Worrying news that the landslide which shut a motorway in Luxembourg yesterday contained radioactive waste. Gibraltar frontier delays are getting worse. Next week could see a re-run of motorway blockades in the Netherlands. Scientists develop glow in the dark roadside shrubs, and infra-red road rage detectors.

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RADIOACTIVE LANDSLIDE LUXEMBOURG.

Exact nature of material as yet unknown.

A landslide threatens the A4 motorway in Luxembourg. Photo via Police Grand Ducale, www.police.public.lu

The landslide that shut the A4 motorway in Luxembourg on Friday morning contained radioactive material.

It is highly unlikely the slag heap at Esch-sur-Azette contained directly hazardous material like nuclear waste.

Nevertheless the EU Commissioner for Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva sent a report straight to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service which yesterday issued the following statement:

‘A landslide has occurred in an industrial waste depot with waste storage of radioactive material. The area is aside of the second largest town in Luxembourg and one of the major highways.’

We contacted Copernicus to find out the exact nature of the ‘radioactive material’ but are yet to hear back.

The landslide was first noticed by a passing motorist on Thursday night. Material from the adjacent slag heap had slipped 30m to completely block the CR-106 which runs underneath the nearby A4.

Emergency services worked overnight to stabilise landslip which also threatened electricity pylons beside the A4 motorway. The road was closed in both directions for a time but reopened in the morning.

update: we passed the story to Wort.lu, Luxembourg’s News in English website who wrote their own version, only they call it ‘hazardous waste’.

update 18.03.14, 10:33: the Luxembourg Environment Agency says the landslide does not pose any extra risk.

update 18.03.14, 16:09: the Luxembourg Health Ministry says it is monitoring radiation levels. Waste containing significant amounts of uranium and thorium was dumped at Esch between 1975 and 1987. It is now believed to lie 30-35m from the edge of the landslide but apparently has not been affected.

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roundup: GIBRALTAR QUEUE WATCH. Mega queues continue. All hopes that the situation would settle down are surely now fading. Delays reached 2h30 at the Spanish frontier today. NETHERLANDS. More rolling road blocks are on the way, possibly by the end of next week, after the latest round of negotiations between employers and truckers’ unions broke down today (article in Dutch). Meanwhile, glow in the dark road side plants are set to become reality, from the same inventor – Daan Roosegaarde – who is shortly to trial the first light responsive highway (more on that soon). DRIVING. An infrared camera placed behind the steering wheel can detect traces of anger or disgust on a driver’s face. Possibly help in the fight against road rage (how, by pinging?). Developed by researchers at Lausanne Polytechnic in association with Peugeot-Citroen.

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Ferrari will open its European theme park at Tarragona, Spain, in 2016. Russian road geeks compile the first ever map of Moscow’s current and future road building plans. Paris makes public transport free to combat air pollution. Border controls resume between Germany and Poland. Gibraltar frontier delays achieve a new high (low). Eurotunnel celebrates record results, Ireland warns about level crossings and Bosnia’s blockaded border crossing is now clear.

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FERRARI LAND OPENS IN TARRAGONA IN 2016.

Spain to host Europe’s only Ferrari theme park, and the world’s first Ferrari hotel.

The world’s first Ferrari-themed hotel will be built at Ferrari Land in Spain.

Ferrari will open its only European theme park near Tarragona, Spain, in 2016.

The company has elected to build the 75,000 square metre Ferrari Land within the existing PortAventura theme park at Salou, just south of Tarragona, an hour from Barcelona.

The concept is despised by purist petrolheads for being tawdry and commercial but Ferrari Land will likely be loved by everybody else, especially kids.

In addition to PortAventura’s existing Shambhala, Europe’s highest rollercoaster – and Europe’s tallest free fall water ride in the recently opened Water Park – Ferrari Land will get ‘Europe’s tallest and fastest vertical accelerator’.

The complex will also feature the world’s first Ferrari-themed, 250 bed ‘premium’ hotel, in addition to PortAventura’s 2000 four star beds and 48 restaurants.

The park currently attracts four million visitors a year, half from abroad.

It’s not clear yet whether Ferrari World will have a dedicated entrance like the water park.

