The A4 motorway between Rotterdam and The Hague will finally be completed. Most of the road was built over the past four decades, apart from a stretch between the towns of Delft and Schiedam.

Environmentalist protests had led to repeated revisions and postponements of the building plans.

Traffic Minister Camiel Eurlings has decided that the road will be built in a cutting below surface level and partly in a tunnel, in order to preserve as much of the scenery as possible. "This will be one of the best-integrated roads in the Dutch landscape," the minister said when announcing the decision.

The roadworks should be completed by 2015.

Read more: First spade for road after 40 years of wrangling

Considering alternative links (Photo: middendelfland.net)