Antwerp Ring Road Cover: Cycling the City Through Parks by 2030

Antwerp’s ambitious ring road covering project has reached a significant milestone. On 19 May 2026, the city, together with citizen movements stRaten-generaal and Ringland, held a public information session presenting the first comprehensive overview of all covering projects, cycling bridges, tunnels, and parks that will be completed by 2030. By the end of that year, cyclists will be able to ride around the entire city along the route of the renewed ring road, with new parks, the Scheldt cycling bridge, and a new Scheldt tunnel for cyclists at Noordkasteel all operational, according to VRT NWS.

A Vision Two Decades in the Making

The idea of covering Antwerp’s ring road originated in 2003–2004 with a small group of Borgerhout residents, inspired by Boston’s Big Dig project. What began as a grassroots campaign grew into a powerful citizen movement, culminating in the landmark Toekomstverbond (Future Covenant) signed in March 2017 between the Flemish government, the City of Antwerp, and citizen groups including Ringland, stRaten-generaal, and Ademloos. The agreement committed all parties to completing the Oosterweel connection while covering sections of the ring road and investing in green spaces, cycling infrastructure, and public transport.

What Residents Will See by 2030

Manu Claeys, chair of stRaten-generaal and one of the original initiators of the ring park idea, outlined the concrete timeline at the information session held in Zaal Horta. “In four years you can cycle around the entire city along the route of the renewed ring road,” Claeys said. “The cycling bridge over the Scheldt will be there, the new Scheldt tunnel for cyclists at Noordkasteel, and many completed green ring parks at Het Schijn, the Merksem gardens, the Vesten. In total, more than 100 hectares of extra nature will have been created on the left and right banks.”

The ring parks will be built on top of covered sections of the motorway at Groenendaal (Merksem), Lobroekdok, Kalverwei, and Het Schijn (Deurne), plus at Noordkasteel near the harbour silos. These new green spaces are designed to reconnect neighbourhoods currently divided by the ring road while reducing noise and air pollution for surrounding districts.

Northern Covering Confirmed, Southern Still in Planning

The project proceeds in phases. The northern part of the ring — between Noordkasteel and the area around Sportpaleis — will be covered in 2033 and 2034. Claeys confirmed this section is already budgeted and will be executed. For the southern ring, permits are targeted for the early 2030s with completion from 2036 onwards. “Ten years sounds long but is very short notice in such large construction projects,” Claeys noted, expressing confidence that political will would hold given the significant liveability gains.

International Recognition

The project’s innovative approach has not gone unnoticed. In May 2026, the Antwerp Ring Road covering won a prestigious Future Projects Award from British architecture magazine The Architectural Review. The prize was awarded to design firm ORG, led by intendant Alexander D’Hooghe, who described it as recognition of “not only the ambition, scale and relevance of the project, but also the method behind it,” as reported by the Belga News Agency.

The Cost Challenge

The broader Oosterweel connection project — of which the ring covering forms a part — has faced significant cost escalation. Originally estimated at approximately €7 billion, the total cost has risen to €13.6 billion, nearly double the initial projection. The Court of Audit (Rekenhof) has raised serious concerns about the financing model, which relies heavily on toll revenues from the new Scheldt tunnel. Flemish Parliament member Bogdan Vanden Berghe (Groen) warned that “it is impossible to provide the entire financing with income from toll charges,” as VRT NWS reported.

However, sources close to the Flemish government contest this reading, arguing that the actual construction cost remains around €10 billion and that the higher figure reflects accounting valuations including a proposed €1.6 billion subordinated loan. The covering projects themselves are presented as separately budgeted, though their ultimate fate remains tied to the overall financial health of the Oosterweel program.

From Grassroots to Global Recognition

The journey from a small group of concerned residents in Borgerhout to an internationally award-winning infrastructure project is remarkable. The citizen movements — stRaten-generaal, Ringland, and Ademloos — successfully transformed a local advocacy campaign into binding government policy. The first Ringparkfeest was held in 2005; the third took place in May 2025 to celebrate the start of construction. A fourth is planned for 2035, hopefully on top of the completed covering in Borgerhout.

What’s Next

Construction on the northern covering sections will proceed through 2033–2034, while design workshops for the southern covering continue through the late 2020s. The Flemish Parliament’s Mobility Committee continues to debate the Oosterweel financing model, and the question of toll rates for the Scheldt tunnel remains politically contentious. The city has already acquired significant land adjacent to the planned covering zones on the southern ring, signalling its long-term commitment to the vision.

As Claeys put it: “We are confident that politics will continue with this because of the liveability gains. Entire new city districts can be developed in this way.” For Antwerp residents who have lived through decades of debate and disruption, the promise of cycling through ring parks by 2030 offers a tangible glimpse of the transformed city to come.