200 million that the cabinet earmarks for safe N-roads 'drop in the ocean.
It is a known fact that N-roads are relatively unsafe. The risk of an accident with a serious outcome is higher per kilometer driven on N-state roads than on state-managed highways. The government is therefore investing €200 million in improving road safety on Rijks-Nwegen. Not all Rijks-N-roads can be tackled with this. That is why a further prioritization is being worked out.
It is primarily up to the provinces to improve road safety on provincial N roads. Support is available from the government for this. The local authorities can appeal to the Road Safety Investment Impulse. The total size of the Investment Incentive is €500 million for the period 2020 to 2030. Provinces can also claim this for improving the N-roads they manage. In addition, the previous Cabinet made €25 million in co-financing available for improving roadside safety on N-roads managed by provinces and also €25 million for improving roadside safety on Rijks-Nwegen.
In a letter from Mark Harders, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, informed the House that improving road safety on provincial N-roads is primarily the responsibility of the provinces. There is no national overview available of investments in safe road design by provinces in the past ten years. The same applies to planned investments in road safety for provincial N roads. This is one of the reasons why it is not possible to estimate whether these investments will be made quickly enough. Conducting a national study into investments by provinces in road safety of provincial N-roads is complicated, among other things because investments in road safety are often included as part of construction projects, replacement and renovation and management and maintenance. In that case, the budget does not specify in more detail what amount can be regarded as an investment in road safety. This image is endorsed by the IPO.
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