Locals at Mall of the Netherlands are tired of traffic chaos: ‘it’s a disaster’

Neighborhood residents Jacqueline and Licky are now completely done with it. Not only does the crowding around the mall lead to chaos but also aggression, as they say on the radio show And he wakes up. Weekends in particular are a drama, they think, as this past weekend in Whitsun was a new low point. Due to the bad weather, the large covered mall attracted many visitors, with repercussions.

“It’s static,” says Jacqueline. “You have nowhere to go.” People who work in health care and want to leave the neighborhood over the weekend cannot come to their workplace. It’s a disaster. ‘

Emergency services in question

Lyki refers to aggressive situations caused by traffic congestion. On White Monday, I saw a driver bump into someone and blow their horn, these are just dangerous situations. It also blocks major road junctions. Local residents who indicate this to visitors, or that they are in private property, are subjected to threats and aggressive treatment. Or even run over. I even saw someone lying on a hood.

The Leidschendam-Voorburg Police Station is located next to the mall. The emergency services can hardly go one-way when they have to leave. Fortunately, if they have flashing lights, it takes twenty minutes in three minutes. “They cannot divert to another path,” says Lakeh.

An unsustainable situation

The situation became unbearable for the residents of the neighborhood. “Locals make their appointments during the week as much as possible, so they don’t have to leave the neighborhood with their car on the weekends,” says Jacqueline. Jacqueline and Lickey find the municipality and the shopping mall too slow with solutions. They themselves have a number of ideas for better traffic flow, such as one-way traffic and better information at the exits toward the mall.

Or provide a P + R location outside of Leidschendam (Parking and Travel, editor), so people can park outside of the area, for example, take Tram line 19 to the mall, says Lake.

Smart traffic lights and signage

The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg announced that after the trial to improve the traffic situation during Boarding Day, serious work is underway to find a solution. A number of measures were taken in the period leading up to the evaluation of that process. “The signs have been installed on the N14,” says a spokesperson. Smart traffic lights have also been installed on the N14 and on and around the municipal roads around the mall.

In the first tunnel, dynamic panels display current traffic information to spare the first and smaller parking garages even more and direct visitors to the larger parking garage a little further. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop us from being very busy on Whitsun’s weekends. The municipality and the Holland Mall have been talking for some time about the crowds that only increased after the coronavirus measures were eased. At the start of this month, the massive influx of shoppers threatened to close the mall.

Read also: Additional measures at Mall of the Netherlands against the crowds: “basic shopping only”