“It is a beautiful route,” says Johan Zwakman (79), an IJmuide resident through and through, about the lock route. “There’s so much to see.”
There is no lie: on the water between IJmuiden and Velsen-Noord the (cruise) ships sail on and off and white smoke comes out of the Tata Steel factories. And then there is the IJmuiden Sea Lock, which is known as the largest lock in the world.
Traffic is stuck
The impressive waterworks, which was officially opened in 2022, does pose a problem. Since Rijkswaterstaat started construction in 2016, cars are no longer allowed to cross the locks.
There are already so few access roads to the ‘island’ of IJmuiden, Zwakman notes: “One along the canal and one through Driehuis.” And according to Zwakman, the first one also runs along the A22 and the Velsertunnel, where traffic is regularly backed up.
Although only about 3 to 4,000 cars drive along the lock route on an average day for the construction of the IJmuiden Sea Lock, it is still ‘an important extra valve’, according to Zwakman.
Moreover, the municipality of Velsen had Rijkswaterstaat promise it: the IJmuiden Sea Lock could be built, but the lock route had to and would be restored. For all traffic, motorized or not.
New reasons all the time
Subsequently, a soap opera that lasts for years is created. “At first the lock route would only be closed during construction,” recalls Velsen councilor Jeroen Verwoort. “But even after that, the route remained closed and new reasons keep emerging not to open it.”
Rijkswaterstaat explained the reasons earlier this week a letter to the municipality. According to Rijkswaterstaat, road safety is not good enough and the required 3 to 5 million euros to improve it is not available.
But that’s not all: a lot of work is planned on the locks in the coming years. The Noorder and Middensluis are in need of renovation, the locks are being strengthened and the outdated drainage and pumping station complex needs to be addressed.
And then there is also ‘the geopolitical situation’, says Rijkswaterstaat. It means that ‘critical objects’ such as the lock complex may have to comply with all kinds of strict measures in the future.
According to Rijkswaterstaat, this can become quite complex. The water management department does not want to make this situation even more complex by allowing cars to enter the locks.
Go to court
Councilor Verwoort and the municipality of Velsen are now preparing to go to the administrative court. According to them, this should check whether everything has gone according to the rules. This only requires an official traffic decision from Rijkswaterstaat.
Zwakman has another idea: “If we really want to improve accessibility, there must be a connection from IJmuiden to the A9.”
