The Kennedy Tunnel on the Antwerp ring road (R1) will close completely in the direction of the Netherlands throughout the extended weekend, causing serious inconvenience for motorists.
From 21:00 on Thursday evening until 08:00 on Sunday morning, the key tunnel in the Flemish city will be closed off for the long-running renewal works on the lighting, which is being replaced by a new installation with intelligent control. Both the Flemish Traffic Centre and the Agency for Roads and Traffic (AWV) have issued warnings of serious inconvenience.
"We are warning of serious traffic disruption in the Antwerp-West area and recommend avoiding the area around the Kennedy Tunnel in the direction of the Netherlands as much as possible," the Flemish Traffic Centre noted on its website.
The decision to close the tunnel later on Thursday evening and opening it early on Sunday morning was to ensure traffic could move through the tunnel when people head north for the Ascension weekend and upon their return.
Planned detours
People travelling on the E17 from the direction of Ghent will be unable to cross the Scheldt river via the R1 and will have to make a detour from the Antwerp-West interchange via the E34 and the R2 in the port of Antwerp. "On that diversion route, the Liefkenshoek Tunnel will be made toll-free in the direction of Stabroek/Netherlands," the Traffic Centre explained.
Those covering long-distances from the west to the east of the country, for example from Ghent to Hasselt, are advised to drive via Brussels. "Traffic on the Antwerp ring road towards Ghent will not be affected as the Kennedy Tunnel in the direction of Ghent will always remain open," the warning concluded.
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The AWV has been working to replace the lighting in the tunnel as well as the fireproof boards since August last year. Most of the work is done at night, but occasionally a longer closure of several days is needed, the agency stated. The works will likely finish this summer.
