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Freeways in the Netherlands

Started by Chris, March 24, 2010, 09:43:35 AM

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Truvelo

Something similar may happen in Britain but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Speed limits limit life


Chris

There are only 5 countries with speed limits lower than the United Kingdom in Europe.

1 country has a 140 km/h speed limit (Poland)
16 countries have a 130 km/h speed limit
10 countries have a 120 km/h speed limit
4 countries have a 110 km/h speed limit
1 country has a 100 km/h speed limit

Truvelo

I'm currently working in the Netherlands and I have to say the last few days have been a nightmare with traffic. I'm surprised how a country with such a dense motorway network is so congested.

This evening for example. I left Rotterdam just after 5pm, bad time I know, and my hotel is in Breda. A16 is the direct route so got as far as Dordrecht and the traffic stopped. I turned round and took A15 east then tried the A27 but that was also stationary so I drove across the gore area, naughty :police:, and continued east along the A15 to the A2. The A2 heading south was also stationary. As I'm now heading out of my way I decided to stick it out. Stop start for the next few minutes until Hertogenbosch and then I took the A59 west. Now I can do 120kmh. And now for the worst part - I will take the A27 south to Breda and I expect a direct connector from the A59 to the A27. No, the A59 stops dead at a set of traffic lights. I know connections between British motorways are bad but this is dreadful. Should there be a four level stack here - I think so.

I can't wait to return home. I know we don't have ten lane motoways with eight lane C/D roads in Britain but being stuck in 18 lanes of crawling traffic is not a nice experience. I don't know how people can cope with such heavy traffic and paying extortionate prices for the pleasure to sit in queues. I filled up today at €1.80 litre. Thankfully my company is paying.
Speed limits limit life

firefly

One bad day is barely a reason to complain. After all you are one reason why roads are congested. And rat-racing around to find a better way makes things even worse. I presume you would have been quicker sticking to your original route. It would have been cheaper as well. Taking the detour via den Bosch technically disqualifies you from lamenting raised petrol prices.

Knooppunt Hooipolder is just fine as it is. The A 59 is a glorified dual carriageway anyway as you may have noticed. So absorbing the A 27 slips by a pair of crossroads is therefore a sensible solution. At least more sensible than a four-level-stack which would be way over the top.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Truvelo on March 06, 2013, 03:34:28 PM
I can't wait to return home. I know we don't have ten lane motoways with eight lane C/D roads in Britain but being stuck in 18 lanes of crawling traffic is not a nice experience. I don't know how people can cope with such heavy traffic and paying extortionate prices for the pleasure to sit in queues. I filled up today at €1.80 litre. Thankfully my company is paying.

Are you driving a right-hand-drive vehicle in the Netherlands?

If yes, is that as difficult as it would seem? 

Though I have talked with a few people serving in the U.S. military who were posted to the UK and took their left-hand-drive vehicles with them and said it was not as bad as I would have thought.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Road Hog

Quote from: cpzilliacus on March 07, 2013, 08:55:36 AM
Quote from: Truvelo on March 06, 2013, 03:34:28 PM
I can't wait to return home. I know we don't have ten lane motoways with eight lane C/D roads in Britain but being stuck in 18 lanes of crawling traffic is not a nice experience. I don't know how people can cope with such heavy traffic and paying extortionate prices for the pleasure to sit in queues. I filled up today at €1.80 litre. Thankfully my company is paying.

Are you driving a right-hand-drive vehicle in the Netherlands?

If yes, is that as difficult as it would seem? 

Though I have talked with a few people serving in the U.S. military who were posted to the UK and took their left-hand-drive vehicles with them and said it was not as bad as I would have thought.

I've driven a left-hand-drive vehicle in the UK and it's not bad, but drive-through windows are hell.

Chris

The Hooipolder interchange is highly inadequate, but a 4-level stack is not necessary. They are currently funding a reconstruction of the A27 freeway from Utrecht to the Hooipolder interchange. There is not sufficient funding to widen the entire freeway to 8 lanes at this time, so they will widen only the worst segments. On the top of the list are the Merwede Bridge at Gorinchem (4-lane bridge with no shoulders and 100,000 vehicles per day) and the reconstruction of the Hooipolder interchange (A27/A59). The interchange will likely become a cloverturbine.

Traffic in the Rotterdam region is currently the most congested in the Netherlands because freeways around other cities have been widened in the past 5 years. Traffic around Utrecht and Amsterdam has improved dramatically, for example on the A2 freeway, traffic congestion was cut by 98% after they widened it from 6 to 10 lanes. Traffic congestion on A12 west of Utrecht was also cut by over 95% after they widened it from 6 to 8 lanes.

Truvelo

Quote from: cpzilliacus on March 07, 2013, 08:55:36 AM
Are you driving a right-hand-drive vehicle in the Netherlands?

If yes, is that as difficult as it would seem? 

Though I have talked with a few people serving in the U.S. military who were posted to the UK and took their left-hand-drive vehicles with them and said it was not as bad as I would have thought.

