There are now numerous protest posters in the vicinity of the station, warning that the neighborhood is becoming ‘unliveable’ due to all the bus traffic. Next Thursday, the Management Committee will discuss the future of the city’s public transport lines. Three residents’ organizations use that moment to have their say in the council. “The quality of life is increasingly under pressure,” says Menno Maas of the Gunkruit platform.
Vibration committee
In her home on the Jansweg, near Haarlem station, where one bus after another whizzes by, Carina van Vlerken, who represents the Vibration Committee, talks about the nuisance. “I have lived here since 1997. We are trying to tackle the current nuisance caused by bus traffic. We are very bothered by the vibrations of those buses.”
The municipality is going to redevelop Stationsplein. Van Vlerken is shocked by the plans that have been made. “One of the options is to make the Kruisstraat completely car-free, so that it becomes a red carpet for cyclists and pedestrians. But that also means that the Jansweg will become two-way traffic for the buses. Then we will go from 800 to 1600 buses per day through the street. Then we will face much more misery.”
Rusterburgerlaan
Kees de Wit has been appointed as a representative of the residents of Rustenburgerlaan. The many buses also cause inconvenience there. “We have been suffering from the double-deckers and articulated buses for a long time. During the corona period and during the redesign of the Houtplein, no buses drove through the street for a while. When the Houtplein was put into use in August, the buses were back. and we discovered again how much inconvenience this causes. A group of enthusiastic residents now form the core group of Rustenburgerlaan.”
De Wit is also a member of a consultative body that is concerned with the yet-to-be built Nieuw-Zuid public transport interchange. “It will be located on the Schipholweg and will be very important for the running of the bus lines in Haarlem. The consultation did not go well at first, which is why the ‘environmental table’ was created.”
Gunpowder
The third organization is Gunkruit platform. Menno Maas is the spokesperson: “We were founded in 2018 as a platform for residents, entrepreneurs and experts who are looking for a better balance for mobility and quality of life. At that time, the first double-deckers started running and many people were affected by this. We are not against public transport, on the contrary. But it has to be better and smarter. The quality of life is increasingly under pressure.”