The disruptive roadworks at the Léonard junction just outside Brussels are progressing faster than expected, said Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) on Tuesday.
The Léonard crossroads is one of the main motorway access points in Brussels, where the E411 motorway and the Brussels Ring Road (R0) meet. Renovation work has been ongoing for around two years, causing considerable disruption around the Vierarmen in Tervuren. The works entered a new phase on Monday 3 March, leading to even more traffic jams.
The works mainly affect users of the E411 and the Brussels ring road, mostly coming from Wallonia. However, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. According to the current schedule, work in the two tunnels (E411 and R0) was set to be fully completed by the end of 2025, but they will finish a few weeks earlier, Crucke told Bel RTL radio network on Tuesday.
"As the work has progressed rapidly, Flanders has been able to bring forward the end of its work by two months. This is good news in the long run," he said.
Crucke acknowledged that the current traffic disruption caused by the works is a "real problem today."
"We have, together with [national railway operator] SNCB and the Federal Government, added two trains per hour during peak hours, between Louvain-la-Neuve and Brussels," he said. "They are always full." The cost of parking at Louvain-la-Neuve was reduced to €1.
