Motorways and the living environment in the Netherlands

Motorways have a major impact on the living environment, in the first place for people, but also for nature. The traffic on the motorways causes emissions of contaminated material and of noise that affects people living in the neighbourhood, and motorways bisect the landscape. The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, of which the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management forms part, has set itself the objective of limiting as much as possible the negative effects of the construction and management of the infrastructure. The (international) regulations and policy agreements serve as starting points for achieving this objective.