Afterwards, we started working on a plan to improve traffic safety. Environmental manager Fleur Oppelaar explains the current status.

For years, the N36 has been known as a dangerous road. With one lane on each side of the road, without a guardrail in between, cars drive at 100 km/h right next to each other. Accidents are unfortunately not uncommon, and head-on collisions are often fatal.

According to Oppelaar, the cause of head-on collisions is usually not overtaking. Most fatal accidents occur when cars unintentionally end up on the other side of the road. For example, because drivers are distracted, fall asleep, or become unwell. Separating the lanes with a guardrail and a shoulder in the middle could be a good solution for this.

Progress

In recent months, Rijkswaterstaat has begun designing safety measures. There are guidelines for roads, Oppelaar explains. We want the layout of the road to comply with those guidelines as much as possible. In addition to installing a guardrail, the shoulders on both sides of the road can also be made safer. This would require widening them in many places and ensuring that there are no obstacles in the way, such as trees or structures.

From the design process, it became clear that the available budget is insufficient to design the entire road according to the guidelines. We initially thought we could tackle half of the road. But after calculating the costs, it turned out that only a quarter is possible.

Due to the safety measures, the road profile of the modified N36 will preferably be wider than the current road. For this, more land would be needed that would need to be purchased. And at the moment you encounter a viaduct or a bridge, you ideally want to adjust those structures as well. It is certainly not just a matter of placing a guardrail.

Additionally, we have also conducted various studies. These are part of every infrastructure project, Oppelaar explains. Think of studies on flora and fauna, the soil, archaeology, and unexploded ordnance from wartime.

€115 million extra

The province of Overijssel and the municipalities along the N36 have requested attention for this situation and for more money to make the entire N36 safe. Additionally, Member of Parliament Pierik submitted a motion to investigate how the entire N36 can be made safer.

In the Spring Memorandum 2025, the cabinet allocated an additional €115 million for traffic safety on the N36. However, this still does not allow for the entire road to be provided with a lane separation that meets the guidelines. Therefore, it is still necessary to make choices about the measures.

What now?

The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management will consider how to implement Pieriks motion in the coming period and what the possibilities are with the additional allocated budget. The minister will make a decision on this. After that, it will become clear what this means for the further approach to traffic safety on the N36. Oppelaar: We hope to have more clarity before the summer vacation.