Ferrari World, which opened in Abu Dhabi in 2010, is slightly bigger at 85,000 square metres though the entire site, covered by a unique canopy, covers 200,000 square metres.

It operates an access all areas, one day ticket policy, costing 240 AED (£40) for customers over 1.3m. The only extra is a 100 AED charge to use the Formula 1 driving simulators.

The deal finally puts paid to Valencia’s bid to host Ferrari’s European theme park. The city had submitted plans to place Ferrari Land next to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, used for Formula One testing.

Ferrari says it will ‘continue to further look at the launch of additional theme parks outside Europe with no rush, while continuing to maximise the value of our prestigious brand without diluting it’.

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Five ringed circus: finally, what we’ve been waiting for, a map of the on-going and planned road building in the Russian capital over the next three years. Compiled by a private group of researchers at www.probok.net via www.TheMoscowTimes.com Amazingly, such a thing is not available from officials sources.

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roundup: GIBRALTAR QUEUE WATCH. Delays reached three hours today, the longest so far this year. A new app showing frontier delays is now available at iTunes, Google play, etc. PARIS. All public transport is free – including Autolib cars and bikes – for the entire weekend as the authorities struggle with air pollution. IRELAND. Drivers are warned to take extra care on level crossings following 24 serious incidents last year on the country’s 1,000 unmanned crossings. GERMANY. Border checks between eastern state Brandenburg (Berlin) and Poland have restarted after crime grew by 10%, and arrests of foreign nationals by a third, in 2013. The checks are in line with border-free Schengen Zone rules. EUROTUNNEL. Revenues in 2013 topped €1bn for the first time according to annual results published today. The number of cars grew by 2%, coaches were up 9% but trucks were down 7%. BOSNIA. The border crossing with Croatia at Orasje is now free flowing after protesting farmers reached agreement with the govt over unpaid incentives.

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Finland and Belgium face off to deploy the world’s first GPS pay-as-you-go road toll system. French farmers fill the A54 with sheep in a bid to prevent reform while Bosnian farmers continue their border blockade. New ferries from Portsmouth-Santander (Brittany Ferries’ ‘economie’) and transCaspian Baku-Astrakhan. The EU puts its priority transport corridors in order and a Swedish trucker employs a lame excuse.

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FINLAND TO TRIAL GPS ‘PAY-AS-YOU-GO’ ROAD TOLLS

Will bundle with other services to help sell the idea to drivers.

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There’s an unofficial race underway in Europe to debut the world’s first GPS-based road tolling system.

Within weeks of a trial starting in Belgium, Finland has now announced a similar experiment.

But whereas the Belgian system simply uses an onboard tracker unit (OBU) to track driver movements, and bill for them later, the Finnish idea is to build a ‘multi-service platform’ of driver services of which road tolling will be just one.

Other services will include traffic, weather and parking plus other smartphone-style apps. The video above uses Apple’s new CarPlay in-car communications as an example.

It’s clear too that the Finnish government thinks this new ‘transport ecosystem’ will help sell the idea to voters.

‘We strongly believe that this OBU will not cost so much to the drivers when it has other services than just road pricing data,’ says Risto Murto, a director of the Ministry of Transport.

It should certainly be cost effective as the govt expects developers to shoulder much of the cost. GPS systems also do away with expensive roadside infrastructure. The trial starts in June.

A govt sponsored report published in December recommended replacing all vehicle taxes (except fuel) with a pay-as-you-go road tolling system. It would be tax neutral for motorists doing the average 17,000km per year.

An opinion poll taken shortly after showed 55% were against though the principle objection was not privacy, as expected, but unfairness to rural motorists.

If all goes to plan the system could be up and running by 2020. The next step for Belgian road tolls depends on the results of this year’s General Election.

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French farmers demonstrating against reform of the Common Agricultural Policy blocked the A9 and A54 motorways between Nimes and Arles in the South of France today. The protest started off relatively low key in the mid-afternoon – and appeared to disperse – only to come back much stronger in the early evening when both roads were effectively shut, and/or severely restricted until 21:00. It’s not clear yet whether more actions are planned. Photo via Twitter, photographer unknown.

