Link is one element, the largest by cost, of a general Antwerp Masterplan for transport. The Masterplan consists of sixteen infrastructure projects for roads, waterways and inland shipping, public transport, docks and solutions for pedestrians and cyclists. These Masterplan projects are intended to improve quality of life, traffic safety and mobility throughout the urban area, the port and surrounding towns and districts.
History
Van den Brande-government IV (20 June 1995 – 13 June 1999) In his opening speech on October 4, 1996 Camille Paulus, governor of the province of Antwerp at the time, mentioned the 'multimodal traffic model', a computer model developed to study mobility in the Antwerp area. At the governor's request, this model was used to elaborate a solution to congestion problems in and around Antwerp. From this model, it was deduced that an additional river crossing would lead to a spectacular amelioration of mobility and practically relegate congestion on the Antwerp ring road to the past. Eddy Peetermans, who was responsible for the realization of this traffic model for the province of Antwerp, presented as the solution a 5 km long underground road – a tunnel. Because of financial restrictions, this would take the form of a combination of demand control measures (toll, communal traffic etc.) and demand driven measures (more infrastructure). Completing the Ring Road by means of a northern addition would be the only way to prevent total traffic chaos in 2010, was the engineer's conclusion at the time.
In his New Year's speech in January 1998, Mr. , party leader for CVP (the Christian democrats, now renamed CD&V) announced that a definitive decision regarding the construction and financing of a third connection between the river banks, in the form of a bridge at Oosterweel, would be taken in the course of that same year. He stated that the financial feasibility of the project clearly depended on the possibility it offered for levying toll on vehicles using the new infrastructure. Since 1999 and 2000 were election years, the party leader deemed this period to be less than propitious for launching a new system that was not expected to gain great popular support. In June 1998, daily newspaper De Tijd carried a story about disagreements within the government on the subject of its proposed traffic mobility policies. The CVP accused the SP (Socialist Party) of ‘proposing unattainable measures’. The SP suspected the CVP 'of blocking mobility policies in order to demand this post for a Christian democrat after the elections’.
In October 1998, the Flemish government decided to complete the Antwerp Ring, and accordingly modified the relevant district plan. In April 1999, Minister of Finance Wivina Demeester (CVP) emphasised that the completion of the Antwerp Ring Road was to be considered one of the next Flemish Government's priorities. Just before the election on June 13, 1999, the mayors of 30 Antwerp towns signed a regional charter with Wivina De Meester, stating that all parties had agreed to embark on a number of so-called leverage projects – one of which would be the closing of the Antwerp Ring Road – intended as an economic boost for Antwerp and the surrounding area. On the occasion of the charter's official presentation, the Minister also explained that a Public-Private-Partnership would be a perfectly suitable tool for the completion of the R1 ring road.
On June 10, 1999, the engineering consultancy agency ABM (Atenco, Belgroma and Maunsell) started investigating 6 proposed road layouts: 1 featuring a bridge ("Brug" in image #1) over the River Scheldt, 5 featuring tunnels.
Dewael government I (13 July 1999 – 5 June 2003) A bridge was clearly the preferred option, as it had the added benefit of providing Antwerp with a landmark, but because of low vertical clearance on the Scheldt it was technically unfeasible. After examining all 6 proposals, on January 14, 2000, the Roads and Traffic Administration came up with a 7th proposal, featuring a bridge - not a bridge over the river but a viaduct over the docks and the Albert canal. In the course of a conference organised by Camille Paulus, governor of the province of Antwerp, on April 7, 2000, this latter layout was selected. Construction costs were estimated at 0,55 billion euro. The governor said that he expected to inaugurate the Oosterweel connection sometime in 2005.