I'm renting a car from the airport. Believe it or not this is the first time I've rented a car in mainland Europe. All the previous times I've driven on the continent have been in my own car.

Talking of US military, why are there so many full size American pickups in Holland? I've seen hundreds of them and most have the distinct V8 petrol sound. With gas prices so high what drives so many people to use such thirsty vehicles. In Britain you see the odd American pickup every now and then but not in the high numbers I've seen in Holland.

As for the road network here's some more of my observations. A59 near exit 39 is a narrow bridge without shoulders. There is a 70kmh speed limit that is totally ignored. As for the A27/A59 interchange what do you mean by a cloverturbine? Are the turning movements freeflow?

I had the pleasure of the driving the new American standard A2 between Amsterdam and Utrecht. What I didn't like is the 100kmh limit and the Trajectcontrole cameras covering the widened section. 100 is a painful crawl. This should easily be 130.

One of the stack interchanges in Rotterdam, A15/A29 I think, is being rebuilt. It appears they have got the design straight from the Texas design book. It looks so american. Maybe they should paint the left edge line yellow and the American pickups in Holland will feel at home :cool:

Today is my last full day in Holland so I decided to leave Rotterdam at 4pm to beat the traffic. Wrong :ded:. The LED signs on the Ring show a map and I assume white is clear and red is queues. I hit a nasty queue on the A20 near the A13. I wonder if Rotterdam has a longer rush hour than London?

I normally hate it when I return home from abroad and wish I could stay longer but this occasion I can't wait to get away from the mayhem and traffic. It's comparable to rush hour in big American cities. At least when you're outside American cities the traffic disappears but in Holland the rural motorways are just as bad. It's true of Britain but our rural motorways tend to queue only if there's an accident.
Speed limits limit life

agentsteel53

when I drove from Belgium to Germany via Amsterdam, we had no trouble at all on the freeways.  they were fairly bad at 6pm on a Tuesday, so we ascribed that to being 6pm on a Tuesday.  they were fine the rest of the time.

and no, I don't remember exactly which freeways, other than I believe it was A4 in, A1 out.
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Chris

Pickup trucks are fairly popular in the construction sector. Many self-employed in the construction sector own one. There are circa 30,000 American pickup trucks registered in the Netherlands, plus thousands of Japanese pickup trucks (Nissan Patrol, Toyota Hilux, Toyota Landcruiser, etc.) Road authorities also love them. American pickup trucks are not politically correct, so most road authorities buy Toyotas.

Apparently most American pickups are converted to LPG / autogas because it's almost € 1 per liter cheaper than gasoline. LPG / autogas is just over the American gas price, compared to more than $ 9 per gallon for regular gasoline.

However, European vans are still much more popular, chiefly because they offer diesel engines, something most American carmakers don't. Only Chrysler / Dodge sold diesel vans in the 1990s / early 2000s. (the popular Chrysler Voyager, also known as the Dodge Caravan or Chrysler Town & Country).

firefly

Quote from: Truvelo on March 07, 2013, 01:13:24 PMAs for the A27/A59 interchange what do you mean by a cloverturbine? Are the turning movements freeflow?
Something like this probably.

Truvelo

I'm here again and this week has been just as bad as when I was here in March apart from Tuesday. Maybe the ceremony for the new King was a holiday? It made a change to see no congestion.

I've noticed a few changes since two months ago. A4 exit 3 near Hoofddorp is undergoing some kind of alteration. It appears some kind of C/D roads are being added. There's also a lot of new development taking place to the west of the junction so maybe the roads are being widened to cater for the extra traffic.

Work on building the missing sections of the A4 near Rotterdam is making steady progress. I mentioned in my last post about the Texas style stacks and since March some of the ramps are nearing completion. I hope the A4 when completed will remove North-South traffic from the A15 and A20. Maybe congestion on the Rotterdam Ring will be history.

I will be here again at the end of the month but not in Rotterdam thank god.
Speed limits limit life

Chris

Yep, Rotterdam is definitely the worst area in terms of congestion.

About A4, there are two new interchanges constructed and the existing one will be removed. They add 2 collector lanes each way (which makes it a cross-section of 14 lanes). It is part of the N201 upgrade around Aalsmeer. It's the largest provincial road project in the Netherlands at € 750 million.

There is a new four-lane motorway planned to connect A16 with A13, so that north-south traffic does not have to get on A20. It will be a toll road though. Additionally, they are currently planning the new A24 link west of Rotterdam that connects A15 and A20. It will be a six-lane toll tunnel. Both projects should be completed around 2020/2021.

As you have noticed, A15 in Rotterdam is undergoing a major expansion, it's being widened from 6 to 10 lanes. This motorway has incredible trucking volumes (up to 35,000 trucks per day at some segments). Works should be completed by 2015.

Rotterdam is the most traffic-intensive area of the Netherlands. Most of the ring road is loaded to capacity, for example the six-lane A20 carries as much as 185,000 vehicles per day. The 12-lane A16 bridge carries 230,000 vehicles per day and was the busiest stretch of road in the country until it was passed by A4 at The Hague last year. A13 also carries upwards to 180,000 vehicles per day on its six lanes.