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roundup: SWEDEN. A club foot caused a truck driver to speed he claimed though the court disagreed and fined him 3600SEK (£340) for the 125kmh-in-a-90kmh zone offence. CASPIAN SEA. A new ro-ro ferry route between Baku and Astrakhan starts in April, using the ship ‘Bestekar Gara Garayev’. Useful as its cuts out the exciting but risky North Caucasus regions Chechnya and Dagestan. FERRIES. Brittany Ferries new ‘no frills’ UK-France-Spain ‘economie’ ferry is now available to book. Departing Sunday 6 April we were quoted £119 one-way Portsmouth-Santander, plus £115 for a cabin. Reclining seats are available at £10 each. BOSNIA. Farmers are on day three of their blockade of Orasje border crossing. After 08:00 it was barred to all vehicles except for emergencies. See a map of alternatives. TRANSPORT. The EU now has a full complement of co-ordinators for its nine ‘core network corridors’. More on this soon, or see here for more.

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We’re sceptical of Paris traffic police’s apparent love for the environment, and Bulgaria’s claim to be building the longest tunnel in Europe (but could be wrong on both counts). An extraordinary amount of people managed a trans-continental journey squeezed inside a Sprinter minivan. Bosnian farmers blockade the Croatian border, money goes missing from a Macedonian motorway fund, and Belarus braces ahead of its first caravan season.

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PARIS TRAFFIC POLICE RIDE TO RESCUE AIR QUALITY

Or is it a desperate bid to reverse ailing accident stats?

Photo via @PrefPolice

A few months ago, Paris traffic police had their Christmas and New Year’s holidays held to ransom for not booking enough motorists.

Now, all of a sudden, they’ve issued 13,000 speeding tickets in the past week in a bid to tackle air pollution.

Really? Police that not too long ago were reluctant, for whatever reason, to book any motorists at all have now taken to it with the zeal of missionary converts, and all in the name of the environment?

Well, possibly. Since 4 March, the Paris Prefecture de Police twitter account @PrefPolice has started providing regular updates on local air quality.

But might there be another explanation?

As we have consistently reported, the impressive overall fall in fatal road accidents in France last year all happened shortly after the introduction of unmarked radar cars in March.

After that there were steadily declining gains for the rest of 2013. By this January the figures were ‘stagnant’.

Radar cars undeniably worked in the beginning but the effect wore off quite quickly. What they did prove though was that drivers were responsive to a well-publicised, well-funded and organised crackdown.

It’s true too that the message behind recent speed controls has flip-flopped between air quality and road safety. The limit cut on the Peripherique last year, from 80 to 70kmh, is a classic example.

France would not be alone in using air quality rules to change driver behaviour where other more direct methods have previously failed.

Meanwhile, the reputation of a certain up and coming government minister depends on the continuing success of the road safety campaign, and might suffer if it became known the stellar headline figures are not all they suggest.

It seems that this year’s road safety strategy has finally revealed itself. For too long these busted flush radar cars were the only trick the police had up their sleeves. It now looks likely that the summer will be a succession of flash mob-style anti-speeding actions. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

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Austrian police stopped this French registered Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibus on Saturday and found an impressive 42 people inside. Two families – 20 adults and 22 kids – were on their way from Romania to Regensburg in south east Germany. Thirty three of the occupants were taken to nearby St Polten train station to continue the journey. The remaining nine people were allowed to proceed after a technical inspection. Photo via www.polizei.gv.at (h/t @RoadRescueUK)

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BULGARIA will build the longest tunnel in Europe according to local reports. Two tunnels on the third stretch of new road between Sofia and the Greek border will total 37km apparently (by our calculations the Kresna Tunnel will be just shorter than Gotthard). MACEDONIA. Accusations of dodgy dealings in the construction of the Demir Kapija-Smokvica highway in the south east to the Greek border. Almost 100 suspicious transactions totalling €3.5m have been observed involving money mostly from EU institutions. BOSNIA. Farmers have blockaded the Orasje-Zupanje border crossing over alleged unpaid incentives. Trucks have been blocked entirely but some cars are getting through. Alternatives include Posavina-Brčko and Bosanski-Šamac (see map). BELARUS now has its first ever National Caravanning Association. ‘Caravanning is a type of tourism,’ says a statement. ‘Caravanners travel in motorhomes and stay in camping sites.’ It may take some time for them to get used to the idea. Five new sites are due to open in the capital region this year. GIBRALTAR QUEUE WATCH. Delays reached two hours today, about average recently.

