Photo: Roelof Kleis A series of measures are being considered to improve traffic flows round the campus in the short term. An access road on the west side is a strong contender.
This western access road option is currently being studied, says the provincial authority. The decision will be taken next month. It would be a temporary road taking traffic to campus from Nijenoord Allee, near Mondriaanlaan. WUR has long wanted such a western access road. At present, traffic for the campus coming from the west has to drive all the way round to Mansholtlaan.
The residents of Nordwest district had always opposed the western access road option. They fear more congestion and unsafe conditions on the route to the district. However, they gave up their opposition when the campus ring road was proposed. Since then, the Nordwest residents have been attacking the ring road plans and have accepted the western access road as a possible bargaining chip.
It looks like the days are numbered for the roundabout to the east of the campus, near Atlas. The provincial authority is investigating the possibility of replacing the roundabout by traffic lights. In that case, there will be a separate lane for traffic from Ede wanting to turn right onto campus so those vehicles won’t have to wait.
The province is also looking at the flows of bicycles travelling to campus. Improvements are planned anyway for the Nijenoord Allee bicycle crossing near Hoevestein. The connecting cycle paths will be altered to improve cyclist traffic flows. That crossing connects Leeuwenborch to the campus. A separate cycle path along Kierkamperweg is also envisaged for cyclists coming from Bennekom.
The measures are needed because of delays to the construction of the campus ring road. The province doesn’t expect to reach a decision on the ring road before the summer, and building work will start in 2022 at the earliest. That is why the province, municipality and WUR now want to take stop-gap measures to tackle the increasing congestion.