The municipal council of Aa en Hunze will decide on 10 December on a new road policy plan for the years 2027 through 2031. The executive wants to spend 9,087,000 euros in that period on maintenance, because the condition of the road network has deteriorated further. The council was informed about the plan in Gieten on Thursday.
The plan concerns the municipal roads in Aa en Hunze, so also Rolde and the surrounding villages. RTV Drenthe reported on Thursday that more and more roads in the municipality are in poor condition and that more money is needed for this than before.
More roads receive lowest rating
Aa en Hunze manages 805 kilometres of paved surfaces. Of that, 435 kilometres are asphalt, 301 kilometres are cobblestones and paving stones, 43 kilometres are concrete and 23 kilometres are semi-paved or unpaved. In addition, there are 139 kilometres of cycle paths in the municipality.
In the inspection in the summer of 2026, more than 13 percent of the roads received the lowest rating. In 2020, that was still 6 percent. The share of roads rated good to very good fell in the same period from 67 to 47 percent.
Cobblestone and paved roads in particular score worse: 21 percent of them received the lowest rating. For asphalt, it is more than 10 percent. According to the plan, the concrete roads are in good condition.
Budget increases
According to the executive, the fixed annual budget for road maintenance must increase from 949,000 euros to 1,417,400 euros. In 2027 and 2028, an additional one-off 1 million euros per year will be added. For minor repairs, another 181,700 euros per year is needed.
The money has already been included in the 2027 budget, because the province requires this in its role as financial supervisor. According to the executive, that does not yet mean that the council has already given substantive approval to the road policy.
The council will decide in December on three points: maintenance at quality level Basic according to the national CROW system, omitting major maintenance on four quiet roads, and adopting the road policy plan. Within that system, Basic is the lowest level that is still considered responsible.
Delays and subsidence play a role
Maintenance on cobblestone and paved roads has been postponed in recent years because of fibre optic cable installation. According to the documents, asphalt deteriorates faster because the subsoil sinks and due to damage after winters. The executive also mentions settling peat, heavier agricultural traffic on roads that were not built for it, and new European requirements for asphalt.
There was also not enough money to carry out all planned maintenance. As a result, part of the work was left undone in 2025. Around 238,000 square metres of road, more than 10 percent of the total, lie on or near peat soil in the east of the municipality.
According to calculations by Sweco, cheaper scenarios later lead to new backlogs. Delaying maintenance outside the villages would create a backlog of more than 6 million euros in 2033. A fixed budget of 8 million euros is 865,700 euros too low according to the calculation.
Rolderveld remains outside major maintenance
Four quiet roads will no longer receive major maintenance, only the necessary minor repairs. These are Tweederdeweg in Gasselternijveen, De Minhaar in Papenvoort, the road Rolderveld near Nooitgedacht and the dead-end section of Schapendrift in Gieten. That principle was already established by the council in 2021.
- TweederdewegTweederdeweg in Gasselternijveen: geen groot onderhoud meer, alleen noodzakelijke kleine reparaties.
- De MinhaarDe Minhaar in Papenvoort: geen groot onderhoud meer, alleen noodzakelijke kleine reparaties.
- RolderveldRolderveld bij Nooitgedacht: geen groot onderhoud meer. Welk deel precies, staat niet in de stukken. Dit stuk vanaf de T-splitsing is zichtbaar beschadigd (22 oktober 2026); de rest van de weg ligt er nog goed bij.
- SchapendriftHet doodlopende deel van de Schapendrift in Gieten: geen groot onderhoud meer. Welk stuk precies, staat niet in de stukken.
- RolderveldDit deel van Rolderveld ligt er nog goed bij.
- Hof van SaksenVakantiepark Hof van Saksen.
In the council proposal, the road policy plan and a news article by RTV Drenthe, a Rolderveldweg in Nooitgedacht is mentioned. A street with that name does not exist. In the memo from consultancy Sweco accompanying the same plan, the road is called Rolderveld, and we assume that is the road the municipality means.
Rolde.nl went to take a look on Thursday. Most of Rolderveld is still in good condition. The asphalt between the T-junction south of holiday park Hof van Saksen and the entrance and exit of the park is visibly damaged. That section is mainly used by traffic to and from the park. The decision probably concerns this section, but the documents do not say exactly where the road section starts and ends. Work is currently being carried out on the nearby Veldweg.
According to the municipality, these are roads with little traffic, no houses on them and no tourist route. The latest inspection shows that with limited maintenance traffic can continue to drive there safely. If replacement is needed later, the municipality will look at whether such a road can be unpaved or semi-paved.
No list of streets yet
The road policy plan does not state which streets in Rolde or other villages will be dealt with when. The executive draws up an annual maintenance programme for this. That programme will be published on the municipality's website. Village interest associations will be informed and nearby residents will receive advance notice.
Road closures due to roadworks are also announced in De Schakel and on the provincial website for roadworks.
