Hilversum wants to get rid of the traffic on the outer ring road. With a package of measures, the municipality thinks it can quickly improve the flow of traffic on Johannes Geradtsweg and Diependaalselaan, but things will not get any quieter. According to traffic alderman Bart Heller it is no different.
The two roads are important Hilversum traffic arteries. Years ago, Heller’s predecessor stated that the Johannes Geradtsweg and the Diependaalselaan are at their taxes.
The alderman is also behind this. With a Hilversum that wants to grow up to and including 2040 in terms of inhabitants and jobs, measures are certainly necessary. But those solutions will not meet the demands of the residents.
Don’t resolve
“The residents want a 30-kilometer street and fewer cars. They don’t really want to live on an outer ring road. I’m not going to solve that for them,” says Heller honestly. Of course he sees and knows the problem and believes that with a total package of measures for the whole of Hilversum he can certainly mean something for accessibility and the quality of life in Hilversum. the people who live on these busy roads.
These clear words from the alderman will undoubtedly not go down well with the people who have thousands of cars at their doorstep day in, day out. In recent years it has become increasingly busy.
Residents have been asking for a structurally sound solution for some time, so that the nuisance they experience really decreases. The decision two years ago to close the small railway barriers only fueled that discussion even more, because that will certainly lead to even more cars through the Johannes Geradtsweg.
Not an easy solution
As mentioned, the solution is packaged in a combination of measures. The real traffic egg of Columbus is not emotionally included. “There is no easy solution,” Heller admits honestly. Many of the things that are currently in the plans for the coming years still require further investigation.
Extra asphalt is out of the question anyway. There will not be a tunnel under the heath from the A1 to the Media Park or a second access road over Erfgooiersstraat. The same applies to the current coalition’s own plan. Last week it was decided not to widen the viaduct and to create a long lane.
Making an adjustment for the Joop den Uylplein is a promising solution. There are now two small lanes on Johannes Geradtsweg for traffic that wants to turn left towards the A1. The idea now is to extend this lane. There is a caveat to that, because that means loss of parking spaces and trees. “Unfortunately we don’t have free public space,” says the alderman.
The traffic flow at the Sumatralaan intersection near Insulindelaan can also be improved. There it is possible to deepen the underpass of the railway viaduct, so that high trucks can pass under it.
Forced
“By closing the southern part of Sumatralaan at the intersection with Insulindelaan, all traffic that normally takes Celebeslaan and Sumatralaan-zuid is forced to take Joost den Draaije roundabout and the intersection Insulindelaan – Johannes Geradtsweg via Lage Naarderweg. “, can be read in the documents.
Other things that should contribute to better accessibility here are optically narrowing the Johannes Geradtsweg. This will cause traffic to slow down.
Low-traffic center and 30 on the center ring
Fewer cars to and through the center and if cars do drive then they will no longer be allowed to go as fast as is currently allowed. This is also stated in the mobility plans of this college. In the short term, the intention is that cars on the Groest, Herenstraat and Veerstraat are not allowed to go faster than 30 kilometers per hour. The cars will soon be guests on the Bussumerstraat. More space for cyclists and pedestrians is the idea behind all this.
Heller also thinks it is good to introduce this speed on a very large part of the center ring. He is talking about the stretch from the ‘s-Gravelandseweg to the Gooilandplein and the Schapenkamp (from the station) to the Melkpad.
More space for the bicycle means that more facilities are needed for the steel steed. In addition to the 7,000 bicycle parking spaces that will be built on both sides of the station, another 2,000 bicycle parking spaces will be added in the entire municipality between 2028 and 2030. Until 2028, the municipality hopes to have realized more cycle routes: between, for example, NS station Hilversum and Amersfoort and Utrecht.
More general solutions include a municipality focusing on ‘smart traffic lights’ that adapt to current traffic conditions. Agreements with employers, for example from Mediapark and Arenapark, to allow more people to work in hybrids, to focus much more on various forms of shared transport, and Hilversum wants to see whether navigation systems can be influenced. Can something be done with the data that the TomToms of this world pass on to motorists? This is also fodder for further research.
Peter de Hoogh
Then to the Diependaalselaan. Research must show whether cyclists can be moved away from the Utrechtseweg – Diependaalselaan roundabout. Cyclists should use the Pieter de Hooghlaan. According to Heller, this would fit in well with the cycling route between Utrecht and Hilversum, which should be completed in 2027-2028.
It is clear that trucks cannot be banned for legal reasons. The many large vehicles that race daily on the Diependaalselaan are a thorn in the side of many residents. What Heller wants to look at is to get the speed down on the provincial roads, including the N201 (Vreelandseweg). Traffic there is now allowed to drive 80 kilometers per hour and that should go to 60 per hour.