Residents and entrepreneurs sign up for the city ring

Residents, entrepreneurs, but also representatives of the cultural cluster around Willemsplein, schools around the Noordhoekring and other stakeholders will participate in the design of the new Cityring. This “Parking ring” should be ready at the end of 2026.

At the end of 2021, the city council decided to ban through traffic from the city ring road. This is necessary to keep the city center easily accessible for the traffic that needs to be there, such as residents, visitors to shops/catering/stages, employees and for emergency services, buses and taxis. Less through traffic also means the city center will be greener, more pleasant and safer. Exactly what the successor to the urban ring will look like will be determined over the coming year by 3 planning teams.

Alderman Rik Grashoff: “Achieving a design that meets all technical requirements, user wishes and ideal images is a difficult task. That’s why it’s important that we go through this process together. With the people who live there, work there or use it daily for their work. This way we are sure to come up with a design that integrates well with what works for a growing downtown.

Part designs

Each planning team goes to work with its own partial design. The municipality, contractors, land organizations and traffic engineering designers work together on this design. And it is a complicated task, there are all kinds of technical requirements and other issues that must be taken into account. For example, events such as the fair for which sufficient space must remain. A good connection with the Spoorlaan and the Stadsforum is also important. But there is also room to make choices together: do we opt for more greenery, but do we also need more space to park bicycles, art or terraces? By the end of 2022, a first drawing should be available on which the municipality is organizing an information evening. The council will make a final decision on the design in the spring of 2023.

Steps

Working in urban planning teams, the complicated task, but also the need to keep the city center easily accessible during the works, have consequences for planning. Construction is being done in phases. So that the city center remains easily accessible in the meantime.
2022: planning teams working on designs
2023: Designs approved by council – start of tender
Summer 2023 – spring 2024: Construction of part of the Palace Ring (adjacent to the Stadsforum)
Spring 2024 – end of 2024: Adjust Heuvelring
Late 2024 – Spring 2025: Adjusting the Noordhoekring
End of 2025: Adjust Schouwburgring
2025: conversion of the Bishop Zwijsenstraat into a cycle street