States of Groningen: City must come to terms with new station. Deputy Hamster is optimistic: ‘Expect things to turn out well’

The province should not have to pay for this alone, according to the Groningen States. The approach to the main station and the surrounding railway zone was tendered for 310 million euros. However, this rises to 365 million, mainly due to delays and setbacks in construction and the rising prices of construction materials and personnel.

The province therefore recently concluded an agreement with main client ProRail and contractor Strukton for an additional contribution of 18.4 million. Of this, 3.6 million will go towards the additional costs of a mega bicycle shed and the bicycle tunnel that has been extended under the station area.

‘Not a done deal yet’

That part of the Spoorzone project was an explicit wish of the city council and therefore also falls under the responsibility of the municipality, according to both the States and responsible deputy Johan Hamster. However, on behalf of the city council, councilor Rik van Niejenhuis recently told RTV Noord that as far as he is concerned, this is ‘not yet a done deal’.

“We are shocked by that,” says BBB spokesperson Harm Nieboer. He believes that the City must fully repay the money that the province is now advancing. PVV faction leader Ton van Kesteren wants to go even further. However, he did not receive a majority for his motion to leave this part out of the agreements and to instruct the city council to negotiate the 3.6 million itself.

Deputy Hamster is confident that he will reach an agreement with the city council. “We have spoken extensively and intensively with the responsible councilor recently. On our side of the negotiating table we think we have reached an agreement, now it still needs to be formalized on the other side. My expectation is that everything will turn out well.”

Shortage of bicycle sheds

Under that condition, the States give the green light for the extra contribution. In addition to finances, there is another point of concern: the mega-large underground bicycle shed. As DvhN reported last week, it cannot be put into use until the end of 2026 at the earliest, a year and a half after the completion of the station project. The bicycle connections to this basement (with 6,600 places) are not ready before then.

This leads to fears among GroenLinks spokesperson Bas de Boer that there will soon be a major shortage of parking spaces in the first year and a half around the renovated station. He urges temporary alternatives to prevent ‘bicycle congestion’. Hamster also thinks that it can agree on a solution with the contractor on that point.