“We want the bridge back!” In Standdaarbuiten, more and more people are calling to restore the span that has connected the village with Oudenbosch for centuries. “It’s about time”, Adrie Kuijstermans says combatively. Together with a number of fellow villagers, the entrepreneur is making a case for the construction of a new bicycle bridge.
In the spring of 1975, the bridge between Standdaarbuiten and Oudenbosch was destroyed by a collision with an inland vessel Dordrecht. 8† Despite promises, the river crossing was never restored afterwards. The fiery demonstrations in the city council as well as signature campaigns and protests by the residents were in vain. It was too expensive and two alternative routes were available:
- the viaduct over highway A17
- and eastwards the bridge over the Mark.
The fears of the Standdaar Buitenaren became reality. Traffic had to make detours for kilometres, entrepreneurs left Standdaarbuiten and for many elderly people the bridges were literally too far. In the 1990s, an ultimate attempt was made to restore a bicycle bridge on the site of the old connection. But the initiators were unsuccessful.
Watch the report about the bridge at Standdaarbuiten on YouTube:
Standdaarbuiten in particular became increasingly isolated. “A lot of shops have left. We used to have two bakeries, two butchers, a supermarket and seven cafes here. We have one cafe and a supermarket left. People now go to Fijnaart for their shopping, but we actually have nothing to do with the municipality of Moerdijk here,” says Mieke Buijs from the village.
According to Adrie Kuijstermans, it is not only the quality of life that is a victim of the disappearance of the bridge. According to him, the students have also suffered for years. “They cycle a long way. Among other things, along an unattractive route over the viaduct along the highway. Several serious accidents have happened in the past.”
Although it has been almost half a century, surprisingly many students know that there used to be a fast connection. “I’ve heard it from my parents,” says a student on his way to Markland College in Oudenbosch. “Why wasn’t that bridge put back earlier? So now I just have to cycle an extra five kilometers every day. I wish such a new bridge to be built soon.”
The Standdaarbuitenaren do not want ‘their’ bridge back in the old place, but a little further west. It should only be accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. Kuijstermans: “It would also be attractive from a touristic point of view, because the bridge then connects directly to the forest in Standdaarbuiten.”
Ben Vermunt fully agrees with his fellow villager: “It would be nice if there was a bridge again. Then the village comes back to life. Now everyone just cycles past it and they don’t see how beautiful it is here. The bridge must go back!”