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Getting our heads around the next generation in-car internet connections. A warning that Europe’s police will be on the look out for drivers and passengers not using seatbelts this week. Swiss voters to decide how road improvements are paid for. A good guide to driving in Turkey, an end to road blocks in Sarajevo, plus the benefits of the Touring Club Italia discount card.

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NEXT GENERATION IN-CAR CONNECTIVITY

Very fancy web-based driving services still depend on roaming charges, but maybe not for much longer.

Land Rover’s new In-Control system.

Apple’s new CarPlay made a big splash at last week’s Geneva Motor Show. Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are the first manufacturers to use the system which effectively turns a car’s satnav screen into a giant iPhone. Another thirteen major car makers are due to follow suit.

Land Rover debuts a similar system on its new top end Evoque Autobiography later this year. The number of apps is more limited than CarPlay, so far – though it works with Goggle’s Android operating system too – but essentially it does the same thing: keeps the driver seamlessly and safety connected to the internet.

Both systems are surely the next big thing in in-car communications. But while they make connecting more convenient they don’t make it any cheaper, particularly outside the driver’s home country.

The same old problems, of either searching out free wifi hotspots – or forking out fortunes for roaming boosters – remain for the time being.

BMW’s current ConnectedDrive avoids this to a certain extent because, via a built-in SIM card, its mind-boggling array of services – from music streaming to remote locking and unlocking, and concierge services – are all available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain at no extra cost.

Go outside this area however, or use the services beyond the complementary first three years, and they cost.

Similarly, the frighteningly sophisticated services available through Audi Connect – synchronising with traffic lights via a city’s main transport computer hub, for instance, or wifi hotspot for up to eight devices simultaneously – relies on inserting a SIM card subject to your provider’s data download charges.

Can you imagine the cost of data for a two week Continental holiday for eight devices?!

However amazing these services can be, and unimaginable even just a couple of years ago, the shame is they are not available to your average punter when potentially at their most useful, i.e. in a genuinely strange location, e.g. abroad.

Current moves by the EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes to end roaming charges cannot come soon enough (thankfully, apparently endorsed yesterday by David Cameron and Angela Merkel).

In the meantime, drivers are still dependent on the largesse of countries like Greece which announced plans this weekend to install a free nationwide wifi network.

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It’s TISPOL Seatbelt Week: traffic police across the Continent will be on the look out particularly for drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts, from 10-16 March.

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roundup: SWITZERLAND. Voters head to the referendum polls again to decide between the govt’s plan to raise fuel taxes, or an opposition plan to ringfence the entire fuel tax revenues, in order to pay for the roads. The govt’s plan to raise the price of the motorway vignette was defeated last year. No date for the new vote has been set yet. BOSNIA. Anti-govt protestors have agreed to lift traffic blockades in the centre of Sarajevo. TURKEY. An excellent, simple guide to driving in the country from @ATasteofTravel who drove a 6,000km round trip from Istanbul last year. The roads are in good nick, and quiet apparently. ITALY. Touring Club Italiano is again pushing the benefits of its Touring Card giving discounts to hotels, restaurants, attractions, ferries, etc, all for €25.

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Dreaded half term traffic jams, but not for the expected reasons. Volvo’s new FH winds a well deserved design award. A tragic crash in Belgium last night is bound to have repercussions while the Guardian takes in Iceland’s Route 1. 
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UGH, WEEKEND TRAFFIC

Road works and the weather ruined an otherwise decent weekend.

Holiday traffic: the A8 westbound towards Munich. At least the weather was nice.

But for some pesky road works, the expected heavy traffic returning home on Saturday from half term holidays in France, Belgium and parts of Germany failed to materialise.

Worst of all was the alternate lane running on the N20 between the Puymorens Tunnel and Ax-les-Thermes in the French Pyrenees. Drivers must have been cursing, sat there for up to four hours.

