[NL] Roads and Motorways in the Netherlands • Autosnelwegen

[ChrisZwolle]

These suffixes are used for ramps. A/B/C/D and whichever is necessary. Some go as high as Y or Z if there are many ramps.

[Batavier]

Nice video, good to see that the new expressway is finished, I'm not sure if I saw it right, are the bridges on this road already built for an expansion to a 2 by 2 road?

[ChrisZwolle]

The new N307 is designed for 4 lanes indeed, but not a motorway (no space for full-size shoulders under overpasses).

The N307 should eventually be a full 4-lane expressway between Lelystad and Kampen, but this will not happen before 2020 or 2025.

[CNGL]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

These suffixes are used for ramps. A/B/C/D and whichever is necessary. Some go as high as Y or Z if there are many ramps.

I've found a Y at Ridderkerk interchange: http://maps.google.es/maps?ll=51.875...,341.8,,3,13.6

[dawid_silesia]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

The new N307 between Dronten and Lelystad in the Flevoland province opened to traffic today. I made a video of the new 100 km/h road.

On left Hanzelijn?

[ChrisZwolle]

Correct. It's not in operation yet. They start in December.

I also made a video in the other direction:

[ChrisZwolle]

Beeldbank RWS

[Palance]

Lucky me this morning - waiting for the Volkerakbrug in the A29

[Surel]

Does it take longer than on the A6? I would guess so, more shipts etc.

I waited on the A6 several times and never longer then 10 minutes.

[keokiracer]

This one can take longer, but I never had to wait there more than 20 mins.

[ChrisZwolle]

Bridge openings in the Netherlands are mainly due to recreational shipping, and far less frequent because of professional shipping. Especially sailing yachts are the cause of bridge openings in the summer season. That's why you see so many aqueducts in Friesland...

[Palance]

This was for a recreational ship.

[snowdog]

I don't agree with such bridge opening on motorways, expecially for ''recreational'' reasons, surely on the long run it's cheaper to just build a higher bridge or tunnel rather than suffer all the lost hours every time the traffic on a highway gets severely hampered ? Not to mention being more social to motorists who pay their arse of in tax and fuel duty for use of the roads.

These days high bridges are considered ''pulluting the landscape'' by some NIMBY whiners though .

[ChrisZwolle]

It's all about the money. Most aqueducts in Friesland are relatively small and cost no more than € 10 - 20 million. Large aqueducts, like Haringvliet or Ketelbrug, will be much more expensive.

[ChrisZwolle]

The Telegraaf newspaper reports the section control on A2 Amsterdam - Utrecht will be operational faster than anticipated. The coming months will be used to test the new cameras and software, after which fining will commence in the late summer. It was originally planned to start fining people at the end of 2012.

The A2 is a 10-lane motorway with a speed limit of 100 km/h, which is widely considered to be too low.

[bogdymol]

I am sure that on that section of A2 you have electornic signs. The speed limit should be ~120 km/h, and the electronic signs would make it 100 if there is a lot of traffic...

But I have a feeling that they just want to collect some money from the people... Imagine how would be to drive with 100 km/h on a 10 lane motorway alone at night

[Der-Roedie]

Not directly related to Dutch highways (since the station won't be attached to the highway system itself), but definately an interesting development in Dutch mobility taking place.

The station is part of the European Commission's first de-carbonization infrastructure project. Better Place today announced the company will open its first battery switch station in the Netherlands at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.The Amsterdam battery switch station is the part of the first and only project to be funded under DG MOVE's new de-carbonization infrastructure category in the "Trans-European Transport Network" program.

The Schiphol station, which is set to be completed this summer, will serve switchable battery electric taxis, providing them with virtually unlimited range as they commute back and forth from the airport to Amsterdam. The City of Amsterdam, like many governments and municipalities in Europe, is seeking innovative ways to reduce CO2 emissions and pollution. Electrification of taxis is one of their focus areas.

