Whatever the issue, safety must be the primary concern, even with temporary traffic measures

The replacement of a piece of asphalt, the construction of a wind turbine or the pruning of trees along the highway. All these activities take place with maximum protection for road users and minimum inconvenience. 

As road users, we think this is just perfectly normal. Of course the road is blocked off when the road surface is being repaired. And of course there are signs to put us back on the right track after the detour. Yet there is a lot involved in organizing these traffic measures. 

The traffic plan

Temporary traffic measures start with the client's work area. This indicates to Wegwijsrent when which work is to be carried out. "For us the starting signal to look for the way in which the activity can take place as safely as possible with minimal inconvenience to the surrounding area," explains Danny Kamps, Wegwijsrent's traffic manager. "We then submit this plan to the road manager - municipality, province or government - who assesses whether the plan is approved and does not conflict with other road works. If the road manager agrees, we plan the implementation of the traffic measures and our client can get to work safely." 

Divergent interests

Time and again, they discover at Wegwijsrent that expertise in this area is necessary. It requires knowledge and experience to assess and manage the consequences of a roadblock - and certainly the roadblock of a highway. In doing so, safety is rarely the only concern. "A contractor naturally prefers to cordon off the entire road and carry out his work during the day," Kamps gives as an example, "while the road authority mainly wants traffic flow. And costs also play a role. Then the challenge is to find the optimal balance between safety, traffic flow and accessibility."

Quality assurance

To ensure the quality of temporary traffic management, Wegwijsrent is under tight control. "To begin with, we ourselves set high standards for our employees," says Diana Hoeksema, Wegwijsrent's commercial employee. "Through toolboxes, work meetings and the distribution of manuals, we do everything we can to impress upon them the importance of their job. Safety has to come first no matter what. In addition, we are BRL 9101-certified. This means that we are also allowed to work on freeways. We deploy traffic facilities in accordance with CROW Publication 96a. With two audits and six to seven project visits per year, we are rigorously assessed as a certificate holder."