Witteveen+Bos to work on A58 plan specification

The Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat, RWS) has commissioned Witteveen+Bos for the plan specification for the A58 motorway. RWS has awarded the contract based on ‘best value procurement’.

Witteveen+Bos was commissioned for it because the engineering firm offered the best price-quality ratio, taking into account the specific dynamics of the innovation task within the InnovA58 project. More and more congestion is occurring on the A58 motorway between the junctions of Sint-Annabosch and Galder and between Eindhoven and Tilburg. This is causing significant economic damage. In addition, the traffic jams lead to rat-run traffic through village centres that is a nuisance to local residents. In late November 2015 the then Minister of Infrastructure and Environment decided to widen these sections of the A58 from two to three traffic lanes, and to start the plan specifications for this project.

Subsequently, a so-called preferred alternative was established. Witteveen+Bos is now starting the design process as part of the plan specification phase. In this phase the preferred alternative will be translated into a draft route decision, and this will also include an environmental impact assessment (EIA). As part of the contract, the draft route decision and all corresponding investigations and designs will be realised. In addition, we will be working on several tasks relating to innovation and sustainability, such as the development of a circular design. During the tendering process Witteveen+Bos demonstrated (via interviews and extensive substantiation) that it is the expert organisation that RWS was hoping to find for this contract.

The draft route decision and the EIA should be completed by the end of 2018, after which they will be made available for information purposes. The Minister is expected to make a definitive route decision in late 2019, taking into account the feedback received on the draft route decision. The realisation of the project is set to start before 2020, and project completion is expected in 2023.

InnovA58: Working on a smart and sustainable motorway
The InnovA58 project focuses on the widening of the A58 motorway between the junctions of Sint-Annabosch and Galder and between Eindhoven and Tilburg. Innovation plays an important role here in relation to the realisation of a sustainable living environment, smart mobility, reduced nuisance, and life cycle management. In this way RWS is ensuring, together with knowledge partners, other government bodies, market parties and local residents, that the A58 will become a smart, sustainable and future-proof motorway. This year RWS is also taking the first steps to link the design process and the spatial procedure to the project’s innovation task.

Innova58 is a project that is part of the SmartwayZ.NL accessibility programme. In this programme, public bodies, knowledge institutes and the private sector in the South of the Netherlands have joined forces to improve the region’s accessibility, liveability and safety, and to strengthen its economy and international connectivity. A smarter mobility system is also being developed.