Oostelijke Langstraat is the area on both sides of the A59 between ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Waalwijk. The Province of North Brabant is collaborating with the municipalities of Heusden,‘s-Hertogenbosch and Waalwijk, Water Board Aa & Maas and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management on a substantial improvement to Oostelijke Langstraat. The aim of this broad area approach is threefold: nature, water and traffic.
The Scheldt Tunnel forms the most important element of the Oosterweel Link and will complete the Antwerp Ring Road on the northern side. The tunnel has a total length of 1,800m and will be constructed in line with the “immersed tunnel” method. In order to do so, 8 tunnel elements of around 60,000 tons each will be constructed in the Rear Port of Zeebrugge and then floated via the North Sea and the Western Scheldt to Antwerp. There, they will be immersed one after another in a previously dredged trench in the Scheldt.
The project involved construction of a third and fourth railway track between Ghent and Bruges. Two major rail traffic flows converge here: on the one hand, the freight traffic that goes from the port of Zeebrugge past Bruges and Ghent-Sint-Pieters towards Merelbeke, and on the other hand the passenger traffic on the Ostend, Bruges-Ghent-Sint-Pieters and Brussels axes. On peak days, more than 300 trains a day run between the stations at Gent-Sint-Pieters and Bruges.
The Noorderlijn project makes the north of Antwerp accessible in various ways by tram and metro. The Operaplein will also be transformed into a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians, with only one tram stop and a parallel road for local traffic at the surface. Underground parking, bicycle storage and the existing pre-metro station will be renovated and expanded. The Rooseveltplaats will also be redesigned to ensure better safety.