On Tuesday afternoon, the E40 motorway in the direction of Brussels was completely closed for some time due to a judicial action, which will cause some issues for the evening rush traffic, reports the Flemish Traffic Centre.
Due to the action, the motorway towards Brussels was completely closed at the municipality of Merelbeke, in the province of East-Flanders, and all traffic was diverted, causing traffic jams.
“There is already a four kilometre-traffic jam. Please avoid the zone,” said spokesperson for the Flemish Traffic Centre, Peter Bruyninckx, on Twitter at 3:40 PM. “We do not have a forecast on the duration of the closure.”
Let op! Wegens een actie van @federalepolitie is de #E40 richting Brussel volledig AFGESLOTEN bij Merelbeke. Al het verkeer wordt de #R4 opgestuurd. Er staat intussen al 4km file. Vermijd de zone. We hebben geen prognose over de duur van de afsluiting. pic.twitter.com/g5UdcMcsDr
— Peter Bruyninckx (@PeterBruyninckx) November 23, 2021
Voor alle duidelijkheid: de afsluiting van de #E40 is noodzakelijk wegens een politionele actie in het kader van een gerechtelijk dossier. Het is dus GEEN vakbondsactie!
— Peter Bruyninckx (@PeterBruyninckx) November 23, 2021
He clarified that the closure of the motorway was necessary because of an investigation “in the framework of a judicial case” and was not part of a trade union action like the ones that disrupted traffic in Brussels for several days last week.
According to reports in local media, the police were conducting searches in connection with a fatal accident that occurred last night at that site.
In the meantime, the motorway has been reopened to traffic, but the evening rush is still expected to be disrupted.
