A technical issue caused the closure of 12 road tunnels across Brussels on Friday morning. The simultaneous closure of the tunnels, all of which on major routes in the capital, led to greater congestion than is usual on a Friday morning.
Technical glitch closed 12 Brussels roads tunnels, big tailbacks in and around the capital on Friday morning
Published:
On Friday morning every tunnel in the Brussels-Capital Region that is more than 300 metres long was closed to traffic. This was due to a technical failure that had put the tunnels’ fire detection and CCTV systems out of action. In order to ensure safety, the tunnels were closed as a precautionary measure.
The issue was resolved by 7:15am and the Brussel Transport Agency Brussel Mobiliteit then checked the systems in each of the tunnels individually before they were allowed to reopen one by one.
The closure of the tunnels led to delays for motorists in the capital on Friday morning. Those driving from Koekelberg to the Kust-Wet crossroads saw their journey times increase by 30 minutes. Motorists driving into Brussels from the east on the E40 were also delayed by around 30 minutes. Meanwhile, those driving from Etterbeek to Mongommery suffered delays to their journeys of around 45 minutes.