Takeover article 1Amstelveen of June 13, 2025

The action committee opposing the Bovenkerk bus lock at its current location is appealing. The judge decided May 20 that the bus lock may remain in place for only six months and that a new traffic decision must be made. The municipality will work on this.

On behalf of the action committee, spokesman Marcel Bellis let it be known that it (surprisingly) does not resign itself to the ruling. Bellis: "The municipality is once again given a chance to enter into a dialogue with residents and make a real new traffic decision. But they don't. We too could read in the media that 'reducing traffic on Noordammerlaan' is now the goal."

He continued: "A cutoff always causes displacement of traffic. We want a safe Bovenkerk for everyone and not just for the residents on Noorddammerlaan and Legmeerdijk. By appealing, we keep the way open to force the municipality to investigate all options and not have a purposeful investigation of the variant the municipality wants most."

Last week, a car literally drove itself into the bus lock. In a council letter, the college informed city council members of the path the council intends to take. The letter states, "We therefore choose to draft a new traffic decision. To this end, we will have an independent external agency conduct additional traffic research into the various variants and provide clear insight into the weighing of interests of the various variants. We assume that this will lead to a conclusive traffic decision, in which the general interest for Bovenkerk will come first."

According to the municipality, traffic on both roads decreased a lot. Traffic decreased from 7,000 to 2,000 vehicles per day. Bellis: "Of course those roads have become quieter. Logical, if you actually close them. I don't deny that either, but the point is that the lower part of Bovenkerk has become much busier and unsafe. So again: we want a safer Bovenkerk for everyone. How to do that? Yes, of course that's not up to me. I'm no traffic expert but you could then think about a thirty-kilometer zone, a bicycle street, a stoplight, or a 'car as guest' zone for example."

1Amstelveen made a documentary about the bus lock in Bovenkerk.