It was a record-setting day in The Netherlands on Tuesday, but in a particularly good way. Traffic jams stuffed up 2,287 kilometers of Dutch roadways, what traveler's association ANWB called a new record.
The jams were nearly double that which was recorded on November 1, the worst date of 2018.
There were over 1,635 kilometers of traffic jams across the Netherlands at 5:05 p.m. on Tuesday, just as the evening rush hour got underway, according to travel association ANWB. A snow storm that started on the west coast in the morning was slowly making its way east, and was still expected to hover over the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland, Limburg, and parts of Flevoland and Noord-Brabant past 6 p.m.
Drivers in the Netherlands were neither imagining things nor embellishing in 2018 when they complained about travel times. Dutch highways were far more clogged in 2018 than a year earlier, with traffic jams up nearly 20 percent.
The heavy traffic had an impact on rush hour, but also outside of the daily busy periods, travellers association ANWB revealed on Thursday. The organization made their calculations based on both the frequency and duration of traffic jams.
Traffic association ANWB thinks that giving lorries and other freight traffic their own, separate lane will help in the fight against the ever increasing traffic jams on Dutch roads. A report containing 10 possible solutions to help decrease traffic in the Netherlands, will be presented to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday, AD reports.
The entire Schiphol tunnel from Amsterdam (A4) to The Hague is still closed on Tuesday morning following a fire on Monday afternoon. Traffic information service ANWB calls on motorists to avoid Amsterdam during rush hour and to travel to the airport by train, AD reports.
Traffic information service ANWB expects a very busy rush hour on Monday afternoon and evening due to storms hitting the Netherlands, especially in the eastern and northern parts of the country.
A very rainy start to the week is leading to a difficult rush hour on Monday morning. By 7:00 a.m. traffic information service VID already reported three long traffic jams on Dutch highways.
Extra security on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium is leading to traffic jams between the two countries. The increased border checks are in response to terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday.
The stricter border controls the Netherlands implemented in September are not enough in the fight against human trafficking and the work method for control checks at the Dutch borders is being adjusted. This entails a good chance of more traffic jams, Justice State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff announced on Monday
The extent of traffic jams in the Netherlands increased by approximately 25 percent last year, according to the preliminary annual figures from traffic service VID. That is the largest ever increase in a year since the VID started collecting traffic statistics in 2000.
The Netherlands is number two on the list of worst traffic in Europe, only beaten by Belgium. Of all Dutch people, Rotterdam residents spent the most time in traffic last year.
The swimming ban in the North Sea between Wassenaar and Scheveningen has resulted in traffic jams towards the Zeeland coast. The swimming ban was implemented due to the presence of sea sparkle. According to the RIjkswaterstaat, there is no sea sparkle along the Zeeland coast, and many sunbathers are now heading there
With the schools in the Netherlands closing on Friday, the ANWB is warning holiday goers to take into account that they may deal with some extreme heat on their way to their holiday destinations.
Police checks often lead to unnecessary traffic problems which could create a dangerous situation on the road.
The ANWB advises motorists to wear sunglasses during the morning and evening rush hour on Thursday as the low hanging sun could hamper drivers' vision.
A blown overhead contact line between Geldermalsen and Den Bosch has resulted in no trains traveling that route until 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. The ANWB expects that this may make the evening rush hour even worse
The Rijkswaterstaat has warned road users to take account of traffic jams on the highways because of police action.
The Rijkswaterstaat is expecting more hindrance than in previous actions because this time the police will also be performing their go-slow action during the morning and evening rush hours. The protesters announced that they will be driving at low speeds across the entire width of the roadway.
Fog brought air traffic at Eindhoven airport to a standstill this morning, NOS reports.
The winter weather caused more traffic problems last month than in February 2014. The severity of the traffic problems (the length of the jam and the time it lasted) was 50 percent higher than last year. This is according to figures published by the ANWB yesterday.
Truck drivers attempted driving a too high vehicle through a low tunnel almost 11 thousand times last year. This had many closures and traffic jams as a result. According to the AD, the traffic jams caused around rush hours costs society and estimated 135 thousand euros per tunnel closure.
Snow and freezing have are the reasons why this morning is the busiest rush hour of the year, the ANWB said this morning. At around 08:10 this morning there was more than 550 kilometers of traffic jams throughout the country.
The rail traffic around Utrecht came to a standstill just before 08:30 this morning because of a fault in the control of signals and points. NS recommends that travelers avoid Utrecht for the time being.
This year there were about the same amount of traffic jams on Dutch roads as in 2013. This seems to be the end of the decline in traffic congestion in recent years. This is according to provisional figures that the Traffic Information Service (VID) published today.
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued a code yellow warning. Strong winds of between 75 - 90 kilometer per hour is expected across the Netherlands this morning, with even stronger winds of between 100 - 110 kilometer per hour along the coast.
