Vialis

The province of Gelderland and the municipality of Harderwijk celebrated, in the presence of resigning Minister Camiel Eurlings, the opening of the new N302 on Saturday 5 June 2010. Vialis and Heijmans completed ‘project N302’ to the full satisfaction of the client one day earlier.

In 2004, the province of Gelderland realised that the existing infrastructure would soon be unable to handle the increasing traffic intensity on the N302. Traffic flow simply had to improve if this artery was to be able to cope with greater traffic intensity. Heijmans Infra Integrated Projects, the main contractor, and Vialis, the system supplier, were brought in to secure improved traffic flow for the present and the future in mid-2008. Heijmans was put in charge of building the roads and installations, with Vialis taking care of traffic management (data collection, data processing, information supply, traffic management, evaluation) and the design, production, testing, delivery, and commissioning of accompanying products and systems.  Vialis will also be taking care of the maintenance of all dynamic traffic management systems.

Unique linking of sub-systems yields integrated traffic management

Sub-systems supplied by Vialis function autonomously, but links between these systems bring them together in one integrated traffic management system. This is unique in the Netherlands. Vialis has installed the system architecture on the N302, to which additional modules can be hooked up. This means that different dynamic traffic management systems, supplied by different suppliers, can operate together as one regional traffic management system.

This integrated, modular, regional traffic management system automatically ensures optimum traffic flow on the N302. And the system offers the infrastructure operator plenty of reporting options by using the collected data. These reports can then be used to spot trends in traffic intensity early on. For road works, for example, scenarios have been defined so that signs can be used to ensure a safe work environment for workers. And in case of calamities, the system offers not only the option of closing lanes, but also of controlling the dynamic lighting to provide maximum light for emergency services.

Symposium

Vialis will stage a symposium focusing on regional traffic management for infrastructure operators on 17 June. The work that went into the N302 project will receive plenty of attention at this symposium.   Please e-mail symposium@vialis.nl for more information about this symposium.

N302 connects mainland with the ‘new' Flevoland

The N302 is the artery connecting the Gelderland mainland with the new Flevoland province. New, because in a time span of several decades, Flevoland has grown into what it is today: a dynamic area with plenty on offer for recreation and as a place to live and work (including many farms). But, the infrastructure in this province was always lagging behind as this Dutch polder developed. The provincial authorities in Gelderland decided to take action when they saw that the existing infrastructure would soon be unable to handle the increasing traffic intensity on the N302.  With major attractions on both sides, such as the Walibi World theme park and the Aviodrome museum in Flevoland, and the Dolfinarium in Gelderland, traffic would often come to a halt on the provincial road N302 during school vacations and on weekends. After all, the N302 is not only used by recreational traffic and terminating traffic, but also by agricultural traffic. The N302 was therefore crying out for an overhaul to improve traffic flow.