E22 Eastern Entrance to Riga Luis Martins Dias (DHV) IAIA07 session
Introduction E22 is important road connection between Riga and Moscow E22/Eastern Entrance is connection to Eastern part of capital Riga New connection (2x2 motorway) north of existing A6, providing extra capacity E22 planned in densily populated and rapidly expanding part of Riga city Currently EIA phase ongoing Existing A6 provides insufficient capacity
Important issues Spatial planning in Latvia is organized bottom-up Road planning is organized top-down The E22/Eastern Entrance crosses 5 municipalities Municipalities are vital stakeholders that can block road development Road only seen as nuisance and not as opportunity Local inhabitants have important say and access to political power (local and national) Municipalities willen wel spatial development (woningbouw en bedrijven), maar geen road development
Stakeholder involvement Limited to formal moments in EIA procedure (more informing) No informal contacts during EIA process (due to unclear outsourcing process) Municipalities and local inhabitants objected against alternatives New (and improved) alternatives prepared and EIA report adapted Project manager from Road Administration became more involved in stakeholder management (improving road planning process) Formal moments m.n. informeren: inspraakavond na opleveren MER
Lessons Formal moments for public participation are insufficient, informal contacts necessary When outsourcing the public participation process, the role and tasks of the consultant should be clear Enhanced role of project manager improved the process – search for balance between role and tasks authority and consultant Clear tension in context: local spatial development (housing, industry) vs national road planning – no reservation for roads Les 1: formele procedure inspraak is onvoldoende Les 2: bij uitbesteden moet duidelijk zijn wat rol en taken van consultant is (versus rol van LSR zelf) Spanning in context: lokale ruimtelijke planning vs. nationale wegenplanning. Daarnaast hebben niet alle gemeentes een RO plan. Faciliteren groei, maar niet wegenaanleg (geen reservering)