The Rampart, The Traffic Artery, and the Park; Designing for the city regions of Antwerp

Towards a new modal split
As mentioned previously, the ring project and the Oosterweel-Link is going to
facilitate a modal shift to less car use and more use of public transport, cycling
and walking. The goal is to achieve a 50/50 split when the project is finished.
This ambition is not new; the ring project joins the ambitions of the Mobility
Masterplan of 2020, and subsequently 2030; and the plan of the province,
the ‘Routeplan 2030’. All these plans roughly describe the follow points to
decrease congestion and pollution, and to maintain its position in the metropolitan
agglomeration of the Flemish Diamond and the European Megalopolis
(or Blue Banana): (1) improving the capacity and quality of the current road
network, by disentangling the city- and regional traffic flows; (2) stimulate alternatives
for car- and freight transport, by improving via water (Albertkanaal),
railway, public transport and bicycle; and by enacting low-emission zones
(inner city and Linkeroever) and giving financial stimulation (for instance with
toll); (3) setup a network of park & ides (P+R’s) with multimodal transport possibilities
(car, public transport, E-bicycle) on a radial and tangent system to the
city and suburbs; and (4) create a high quality bicycle network (Municipality of
Antwerp, 2015; Flemish Government, 2018; The Intendant for the liveability
measures in Antwerp’s ring zone, 2016b).
A big curve around the city
To relieve the pressure of Antwerp’s Ring, regional and city traffic will be
separated after the completion of the ring project. Regional traffic will be
guided around the city in a large curve, through the so-called Harbour track
(Haventracé). This track is a collaboration on a larger scale between the city of
Antwerp and Ghent. It includes a shift from the now dominant E17-route (approaching
Antwerp from southwest), to the E34-route that gives direct access
to the harbour. At the side Ghent, the shift also facilitates better access to the
harbour, with a refurbishment of the R4 and conversion of the N49 (Flemish
Government, 2010). This shift will soften, to some extent, the noise- and air
pollution in Zwijndrecht and Burcht; the villages to the west of Linkeroever.
Passing the harbour, the regional traffic will use the only built part of
the R2, or Antwerp’s large highway ring (see chapter 2.1 for the history of the
R2); the Liefkenshoektunnel. Once through the harbour, the traffic will travel
through the new-to-be-built A102. A track that is part of the unrealised R2.
Specifics on the project are quite ambiguous; the current information describes
a road that is built below ground level (onder het maaiveld) that connects to
the E313. The type of tunnel and whether the A102 will be fully below ground
level is still un clear. Traffic to Brussels will be guided via the southeast section
of the ring, making it the only section to facilitate regional transport. Originally,
the plan was to extent the A102 tunnel to the intersection of the R11
20