Due to the current events surrounding the nitrogen dossier and COVID-19, there is limited capacity in the market to conduct the studies and it was not possible to start this spring. Minister van Nieuwenhuizen wrote to the House that turning on the street lighting on the highways has been postponed. In a letter dated 16 December 2019, she informed the House about the progress of switching on the lights on the motorways. It indicated that on approximately 80 kilometers of motorway, the lights will be switched on again between 23 pm and 5 am and announced additional field studies for the locations where a potential bottleneck cannot be ruled out.
limited capacity
The intention was to carry out the field studies in 2020. The Nature Conservation Act has strict regulations for the performance of this field research: research must be carried out on all animal species in all different fixed periods, including spring. This cannot be deviated from, because otherwise the required information will not be available for decision-making. That is why it was decided to postpone the fieldwork in its entirety to 2021 (starting April). Sufficient research capacity will be available next year, the planning is more stable and the work can be carried out more efficiently as a single package.
coalition agreement
Since the spring of 2013, the lights on some highways have been switched off at night after 21.00 p.m. or after 23.00 p.m. The roads where this happens are about 550 kilometers long. It was already agreed in the coalition agreement that the measure would be reversed in places where road safety would benefit from the lights remaining on all night. New research has shown that lighting in general improves both road safety and the experience thereof. For van Nieuwenhuizen, that was reason enough to leave the lights on again.
"In doing so, I have to take into account the Nature Conservation Act," said the minister. That law prohibits activities that lead to the deliberate disturbance of protected animal species. That is why it is first necessary to map out which species are located where and where there may be unauthorized disturbances, ”said Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen.
That investigation was expected to take about six months but has now become considerably longer.
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