As winter nears, the asphalt season in Brussels has come to an end. Since March this year, Brussels Mobility has repaired more than 200,000m² on regional roads.
Every spring, Brussels Mobility starts its significant maintenance of the region's roads, including renovating major road sections preventively. The competent administration noted that, due to the mild temperatures this year lasting until so late in the year, the 2022 asphalt season was a success.
"We invest €10 million a year to maintain our roads and cycle paths. This is important because road quality is not only important for comfort, but also for the safety of everyone: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists," said Elke Van den Brandt, the region's Minister for Mobility.
She added that, during these works, the administration also made other improvements on the roads, such as installing escape ramps and so-called Berlin cushions (raised surface fixed to a part of the road) to improve road safety, painting the cycle lanes to set them apart from the wider road and create separations to make cycle lanes safer.
Acting more proactively
This year, Brussels Mobility repaired avenue Eugene Plasky, avenue Winston Churchill, the Lennik route, Place des Armateurs, avenue de la Foresterie as well as multiple tunnels.
The asphalting works are almost always carried out at night, during weekends or on public holidays to avoid massive traffic disruption, especially as on busy intersections entire sections are repaired in one go.
"By asphalting entire sections on a large scale, the overall condition of the regional road network improves enormously," Dimitri Strobbe, Head of Service 'Maintenance' at Brussels Mobility, said. "We are therefore acting more proactively, which means we have to carry out fewer small, localised and relatively expensive repairs."
The works usually take place at night or during weekends and public holidays. Credit: Brussels Mobility
The asphalting work for 2023 is already being planned based on the roads' current conditions and will include chaussée de Buda, Boulevard Albert II between Bolivar et Baudouin, avenue du Diamant, the E40 exit towards Colonel Bourg, and boulevard de la Woluwe between avenue Marcel Thiry and the regional border.
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Besides the major planned asphalting works, Brussels Mobility will continue to carry out repairs on an ongoing basis when specific problems arise on the road network, such as repairing potholes and cracks in the road surface, fixing sewer covers and others. These problems can be reported by residents too, via FixMyStreet.
