The R1 is the ring road around the city of Antwerp,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The ring road is not complete; however, its completion is planned with the long running proposed construction of the

Oosterweel Link The Oosterweel Link is a construction project first proposed in 1996, intended to complete the R1 Antwerp Ring Road in Antwerp, Belgium. The firm Antwerp Mobility Management Company (name changed to Lantis in 2019), is the Flemish Government c ...

which would cross the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

river. The existing Scheldt crossing is via the

Kennedy Tunnel The Kennedytunnel is an important road, rail, and bicycle tunnel to the south of Antwerp, Belgium, under the Scheldt river. The road tunnel forms a part of Highway R1 – the not yet completed inner ring motorway surrounding the city. Opened to ...

. The road is largely built on the area of the former Brialmont Fortress around the city of Antwerp, which was constructed between 1859 and 1863. In the course of planning the procurement of the construction works, the Flemish authorities raised several queries with the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, intending to ensure that their plans did not conflict with EU public procurement law. One query related to their proposal to award a

concession contract A concession or concession agreement is a grant of rights, land or property by a government, local authority, corporation, individual or other legal entity. Public services such as water supply may be operated as a concession. In the case of a p ...

, without market consultation, to SA Tunnel Liefkenshoek for the construction and operation of a new link from the River Scheldt to Antwerp, in reply to which it was confirmed that the proposed concession was "unlikely to give rise to problems of compatibiloty with European public procurement law".European Commission
Joint press release from Commissioner Barnier and Kris Peeters, Minister-President of the Government of the Flemish Region, concerning the Oosterweel project (completion of the Antwerp Ring)
published 4 November 2013, accessed 24 December 2020 In order to diminish particulate matter and noise disturbance, the

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

Ringland has demanded that the ring road should be fully roofed. Ring Antwerpen 4juni2006

References

See also