Column by Tobias Arends
The knip in the Weesperstraat in Amsterdam was an initiative of the municipality with the aim of making the city car-free in the near future. The experiment was held for six weeks with June 12 as the effective date. The cut has persisted throughout the period, albeit under heavy criticism from residents, commuters, tourists and politicians.
To close the Weesperstraat, the largest thoroughfare in the city, where 27 thousand cars drive over every day, and thus limit emissions, noise pollution and traffic volume? Of course, that sounds good to many. There were certainly positives during the experiment, residents experienced a much more quiet street. Green spaces were created in the middle of the road where it was nice to stay during the day, also neighborhood activities and evening programs made an appearance on the normally busy road. A prelude of what the future could look like according to the municipality.
Figure 1: A created green area in the middle of the street, surrounded by different flower pots (source: indebuurt)
But there were also many negative reactions. For example, in the first period of the knip it was not yet possible for additional public transport to drive past the barriers, it was not yet possible to drive past the barriers, even GPs who had to visit patients in an emergency and fire engines and ambulances without the right sticker were not allowed through.
Surrounding streets, such as the Kattenburgerstraat, which served as a new thoroughfare during the cut, were so full of cars that the emergency services were delayed here as well. Fortunately, with a few exceptions, these delays have never caused the response times to be exceeded. Public transport was also forced to drive through the crowded street, which of course resulted in enormous delays. Not exactly an advertisement for public transport, especially if you as a municipality want people to choose that over their car.
Furthermore, the planning of the cut leaves a lot to be desired, although some argue that you can never plan something like this perfectly in a big city like Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the cut created unnecessary extra pressure on the traffic arteries. In the period of the experiment, the A10 was under construction twice. From 23 to 26 June, the inner ring road in the Noord district was closed, from 30 June to 3 July it was the outer ring road. The argument for using the ring road as a car user is completely gone then.
Figure 2: Bus 43 is stuck in traffic in the Kattenburgerstraat (source: AT5)
Eventually, in a city like Amsterdam, we will have to get rid of the convenience of the car. A huge amount of space will be freed up if the car is given a less prominent role and we can design the public space on a human scale. For example, for more greenery and more life on the street.
The intentions of the municipality are therefore completely understandable. A car-shallow city centre, even car-free perhaps, and a healthier living environment: I’d sign up for that. But as a municipality, please think longer about such a major intervention, the cut was presented as an experiment and that's how it felt. The first domino in a series is knocked over, let's see what we end up with. In conclusion: chaos.
That certain streets are flooded with car traffic when you close other streets is to be expected and I can't believe that such an experiment is necessary to find out which streets will be affected. Make sure that emergency services have been informed in advance about the protocol so that they can have the right stickers in time. Allow additional and normal public transport through the barriers to promote the usefulness of this mode of transport… there are more examples like this.
The municipality's analysis is currently taking place and the report will be published in November this year. I am very curious and I hope that by then the municipality will have gathered enough information to carry out another intervention like this with more tact and preparation.
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