The number of road inspectors at Rijkswaterstaat is significantly increasing. The capacity will be structurally expanded by 38 FTEs, an increase of over 10%. Currently, there are about 300 road inspectors. Expansion is necessary to handle the growing number of incidents.
On the main road network, due to increased traffic, the number of breakdowns and accidents is rising year by year. Road inspectors ensure the security and swift handling of these incidents.
Safer and Smoother
Robert-Jaap Voorn, director of traffic management: ‘With the expansion, we can further improve our services. We also gain more flexibility in scheduling. The fact that we are allowed to hire more road inspectors in these times of budget cuts shows that there is a lot of appreciation for our work and that the added value for safety and traffic flow is truly recognized. A great compliment!’
Minister Barry Madlener of Infrastructure and Water Management: ‘Incidents on the road are not only annoying for the involved road users but also cause delays for fellow road users. And thats while we all want to keep moving. Road inspectors at Rijkswaterstaat work hard to resolve such situations so that everyone can move on as quickly as possible. This expansion is an important step in improving traffic flow on our roads.’
Increase in Traffic Pressure
In recent years, traffic pressure and the number of so-called incident reports have increased significantly. Projections from the Mobility Policy Knowledge Institute (KiM) show that this trend will continue in the coming years. The increase is partly due to the rising number of motorists and breakdowns. Drivers are also more often distracted, leading to incidents.
Responsible for Safety and Traffic Flow
We are responsible for safety and traffic flow on Dutch highways in the event of an accident. Road inspectors ensure that other emergency services can do their work quickly and safely and that involved vehicles are quickly removed.
Road inspectors work closely with traffic control centers, police, fire brigade, and recovery services. They can ask the traffic control center to close a lane and assess whether the road surface needs to be cleaned or repaired. Ultimately, it is the road inspectors who give the signal that the road is clear again, and they are the last to leave the incident site.
More Information on Road Inspectors
Read more about the work of a road inspector.
Working at Rijkswaterstaat, for example as a road inspector? Check out our vacancies.