Piet Hein tunnel opens Friday evening, after 19 months of maintenance
Motorists in the eastern part of the city will be venturing now that work on the hydraulic traffic controller has been completed. The Piet Hein tunnel will open again for them on Friday evening, January 20 at 9 p.m. The 25-year-old tunnel has been closed to car traffic since June 25, 2021. The maintenance was 15 months, but it took months longer. The last hurdle was the permit from the North Sea Canal Zone Environment Agency. That permit was issued on Tuesday, January 17.
In a letter to the municipality, alderman Van der Horst (Traffic) writes that there is a greater chance of malfunctions in the tunnel in the first months. We point out that performance agreements have been made with the maintenance contractor and that he is ready to solve ‘teething problems’. Finally, she thanks residents, motorists and other travelers ‘for their patience and compassion’.
Escape routes
There had to a lot of work to the tunnel: obsolete technical installations are replaced, the escape routes, water drainage, fire alarm systems, ramps and camera systems are made equivalent.
In the meantime, traffic from the Indische Buurt and the Eastern Islands had to go via the Zeeburgerdijk to reach the ring road, which caused the necessary traffic.
In March 2022 it was announced that the opening date would not be met. Corona was the main culprit, because keeping a distance of one and a half meters was not possible in the escape routes and between the cables in the ceiling. December 2 was the new dot that was put on the horizon.
November 28 it became clear that the date in December was not written in pen, but in pencil. New security concerns reported spanner in the works. When would the tunnel open? Alderman Van der Horst spoke of ‘a number of weeks’, but could not give an exact figure. even last Thursday the municipality could not give any clarity about when cars would drive through the tunnel again. Then it was a matter of waiting for the permit from the environmental service.