Road management and maintenance

There are four road authorities in the Netherlands: the national government, the provinces, the municipalities, and the water boards. We currently manage approximately 244kilometre polder and dike roads.

Manager of dikes and therefore of dike roads

The role of the water board as road administrator originated in the past. As the administrator of dikes, the water board also became the administrator of the road that ran along the dike. Only in the provinces of North Holland, South Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht are water boards also road administrators. In the rest of the Netherlands, roads are administered by the national government, the province, and the municipalities. In 2014, our board decided that the water board should focus primarily on its functional water tasks: ensuring safe dikes and clean and sufficient water. Road management is therefore not a core task for HHNK. See the Road Transfer page.

Our responsibilities

The roads we manage are mainly located outside built-up areas. Almost all of them are classified as 'access roads'. These are local roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h. We also manage everything along the roads, such as bike paths, sidewalks, shoulders, light poles, trees, and ditches. Furthermore, we are responsible for the complete design of the roads.