Antwerpen-Noord junction

Antwerpen-Noord
Antwerpen-Noord on the R1/E19 towards Breda
Location
Ekeren
Coordinates	51°15′47″N 4°26′3″W
Roads at junction	E19 / A1 – Antwerp, Breda A12 – Antwerp, Bergen op Zoom R1 / E19 – Antwerp
Construction
Type	3-way half turbine interchange

Antwerpen-Noord juction (English: Antwerp North) is a highway junction in the northern part of the Antwerp agglomeration, located in the district of Ekeren. The junction lies a the northern end of the R1 ring road around the city of Antwerp, where the R1 connects to the A1/E19 road towards Breda, and the A12 road towards the port of Antwerp and, further to the north, also to the city of Bergen op Zoom.

Completion of the R1 ring road

Since the late 1990s, plans exist in Antwerp for the completion of the R1 ring road, including the construction of a new highway tunnel under the river Scheldt. In the following decades, this has resulted in a large amount of different trajectories, each having their own advantages and disadvantages.Since then, the project, called the Oosterweel Link (Oosterweelverbinding) has become a topic surrounded by lots of controversy and political debate. The Flemish government eventually chose to construct the so called BAM/Noriant route, viewed by many as the cheapest and most efficient solution, but is also the one that lies closest to the densely populated neighborhoods of northern Antwerp, which would suffer from pollution caused by the highway traffic.

By consequence, action groups such as Ademloos and stRaten-Generaal have continued their opposition against the BAM route, instead favoring routes that lie further from the city centre, such as the Meccano route, Northern Oosterweel route, ARUP/SUM route or stRaten-Generaal route. Whereas the BAM route connects to the ring near the present highway exit of Deurne, all of these routes favor connecting the Oosterweel link to the R1 at Antwerpen-Noord junction. After the 2009 referendum, where the then proposed version of the BAM route was rejected by the citizens of Antwerp, these trajectories were once again taken into consideration, however, in 2014, after the publication of the MER environmental plan, the Flemish government decided instead to choose for a modified tunnel variant of the BAM route.

The Meccano route, showing both the Oosterweel Link and A102 ending at Antwerpen-Noord junction

A102 outer ringway

Also considered by the government since the 1970s is the construction of the A102 outer ringway, which would run from Antwerpen-Noord junction in the north, to the Wommelgem roundabout junction to the east of Antwerp. The construction of the A102 has since then also been promoted by various action groups as an alternative to the Oosterweel Link, and is included as such in the Meccano route, which would make Antwerpen-Noord a five way junction. Official plans for the construction of the road are still being studied, however, the Flemish government has stated to prioritize the completion of the Oosterweel Link project, moving its construction towards the far future.