The tunnel in the highway was closed for several hours on Monday morning because of two sick staff members who were scheduled to operate the tunnel. Their replacement arrived at 8am.
The closed tunnel led to a busy rush hour around Rotterdam and in South Holland. Traffic was diverted via the A13 and A20. According to the ANWB, it will take a while before the roads are free of traffic jams again.
Rijkswaterstaat assumes that the staff shortage due to illness is a one-off incident and does not foresee that the tunnel will have to be closed more often for this reason. Monitoring in the tunnels is important to guarantee safety, says Rijkswaterstaat Traffic Information. That is why the tunnel can only open “when all the necessary personnel are there, safety in the tunnel is paramount,” said a spokeswoman.
