Zuidasdok will kick off on the evening of Friday, 28 June with a total of eight weekend closures before the end of the year. These closures will affect different sections of the A10 Zuid and the A4. The work will partly coincide with infrastructural works in the area, including the widening of the A9 between the Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht junctions – an important access route when the A10 Zuid is closed.
Information about works
Traffic manager Niels van den Brink and his team will be working with a range of partners in their efforts to ensure traffic can run smoothly during these periods. This places significant demands on road users, which is why we will again be making use of the Ask&Go service. Van den Brink: ‘This will enable everyone to request personal travel advice that takes into account the works we are doing and what Rijkswaterstaat is doing on the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. It will ensure that there are no unpleasant surprises for anyone.’
Regional collaboration
With so much work going on simultaneously around our capital city, collaborative alliances are essential. Such as Amsterdam Bereikbaar, whose members include the Province of Noord-Holland, Rijkswaterstaat, the City of Amsterdam, Amsterdam regional transport (Vervoerregio Amsterdam), ProRail and the NS (Dutch Railways). Through Breikers, even employees have a voice in Amsterdam Bereikbaar.
Other projects in the region
In order to keep Amsterdam as accessible as possible during works, it makes sense to combine work. ‘For example, November of this year will be a good time for us to remove sheet piling from the ground next to the railway track at the De Nieuwe Meer junction’, says Van den Brink. ‘At that time, there will already be no railway traffic because of works on the track at Schiphol.’ However, at other times, it may not be possible to do works simultaneously. ‘Ideally, we would have started our summer works on 20 July, at the start of the low-traffic summer holiday in the Noord region’, explains Van den Brink. ‘But if we were to close the A10 in the direction of Schiphol for a whole weekend, that would coincide with the closure of the Zeeburger bridges on the east side of Amsterdam, and of the Coentunnel on the west side. That would make no sense at all, which is why we decided 18 months ago to move our closure forward.’
Work in the Amsterdam region in 2024
> Widening of A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht: eight weekends in 2024
> Major maintenance works on Zeeburger bridges: from 19 July until 9 September 2024
> Increasing fire-resistance rating in Coentunnel: from 19 July until 9 September 2024
> Installing tram tracks on Berlage bridge: second half of 2024
> Major maintenance works on Europaboulevard: from May until August 2024
> Replacement of noise barriers on A10-Noord: from summer 2024
Events
Such a full agenda of works certainly puts the accessibility of Amsterdam to the test. This particularly applies during major events, such as those in the Olympic Stadium during the weekend of 12 July. And those in the Amsterdamse Bos during the same weekend. ‘A shuttle service will run between Amsterdam Zuid and Amsterdamse Bos’, says Van den Brink. ‘But because of our work at Amsterdam Zuid station, we are asking the organisations if the buses can run from RAI station. We will then be happy to help them to liaise with the bodies responsible for granting permission, such as the Municipality of Amstelveen.’
Football matches
Other peak periods for congestion include football matches. Van den Brink: ‘We begin talks with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) at an early stage to find out when matches will coincide with serious works. For example, it suits us if Ajax-Feyenoord always play on Saturday evenings, when there is less traffic on the roads. This is particularly important after matches: crowds tend to leave the stadium all at the same time, sometimes still full of emotion. But, of course, the KNVB has other interests to take into account, such as broadcasting rights. That means we don’t always get what we’d like.’
Efficient traffic management
We now also have plenty of experience with A10 Zuid closures, such as in 2019, in 2022 and 2023. ‘In 2019, we had assistance from eight police officers at set locations and even deployed 20 traffic controllers. We now work with two or three flexible teams of just six to eight officers and traffic controllers, whom we deploy as and when necessary.’ But not all closures are the same, says Van den Brink: ‘This year, we’re closing the A10 Zuid in the direction of Hengelo before the s108 exit to the Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc and Amstelveenseweg. We are therefore trying to identify smart solutions so that we don’t cause delays to the emergency services and buses, for example by allowing them to drive slowly past the works at set times.’
The years ahead
Zuidasdok now has eight closures of the A10 Zuid scheduled for this year. Van den Brink: ‘I should point out that we never have road closures in both directions at the same time: if we ever close the A10 Zuid in the direction of A4 Schiphol, the A10 Zuid in the direction of A1 Hengelo will always be in use, and vice-versa. We’ve made good agreements with our partners in the region about that.’ After 2024, there will be further closures of the A10 Zuid. In addition, Rijkswaterstaat has lots of work scheduled for the years ahead including the widening of the A9 Badhoevedorp – Holendrecht mentioned earlier. For 2025, there are also plans to close both sections of the second Coentunnel for maintenance. As well as that, the A10 Zuid will be closed for one day to celebrate Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary. ‘And we will also be closing the A10 Zuid for two more weeks for roadworks’, says Van den Brink. ‘Compared to the years ahead, 2024 will still be relatively quiet.’
Travel advice from Ask&GO
For the Zuidasdok and A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht works, you can request personal travel advice from Ask&Go. You can also sign up to receive a Whatsapp alert about an upcoming closure. Ask&GO can be accessed via WhatsApp: 085-0659091. Or scan the QR code below.
Share article:
Give your opinion
Get in touch with us