Despite the May holiday, you can set the clock to it this week. Every morning, often as early as six o’clock, and every afternoon, traffic jams arise on the A16 and A17 motorways from West Brabant to Rotterdam and vice versa. If an accident also happens on these roads, the traffic can be completely fun. “We are getting into extra trouble.”
The A16 and the A17 have been designated by Rijkswaterstaat as diversion route for traffic to and from South Holland. This is necessary because the Heinenoordtunnel in the A29 will be closed in both directions until Monday morning.
“During holidays and weekends, the pressure on the road is less.”
“To limit disruption, the tunnel closes during holidays, weekends and nights. Then the pressure on the road is less. We prefer not to do it, but it is necessary, because the tunnel needs a thorough renovation,” says a spokesman for Rijkswaterstaat. “An extra lane has been created on the A16, but it cannot be done without closure.”
“We have intensive consultations about the work with various parties involved, from municipalities to companies and from transport companies to interest groups. To bring it even more to the attention, we have placed signs, we use the (social) media and we advertise,” says the spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat.
Jan van Mourik, manager of advocacy at VNO-NCW Brabant Zeeland, is not happy with the closure of the tunnel, to say the least. He is not waiting for, as he calls it, new traffic chaos: “It only takes a moment to do something on the A16 and the A17 and traffic will be even more congested.”
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“There is far too little capacity to cope with the traffic in Brabant. Start building roads again,” is his plea. Van Mourik realizes that this is impossible in the short term. He holds his breath for next summer, when the Haringvliet bridge in the A29 will be closed for a thorough renovation: “I look forward to that with fear and trembling.”
VNO-NCW, Van Mourik’s organisation, is not standing still. “We are already in consultation with, for example, companies on the industrial estate in Moerdijk to adjust working hours. Traffic just needs to be better distributed across the roads.”
“We continue to look at what else we can do.”
This sounds like music to the ears of the Rijkswaterstaat spokesman: “We also talk to companies and point out, among other things, working from home if possible. During the closure of the Haringvliet bridge, a ferry will also sail especially for (moped) cyclists. In the meantime, we will continue to see what else we can do. But yes, at some point it stops.”
The municipality of Moerdijk says that it ‘unfortunately cannot be avoided’ that traffic jams arise and that traffic then looks for shortcuts on its territory. She’s going to investigate additional measures necessary for the major summer closure of the Haringvliet bridge and, subsequently, the Heinenoord tunnel again.
She is already consulting with companies, united in the Brabant Mobility Network, about shared cars and carpooling, for example. A reward system has also been devised for people who take the bicycle or public transport instead of the car. The Dutch Railways also think along: they use longer trains at busier times.
See here what the plans are for the Haringvliet Bridge:
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