From April 7, the bridge over the Noordhollandsch Kanaal will become the bottleneck for all traffic between Hoorn and Amsterdam. The bridge is being worked on between April and September, meaning that only half of the A7 is still available to all traffic. According to the experts, the inconvenience will be enormous and they advise everyone to stay at home or take public transport.
Not only the A7 will be partially closed, the shortcuts around Purmerend will also be closed, explains Harold Hansen of Rijkswaterstaat (RWS). All roads through the Beemster that run from north to south will be closed during the morning rush hour and the shortcuts to the left and right of the N247 will also be closed by RWS. “If you don’t live here, you have no business there,” Hansen says. Residents of the areas will receive an exemption in the mail this week. Traffic in and out of Purmerend will have to deal with extra traffic lights to manage the crowds in the city.
In the video below, Rijkswaterstaat shows exactly where you will be stuck (text continues below the video):
The bridge was immediately closed to heavy traffic in October 2023 after it turned out that the supports were defective. RWS is working on an unprecedented rush to strengthen it as quickly as possible. All traffic can only use one side of the road during the work. The work should be completed in September.
Provincial roads
The N247 between Hoorn and Amsterdam is open as usual, but freight traffic is advised to take a detour and go to Zaandam via the N246. The provincial road N247 goes straight through the small town of Broek in Waterland, where there are heavy traffic jams every day. “It’s going to be really tough here,” says Hansen. That’s why he advises: “Work from home, or take the train.”
Knowing more? Look at the linkfrom Rijkswaterstaat.