A petition against the partial closure of the Haringvliet bridge has been signed by more than 10,600 people. The important north-south connection on the A29 between Hoeksche Waard and Goeree-Overflakkee will be partially closed for two years: only one lane is open in both directions and a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour is allowed. Signatories fear a lot of extra travel time due to traffic jams.
“The consequences are unacceptable for road users”, say the makers of the petition. With the signatures they want to get the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to investigate alternatives “to maintain the current capacity for road traffic, whereby under no circumstances are lanes closed”.
The makers state that opening the bridge once a week does not outweigh the consequences for road traffic. According to the petition, a temporary closure of shipping could be an option.
Closure leads to longer traffic jams than expected
NRC writes that the provinces of South Holland, Zeeland and North Brabant have now also knocked on the door of Rijkswaterstaat. On the basis of that “urgent request”, Rijkswaterstaat would investigate whether it is possible to keep two lanes open instead of one.
Last week, an internal investigation by Rijkswaterstaat showed that the temporary closure of the bridge will cause even greater blockages than previously thought. Instead of the previously estimated half hour of extra travel time on working days, that is now one hour. The investigation has not yet been published but has been shared with the NOS.
Both the municipality of Hoeksche Waard and Goeree-Overflakkee mentioned the measures unacceptable. At the beginning of last month, both municipalities said they wanted to sit down with outgoing minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen and Rijkswaterstaat to discuss alternatives.
According to industry organization Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN), the long-term closure of lanes will cost the transport sector at least 53 million euros.
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