The Flemish Government approved the “Masterplan Antwerpen” on December 15, 2000, and stated its intention to levy a toll to finance it. In order to ensure a smooth and efficient rollout of the project, it was decided to create BAM, (Antwerp Mobility Management Company, renamed Lantis in 2019), in order to provide the Flemish Government with an entity under public law with ample flexibility in matters of human resources and financial options. This was considered to be the best way to attract specialist professionals at a level equivalent to market conditions (which is not compatible with remuneration policies in the Flemish civil service)
In September 2001, the public tender for research, specifications and project management for the Oosterweel Link and all other Masterplan projects, for the complete duration of the execution of the Masterplan Antwerpen, was awarded to Temporary Association TV SAM (Studiegroep Antwerpen Mobiel: Belgroma –Technum – Gedas). Costs were estimated at 0,59 billion euro and the timeframe at 6 years. It wasn't long before TV SAM indicated that the estimated realisation period of 6 years was not realistic.
Somers I government (11 June 2003 – 20 July 2004) In October 2003, according to the new prognosis - assuming maximal overlap of administrative procedures and public consultation processes - construction would, at the very earliest, start by the middle of 2005.
In September 2003 BAM had started managing projects for the Masterplan Antwerpen. Bruno Accou was appointed general manager of BAM. Yvan Verbakel, who was familiar with the project as the former head of department at the Roads and Traffic Administration, was appointed operations manager. Kris Blommaert became financial manager and Leo Van Der Vliet was transferred from TV SAM to be appointed administrative manager.
In 2004, the total construction cost was estimated at 0,95 billion euro. On February 20, 2004, the BAM board of directors decided that each separate part of the construction could be allocated to a different construction company as a separate lot.
On June 18, 2004, the board of directors reconsidered its decision of February 20, 2004 and decided that the allocation of the whole project to a single consortium would be preferable. The tender procedure was started on July 9, 2004, date of its publication in the National Bulletin of Tenders.
Leterme I Government (20 July 2004 – 28 June 2007) At the end of December 2004, 4 consortia (temporary trading associations Bouyges, LORO, Antwerpse Bouwwerken and Noriant) were selected to enter the negotiation procedure. Construction works was scheduled to start in the course of the first quarter of 2006. In February 2005 the Antwerp city aldermen were among the first to see a scale model of the viaduct. The city council immediately ordered an investigation in order to find out whether a tunnel might be a viable alternative. BAM let it be known that building a tunnel would mean they would have to raise the price to 2 billion euros, 850 million euros more than the price of a viaduct. BAM was of the opinion that, given the parameters of its business plan, they didn't have sufficient means to pay for this additional cost. BAM also argued that any changes to the project at this stage would lead to damage claims from the consortia that had been selected for the negotiations procedure in December 2004. On February 24, 2005, Minister Kris Peeters (CD&V) announced that the viaduct would be named ‘Lange Wapper’. The minister's spokesperson added that this would be a bridge that would strengthen ties between all of the population of Antwerp. On February 24, 2005, a row erupted in the Flemish Parliament because Minister Peeters refused to allow the scale model to be shown to the members of parliament. During this parliamentary session Minister Peeters admitted that he wasn't in favour of the alternative to a bridge, i.e. a tunnel underneath the ‘Eilandje’ area. This alternative would require more research, meaning it would take a few years longer. He said the time had come to make a decision on the exact route as well as on the specifications of the bridge. On June 10, 2005, the Flemish Government (Leterme I) decided on the basis of the plan-MER (milieu effecten rapport- survey of the effects of a project on the environment) that the Master plan Antwerp would be executed in its entirety, with a toll levy on the Oosterweel connection. Minister Peeters expected to break ground in 2008 and to inaugurate the connection at the earliest in 2010. In July 2005 the estimate was revised and set at 1,345 billion euro. This increase in costs was a consequence of the government's wish to build a nicer-looking bridge (50 million euro) and a better connection with the R1 (94 million euro). On September 6, 2005, citizen action group stRaten-generaal proposed its own alternative plan, featuring a new tunnel further north of the city, and keeping the existing Kennedy Tunnel accessible to all vehicles. According to them, this would ensure that a lot fewer people would suffer the consequences of the new highway and the traffic congestion ensuing from it.