Almost as bad was the A22 Brennero – both ways at the road works north of Bolzano again and, this week, between Vipiteno and the Austrian border. The N90 Bourg-Moutiers ran a close third with works into Moutiers. The jams from Albertville were just good old heavy traffic.

The A7/B179 Fernpass had very long delays southbound due to another bout of alternate lane running in the cross border Grenztunnel.

Curiously, for the second weekend running, the border A95/B2 crossing at Garmisch was virtually traffic free the whole day until brief queues in the mid-afternoon.

Sunday dawned serene as it always does after a heavy traffic Saturday with warm spring-like, record breaking weather to match. It stayed like that until five o’clock when all hell broke loose and it didn’t stop until 21:00.

Traffic poured back from the beaches on the Channel with height-of-Summer like delays on the A25 to Lille, E40 to Brussels and inbound roads to Paris.

A breakdown saw queues top an hour heading north from Beliinzona on the A13 in Switzerland, there were even worse delays on the A9 into Montreux and it was pretty bad northbound to the Gotthard Tunnel for the first time since the summer.

Meanwhile, westbound on the cross country A3 in Germany saw big delays as did the A5 southbound to Basel.

The N20 at Puymorens also put in more multi-hour queues. But for the road works and the weather it might have been a good weekend to travel.

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Volvo’s new FH long-haul truck series won an ‘iF Design Award’, presented at BMW Welt in Munich last week. The jurors cited its, ‘Assertive, confident presence with a modern appearance which exudes premium quality and efficiency’. Previous truck winners in the ‘transportation design and special vehicles’ category include, last year, the Mercedes-Benz Actros and, in 2001, the MAN ‘Trucknology Generation’. For more see www.ifdesign.de

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BELGIUM. Seven people between the ages 15-23 died in an horrific crash on the E314 Brussels-Liege road last night. The youngsters crashed into the back of a tanker lorry. The car was completely incinerated. ICELAND. The Guardian covers the 832 mile Route 1 which circumnavigates the island, concentrating on all the locations that have appeared in films like Die Another Day, Thor and Prometheus (and Game of Thrones). R1 celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year.

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Motorway go-slow protests are held all around the Netherlands. Vladimir Putin’s motorcade speeds through Chechnya. France magazine runs down great drives around the Channel Ports while clampers in Dublin are on to a big bonus.

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DUTCH MOTORWAY GO SLOW PROTEST.

Rolling road blocks ahead of rush hour.

Friday March 7th, all roads will be closed at 15:00.

A go-slow protest is planned on motorways throughout the Netherlands this afternoon.

It kicks off at 15:00 and takes the form of a rolling road block moving at 40kmh. The fast lane will be kept free.

Police are aware of the demonstration and say they will intervene if it gets out of hand. It’s expected to last for up to 90 minutes. See a map of the affected motorways.

Major gatherings are expected at The Dam square in Amsterdam and the Botlek tunnel bridge in Rotterdam.

The action has been sparked by a group of truckers – see the official Facebook page – though it’s not certain actual trucks will take part over concerns individual companies could be picked out in the media.

Truckers are angry over general government austerity policy, the EU and large job losses recently in a sector that, according to official figures, accounts for 15% of the entire European road freight industry.

Another important issue is the price of fuel. Unleaded 95 sells for €1.785/l, Europe’s second most expensive, though diesel is in ninth place, at €1.499/l.

Meanwhile, new figures say Dutch haulage may have turned the corner due to higher exports. It grew by 2.5% in the fourth quarter 2013, the first growth for several years.

update: there was no gridlock but the demonstrations were quite well attended. Clumps of slow moving traffic appeared at points on most motorways around the country though individual delays did not exceed 30mins. Organisers warn of more blockades in the future.

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MOTORCADE CHIC: VLADIMIR PUTIN IN CHECHNYA.

A go fast motorway demonstration.

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roundup: TOURING. France magazine picks out the best roads around the Channel ports, including Roscoff, Le Havre, Calais and St Malo. DUBLIN. Clamping more than 60,000 cars this year means staff are in line for a €2,000 bonus, and time off at the end of the day say reports today. SLOVAKIA. Truckers are threatening to strike because they say the govt has reneged on a deal to abolish tolls on roads in urban areas and secondary roads, not to increase on main roads and level fines at ‘the European average’.

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