The announcement of the municipality to resume the work on bridge 108, at the intersection of the Da Costakade and De Clercqstraat, has arrived hard. Now that the street is free from fencing and workmen after a long time, this means again poorer accessibility for potential customers.
The relief was great when the redesign of the Clercqstraat seemed almost completed at the beginning of this year. After months full of fences, mud mats and noise nuisance, normal life could return, the entrepreneurs thought. Nevertheless, the municipality is now announcing another intervention. Due to construction errors on bridge 108, at the Da Costakade, a new round of long -term work began in 2026. The consequences? “Sleepless nights,” said Jan Sterk, chairman of the business association. “And that applies to many entrepreneurs.”
Bridge
The bridge at the Da Costakade now has a notorious reputation in the neighborhood. The middle part was renewed in 2017 and 2018, in 2022 work followed on the sides. An error in the design ensured that everything came to a halt in 2023. In 2024, the entire De Clercqstraat was tackled in the context of the Oranje Loper project.
Although that renovation is almost complete, the next chapter begins at the beginning of 2026: the strengthening of bridge 108. According to the municipality, the work will take about 15 months. According to Jan Sterk, this means nothing but problems. “This infamous bridge is being taken over again and that means more than a year of misery.”
The endurance of the entrepreneurs on De Clercqstraat is again put to the test by the renovation. The consequences are now visible: Tom’s Skatewinkel is now empty and strong thinks that the work has been the reason for this: “Yes, the skate shop is closed. With Corona they already had it super heavy. Then those renovations, that has really been the drop for them.”
No new growth
According to the chairman of the entrepreneurs’ association, the situation ensures that new entrepreneurs do not dare to settle. “We have Dorus there, a starting entrepreneur and he wants to invest. But if you have no income for another year, what should you do?”
American Kevin Kearney, is the owner of a sandwich shop in De Clercqstraat. Kearney agrees with strong. “I think everyone here and many of these companies in this street will suffer,” he says, standing for his case. “There is no profit for them, because it is not that they make the bridge more beautiful, it must be done due to a previously made mistake.”
Not only entrepreneurs are tired of continuous work. Local residents also speak of nuisance. “Everyone just goes crazy,” said a passer -by. “The cyclist is going crazy, the car is going crazy. Everyone, it must come to an end.”
Yet there is also understanding for the need for the work: “I know it is necessary, but as a person I find it incredibly annoying. That is also bland, because if it sinks it is much worse.”
‘Work required’
The municipality says that the work on bridge 108 is necessary due to safety and dependencies with the quay wall replacement on the Da Costakade. The bridge venovation is carried out in the period in which trams do not drive anyway through work on Raadhuisstraat and Rozengracht.
Nevertheless, the prospect for entrepreneurs is bitter: the job starts at the beginning of 2026 and it should be completed in the middle of 2027. Kevin Kearney: “As the Dutch say, if there are a lot of activities here, it is not so ‘cozy’, people avoid choosing places where you can walk around more pleasantly.”