Turnaround bicycle plan is of course an April Fool’s joke! – Advertising Pijnacker-Nootdorp | Telstar online

Thu Mar 28, 10:55am

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Pijnacker – Our editorial staff always has a rich tradition surrounding April 1 in the printed edition. There was also a joke in the newspaper in the run-up to next Monday. The N470 will become a cycle path in the future.

The article is of course immediately interpreted as a joke by 99.9 percent of readers, but there was also a critical note. That’s why we decided to reveal the joke in advance. Of course, we don’t want anyone to get stressed because he or she cannot get from A to B. We obviously don’t want anyone to actually cycle onto the N470 and that was not the intention of the April Fool’s joke. Therefore: it’s a joke, people!

Pijnacker/Delfgauw – Great relief for all residents of the Ackersdijk nature reserve. Confidential documents in the hands of the editors of this newspaper show that the controversial metropolitan cycle route between Delft and Rotterdam Alexander will no longer be constructed through the local nature reserve.

However, there is also good news for those in favor of the cycle route, because this certainly does not mean the plan is being scrapped. In fact, it was decided to use the existing road network; the N470 between Pijnacker and Delfgauw will therefore be made car-free in the future and opened for bicycle traffic.

The decisive factor in the decision to opt for a different route was mainly the cost. About 53 million euros would be allocated for the new cycle route. The council of Pijnacker-Nootdorp recently agreed to a contribution of more than 2.5 million, but received a lot of criticism about the usefulness and necessity of, among other things, a very expensive ecoduct over the A13 and the extension of the cycle path straight through the Ackersdijk.

“All things considered, we sat down together again,” the secret documents state. “The climate theme will also become increasingly important in the coming years. The government will increasingly focus on discouraging car use. Is it therefore not much better not only to create a cycling route, but also, and perhaps this will not make us popular, to restrict car use? . “We can now fire a two- or even a three-stage rocket by putting an end to the high costs, protecting the nature reserve by using an existing stretch of road surface and thereby also getting the motorist out of his car and to go to work by bike.”

The documents also show that a research agency from Sweden was engaged with a lot of knowledge and experience in the field of converting national and provincial motorways into cycle paths. Research agency Skojar Bara is mentioned by name in the report and appears to have even conducted on-site research into the possibilities. “From the Klapwijkseweg roundabout to the roundabout near the business park in Delfgauw, it is certainly possible to make the road available for bicycle traffic in the short term. Experience shows that motorists initially look for alternative routes, but often come to the conclusion that traveling by bicycle is much more practical. Also for health in the long term, of course,” the researchers write.

The researchers go one step further. “You could of course also choose to include the entire N470, from Zoetermeer, Lansingerland and Delft. But let’s start with the route between Pijnacker and Delfgauw.” We read that the recommendations appear to be being listened to by the recipients of the documents. “This is Columbus’s egg!” writes an anonymous high-ranking official. “We keep millions in our pockets and still have a great cycling route,” emails another.

Yet there are also question marks: how quickly should this be implemented? Research agency Skojar Bara makes a recommendation that is almost unanimously endorsed, it appears. “It is important to get road users used to the new situation as quickly as possible. We recommend that you be clear immediately and let motorists look for alternatives at an early stage. We prefer the spring and summer periods, because you are more likely to leave the car at that time.”

N470 already closed on Monday
The email exchange between the authorities shows that the agency’s findings are seen as realistic. According to the latest reports, the N470 between Pijnacker and Delfgauw will be closed next Monday to begin the conversion from a highway to a cycle path.