Abating Annoyance Caused by Infrastructure Works

Abstract

Underinvestment in road infrastructure during several years in Belgium is a root cause of several problems in its three regions. The awareness of this causal connection has been accelerated by the severe weather conditions. Although sustainable mobility - especially its green component - remains a high priority in transport policies, one can observe a renewed attention to road infrastructure. It starts to be less taboo for transport planners to support the need to construct missing links and reconstruct existing roads.Increasing attention is paid to abating annoyance caused by the infrastructure construction and maintenance. In doing so, the road authorities put the road user in the centre of interest.In this paper we will give an overview of key aspects related to the annoyance of infrastructure works. The importance of a uniform and transparent approach will be outlined, with elements such as the image of the road construction sector, growing traffic volume and the link with sustainable development. This will be followed by a description of terminology and scope of “annoyance”. What can be said about acceptable levels of annoyance? Which uniform principles could be used? Which starting points exist, to be developed in each type of road infrastructure project? Which techniques (engineering, simulations, etc.) can be used? What specific care for coordination and communication needs to be taken?Here and then we will run through the Belgian reflections for these and other questions. Some attention will be paid to the contractor's role. They have indeed a role to play in each project phase, including in pre-construction phases.As a whole, the paper gathers several ideas about smarter handling of annoyance problems during infrastructure works, based on experience for years on end.