The municipality of Aalsmeer recognizes that the design of the roundabouts of the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg (N196) does not meet safety on the road. She has a number of adjustments in mind, but wants to discuss them with other parties involved first. This is evident from answers from the municipality to written questions from NH.
“It is clear that the high number of (near) accidents is also a concern for the municipality,” said the spokesman. Since the beginning of this year, accidents have regularly occurred on the recently constructed roundabouts of the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg. Most of this takes place on the roundabout of the Dorpsstraat.
Monique de Haas lives right next to the roundabout and has been seeing or hearing colliding cars, bicycles and scooters every week. She is then quick to provide first aid, even though she has no background in healthcare. “You may wonder if that’s okay, but I’m going to take a first aid course soon,” she said in an earlier report from NH Nieuws.
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Monique sees accidents happen every week on the roundabout next to her house – NH News
Monique also thinks that the municipality should keep track of the number of accidents on the roundabout next to her house and the other roundabouts on the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg. That is not happening yet, the municipal spokesperson acknowledges. He does report that the municipality is considering possible measures to make the roundabouts ‘safer and clearer’.
Thresholds and traffic lights
One of those schools of thought, as the municipality calls the options, is the installation of thresholds in the bus lane. “So that the speed has to be reduced by the drivers just before the roundabouts,” he explains.
Instead of speed bumps, you can also opt for traffic lights that only turn green when the bus has slowed down sufficiently. A third option is to remove the bus lane on the roundabouts and allow the bus to follow the traffic on the roundabouts.
The latter is already happening at the roundabout at the Zwarteweg. This was chosen for safety reasons, because a number of schools are located there and many young people cycle around. There are no hard figures, but the number of accidents on the roundabout at the Zwarteweg is in any case considerably lower this year than the number of accidents on other roundabouts on the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg.
Color on the bus lane
Driving school owner Lydia Zwetsloot thinks that motorists have to look for it in yourself. Because it is so cluttered, they would have to slow down to keep an overview. Nevertheless, in an earlier NH report she made a suggestion to make the situation clearer. “Maybe the bus lane could get a tan.”
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Driving instructor Lydia gives roundabout lessons – NH News
The municipality will soon discuss the desirability of possible adjustments with the province, which is responsible for the bus lane, and the Transport Region. “The safety of our residents is always the highest priority for the municipality of Aalsmeer,” said the spokesperson.
“If advancing insight now shows that the design of the N196 still needs adjustment, we will urge the province, the transport region and the bus company to find the safest solution together with us.”
This is the third story of a triptych about the controversial roundabouts on the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg in Aalsmeer. This morning we published the story of Monique de Haas. She lives next to the roundabout on the Dorpsstraat and regularly provides first aid to victims of traffic accidents. This afternoon we showed the roundabouts from the teaching car of driving school owner Lydia Zwetslootwho likes to take her students to practice there.