[NL] Roads and Motorways in the Netherlands • Autosnelwegen

[keokiracer]

That would be because overcapacity is a dirty word here in NL. But not on rail tracks, only on roads...

[snowdog]

Originally Posted by lafreak84

What happens in 50 years? You're going to widen roads to 2x20+8 just to prove your point that widening solves congestion problems?

Population and traffic stops growing.


Anyhow, I fear for the next elections, and an anti car government.

[Kaaskop]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

There are no people living at the Zuidas office park and most offices there benefit from their location directly visible to 300.000 people every day.

I have to correct you here, there are appartments on the Zuidas. Eventually they want to build 9000 appartments in this area, making it the largest housing project in Amsterdam after IJburg.

Awesome pictures by the way, especially the historic ones!

[sotonsteve]

If you stop building or improving roads then places start becoming more like London. When I have tried crossing London I have been faced with two options. There is the direct route through London on city streets which is 40km long and according to Google Maps takes 1 hour but normally takes me 2-2.5 hours. Alternatively there is the motorway route around the city which is 105km long and according to Google Maps takes 1.25 hours but normally takes me 1.5-2 hours. Journey times are long and very unreliable, and due to the lack of alternative routes one accident cripples a wide local area. Due to the lack of mobility people from London are relatively trapped inside the city. As a result you get the impression that Londoners are not well travelled and think the world ends at the motorway ring road, the M25, also known as the road to hell due to its traffic congestion. London is congested, polluted and stressful, and studies have found that people from London are the least happy in the country.

As road building and road improvements have stopped in the UK much smaller towns and cities have started developing traffic problems like London. Car ownership levels have largely peaked, and it is population growth that is driving traffic volume growth. But unlike the Netherlands we rarely build or improve roads nowadays, so roads just become more and more congested and people become more and more stressed with life.

[ChrisZwolle]

The Netherlands had the same problem. Travel times did not just become longer, it became extremely unreliable. Just one car breakdown at 6.30 am near Utrecht affected all traffic in central Netherlands. There was no spare capacity to deal with minor incidents even. Traffic congestion grew outside the rush hours, it was not uncommon to find delays in many spots even at 11 am. We were turning into a Los Angeles-style country with perpetuous congestion. Luckily it's now changing for the better. While congestion can never be totally ruled out, things can improve significantly.

[Slagathor]

Originally Posted by snowdog

Anyhow, I fear for the next elections, and an anti car government.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, there seems to have been a change in attitude and culture in the whole society, including the political classes. Yes, some parties value roads more than others, but I don't think any of the parties would advocate a return to the darkness of the 1990s.

[ChrisZwolle]

I feel some politicians, both local and national, are not ready for the faster decisions, like the Blankenburg Tunnel. Until a few years ago, it took an average of 3 full government terms from procedures to construction. Now it can be done much faster. Some politicians appear to be longing back to the times where there were 42 subsequent studies about a road until a decision was taken.

[Slagathor]

That's usually the more... controversial projects though. I agree that the government is still liable to endlessly postpone the controversial stuff. Like the Hedwigepolder case.

[ChrisZwolle]

Today was the "Dag van de bouw", the day of construction, where dozens (if not hundreds) of construction sites open to the public, including various road projects. Several road enthusiasts visited the A5 Westrandweg skyway in Amsterdam, which will open to traffic in two phases in late 2012 and early 2013.

The skyway is very impressive and if you don't know better, it looks like a mid-sized American city with the elevated road and the skyline of the Sloterdijk area of Amsterdam.



both photos by Hajo


photo by René

[ChrisZwolle]

I myself visited two projects. First the N50 Ramspol Bridge north of the city of Kampen, where a 1948 bridge is being replaced by a much wider 4-lane expressway bridge.

image hosted on flickr

N50 Ramspolbrug 2-6-2012-7 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N50 Ramspolbrug 2-6-2012-11 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N50 Ramspolbrug 2-6-2012-16 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N50 Ramspolbrug 2-6-2012-23 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

[ChrisZwolle]

I also visited the N35 Combi Tunnel in Nijverdal, which is about 60 kilometers from the N50 construction site. They are constructing a 3-tube tunnel; 2 tubes for road traffic (2x1, but space for 2x2) and a tube for a two-track railway. Construction commenced in 2008 and will be completed in 2014. It's one of the slowest progressing projects in the Netherlands, but the end result is worth it. The town of Nijverdal suffers from significant congestion.

image hosted on flickr

N35 Combitunnel Nijverdal 2-6-2012-1 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N35 Combitunnel Nijverdal 2-6-2012-6 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N35 Combitunnel Nijverdal 2-6-2012-9 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

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N35 Combitunnel Nijverdal 2-6-2012-15 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

N35 Combitunnel Nijverdal 2-6-2012-16 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr

[snowdog]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

I also visited the N35 Combi Tunnel in Nijverdal, which is about 60 kilometers from the N50 construction site. They are constructing a 3-tube tunnel; 2 tubes for road traffic (2x1, but space for 2x2) and a tube for a two-track railway. Construction commenced in 2008 and will be completed in 2014. It's one of the slowest progressing projects in the Netherlands, but the end result is worth it. The town of Nijverdal suffers from significant congestion.

Looks impressive but I can't help to think they could just better route the road around town, north or south if it. Better as in cheaper...
But undoubtedly, the forest area there is ''too precious'' for that .

