Skip to main content

Amsterdam’s Zuidas project criticised over possible disruptions

Amsterdam businesses, many of them global companies, face a decade of traffic disruption and noise when road works start in the Netherlands capital’s financial district. Among the projects in Zuidas will be putting the A10 ring road into a tunnel, the Financieele Dagblad newspaper reported. The Zuidas is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Zuidas, also known as the 'Financial Mile', lies between the rivers Amstel and Schinkel along the ringroad A10.
April 27, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Quiet before the storm in Amsterdam's Zudias district
Amsterdam businesses, many of them global companies, face a decade of traffic disruption and noise when road works start in the Netherlands capital’s financial district.

Among the projects in Zuidas will be putting the A10 ring road into a tunnel, the Financieele Dagblad newspaper reported.

The Zuidas is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Zuidas, also known as the 'Financial Mile', lies between the rivers Amstel and Schinkel along the ringroad A10. Large multinationals such as ING Group, ABN-Amro, and Akzo Nobel already have their headquarters in the area. The World Trade Center Amsterdam has recently been renovated and expanded.

The greatest influences for the development of the Zuidas are La Défense in Paris and Canary Wharf in London. In area’s railway station, Amsterdam Zuid will become the second main station of Amsterdam.

The transport ministry reportedly will not impose strict conditions on noise and traffic disruptions on the project but wants to see what conditions the winning contractors will self-impose.

The first contracts for the €1.9 billion project will go to tender in the next several weeks for work to start in 2017.

But opposition is growing to the project, including among former supporters such as former city council alderman Duco Stadig. He says revised traffic forecasts means the project mayu not be value for money.

The Zuidasdok project involves widening the A10 and placing part of it and the railway underground. Supports claim this will improve air quality and accessibility to the area, as well as create more space for housing.

The Amsterdam entrepreneurs’ association Oram says the noise issue should be left up to builders. “This is the most expensive location in the Netherlands,” a spokesman said. “The construction period could easily drag out to 15 years.”

Related Content

  • MPA calls on new London Mayor to safeguard aggregate wharves/depots
    May 12, 2016
    Housing is, rightly, the new London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s top priority, says the UK’s Mineral Products Association (MPA). It points out that delivery of much-needed new housing and infrastructure depends on a steady and adequate supply of construction aggregates and other essential mineral products such as concrete blocks and mortar. Wharves and rail depots play a key role in this, enabling the sustainable supply of bulk materials by rail and ship, delivering close to the market, significantly reducing t
  • Work begins on Stockholm’s new bypass
    August 22, 2016
    The first tunnels are being excavated for the huge bypass tunnel in Sweden’s capital Stockholm – Adrian Greeman writes. After years of preparation and design, blasting and rock moving for Sweden's largest infrastructure project began south of the city this year. It sets in train a decade-long project that will create a new half-ring dual three-lane motorway for the city, 20km long. With most of it deep underground, it will also be one of Europe's largest ever road tunnels. The scheme is aimed at transformin
  • Simple road safety measures save lives
    February 15, 2012
    Elementary road safety measures quickly pay back the costs of investment and, more importantly, help save lives as Patrick Smith reports. More than 300 people in the UK are alive today or have avoided the prospect of a lifetime of special care because just 15 roads have had simple improvements put in place.
  • Economic gains from widening the A453 in Nottingham, England
    August 12, 2014
    Work is well underway on turning a busy just over 11km two-lane link road from the city of Nottingham to Junction 24 of the M1 in Leicestershire, England into a four-lane highway. The widened highway will relieve considerable peak-time congestion for travellers to Nottingham, the M1 and East Midlands Airport while also making journeys safer and more reliable. Guy Woodford reports Used by up to 30,000 vehicles a day, the A453 is renowned for congestion at peak travel times. But years of day-to-day commuter a