By cutting a ribbon, Deputy Jeroen Olthof of the province of North Holland has reopened the first new road section of the AC de Graafweg. A number of residents then drove the first meters over the new asphalt.
Work has been going on for several months on AC de Graafweg to renew the pipes under the road and the asphalt. At the end of January, the first part was closed, and now it was reopened with a festive moment. This happened at a new roundabout, between Wognum and Floris van Noordwijklaan in Spanbroek.
Deputy Jeroen Olthof was allowed to bite the bullet and cut a ribbon, after which the first visitors could ride a real horse tram over the renovated part. Just before that, director Patrick Franken of PWN symbolically opened the tap of the renewed drinking water transport pipeline.
Wider road
It will take a while before the other parts of the AC de Graafweg are also renovated. The work is expected to be completed in a year and a half. The reopening of the first part was such a great moment for the province of North Holland that they want to celebrate it.
Thanks to the innovations, the dangerous S-bend has been removed. Together with the widening, this makes the AC de Graafweg a lot safer. In addition, the province also wanted to reflect on the cooperation that is necessary to make such a major road approach possible. But also with residents from West Friesland and farmers who donated land for this part of the road. “Collaboration is never self-evident, you have to keep investing in it, and that’s what happens here,” says Olthof.
Truck ban
The two-month closure caused a lot of inconvenience on the diversion roads. The trucks in particular caused vibrations in the surrounding houses of these streets. Due to the reopening, it is again possible for freight traffic to drive from the De Veken industrial estate on the N241 towards the A7 motorway, and vice versa. It is expected that there will be no or less nuisance on the local diversion routes.
However, these diversions will still be necessary in the coming months. The second part of the AC de Graafweg will be closed from Monday. This lasts until Friday 4 August. During this closure, the road between the Lindengracht and Pade intersections will be taken care of. Most of the intersections remain open. Everything at the intersection on Breestraat and Middelweg will be closed. A ban on trucks also applies to this closure.