What I also wonder, if they build a tunnel ready for 2x2 lanes, why don't they open it 2x2 from start ? Surely it's a matter of just painting the roadway a bit differently ? Sounds just as stupid as the N11 thing years ago, when they blocked 2 of the 4 lanes in total because of some stupid bureaucracy.

I understand that in some places it's not logical to create a bottleneck, but what does it hurt to make a 1x2 road, that goes into 2x2, and then back into 1x2 again, just like for example the Westerscheldetunnel ?
If you make a tunnel for 2x2, then open it as a 2x2 road rather than some stupid temporary 2x1 situation. I hate the mentality to not open extra lanes because ''it's not necessary'' or even downgrading roads. If there is space and asphalt then let it be used rather than closing it off or downgrading it!

[Godius]

I agree with you CZ, the A5 Westrandweg looks pretty impressive.

[bogdymol]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

Today was the "Dag van de bouw", the day of construction, where dozens (if not hundreds) of construction sites open to the public, including various road projects.

Nice ideea! I wish they would do something like this in Romania also.

PS: Nice pics!

[Slagathor]

Originally Posted by snowdog

Looks impressive but I can't help to think they could just better route the road around town, north or south if it. Better as in cheaper...
But undoubtedly, the forest area there is ''too precious'' for that .

What I also wonder, if they build a tunnel ready for 2x2 lanes, why don't they open it 2x2 from start ? Surely it's a matter of just painting the roadway a bit differently ? Sounds just as stupid as the N11 thing years ago, when they blocked 2 of the 4 lanes in total because of some stupid bureaucracy.

I understand that in some places it's not logical to create a bottleneck, but what does it hurt to make a 1x2 road, that goes into 2x2, and then back into 1x2 again, just like for example the Westerscheldetunnel ?
If you make a tunnel for 2x2, then open it as a 2x2 road rather than some stupid temporary 2x1 situation. I hate the mentality to not open extra lanes because ''it's not necessary'' or even downgrading roads. If there is space and asphalt then let it be used rather than closing it off or downgrading it!

I don't know about other projects, but in the case of the Westerscheldetunnel the issue was simple: lack of money.

The national government was extremely reluctant to spend a lot of money on a province it considers insignificant. So the province had to pay a chunk itself. But Zeeland is a small province with relatively little funds so they had to be inventive. One of the compromises they made was to make the access roads 2x1 initially. That way they could save some money.

The goal is to have a 2x2 connection from the A58 all the way to the Belgian border. Since the national government is not interested in this, the province of Zeeland has bought the Westerscheldetunnel and is currently using the toll income to pay for a new tunnel near Sluiskil. Further upgrades are currently underway.

The reason all of this takes time is simple: there is no money to do all of this at once.

[ChrisZwolle]

The Dutch motorist and tourist association ANWB reports traffic congestion declined by 35% in May 2012 compared to the six-year average of previous years. Congestion was down during both the morning and afternoon rush hours. The lower congestion levels continue a trend that started in early 2011.

[ChrisZwolle]

Today it's exactly 45 years ago the first Benelux Tunnel opened to traffic in western Rotterdam. The new tunnel carries the A4 motorway, and was a toll tunnel between 1967 and 1980. The toll was 1 Guilder for passenger cars and 2.50 Guilders for trucks. The original tunnel had 2 tubes with 4 lanes of traffic, and proved insufficient by the late 1980's due to the tremendous growth of the Port of Rotterdam, which was the largest port in the world in those years. Construction began in 1997 to construct three additional tubes and a subway tube, which opened in 2002. Although there are 5 traffic tubes (2+2+1+2+2 lanes), the center tube is closed permanently and acts like an escape and maintenance tube. It was intended as a reversible lane, but is not in operation, likely because adjoining parts of A4 do not have more than 8 lanes anyway.

[Des]

Guess that 1 reversable lane idea came up in the same time as the stupid carpool lane on the A1... Waste of space and money

[keokiracer]

Yesterday I took another look at the A4 between Halsteren and Dinteloord, I only went to Halsteren-Steenbergen though.

All pics can be found here

From viaduct Eendrachtsweg (exit Halsteren)


All markings have been added since the last time (picture is the viaduct Eendrachtsweg)


Well, someone's in trouble


Start of highway coming from Steenbergen (southbound)


There will be a junction in the temporary bypass A4-->N259. This bypass is needed so they can work on the bycicle bridge and the further A4 all the way to Dinteloord. This side road only leads to 1 farm.


Bypass towards Steenbergen


From viaduct Eendrachtsweg towards Bergen Op Zoom:


Coming from Steenbergen towards Halsteren: at the top of the exit


The asphalt has been placed until here. The rest will be done in the weekend of 15-18 june, when the N259 will be closed and the A4 and N259 will be linked together. After that the new part of this highway will be opened.


From the junction Zoekweg/Stierenweg looking towards Klutsdorp


From the N259. From here the cycle path will go through the construction site. Of course, this is untill the bycicle bridge is opened (Location (SV))


Road running parallel to the A4 on the westside.

[ChrisZwolle]

A truck damaged an overpass along A50 near the city of Oss today. Accidents like these with structural damage to structures is rather uncommon in the Netherlands. The overpass needs reinforcement, but it is unknown whether it has to be torn down.