Heavy holiday traffic jams near Mall of the Netherlands, Walibi amusement park

The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg issued a public appeal on Thursday to ask people to stop driving to the Mall of the Netherlands during the busy Ascension Day holiday. The roads leading to the Walibi Holland amusement park site were also jammed up on Thursday morning with participants from the Christian event, Pinksterconferentie Opwekking.

The roads around the popular shopping center in Leidschendam-Voorburg were completely overrun with vehicles, the municipality said. The mall no longer has available parking spaces, either.

As a result, all the roads around the mall are completely full as people drive in circles desperately looking for a parking space or an alternative entry. People who come by other means, including public transport, are still welcome, the municipality said.

Political party CDA previously called upon City Hall to issue a warning when traffic in Leidschendam becomes gridlocked, as can happen on King’s Day or during Carnival when city centers are busy.

The roads leading to the Walibi Holland were jammed as a result of the largest Christian-faith event held in the Netherlands, the Pinksterconferentie Opwekking. The interdenominational event attracts tens of thousands of people each year. Delays were around 30 minutes on the N306 and N309 during the afternoon. "It is decreasing, but it is going very slowly," a spokesperson of ANWB Verkeersinformatie said.

The N306 between Harderwijk and Kampen was full of people traveling in both directions on their way to the event at Walibi, which will last until Sunday. The delay there was well over 30 minutes, according to travel association ANWB.

On the N309 towards Dronten, motorists could expect to wait nearly an hour at the junction with the N305. On the N708 towards Harderwijk, drivers needed to account for delays of around 45 minutes.

Commuters and early holiday traffic also led to problems during Wednesday’s evening rush hour, with more than 1,060 kilometers of traffic jams by 5 p.m. Traffic clogged up the A-roads and the N-roads, and began to taper off after that peak moment.

Drivers on the N280 from Germany towards Roermond have experienced delays of over an hour. This is due to people trying to visit the Designer Outlet in Roermond.