This is why the Seghwaert district has 2 tram stops and 2 shopping centers with different names

In Zoetermeer, most neighborhoods have a shopping center and a tram stop with the same name. For example, the De Leyens district has a shopping center and RandstadRail stop with the same name, and this also applies to the Meerzicht district. But what about the Leidsewallen shopping center and tram stop?

In the Seghwaert district there is a shopping center and tram stop with the same name. But in the same district you can also find the Leidsewallen shopping center and the RandstadRail stop Leidsewallen. Leidsewallen is therefore an odd one out: the neighborhood is trying to figure out what’s going on.

I live in Leidsewallen?

Residents in the Parks, Gardens, Meadows, Fields, Waterways and Pond neighborhoods live in the Seghwaert district. Some people who live near the Leidsewallen shopping center sometimes say that they live in the Leidsewallen district. But that district does not exist in Zoetermeer at all. There is another reason why that name was created.

Don’t walk too far

Around the 1970s, the municipality delved into a structure plan for the Seghwaert district. This also included public transport. From 1977 onwards, the sprinter of the Dutch Railways started running in our city. In the plan, the municipality set the goal that Zoetermeer residents, measured as the crow flies, would never have to walk more than 500 meters from home to the train station.

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With one train stop in the Seghwaert district, the municipality could not meet the maximum walking distance. After a calculation it turned out that, with one stop in the district, the walking distance would be more than 600 meters. A second sprinter station offered the solution. According to the calculation, the maximum walking route would be 490 meters. Because of this outcome, the municipality decided to opt for two train stops in the Seghwaert district. Residents in the northern part of the district could also divert to the Palenstein stop.

Give the animal a name

The first shopping center and sprinter station in this district was named Seghwaert. So it is named after the neighborhood name. The municipality had to come up with a different name for the shopping center and the stop at the Meeuwenveld. Ultimately, the street names committee chose the name Leidsewallen. It is derived from the Leidsewallenwetering, which flows nearby. This is the wetering that runs from the Oude Dorp to the Zoetermeerse Plas near the Noord Aa. During the council meeting in October 1972, the municipal council approved this name.

From the tram you can see the Leidsewallenwetering between the Leidsewallen and De Leyens stops.

Also spotted a mystery?

Another mystery solved! Do you also have a question about Zoetermeer? Maybe you are curious why there are faces on the facades in Seghwaert or why there are so many birdhouses in Oosterheem. indebuurt will find out! Mail your mystery to [email protected].