Once again, local residents and users of the Zeeweg are called upon to help think about how the road can be made safer. Many accidents happen on that road between Overveen and Bloemendaal aan Zee, also known as the N200. Earlier, the ABC Architecture Center in Haarlem made the same call.
The province will start next autumn with a number of minor adjustments to the head of the Zeeweg. In 2028, the road will be overhauled for major maintenance and then larger adjustments may also be possible to improve safety.
Double up?
Local residents and users of the Zeeweg are now being called upon to help think about this. It is striking that the ABC Architecture Center in Haarlem, in collaboration with the Friends of Middenduin foundation, issued the same appeal to residents of the municipality of Bloemendaal about a year and a half ago.
At the time, this resulted in about thirty submissions, including the idea of placing flexible bollards between the lanes and dividing cycle paths into lanes for fast and slow traffic.
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“It is true that the ABC Architecture Center held a competition at the time about how the Zeeweg could be improved. That was around the 100th anniversary of the road,” says a spokesman for the province. “The jury report also stated that all ideas would be further investigated and that will now happen. We also want to expand the question a bit more. Everyone in the region gets the chance to respond. This way we get a more complete picture. “
Tackle dangerous intersections
In the course of 2023, the head of the Zeeweg will be tackled first. This concerns the places where cyclists and cars cross each other, such as the intersection between the Zeeweg and the Parnassiaweg (the road that runs to the beach bar Parnassia aan Zee, ed.) and the one between the Zeeweg and the exit of camping De Lakens. From the end of 2023 it is also not allowed to drive faster than 50 kilometers per hour from the campsite to Boulevard Barnaart.
Additional traffic signs and clearer markings and speed bumps will be installed at the two aforementioned intersections. Several trees along the Zeeweg will also be felled in phases. These are trees that have been damaged by storms or have been affected by fungi. And can therefore pose a danger to traffic.
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Deer collisions
There are relatively many collisions between cars on the Zeeweg and suddenly crossing deer. To reduce those numbers, lowering the speed could be a possibility, from 80 to 60 kilometers per hour. To see what consequences this will have on the flow of traffic and on the natural environment (Natura 2000 area, ed.) of the Zeeweg, a route study is first necessary.
Fences
A frequently mentioned solution to reduce the number of collisions with deer is to raise the fences along the Zeeweg. Zandvoort Willem van der Sloot has been arguing for this for years. He previously showed NH how bad the fences along the Zeeweg are in:
Willem shows the dilapidated fence in November 2022 – NH News
Willem has presented his ideas several times to the province and all other parties involved. And now he has ‘tipped’ the province again. Anyone who also has a good idea about how the Zeeweg can be made safer can send an email to [email protected].
A first draft will be presented in September 2023. It is possible that the Zeeweg will become safer little by little.