EUPAVE submitted response to Public consultation on road infrastructure and tunnel safety

21/09/2017

Between the 14 June 2017 and the 10 September 2017, the European Commission held an impact assessment process with a view to the possible revision of the EU road infrastructure safety management and road tunnel safety legislation. This public consultation was organised to allow interested stakeholders and citizens to express their views on this potential update.
EUPAVE submitted a response to the consultation.

The EU regulatory framework for road infrastructure safety management is composed of two Directives on road structure safety management and on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the trans-European road network. The current EU legislation covers roads and tunnels within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which is a network of main European roads. The effects of the implementation of the two Directives were assessed in evaluations that were completed in 2015. The evaluation studies also indicated that there were areas for potential improvements in the field of road infrastructure safety hence this new consultation.

In its response, EUPAVE noted the safety benefits of using concrete pavement in tunnels. EUPAVE also explained that many problems that road users are facing today are related to the degradation of existing roads hence the importance of durable pavements.
On the subject of existing road infrastructures for the deployment of automated or connected driving, EUPAVE considers necessary to determine which infrastructure elements and requirements will be needed to be established in order to guarantee that these systems can safely operate.

OUR RESPONSE