In the coming years, many residents in North Holland will be added. By 2030, according to the plans, there will be about 250,000 additional homes and 200,000 additional jobs. The traffic on our roads continues to increase. Accessibility and safety are therefore becoming increasingly important. In ‘Expedition Noord-Holland en route’, our presenter Koen Bugter finds out how we can soon be smart, clean, safe and fast on our way to our destination in North Holland.
In this first episode we see how the province is doing everything it can to keep the roads and waterways accessible and safe. In exceptional cases, Koen is allowed to accompany road inspector Lous van Veen of the province and they receive a report very quickly.
Van Veen hears through the walkie-talkie ‘that the third lane may have to be removed from traffic’ because a car is dangerously on the emergency lane on an N-road.
Once they arrive, Koen and Lous see a car with a blowout. There is nothing left of the band. Koen realizes: “That is a fright on the provincial road. Fortunately, Lous and his colleagues are there to help traffic.”
Many people think of Rijkswaterstaat when it comes to road inspection, but Lous explains “that they are responsible for the national roads. We keep an eye on the provincial roads.”
safer
Koen also takes a look at the AC de Graafweg, a notorious road due to the many accidents. The provincial road will therefore be overhauled in the coming years to ensure greater safety and better traffic flow.
Sven Brand is the implementation manager for Boskalis. “We need large amounts of sand so as not to get a bumpy road. Twenty thousand trucks are coming here.”
How does the project involve the environment? “The AC de Graaf app helps answer questions people may have.” Ultimately, the road must become safer. “We are going to make it one and a half meters wider. This will make it easier for trucks, among other things, to pass each other,” says Brand.
Peel an apple
At the traffic control center in Hoofddorp, they monitor all provincial roads in North Holland on countless screens. Koen meets Richard van de Bosch, traffic engineer from the province. Our host asks the man, “You, Richard, are responsible for diversions?”
If Van de Bosch confirms this, Koen “still has a bone to pick” because with diversions “I often think why does it have to go all the way through that village?” Van de Bosch: “That is not very convenient. Sometimes it is really too busy and sometimes there are no clever diversions. You try to do it as well as possible.”
Missing
The province also keeps an eye on the waterways. Waterway inspector Daisy Olierook ensures that safety is guaranteed in everything that can happen on and around the water. The shore is monitored for possible fallen trees or a damaged rampart. Sometimes it specifically concerns the safety of human lives.
Daisy speaks passionately about her work: “My colleague, who has just retired, has brought up fifteen people who were missing or involved in an accident. In the water we also come across bicycles and sunken boats. in the water thanks to our sonar was a horse trailer. If we take that out, you make the water safer for boat traffic again.”
As a waterway inspector, Daisy says she has “indeed the most beautiful job in the world.”