The Challenges and Safety Measures of Road Closures for Major Renovations in Amsterdam

It is just after nine in the evening when two red crosses appear on the matrix signs above the three-lane highway near the Amsterdam Zeeburger Tunnel. Traffic is directed to the right lane, towards the exit. “There you have it, the orange column,” says traffic manager Niels van den Brink as he looks down from a viaduct. In the distance the yellow flashing lights approach. The front car has the cones, the middle one is the action car with the large flashing arrow. Behind it a truck with a large fold-out bumper. “We call that the collision absorber,” says Van den Brink. “Just in case someone isn’t paying attention and drives up at 100 kilometers per hour.”

Then the most exciting moment begins. While traffic in the right lane forms a slow-moving traffic jam, the orange flashing lights in the left lane remain silent. From the loading platform, the men in the front car placed orange cones on the road surface while driving.

It soon becomes clear that the danger does not come from the traffic jam in the right lane. Despite the red cross above the road, several passenger cars are still shooting across the middle lane to merge into the traffic jam further down the road. A dark car speeds past and misses the work crew by a few meters. “Well, that red cross applies to everyone, but apparently not to him,” Van den Brink notes scornfully.

Work safer and longer

The road closure is part of the work on the Zuidasdok, the large-scale renovation of the station area at Amsterdam-Zuid station. For the second weekend in a row, the A10 South ring road to the A4 towards Schiphol was completely closed from Friday evening to Monday morning. In total, about two hundred iron sheet pile planks and fifty vertical pipes must be placed between the metro and the road surface. Such a closure is called ‘short and severe’ in Rijkswaterstaat jargon: a short interruption that causes a lot of traffic disruption.

While until recently it was customary to only close individual lanes, it is increasingly being decided to shut down all traffic during major road works. This is safer for the contractors’ construction staff, who do not have to pay attention to passing traffic during work and can work longer. It is also safer for road users; After all, a 20-meter sheet pile plank can also hit a passenger car if it falls.

However, there is the inconvenience for road users. Because one disruption on the A10 has suddenly made it a lot busier on many roads in and around Amsterdam. “We deliberately do this over a weekend. Then it is calm – although normally there are still around 6,500 cars per hour on that road,” says Van den Brink when he is back in the car. “All that traffic is now being diverted via the A9 and A10 North, which can cause considerable traffic disruption.”

A year of planning and consultation

There is a lot to consider when breaking up a highway near Amsterdam. This one closure alone was preceded by a year of planning and consultation. Six teams will close the road in an hour and a half, and during the rest of the night they will install a total of more than a thousand cones and six hundred diversion signs, while the Rijkswaterstaat traffic center watches live and controls the red crosses on the matrix signs. Traffic controllers manage the extra traffic on the diversion roads. It is a large interplay of scripts and safety guidelines. Everything has to be right so that traffic does not degenerate into chaos and work can continue for as long as possible.

Van den Brink and his team are responsible for coordination with Rijkswaterstaat, the municipality of Amsterdam, the contractors, public transport company GVB, the VU Medical Center and the police – but also with the Johan Cruijff Arena, where Ajax will play Feyenoord this weekend. He laughs: “That match is not ideal, no. Everyone will get there on the way there. But for those who have to return to Schiphol after the match, it will be a completely different story. On the other hand: there is always something here. A full Ziggo Dome, a concert in the Afas Live or a football match – we can do it all to tradebut preferably not everything at the same time.”

The road closure is part of the large-scale renovation of the station area at Amsterdam-Zuid station. Photo Walter Autumn

A large part of the A10 has now been closed. Van den Brink steers his car with a yellow flashing light to a closed driveway at the Amstel junction. Traffic controllers in yellow jackets are sheltering from the rain under the train viaduct. Coordinator José, a cheerful Spaniard with an Amsterdam accent, hands out stroopwafels. The atmosphere is relaxed and there is laughter – the men know each other from road closures throughout the country. The color of jackets shows who is involved in safety (yellow) or work (orange). Pylons are called cones, a matrix board is called an MX for short.

A little further on, the four deserted lanes of the A10 extend. The road is currently empty, but soon there will be a coming and going of large construction machines, says Mark Willemsen. He is co-founder of Traffic & More, the company that installs the pylons and yellow diversion signs. Willemsen points. “There the contractors are waiting with their equipment until the highway is empty and the ‘work zone’ is released.”

There is no longer a minute to lose. “The contractor wants as much time as possible to work, but we want to be able to carry out our work as safely as possible,” says Willemsen. “That can cause tension in some cases – because if we are officially allowed to start a closure at eleven o’clock, such a contractor is already on the phone at two past eleven. ‘Can he do it yet?’” Willemsen uses his hands to calm down. “I then say to my people: take it easy. If you work under pressure, you are going to make mistakes.”

Also read: At the Zuidasdok we are finally looking ahead again

Safety may be the most important part of the job, but Willemsen’s men also run a lot of risks during their work. “We ensure that it is safe. Every time that arm on the right goes out of that car, it goes into an unsafe area. We also innovate on that; we ordered a car with an automatic cone setter. Everything to keep our people safe in the car for as long as possible.”

Busier roads and scumbag behavior

Figures on the number of accidents during road works are not kept centrally. The men on the A10 know plenty of examples. Last week on the A58 near Moergestel, where a truck driver was not paying attention and crashed into the back of a traffic contractor’s car. The traffic team escaped with minor injuries and damage to the body, but judging by the images of the accident, it could have been much worse.

Every time that arm on the right goes out of that car, it goes into an unsafe area.

Dutch roads have become much busier in recent years. And the asshole behavior is also increasing, says Willemsen. “You don’t want to know what we’re going through. We once had to close the A9 near Spaarnwoude for major works. The road became slightly narrower there, causing traffic to come to a standstill. When we started driving again, swear words and full cans of Red Bull flew around our ears.”

Sheet piles are being installed between the metro track and the southern part of the A10 ring road around Amsterdam. Photo Walter Autumn

As soon as the work area is cleared, the flashing lights are dimmed in accordance with safety regulations. Near the metro track, a man in an orange jacket uses a grab to place steel plates on the road surface. In the meantime, the guardrail has been removed further down the road and we have to wait until the last metro has left at 1 a.m. and the metro track is taken out of service.

Work continues day and night throughout the weekend, until the moment comes when the builders have to complete their work on Sunday evening. When everything is off the road, Willemsen’s teams will drive again to pick up all the signs and cones they put up on Friday. The road must be open again at 5 a.m. on Monday morning for the morning rush hour. “If we did this for one night, the contractors would have about four and a half hours to work,” says Willemsen. “Now they can go all weekend long.”

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2023-09-23 18:32:03
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