Functional road categorization: new concepts and challenges related to traffic safety, traffic managment and urban design: reflections based on practices in Belgium confronted with some Eastern European cases

The last decade functional road categorization has drawn new attention in several countries in Europe. In this paper some reflections are made on practice in the Flanders Region in Belgium, confronted with some cases in Latvia and Romania. New challenges for the road system related to spatial planning, traffic safety, transport and traffic management and urban design are inducing research for new concepts for road categorization. These new concepts can be considered as new frames for road planning (and prioritization of investments) as well as for road design.