Rotterdam to get new bank-to-bank connection to relieve traffic on A16 highway

Rotterdam will get a new bank crossing connection with a highway and public transit to relieve the increasing traffic on the A16 highway, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure, the province of Zuid-Holland, the municipalities of Rotterdam and The Hague, and the surrounding municipalities agreed, NOS reports.

Over the next 18 months the involved parties will work on a plan for what the connection will look like, whether it will be a bridge or a tunnel, and where it will be located. The two potential locations are Feijenoord-Kralingen and Ridderkerk-Krimpen aan den IJssel. 

The expectation is that the Rotterdam region will grow by half a million people in the coming decades, with all the traffic that comes with it. The new connection is therefore necessary. The government will invest 200 million euros into this project, the region 280 million euros. 

The A4 highway will also get extra lanes for the connection with the N14 at Leidschendam. A new, wider Ringvaart aqueduct will be constructed at Roelofarendsveen. The A4 will then have four lanes in both directions. 

The aim is that these roadworks will have as little inconvenience as possible for local residents, but no inconvenience will be impossible, Van Nieuwenhuizen said. "We're asking contractors to include in their tender how they will limit the inconvenience as much as possible."

This project will take years. It was originally scheduled for 2018, but the Minister is now accelerating the plans.