Though Roermond grew and expanded steadily over the years to come it was not until the start of the 21st century that Roermond saw another boost coming. This recent growth was mainly caused by the construction of the highway A73 circling Roermond on the east-side. The highway was planned to open in January 2007 with the 2.5 km long Roertunnel leading traffic underneath a part of the city and the shorter Swalmertunnel underneath Swalmen. However due to delays the tunnels only opened with 1 carriageway available and frequent closures. The tunnels grew infamous during the first weeks when numerous closures due to technical problems caused constant traffic jams. The tunnels are now fully operational. Another highway connection under construction is the German autobahn A52. The last 6 km stretch from Düsseldorf to the German-Dutch border was recently completed. The highway leads from Roermond straight to Düsseldorf.
Though the economy runs above average in the region and the city attracts new residents (mainly young people), the city itself still has a fairly high unemployment rate of 10.7% and the average income is lower than the national average
