The toad tunnels on Herenweg in Bergen need to be replaced. For the major job of the Province of Noord-Holland, traffic there will be diverted in the evening and night from 8 to 27 May. The bike path remains open.
The toad migration is an annual phenomenon. Toads, but also frogs and salamanders wake up from hibernation and move towards the water to reproduce. This happens from February to April.
During that journey there is a lot of danger lurking. On busy roads, such as Herenweg, the animals are often run over by cars and cyclists. There are three tunnels under the road, specially made for amphibians. They are old and need to be replaced.
Remove asphalt
To replace them, the asphalt must be broken up. “Temporary concrete slabs will be placed on the removed asphalt, so that the tunnels have a few months to harden,” the province explains. The road will likely be closed for another evening and night for repairs. There is no date planned for that yet.
The Herenweg will be closed from 7 May between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. A diversion route has been created for traffic via the Eeuwigelaan, the Komlaan, De Dreef, the Bergerweg (N510), the Martin Luther Kingweg (N9), the Hoeverweg (N512) and the Heilooër Zeeweg.
Of Martin Jansen of the working group ‘Save the Pad’ Bergen, we walked along during the toad trek in 2021 during curfew. Watch the video here: