2024 should have been the year that the Zaanse Coen Bridge would finally be tackled. For more than twenty years, local residents have been experiencing nuisance from particulate matter and noise pollution due to the pounding of the bridge when heavy traffic passes over it. Things turned out differently: outgoing minister Mark Harbers broke an earlier promise, meaning it could easily take six years longer before measures were taken. NH’s reporting on this subject has resulted in parliamentary questions.
Member of Parliament Habtamu de Hoop of Groenlinks-PvdA wants from the outgoing Minister of Infrastructure know why the problem has still not been resolved, despite an earlier promise that it would be done this year.
The municipality of Zaanstad had reserved two million euros for higher noise barriers. De Hoop asks how the municipality will be compensated now, in all likelihood more money will be needed due to price increases in a few years.
“The noise barriers can contribute significantly to reducing nuisance”
“A solution is needed quickly for the major nuisance that local residents experience due to traffic noise and the particulate matter emitted by cars,” De Hoop said in a response to NH. “The noise barriers can contribute significantly to reducing nuisance. The refusal of the (outgoing, ed.) Minister has disappointed us. That is why we have asked questions and hope that the minister will decide as soon as possible to address the nuisance for local residents. to take.”
Distraught
“We are now desperate,” says David Sluis, who stands up for the residents on behalf of the A8 Working Group. “Many things have been promised and never delivered, it feels like you’re living in a banana republic.”
To indicate how long it has been going on, he says: “The first investigation into the banging of the Coen Bridge dates back to 1999, after residents complained in 1995.” He believes that the municipality of Zaanstad should hit Harbers and Rijkswaterstaat harder.
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There is a lot going on around the bridge: in addition to the problems of noise pollution and particulate matter that residents experience, it has also been defective since 2021. One of the bridge valves then fell down with a loud thud. After a request from the municipality of Zaanstad, Rijkswaterstaat is investigating whether the repair (which is planned for this year) can coincide with the installation of the sound-absorbing screens, so that this is at least arranged.
Reduction of maximum speed
MP De Hoop also asks a question – what does the outgoing minister think about introducing a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour on the A8? – the answer to which is already known.
Harbers stated last October in the letter in which he disappointed Zaanstad among other things, that ZOAB (quiet asphalt) has already been laid and that the A8 will also meet the legal requirements regarding noise and air quality in the coming years, and that we therefore see no reason to lower the maximum speed ‘or to use other additional means’ .
Unacceptable
The municipality of Zaanstad, like the residents, was ‘not amused’ about Harbers’ letter. When Rijkswaterstaat announced in April 2023 that the noise barriers would in any case be installed two years later, councilor Gerard Slegers already said it found unacceptable.
David Sluis of the A8 Working Group believes that Zaanstad should hit the table harder with Harbers and Rijkswaterstaat. He himself is almost tired of the fight. “We have quite a large following,” he says, “but many people are paralyzed. They no longer believe that anything will change.”
The outgoing minister still has about two weeks to answer the parliamentary questions.
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