This is how the municipality determines the house numbers in Zoetermeerse streets

In one street in Zoetermeer, the house numbering starts with 1 and the numbers go up to the end. In another street we first see high numbers that continue down to a lower house numbering. Who determines that order and why? We will contact the municipality for clarity.

A reader asked us why at the beginning of Poortugaalstraat, seen from the entrance on Aletta Jacobslaan in Oosterheem, the numbering starts high and ends at the end of the street? We put this question to the street name committee of the municipality. It turns out that order can be deviated from for various reasons.

Logical addressing

A commonly used method is numbering from the center. This means that the next address, viewed from the center, starts with a low house number. For example, the count continues until the end of the street with increasing numbers. In the case of Poortugaalstraat, the house numbers should start with 1 or 2, since the center is on the side of Aletta Jacobslaan. But it is exactly the other way around.

The committee states that numbering from the center is not always possible. This is because, for example, the numbering is illogical, it makes it difficult to find or because the building plans have changed over time. If a choice has to be made between numbering from the center or a logical addressing, the latter is always chosen.

Numbered consistently

In the case of Poortugaalstraat, we do not know the exact reason for the descending house numbers. “In Oosterheem, the main focus was on logical street numbering. There you had to deal with various construction projects that also changed”, according to the street names committee.

However, Poortugaalstraat is numbered from high to low in the same way as the parallel streets such as Piershilstraat, Peursumstraat, Nieuwlandstraat and Hazerswoudestraat. “This entire area in Oosterheem is not numbered from the center, but is numbered consistently.”