Concerns about the busy bicycle crossing at local interest Nieuw Amsterdam/Veenoord have not yet been resolved. Quite the contrary. For years, local interest Nieuw Amsterdam/Veenoord has been trying to bring the busy crossing at the bicycle bridge on the Vaart Noordzijde and Vaart Zuidzijde to the attention of the municipality of Emmen. But so far it has been a bone of contention.
There are also concerns about road safety in general in the village, secretary Margriet Vorsteveld showed during the committee meeting tonight. “We want to draw attention to this again.”
According to her, many signals are received from local interests about the crowds and the high speed at which people drive through the villages. “These are busy villages. We are located between the highway and the surrounding villages,” she says. “We see that the police are sometimes there to enforce it, we all know that people are driving far too fast.”
Last year, a traffic evening was organized with the municipality and police to discuss bottlenecks. “We then chose ten bottlenecks with the municipality,” she explains. The busy bicycle bridge and then the crossing on the side of the Vaart Zuidzijde stood out.
“People are driving fast. Elderly people do not dare to cross the road with a walker. Priority is not given,” Vorsteveld summarizes. “A road narrowing is not an option due to emergency services. Small children cannot cross without parents. No priority is given.”
But so far no action has been taken. “Several commitments were made in May 2019. We were recently asked again whether we can indicate or identify bottlenecks. We have been working on this for years,” says Vorsteveld, to her surprise. “Do we have to start at the bottom again?” The secretary indicates that the bicycle bridge is an important point for the villages when it comes to the connection between the new building and the center, the sports clubs and the school.
The VVD is also receiving signals about road safety, according to councilor Anita Scheper. The municipality announced last year after the so-called traffic evening that it could not make any promises. It is not yet known whether the municipality of Emmen will take action.