The Kennedy Tunnel under the River Scheldt will be close in both directions between 2am and 7am tomorrow morning. The closure is to allow for work to be carried out inside the tunnel. It expected that it will result in serious traffic issues on the Antwerp orbital motorway. The Flemish Highways and Traffic Agency has called on motorists to steer clear of the area around the tunnel if they possible can.
Serious traffic problems expected on the Antwerp Orbital on Saturday night
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The Highways and Traffic Agency’s Gilles Van Goethem told VRT News that “The closure is necessary because we need to carryout thorough checks on the tunnels high tension electricity cabin and as a result of this the electricity supply to the tunnel will have to switched off”.
“Without electricity the tunnel cannot remain open safely as the various safety systems, such as the ventilation, CCTV and lighting, can’t be used”.
Although the tunnel won’t be closed until 2am the disruption to traffic is expected to start much earlier. “The access routes and slip roads will also need to be closed and we will start doing this at around midnight. We are carrying out the work during a weekend night to keep disruption to a minimum. However, this is a very busy tunnel, the busiest in Flanders so we expect there to be a lot of disruption to traffic”.
Long distance traffic is advised to travel via Brussels, while short and medium distance traffic will be able the Liefkenshoek Tunnel under the River Scheldt without having to pay the usual toll for the duration of the work.