A stretch of the E40 Ghent to Brussels motorway will be closed from 10pm on Friday evening until 5am on Monday while a bridge over the road is demolished at Erpe-Mere (East Flanders). The Flemish Highways and Traffic Agency warns of delays in the area and is asking motorists to find alternative routes. The Ghent-bound carriageway of the motorway will remain open. The work will also impact rail services. The Belgian rail company NMBS is asking passengers to use its online rail journey planner tool to find the best way of reaching their destination.
The bridge that is to be demolished is a railway bridge that carries the Brussels to Ostend (West Flanders) railway line over the E40.
For the duration of the work, the coastbound E40 will remain open but the Brussels-bound carriageway will be closed. "From 8 p.m. on Friday evening, the number of lanes available to traffic on the E40 will be gradually be reduced before it closes completely at 10 p.m.," the Flemish Highways and Traffic Agency said in a statement. The motorway will remain closed until 5am on Monday.
In addition to this and also in East Flanders the motorway will also be closed at Merelbeke, near Ghent. Motorists are adived to take the R4 Ghent orbital or the E17 motorway if they wish to travel from East and West Flanders to Limburg Province. Traffic for Brussels should take the N16 in Temse and join the A12 at Willebroek. Local traffic between Ghent and Aalst is advised to take the N9.
The slip roads to and from the Brussels-bound E40 at Merelbeke, Wetteren and Erpe-Mere will also be closed all weekend.
Rail bridge
The bridges that carry the Brussels-Ostend railway and the Merestraat over the E40 at Erpe-Mere were built in the 1950s. They are in urgent need of replacement. Work on this started in July this year and will continue until February 2024. Rail passengers wishing to travel between Brussels and Ghent, Bruges and destinations along the coast are advised to visit the NMBS website www.nmbs.be where they can consult the rail route planner.