SATURDAY, 2 MAY 2020
THIS WEEK, I’M RETURNING TO THE DUTCH VILLAGE OF TERHOLE WHICH I VISITED BACK IN 2017. IT’S A NICE LITTLE PLACE, BUT THE REASON TO RETURN IS TO HAVE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TRAFFIC CALMING IN THE VILLAGE.
It’s very interesting for me to go back and review some of my previous infrastructure safaris (which my family calls “holidays”), because with the passing of time, I’ve learned a little more and it’s nice to go back and provide some more detailed commentary. As is usually the case in the Netherlands, we cannot simply look at a place in isolation because over the years, road network changes have taken traffic away from the village. In 2003, a tunnel was constructed to the east of the area (to cross the estuary separating two parts of the Zeeland land mass) replacing the Kruiningen to Perkpolder car ferry to the north, (although there remains a foot/ cycle ferry). The village itself was then bypassed with a regional road in 2004, the N290 Rondweg Terhole (Terhole Bypass), which meant that most through traffic had been removed from the village. This is interesting in its own right as the old road network remains essentially as service and access roads for farms in the area with links onto other small country roads; some of which are filtered to prevent through traffic access. An undated aerial photograph of Terhole before the bypass. This would have been a busy north-south route. I’ve added the roundabout and bypass in red Photograph from Terhole.info The southern end of the village is accessed from a roundabout which connects with the N290; the use of the roundabout being a safe way of making the connection compared with the risks of priority junctions. At the northern end of the village there is another roundabout connecting with the N689, itself connecting with the N290 again 180m to the southwest. The N290 heads west (and is the route to the tunnel which crosses the estuary) and the N689 heads north to connect some towns and villages. The N290 is on the far left with the old main north-south road in the centre which leads to the village. A fairly standard rural cycle track is to the right. Although traffic through the village is now light, there was clearly a concern about driver speed. From the north, drivers leave a roundabout and immediately enter the village which has a 30kph (20mph) speed limit. From the south, it’s some 1,300m from the roundabout from the N290. This approach has a 60kph (40mph) and so as is the usual case, there is a parallel cycle track; Hulsterweg, looking north. This is the bypassed north-south road through the village. The N290 is 100m to the east. The 60kph road means there’s a cycle track.
