Environmental capacity urban roads in Brussels

Development of a practical guide and an evaluation instrument for the environmental capacity of the urban roads in the metropolitan district of Brussels

The current hierarchy of roads within the metropolitan district of Brussels, such as it has also been incorporated in the Iris Transport Plan, has been mainly developed based on the current and the expected traffic load, and according to their role in the overall mobility structure. But traffic intensity and surrounding area have hardly been synchronized. For example, the GewOP classifies the Louizalaan and the part of the E411 coming from Namen both as metropolitan road, although they actually have little in common regarding their typology and surroundings.

The aim is to achieve a balance between traffic function and urban function with respect for the acknowledged environmental criteria. In that respect the concept 'environmental capacity' of the road seems appropriate. Within this approach the physical or technical capacity of a road (i.e. the traffic volume that can be handled by a certain profile) is complemented by an 'admissible traffic load' (the technical capacity is compared to the maximum hindrance the direct surroundings of a road can support with conservation of the urban functions and life quality).

In this project TML will develop in association with Ecorem a method to analyse and evaluate the environmental capacity of roads. The task relates to the composition of criteria and reference standards by type of profile concerning for example noise emissions, air quality, security, and fragmentation. During the project an analysis tool will be developed, which - on the basis of these characteristics - calculates one environmental score for the contemplative road.

reports

No report available yet

period

2011

funded by

BIM (Brussels Instituut voor Milieubeheer)

researchers

Kristof Carlier

partners

Ecorem

contact

Kristof Carlier

+32 16 31.77.36