The switch station is being developed in partnership with the City of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and will initially serve 10 Renault Fluence Z.E. taxis operated by three leading Dutch taxi companies, Connexxion, Bios and TCA.

"Although taxis are not our typical customer segment, they are a great fit for our switchable battery model, as electric taxis cannot afford downtime when recharging their batteries," said Jelle Vastert, Director of Business Development for Better Place in the Netherlands. "This is a great first step for Better Place in the Netherlands, and this program allows us to showcase the value of the Better Place model while evaluating the mass-market potential for electric cars in the region."

The Better Place model overcomes the two historic barriers to mass adoption of electric cars -- cost and convenience. By separating the ownership of the car and the battery, Better Place eliminates the burdens of cost, maintenance, and warranty, as well as concerns regarding residual value and battery obsolescence, from the driver. Thanks to battery switch, Better Place gives drivers the same freedom of drive and unlimited range experienced in a petrol car.

Electric cars with depleted batteries need to simply pull into a switch station and the fully-automated process will simply switch their empty battery with a full one in five minutes, about the same amount of time it takes to fill a tank with petrol. Battery switch is the only means of range extension that allows electric taxis to maintain their same level of service with minimal downtime to charge.

"Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is supportive of innovative concepts that will enhance sustainable mobility at the airport. Electrification of transportation will play a key role in achieving this goal", said Ad Rutten, Executive President and COO of Schiphol Group. "We are very pleased that Better Place has selected Schiphol airport to open their Switch Station and join forces with us and the taxi companies already involved at the airport in our ambition for a sustainable airport."

The announcement above was already posted on the source's website a couple of months ago. Since then I haven't read much about it but I assume that serious preparations are still ongoing. In fact, the station was already announced half a year ago by a Dutch consultancy bureau named DHV that started working on a strategy for the company Better Place to systematically introduce the battery swap system in the Netherlands, amongst others by calculating an ideal geopgraphical grid pattern and mapping the legal permit procedures.

It's not the first news related to service stations designated for electric cars in the Amsterdam area either. Half a year ago the biggest 'electric service station' was announced along the A10 ringroad, and in addition Total already installed 'quick charging points' (plug to drive) at a regular service station at Stadionplein in 2011. The latter points are also prepared for a yet-to-be-introduced system that allows electric cars to be charged with alternating current electricity, which will be much quicker.

Seems that the pace of these developments is still accelerating! Now it's just a matter of battery prices to drop so that electric cars become financially attractive for the masses. Most of the full electric cars in the Amsterdam region today are owned by taxi companies that are subsidised by the municipal government (and indirectly by the EU).

[ChrisZwolle]

They are currently planning a nationwide network of 459 electric charging points along motorways.

Unfortunately current electric cars still have many disadvantages. Besides price, the main issue is the lack of range, most electric cars cannot drive more than 40 or 50 kilometers and they are not as cheap as advertised. Sure, you can get a full battery for just € 3 or € 4, but if the range is only 50 kilometers, it's not cheaper than diesel. € 4 worth of diesel gets me 55 kilometers driving range.

[Der-Roedie]

The driving range of the Renault Fluence Z.E. is coming close to 160km, which is just above average for a full electric car nowadays. Besides, the battery swap concept makes it possible to 'fuel' the car in just 2 minutes, comparable to refueling a car with a normal combustion engine. This takes away one of the main limitations faced by electric cars: the extensive amount of time to recharge the battery. If battery swap stations will mushroom throughout Europe it would even allow driving to holiday destionations without considerable delays for charging.

[ChrisZwolle]

I doubt if battery swaps will be successful if you have to change them every half hour at motorway speed. The actual range is usually less than advertised and nobody will drive until the battery is nearly dead, heck most people refuel when they can still drive over 100 kilometers.

I don't think electric cars become popular until they have the same specs as combustion engine cars in terms of affordability, reliability and range.