Road users in Groningen will have to deal with a new traffic situation this weekend: a larger part of the Southern Ring Road will be closed and will remain so until September.
Operation Ring Zuid has entered a new phase: on Friday evening (King’s Night), another part of Groningen’s Southern Ring Road will be overhauled. This creates new traffic situations for road users and residents. During the night from Friday to Saturday, Julianaplein will be completely closed and there will be more temporary barriers.
What’s happening now?
Motorists will have to deal with various situations between Friday evening, April 26 and Monday, May 6. Traffic between A28 and Ring West is possible in both directions all week long via Julianaplein (clockwise). This means that ring road builder Combinatie Herepoort can completely close the road on the east side of the city between May 6 and September 2.
■ The ring road will close on Friday evening to traffic from the Euvelgunne junction (near Driebond) towards Julianaplein (the Hoogezand-Assen/Drachten route). The driveways from Driebond (Stettinweg), Bauhaus (Bornhomstraat) and TKP (Europaweg) will also remain closed until September 2.
■ The entrance to the Zuiderbegraafplaats (Hereweg) will close on Thursday evening, April 25, and that is permanent. A new route to the ring road will be constructed from the Hereweg via the Brailleweg. Herepoort closes the road a day earlier due to the many activities for the traffic teams on Friday.
■ During the May holidays (until Friday 3 May), traffic from Assen to Hoogezand passes Julianaplein via the exit and entrance to/from Brailleweg. As a result, Herepoort creates space on Julianaplein to make the new connection from the A28 to the A7/N7 West (towards Ring West and Drachten). Due to the traffic flow, cars can no longer go from Vondellaan to Brailleweg.
■ This connecting arch, through the first tunnel on Julianaplein, will open on May 6. Before that time, during the weekend of May 4 and 5, traffic will only be possible on the Julianaplein on the route from Drachten/Ring West to Assen.
■ Two routes are accessible on Julianaplein between May 6 and September 2: from Drachten/Ring West to Assen and vice versa. The routes from Hoogezand to Assen and Drachten will open on September 2. Until then, car traffic can use the eastern, northern and western ring road from Hoogezand to Assen and Drachten (and vice versa).
■ The driveway from Van Ketwich Verschuurlaan to Julianaplein will close on Friday due to redevelopment (until June 26).
Additional temporary roads
■ To prevent cut-through traffic through Helpman, motorists driving from the Europapark through the Helperzoom tunnel must turn right onto Helperzoom Noord. Staff from the ministries in the DUO building can also use this.
■ The underpass under the ring road to Waterloolaan will close on Friday and will remain so until December 20. A replacement, temporary road will open on the south side of the ring on Friday morning between Helperzoom and Hereweg (opposite the former exit from Julianaplein). The road is one-way for cars, cyclists can cross it in both directions. Several lanes have been relocated on Hereweg.
■ Interdistrict traffic between Oosterpoort and Herewegbuurt can use the ring road until June. For this purpose, Combination Herepoort will open a temporary driveway from the Meeuwerderweg/Meeuwerderbaan on May 4. To prevent cut-through traffic, one-way traffic will be introduced in Esperantostraat.
Is there any good news?
■ Road users will drive directly across Vrijheidsplein from Ring West to Julianaplein on Saturday for the first time in years. Until September 2, only the route to Assen is open. Traffic from Drachten can also use Julianaplein to Assen again.
■ The underpass under the A28 near Groningen South, which has been closed since the start of Operation Ring South, will reopen.
■ On May 6, the ‘service road’ past the Gasunie building will be ready and road users can drive from Martiniplaza, among others, under the ring road to the Laan Corpus den Hoorn and Drachten bot roundabout.
Aso behavior is increasing
Traffic congestion and delays have been causing unrest on the streets since the start of Operation Ring South. According to Aanpak Ring Zuid and Groningen Bereikbaar, ASO behavior is increasing.
The organizations call on road users to leave on time, keep their patience and adhere to the traffic rules. Reason: “We increasingly hear that some motorists, in their haste, ignore the rules and drive too fast, through red lights and over the cycle path. That leads to dangerous situations.”
The call is accompanied by a series of recommendations:
■ Departure on time (‘Take into account 15 minutes of extra travel time’)
■ Give space to the emergency services
■ Keep intersections clear (‘Only enter an intersection if you can cross it’), look carefully ahead and stop on time
■ Join if you are stuck in a traffic jam (‘Don’t leave any big gaps, then the traffic jam will not be longer than necessary’)
■ Zip as late as possible (‘Drive as far as possible on the other lane, even if it feels uncomfortable’)
■ Keep bus lanes free (‘Even during long waiting times’)
Groningen Bereikbaar expects the crowds to continue until September 2 and calls on road users to leave their cars as much as possible where possible, especially during rush hour. Anyone who goes to Groningen by car is advised to change to the bus at a P+R.
Using other parts of Groningen Ring (East, North and West) is usually faster than a shortcut. In the first phase of Operation Ring South, Laan Corpus den Hoorn and Stationsweg in particular had a hard time. The organization calls on road users to only go to such places if they have to be there.
