Residents along the N376 at Achterste Erm are more than fed up: the freight traffic past the N376 through their village. They have approached the province and municipalities several times for help, but it has not been one so far. “The road might be able to handle freight traffic, but people no longer,” said Ingeborg Wind on behalf of the local residents.
Wind, lawyer in daily life, experiences nuisance together with other local residents caused by trucks. They use the part of the N376 between Erm and Veenoord as a shortcut. The trucks drive from the A37 and via the N34 and the N376 to De Tweeling business park in Veenoord and back to Germany and Eemshaven. According to local residents, this concerns 115 trucks per hour. According to them, this leads to nuisance, damage and possibly health problems for immediate residents.
Residents of around ten surrounding homes experience severe nuisance, according to Wind. She has performed sound measurements with her iPhone at her house. “It just comes across a hundred decibels, about a thousand times a day. We literally literally vibrate in our bed in the evening. Inside it was really extreme, as many as fifty decibels.
The situation has a direct influence on the health of residents: “The children do not sleep,” says Wind. And according to her there are clear traces of damage: “We have taken photos of all cracks.” Although not officially proven, residents suspect that vibrations due to heavy traffic are a cause: “It is almost relatively relating to the vibrations.” What things do not make things better, is the announced arrival of a large distribution center at Veenoord.
According to residents, the solution is incredibly simple. “There is just an extremely simple alternative: just about the A37. Because there is a turn to the business park near the twins.”
Attempts to persuade the government have so far ended in nothing. “You have three competent authorities: Coevorden, because that includes Achtere Erm, Emmen, because that is where the twins and the province lies as a road manager. But that official consultation is a wax nose. Nobody keeps an eye on how freight traffic is becoming increasingly intensive.” According to Wind, the municipalities point to the province and is not open to an interview.
According to Wind, the problems are not from yesterday. Residents of Achterste Erm have been ringing the bell for twenty years. The only win that has been booked so far is to set up a 50 -kilometer zone in the village. “In terms of accidents it has really improved, but in terms of nuisance it hardly helps.”
The province announced that it will ‘appreciate’ the worries and be open to questions and suggestions. “At the same time, we must carefully consider what is and is not possible, within legislation and regulations and the policy that applies to the entire province,” said a spokesperson. The province also points to the downgrading of the maximum speed of the part of the N376 that goes through the village. “That is not common on a provincial road, but this shows that we listen and where possible act.”
Moreover, the province cannot make exceptions in terms of regulations at any location. “If we do that in every place, inequality arises between comparable situations in the province.”
The province also says that a ban on freight traffic for (part of) the N376 is not possible. “This is an area access road; this has the function of leading traffic, including freight traffic, through the area. If we set a ban there for trucks, this also affects, for example, garbage trucks and parcel deliverers. Enforcement is also difficult to implement.”
Where possible, the province takes measures, according to the spokeswoman. For example, the permit for the construction of a high -voltage station near Veenoord stipulates that construction traffic is not allowed to drive through the rear. “With this we limit nuisance that we have a direct influence on.”
The local residents do not leave it at it and have now started legal proceedings.