Road works cause huge bicycle traffic jams in Utrecht’s city centre

by Rivka Kroes · Published June 17, 2019

Photo by Mabel Amber from Pexels

Last updated June 17, 2019 at 10:30 am by Michael Darmanin

Last Tuesday, as part of larger road works, the intersection at the Biltstraat in the city centre of Utrecht was closed. This means both cars and bicycles will have to take alternative routes. Cyclists that want to use the intersection, have to get off their bikes and cross the intersection on foot. This has been causing chaos like you can only see in the Netherlands: bikes everywhere. Since the intersection is used by many commuters, delays have been unavoidable. Bicyclists that don’t get off their bike should be warned: they risk a fine.

Utrecht, like Amsterdam, is renowned as being a busy cycling city. Photo credit: PxHere

Political party VVD has criticized the city council’s decision to close the entire intersection instead of performing the road works in stages. The road works are scheduled to finish the end of June and mark the final part of larger road works at the Maliesingel and the Wittevrouwensingel. The aim of the road works is to improve the traffic flow by making the roads wider, adding room for buses, bicycles and pedestrians.

An image taken on 26 July 1950 of children playing on a sand heap during the work for the redesign of the Biltstraat in Utrecht, near the Kruisstraat. Werf, F.F. van der, fotograaf [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Rivka Kroes is a Dutchie and is currently based in Zeist. She studied Chinese and graduated in 2013 from Leiden University. She now works in language localization. You can often find Rivka in a bookstore or library as she loves to read. Apart from reading, learning about new cultures makes her really happy, especially if food is involved.