Benelux tunnel

The Benelux Tunnel is a tunnel under the Nieuwe Maas between Vlaardingen / Schiedam and Hoogvliet for motor vehicles , cyclists and Rotterdam metro ( Line C ). The road through the Benelux tunnel is the A4 .

The establishment of the Benelux Tunnel is mainly due to the Vlaardingen mayor mr. Jan Heusdens . The planned highway 19 / Zoomweg between Vlaardingen and Schiedam was in the 1960s not high on the priority list of Rijkswaterstaat . Heusdens nevertheless strove for the creation of this tunnel, which he considered of great importance for the development of Vlaardingen. From its opening in 1967 until the end of 1979 the Benelux Tunnel was a toll tunnel, operated by a company for which he initiated. There was then a toll plaza on the south side of the tunnel. Per passage drivers had a golden pay; a truck had rijksdaalder be paid. For many Vlaardingers was difficult to swallow the way which their mayor had so intently by boundary changes during construction eventually Schiedams territory came to be.

The ' diamond to Rotterdam lies on the west side of the A4 between Kethelplein (N) and the Beneluxplein (Z), incorporating the Benelux Tunnels. The section through the Benelux tunnel is quite sensitive file: almost daily creates traffic jams.

In the 60s, the great need for more river crossings was the Maas Tunnel and the various ferries. For these and other reasons, the design of the "diamond to Rotterdam" came about. On the east side is responsible for since 1964 Brienenoordbrug of the desired north-south, while the first Beneluxtunnel since 1967 takes the western side of the bill.

2nd Benelux Tunnel
The increase in all traffic made the construction of a second Brienenoordbrug necessary. Eventually it was released in 1989 for road traffic. The files on the east side of Rotterdam was resolved. The problems on the west side were thus not sufficiently resolved. In 1993 it was decided by the government to construct the 2nd Benelux Tunnel. To proceed to execution places were requirements for the transportation. Was commissioned for the project 2nd Benelux Tunnel: file resolution and combine several modes of transport in one tunnel, a fast construction time and the existing traffic flows both over water (Nieuwe Maas) and the road (A4) interfere as little as possible. The approach chosen by the abovementioned contract for solutions to help the economic development of the port of Rotterdam as well as the environment have been served. That means enabling the separation of not strictly necessary traffic of the economically important and traffic, of course, the provision of good transport alternatives. This is achieved by not only to build extra lanes but also the realization of a good bike connection, better subway connection to this region. The new tunnel consists of two tubes for car northbound (pipes D and E), a service tunnel (tube C), a bicycle and a subway tunnel (used for line C ). The old tunnel tubes A and B are both used for southbound traffic. All tunnels for traffic, two lanes at the exit of A tunnel immediately a third lane on. The opening of the 2nd Benelux Tunnel, including metro, took place on 2 November 2002 .

The ferry service for pedestrians and cyclists between Vlaardingen and Pernis after the opening of the new tunnel terminated because the metro and the bicycle are a good alternative.