An ice cream club in Odoorn who is in sackcloth and ashes and a horse owner who is fed up with Staatsbosbeheer. There were some grumpy faces in our province this week. But the plan that we will soon have to drive sixty on provincial roads, according to a traffic psychologist, that can go into the trash and that will certainly make many motorists smile. Just like Marketing Drenthe’s advertising campaign. This played in Drenthe this week.
It’s a lousy winter for most ice clubs because of the warm temperatures. Skating was only possible for a very short time and on a limited number of ice rinks. For ice club Schoonmeer in Odoorn, the winter of 2022-2023 will go down in history as dramatic. Monday morning the smoldering remains of the association building are discovered. Burnt out. Cause? Unknown.
Drenthe is the end, Amen. Or: you can see the forest through the trees here. These are some texts that you can find on red signs along the Drenthe roads since this week. They come from Marketing Drenthe, which thinks we should be a bit more proud of our province. A smile behind the wheel is also appreciated.
At least many residents had that smile on Wednesday. On the first day of the meteorological spring, the weather is wonderful and many go out, because it is also spring break. That creates a lot of pressure on the Hoitingerveld. Shepherd Judith de Groot experiences it as a party. “I talk to people all day because they want to know exactly how I do my work. That makes it extra fun.”
If it is up to Safe Traffic Netherlands, the speed will be reduced to sixty kilometers per hour on several eighty kilometers of roads. According to the organization, 41 percent of all fatal accidents take place on these provincial roads. That would be because the roads are often narrow where you drive close to each other and there are often thick trees along the road.
Traffic psychologist Cees Wildervanck does not think the plan is realistic. “If a road is not adjusted, but you do place other speed signs, then that makes no sense at all. Those signs are often overlooked. And a wide road simply invites you to drive faster.” In fact, Wildervanck thinks that lowering the speed can become even more dangerous. “Some will stick to the speed of sixty, but some will not. And then people will overtake each other, well that is life-threatening on such a road.”
Horses are no longer allowed to walk on or along hiking trails in the Zeegser Duinen. And that is a big blow for horse owner Arjen Schuiling. Partly because of the nitrogen crisis, he stopped working as an arable farmer and started a retirement stable on his farm on the edge of the Zeegser Duinen. But now his customers are no longer allowed to enter the nature reserve with their horse.
“The government actually wants farmers to opt for alternatives. I chose that and a sign like that is now in the way,” Schuiling is disappointed. The municipality proposes an alternative route to the boarding house owner, but according to Schuiling it is too dangerous. If the municipality does not come up with a new proposal, the farmer will go to the preliminary relief judge, he warns.