The Lange Wapper is the unofficial nickname given to the viaduct section of what is properly called the Oosterweel link – a plan to close the Antwerp Ring in the southwest, making it easier for freight traffic from the left bank and the port facilities to join up with major traffic arteries leading to Germany, the Netherlands and the south.
The original idea had been to close the Kennedy tunnel to freight traffic, and bring traffic from the E17 and E34 north though a tunnel under the Scheldt, then along a brand-new viaduct above the city, to rejoin the Ring at Merksem, about where the existing viaduct passes over the Sportpaleis. Opposition to the viaduct part of the plan came not least from the activist organisation Ademloos (Breathless), who pointed out that the viaduct passed over residential areas that would be polluted from above with fine particles. Their main publicity coup was a school for handicapped children located directly under the planned viaduct.
Opposition also came from the group Straten-Generaal, which called for the new link to bring traffic to the north of the city rather than through the middle. The varying degrees of opposition to the plan created cracks within the Flemish government itself, and at one point the differences seemed impossible to reconcile. Last week’s agreement allows all parties to exit without losing face.
The new plan, which the government has now sent off to be studied, includes a bit of something for everyone. Opponents of the viaduct, among them Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens, will get a tunnel, so long as that turns out to be feasible. Those who opposed a long northerly detour get to keep the route of the Lange Wapper. The new plan also involves the demolition of the Merksem viaduct by the Sportpaleis, which will be replaced by a motorway cutting.
N-VA party leader Bart De Wever, who supported the viaduct, made it clear what conditions would be attached to his party’s support for a tunnel – conditions the Flemish government also accepts. “If it can be shown that the tunnel can be constructed within a reasonable time, is technically adequate, is affordable and can create sufficient new capacity, then I see no reason to cause problems over it,” he said. “If that can’t be done, I hope the others will be objective about it and not look for trouble over the Lange Wapper.”
The technical viability of the tunnel plan will be decided by July. The tunnel is in fact four tunnels carrying traffic in both directions along a stretch of about 6.5 kilometres under the city – more than twice as long as the tunnel under the Basilica of Koekelberg in Brussels.
The whole plan is integrated into the Master plan 2020 covering the whole question of mobility in Antwerp, and which includes provisions for approach traffic east and west of the city, for trams and light rail, for public transport and for cycle paths.
“The Flemish government has politically cut the Gordian knot of Antwerp’s traffic problem,” said Unizo, which represents small businesses. The political consensus was the first crucial step on the road to a sustainable solution to the mobility situation in the city.
“The Flemish government has decided not to decide, in order to buy time that isn’t there,” said the opposition OpenVLD representatives Dirk Van Mechelen and Annick De Ridder. “Kris Peeters has passed the hot potato off on to someone else.”
“This is a collegial decision by the government,” said Kris Peeters in a press conference. “There are no losers here, only winners.”
The green party Groen! said the agreement was “a sign of encouragement for democracy and for all the activist groups” who had forced a referendum of the people of Antwerp, in which their opposition to the Lange Wapper viaduct was made clear.
Socialist party chair Caroline Gennez said the decision was “good news for anyone who lives in, works in or drives by Antwerp”.
Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens said he was delighted “because the Lange Wapper will not be coming and because the Merksem viaduct will be going, something nobody dared even think about a few months ago”. The plan was technically feasible, he said: “It is a good plan. Above all else, the fighting can now stop, and we can get back to all pulling all in the same direction, which has been a little difficult this past year”.
“We’re very pleased the politicians have realised that the Lange Wapper can be replaced by a tunnel,” commented Manu Claeys of the Straten- Generaal group. “But I wonder why a northern bypass, which we think would have been a cheaper solution, is not part of the plan.”
Wim Hees of Ademloos, meanwhile, called the agreement “a political compromise showing a complete lack of vision. It could still go the wrong way, towards the Lange Wapper. But even the ‘Deep Wapper’ is not the best solution, since it only diverts part of the traffic out of the city”.
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