Minister Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and Environment) is investing 600 million euros in infrastructure. 400 million euros will go towards better accessibility of the Amsterdam and Rotterdam/The Hague regions. The money should allow travellers in the important economic regions to reach their destinations faster, with the remaining 200 million euros intended to improve traffic flow between the port in Rotterdam and the eastern Netherlands and Germany.
The minister reported this today in a letter to the House of Representatives. The draft budget for 2017 extended the Infrastructure Fund until 2030. Apart from extra money for management and maintenance, this means Minister Schultz has over 700 million extra available for new investments this cabinet period. The minister chooses to deploy this money in economically important areas. With additional investments in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam/The Hague regions and on the freight corridor between Rotterdam and Germany, the cabinet expects to solve bottlenecks and strengthen the international competitive position.
Read also: Transport parties ask cabinet to invest infrastructure
Better traffic flow
The regions will come up with a package of measures to tackle the bottlenecks, which will consist of smaller 'smart' measures and expansion of existing infrastructure. In addition to the new programmes for Amsterdam, Rotterdam/The Hague and the freight corridor east, a study is underway into possible measures to improve traffic flow in the south of the Netherlands, and the national and regional governments are mapping out the content of a programme for the Utrecht region for the coming years.
Improving road safety
The minister also announced that she is reserving 50 million euros for the widening of the A4 near Leiden. Preparatory studies for widening the main carriageway to three lanes are under way, and 30 million euros will also be allocated for new measures to further improve road safety on the motorways. This will mainly be spent on making the verges safer, as many serious one-sided accidents occur.
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