The longest planned freeway / motorway in the Netherlands finally opened to traffic last night. It's the A4 motorway between Delft and Schiedam, and will provide a second link between The Hague and Rotterdam.
Some brief history;
* 1950: first discussed
* 1957: adopted in the freeway plan
* 1965: final EIS / record of decision
* 1968: construction started
* 1972: construction stopped
* 1976: parliament votes to cancel the project
* 1985: parliament votes to restart the project
* 1992: procedures initiated again
* 1998: funding removed by parliament
* 2006: agreement signed
* 2010: final EIS / record of decision
* 2012: construction start
* 2015: opening to traffic.
The freeway was the most discussed road project in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a very fragmented political spectrum, no party has ever obtained more than a third of the votes, so coalitions of 2-3 parties are standard here. Political agreement about the project was always swinging from one side to the other. Local politicians did not want to '
hear, see or smell' the freeway, which resulted in a 2 kilometer long tunnel and a 5 kilometer long trench in terrain that is best described as 'soup'. The construction cost for the 7 km / 4.5 mi project was € 658 million ($ 715 million), and no right-of-way had to be acquired, so it is pure construction cost.
The project was considered the ultimate battle between environmentalists and economic / mobility interests. Political compromise resulted in a freeway with 3 northbound and 2 southbound lanes. But there is space for six lanes with shoulders.
Some recent photos taken before opening: