A ‘pile plan’ is intended to put an end to the heavy car traffic in the western city centre. The bridges over the Brouwersgracht, Blauwburgwal and Prinsengracht, among others, will be closed to cars with fixed bollards.
According to the Centrum district, the plan revolves around strategically placed poles that should ensure that the residential areas of the western canal belt, the Jordaan and the Haarlemmerbuurt become unattractive to cut-through traffic.
Local traffic must still be able to enter and leave the neighbourhoods. Cars, taxis and lorries can no longer cross the neighborhoods from north to south or vice versa due to the poles. Local traffic can only reach the destination from one direction. This traffic can then drive out of the neighborhood in the opposite direction.
Prevent cut-through traffic
Through cut-through traffic is thus made impossible: cars will no longer drive through the neighborhoods, but according to the district, they will use the designated through routes: the Nassaukade, Haarlemmer Houttuinen, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Raadhuisstraat and Rozengracht.
In addition, the district wants to introduce one-way traffic on the northern part of Marnixstraat. It would then be introduced on the stretch between the Bloemgracht and the Brouwersgracht. Car traffic will then only travel in a northerly direction on this part of the street. The intention is to create space for a bicycle street in a northerly direction and a cycle path in a southerly direction.
More travel time, more driving comfort
The effect of both initiatives has been studied, says district administrator Micha Mos (Centre). “The first results show that the pile plan indeed ensures that there are no longer any through routes for cut-through traffic. As a result, the total amount of car traffic in the residential areas is expected to decrease by 15 to 25 percent. It is getting busier on the connecting roads around the neighbourhoods.”
According to Mos, it might very well be that the travel time for motorists will increase due to the poles. “On paper it will be. And that’s part of it. But at the same time there will be fewer cars, we expect, which will increase driving comfort. You are not chasing a tourist who delays everyone.”
Vulnerable quay walls
At the end of 2021, the municipality will map out the problems experienced in the western ring of canals. Many residents appear to experience nuisance from through traffic in the district. Traffic is looking for a faster route via the canals than the designated main routes, such as the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.
This search has led to a traffic circulation plan in which fixed bollards, and a single retractable one, are intended to complicate the life of the traffic prowler. With the pile plan, the Center wants to achieve less nuisance from through traffic in the western ring of canals and less cut-through traffic on the north side of the Jordaan as a result of the low-traffic design of Marnixstraat-Noord.
The protection of vulnerable quay walls in the canal belt also plays a role in the plans. The pile plan also gives the district the opportunity to improve the often dangerous intersections in Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk.
The plans are not yet final, local residents will be updated on them at three information evenings. Residents and entrepreneurs can give their opinion on the plans there.