The municipality has ordered the immediate installation of bollards on the sidewalk next to the bus lock at Bovenkerk to prevent motorists from driving past the bus lock via the bike path. Enforcement will also increase supervision at the bus lock. In case of violations a warning will no longer be issued, but an immediate fine will be issued. These measures will take effect immediately.
Images posted online Monday by 1Amstelveen show that motorists regularly try to pass the bus lock between Legmeerdijk and Noorddammerlaan. Besides being prohibited, this creates unsafe traffic situations. "The fact that motorists use the bike path and sidewalk is dangerous and undesirable, which is why we are taking immediate action," said Alderman Herbert Raat (traffic, transportation and enforcement). "By placing bollards we are preventing motorists from taking the shortcut along the bus lock. That cars drive over the bus lock cannot be prevented with traffic engineering measures. Our enforcement team is going to conduct heightened supervision until we can realize our plans for a traffic-free residential square here." Plans for this are already ready and the city council has released €500,000 in the Perspective Memorandum. "However, we cannot start until the legal proceedings against the bus lock are completed. Therefore, we are going to investigate whether in the meantime it is possible to place cameras with license plate recognition at the bus lock, as is already done in the municipalities of Breda and Heerlen. Motorists who drive through the bus lock here will immediately receive a fine."
The footage also shows that the square in front of Urban Church is used to drive past the bus lock. This is private property. The municipality is going to talk to the church administration to see if we can come to a joint solution.
Appeals
Some residents have appealed the new Jan. 31, 2023 traffic order on the bus lock. The hearing was initially scheduled for late September 2023, but has been postponed by the court. A new hearing date has not yet been announced.
Residence Square
The main reason for making Bovenkerk traffic-free is to make the entire neighborhood safer. In addition, the college would like to start working on the realization of a low-traffic square between St. Urbanus Church and café-restaurant Silversant. During the participation process, a majority of residents opted for the bus lock at its current location in combination with the construction of a pleasant plaza.