After two months of work and the necessary traffic jams, the 2nd Coentunnel will not open again on Monday, but on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. So a little earlier than planned. A new asphalt layer was laid in the tunnel yesterday. The traffic that is not yet completely over: next Friday the inner ring of the A10 East will close for more than two weeks.
“We come everywhere,” says asphalt coordinator Harry de Boorder. When just about all the work has been completed, people are working. “We started this morning on the north side of the tunnel, there we have already applied the ZOAB. We have now entered the tunnel with the machines to apply the top layer and so we will leave the tunnel again.”
The 2nd Coentunnel is in the direction of Amsterdam-Noord and the Zaanstreek has been closed since 12 July due to major maintenance. Contractor Derek Vrugteveen: “We have applied new lamps, new heat -resistant upholstery, new line lighting and new cameras.”
Traffic chaos
The closing of the tunnel led to an enormous traffic chaos in and around Amsterdam. “I also suffered from it myself, I am from Hoorn,” says De Boorder. “But you know, I am glad that we are finally getting the space to do it during the day instead of the nights and the weekends. This is good for us, not for the environment.”
According to environment manager Joost Duivis of Rijkswaterstaat, the traffic chaos was to be expected, but it could not be otherwise. “Not actually. We really placed this work in the summer. But it took nine weeks and that does not fit completely in the summer period. Yes, it has been very busy, but unfortunately it did not fit differently.”
Next Saturday at 3 p.m. so the Coentunnel will open again. But with that the misery on the roads around Amsterdam is not over yet. Because next Friday the inner ring will close from the A10 East between Watergraafsmeer Junction Amstel. That work will last until October 6.