At his own request, 73-year-old Amstelvener Peter will soon receive a piece of one of the noise barriers along the A9 near Amstelveen, which will be demolished these days. It is a tangible reminder of his son Caspar, who passed away at the age of 22. “Fortunately, I can still follow his trail, and I do so with perseverance.”
Noise barrier A9 demolished to make way for bypass, tag saved – NH Nieuws
The yellow-brown noise barrier that is being dismantled these days has been worked on by countless young people over the past three decades. With spray cans that is, and especially on the highway side where pedestrians are not allowed to come.
Among them was Peter’s son Caspar, who had been dealing with graffiti since his early teens. One of his first tags (a graffiti writer’s signature) was roguewhich he left behind as a 12 or 13-year-old on the noise barrier along the A9.
For thirty years now, the yellow-brown walls between, say, the Sint Annakerk and the Keizer Karel College have been protecting local residents and schoolgoers from the noise of the speeding traffic. The fact that one of the noise barriers now has to give way has everything to do with the adjustments to the A9.
After years of deliberation, it was decided not to tunnel under the highway, but to deepen, widen and partially cover over† When the work is completed in 2026, residents of the Oude Dorp will no longer have a noise barrier, but a park (on the highway roof) in front of the door.
Until then, they live next to the construction site where temporary lanes – the so-called bypass – are currently being constructed. The view of the construction site is obstructed by sea containers, which temporarily replace the noise barrier. To make the appearance of the containers less desolate, local residents have recently painted them themselves.
“He regularly asked me if I wanted to drive on the A9 with him so he could take pictures. I never knew what he wanted to take pictures of, but now I know he was looking for places to leave his tag,” says Peter.
Only after Caspar died did Peter become interested in graffiti. Not that he uses aerosol cans himself, but he does watch a lot of videos online about the controversial phenomenon. He also went looking for other tags from Caspar, of which he found a few. “One of them was already covered by another drawing,” remembers Peter, “that’s graffiti too.”
“Every time I am on bus 300 to Schiphol, I see it passing by”
With slight embarrassment, he says that he has already taken a close look at his son’s tag on the shore along the A9 a few times and took pictures of it. “You can’t really walk there,” he adds guiltily. Also unintentionally, he is regularly confronted with his son’s signature. “Every time I’m on bus 300 to Schiphol, I see it passing by.”
When he heard that the rampart would be removed, he decided not to let grass grow over it. “In the library I walked to a stand and asked the official if I could get a piece.” A few e-mails from the municipality and Rijkswaterstaat later, Peter gets the redeeming answer: he gets his coveted piece of the noise barrier.
Saved tag on demolished noise barrier A9
Saved tag on demolished noise barrier A9
Saved tag on demolished noise barrier A9
Peter is happy, but also slightly surprised that such a ‘powerful institution’ like Rijkswaterstaat apparently measures with the human dimension and is prepared to honor his request. “You have to know where the tag is, you have to take it out”, he sums up what needs to be done to save the piece of noise barrier.
Kudos
It is the only piece of noise barrier that needs to be saved. With the exception of Peter, the rampart does not need to be demolished with policy. “The rest is recycled,” said a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. “They have done a really good job”, Peter gives the government service and executive construction consortium Veenix a big compliment.
It is not yet known when he will receive the piece of noise barrier. Peter doesn’t know yet what he’s going to do with it. “It’s more about keeping it, I don’t necessarily have a place. I haven’t thought about that yet.”