Belgian Motorways & Roads

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DavidBrown
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Belgian Motorways & Roads

Post by DavidBrown »

A rather interesting fact was mentioned on Top Gear today. Did you know that Belgium has the only fully lit motorway network in the world? Imagine if all of the UK's motorways were lit.
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Marc
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Post by Marc »

Yeah, so much that you could see it from space :D
In fact most lights go off after 1 our 2 am ... and the most recently (you should understand "recently" ... relatively ... since not much motorways have been build since ... euh ... two decades !) build motorways aren't lit at all ! :roll:
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Post by Bryn666 »

If people are interested I can get some of my Belgian road photos - lots of big chunky 1970s sodium used in that country!

Some scary drivers though - no offense Marc :wink:
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Post by M4Simon »

Belgian motorways are ok, from what I recall, apart from the terrible surfacing (they may, of course, have fixed this since I was there 10 years ago...).

As I posted in the Guide to Belgiumthread, driving in Brussels remains the most scary experience in my driving career to date.

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Belgium motorways

Post by andyburns3210 »

I`ve traveled across Belgiums motorways many times over the past 25 years and was always impressed with the 100 percent street lighting, and the central resevations, very wide, with a lagrge concrete barrier with a vast amount of vegitation planted with in it, preventing any view of the opposit carrigway, (a good thing?), however I drove across Belgium last summer, (late July 2004) from France on the A26, as you cross the border the only indication is a change in the tarmac, and the hard shoulder line changes fron the French long dash, to the universal solid line, but no street lighiting, just steel crash barrier untill you meet the old A10 further into Belgium. The road surfaces are not to UK or Greman standars but better than US intersates, in 1987 in a thunderstorm I had to stop on the hard shoulder as did everyone else as the run off gradient and drainage is insufficent. Also much of the network is very straight and dull and as such dangerous due to being tedious. ( I read some were that the reason Belgiums motoways are all lit is that the Queen of Belgium complaned to her husband, (THE HEAD OF STATE) that she did not like driving on unlit motorway, and hense the entire system was lit).
andy
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Post by Glenn A »

I was there in 1988 and 1990 and know all the motorways are lit at night. More interesting as well is that Holland and Belgium were the first countries to abolish formal border controls in the EU. Crossing the border was as easy as crossing the border between England and Scotland. ( Well probably better than the A74.)
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Post by autismuk »

Belgian motorways always remind me of our older motorways that haven't changed much like the M45 and M50 ......
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Post by c2R »

We could actually do with a report this post, to instantly report spamming like that...

Back on topic - Belgian surfacing has improved recently (they are on a rolling program to do the entire network). Trouble is, the Ring Antwerpen is the current target and it's causing real traffic chaos!

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Post by Bryn666 »

Redactor - I find it rather amusing that you feel someone posting about the condition of motorway surfacing in Belgium would find some need for some pills.

The roads really aren't THAT bad in Belgium - so kindly refrain from spamming in future...!
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Post by c2R »

Bryn666 wrote:Redactor - I find it rather amusing that you feel someone posting about the condition of motorway surfacing in Belgium would find some need for some pills.

A lot of sites get a user sign up just to make one post for things like drugs or free ipod pyramid scheme - most forums also have zero tolerance on it, ban these 1 post users instantly, and delete their post.... a line which I feel we should adopt...
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Post by Bryn666 »

I raised the issue on Committee, so we'll see where it leads.

As for the post - I shall delete it. There's a record of it on the Committee so they know of its content.
Bryn
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CJ
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Post by CJ »

How about deleting the follow-up posts too so that people like me don't get totally confused reading the thread now :P
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Post by Gavin A74 »

Why can't the UK not have a fully-lit motorway network :msncry:

I know we have a bigger mway network than the Belgians but it would save lives :lol:
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Post by M60-Tony »

Oh no please. The light pollution would be horrible.
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Post by firefly »

Gav77 wrote:Why can't the UK not have a fully-lit motorway network
What is actually the point in lighting the safest roads while the unsafe roads remain unlit?
Gav77 wrote:I know we have a bigger mway network than the Belgians ...
Are you sure.
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Post by ndp »

M60-Tony wrote:Oh no please. The light pollution would be horrible.
I'm not sure it would. Modern lanterns make a huge difference.

Don;t see the point in lighting (say) the M50 though.
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Marc
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Re: Belgium motorways

Post by Marc »

andyburns3210 wrote:I`ve traveled across Belgiums motorways many times over the past 25 years and was always impressed with *** , and the central resevations, very wide,
Really ? There isn't that much place in Belgium, you don't find many so called "parkways" like in the US.
andyburns3210 wrote:with a lagrge concrete barrier
That's just a US feature imported in Belgium, called "New Jersey" - at least the road administration in Flanders name it so since these were happen to be designed in that state (?)
andyburns3210 wrote:with a vast amount of vegitation planted with in it, preventing any view of the opposit carrigway,
If only this was the truth ! :oops: Some traffic jams in one direction are just caused by accidents happening on the opposite carriageway thus provoking motorists slowing down just to see a glimpse of the scenery of a car crash ! Most central reservations are not large enough to allow dense vegetation preventing seeing through !
andyburns3210 wrote:(***( I read some were that the reason Belgiums motoways are all lit is that the Queen of Belgium complaned to her husband, (THE HEAD OF STATE) that she did not like driving on unlit motorway, and hense the entire system was lit).
that's an urban legend ... of Britain perhaps. I've never heard such a ludicrous story.
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Post by Paul »

Gav77 wrote:Why can't the UK not have a fully-lit motorway network :msncry:

I know we have a bigger mway network than the Belgians but it would save lives :lol:
Next you'll be advocating daytime running lights. :roll:
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Post by IJP1 »

Thanks Marc,

For reference, the occurence you refer to (people slowing down to look at the accident on the other side) is known in English as 'rubbernecking'.

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Post by c2R »

ndp wrote:
M60-Tony wrote:Oh no please. The light pollution would be horrible.
I'm not sure it would. Modern lanterns make a huge difference.
Horrible yes... The lit stretchs can get very tiring late at night - lighting only very busy stretches, junctions, and dangerous bits seems the best idea to me. Also, M6 up through the lakes would really look awful lit!

Chris
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