Truvelo

I have noticed all the motorways west of the A27 have to use the Rotterdam Ring. I'm not impressed about the new routes being tolled. I assume the A4 will be free. I'm also disappointed to see the traditional catenary and low pressure sodium lighting being replaced as part of the work. N201 @ A3 is having the lighting replaced at the moment.

I'll have a search for the A4 plans.
Speed limits limit life

Chris

There are currently three toll roads planned to be open to traffic by 2020-2021;

* A13-A16 link at Rotterdam
* A15 extension south of Arnhem
* A24 tunnel west of Rotterdam

They took the "Norwegian approach" here, only a part of the total investment has to come from tolls, which means these new links will become toll free once the toll proportion is paid off. With the volumes and tolls planned, I estimate these facilities to become toll free in 7 - 10 years.

Tolls are outrageous because of the already high taxation on motorists, motoring-related tax revenue exceeds expenditures on road infrastructure by 3 - 4 times. However, in current times of budget cuts and austerity, it is the only way to construct these (expensive) projects.

Legislation forbids to toll existing roads. Unlike the U.S., this also means road widenings are not to be tolled. Only entirely new links are allowed to be tolled.

Interstatefan78

Quote from: Chris on May 03, 2013, 08:03:08 AM
There are currently three toll roads planned to be open to traffic by 2020-2021;

* A13-A16 link at Rotterdam
* A15 extension south of Arnhem
* A24 tunnel west of Rotterdam

They took the "Norwegian approach" here, only a part of the total investment has to come from tolls, which means these new links will become toll free once the toll proportion is paid off. With the volumes and tolls planned, I estimate these facilities to become toll free in 7 - 10 years.

Tolls are outrageous because of the already high taxation on motorists, motoring-related tax revenue exceeds expenditures on road infrastructure by 3 - 4 times. However, in current times of budget cuts and austerity, it is the only way to construct these (expensive) projects.

Legislation forbids to toll existing roads. Unlike the U.S., this also means road widenings are not to be tolled. Only entirely new links are allowed to be tolled.
Would they have electronic toll collection gantries just like Norway/Sweden has on their cites or a cash option just like an Austrian Alpine tunnel crossing. From what I've seen in your videos was that these motorways can be widened if heavy build up occurs on them

Chris

There are no land-consuming toll plazas planned, so toll-by-plate or transponders is the only solution. ANPR is technically no problem, but getting toll bills sent to foreigners paid is an issue, especially with the A15 extension which is close to the border with Germany. The EU is currently working to make DMV databases accessible to foreign authorities so they can send toll bills (or fines for that matter) to foreign drivers. However, sending toll bills is one thing, getting them paid is another. They need some kind of enforcement.

Some countries are already cooperating, until about 5 -10 years ago you could get away with speeding tickets issued in other countries, unless you were pulled over (which is much rarer in Europe than it is in the U.S.) I've received a speeding ticket from Germany, but not from France.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Chris on May 23, 2013, 09:52:19 AM
There are no land-consuming toll plazas planned, so toll-by-plate or transponders is the only solution. ANPR is technically no problem, but getting toll bills sent to foreigners paid is an issue, especially with the A15 extension which is close to the border with Germany. The EU is currently working to make DMV databases accessible to foreign authorities so they can send toll bills (or fines for that matter) to foreign drivers. However, sending toll bills is one thing, getting them paid is another. They need some kind of enforcement.

At least in Stockholm, non-Swedish vehicles are categorically excluded from the congestion tax cordon around the downtown area. This makes sense, since there are ferry terminals to Finland and Estonia within the Stockholm cordon.

I don't know if non-Swedish vehicles are exempted from the congestion tax in Gothenburg (Göteborg).  The E6 and E20 highways run through that cordon.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

SkyPesos

#93
Going to use this as the general Dutch roads thread, as the "Stroads" video posted in the forum recently peaked my interest on Dutch roads. What is the general opinion here of this intersection design used widely in the Netherlands? For me, I think the design is great, adding some extra safety like the curb between the right turn area and bike lane for cyclists without taking that much away from drivers.

Chris

I live in the Netherlands. This curb at right turns is not a common feature except in cases where the whole bike path is detached from the road.

There are two types of bicycle infrastructure in the Netherlands: bike lanes and separate bike paths. Bikes lanes are mostly found in the more densely built-up areas, such as in urban cores where there was no space to build separate bike paths.

Detached bike paths are most common in suburban areas. I know it may sound counterintuitive, but Dutch bicycle infrastructure is better in lower density suburban areas than inner cities, which have less space for separate bicycle infrastructure and vastly more places where you need to stop at traffic signals. However most Dutch cities are compact with short travel distances, so it is still convenient to bicycle almost everywhere in a city.


An example of bicycle infrastructure in the denser areas: narrow bike lanes squeezed in, a larger number of signalized intersections.


In the suburban areas bicycle infrastructure is often completely detached from the main arterials, with few if any points where cyclists need to stop or give way.



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