Belgium runs out of asphalt due to high number of roadworks

It’s not your imagination: There are more roadworks in Belgium than usual. We have the municipal elections in October to thank for that; it’s a phenomenon that during local election years, long-promised road improvements suddenly come to fruition.

But this year is particularly noteworthy: There are so many roadworks, Belgium has run out of asphalt. “Next to the traditional increase in roadworks during an election year, there has been an abnormally long period of good weather, meaning projects have not had to be put on hold because of rain,” Eli Desmedt of Flanders’ federation of road workers explained. “And then there was a strike in France, which slowed asphalt production.”

Several roadworks have been halted or postponed from starting this week. The organisation hopes that most of the works can continue following the annual construction holiday period, which ends in the last week of July, but admitted there were no guarantees.