Bericht
door Peter » wo 04 aug 2010, 10:15
History of Dutch motorways
3. Rise of the motorcar, 1890-1927
3.1 The vision of Cornelis Lely
In 1896 the first motorcar was imported into Holland. At first most people were very impressed, but in the first five years of the 20th century that feeling subsided. Resistance appeared, not in the first place because of some very awful car-accidents. Especially in the countryside cars and their drivers had to suffer from peasant attacks. The new car inflicted a lot of discussion, and not everyone did foresee a bright future for motoring.
In this era there was one visionary person who did, and it was secretary Lely, who launched a new law proposal in February 1899 which provided an important role for the car in long distance travel. This was only three years after the introduction of the first car in the Netherlands. While considering that in 1907 there were no more than 1500 cars registered, and the drivers were mostly part of the upper-class wealthy elite, it was quite a remarkable proposal.
Just before Christmas 1906, on the 19th of December, the parliament debated about the future of motoring in the Netherlands. At first the discussion went not in favor of motoring, until MP Lely ( the former secretary mentioned above) took the floor. He said he wanted to say "some words", however it became a passionate argument in which he drew his vision on the car that would evolve from a niche product for the happy few to a mass product: it would become a convenient, adequate form of transportation which needed new arteries on which the different road users would be separated and where free flow of traffic should not be hampered. In Lely's vision motoring would have important consequences for the spatial development of cities as well as the countryside. He urged the government to present a plan for a national network of main roads, suitable for motoring and "by which the provincial capitals could be connected by roads allowing speeds of 60 to 80 and perhaps more kilometers/hour" (40-60 mph). Remember: he said these words in 1906. His words didn't have a direct effect on government policies of that time, however the consequence was that motoring was taken seriously from that moment on.
Lely was a civil engineer with great vision; he is also the person who proposed the land reclaiming in the IJsselmeer (at that moment still Zuiderzee or South Sea) and as a gratitude the capital city of the youngest province of the Netherlands, Flevoland, bears his name: Lelystad (=Lelycity).
3.2 Motoring usage exceeds all expectations
Lely didn't have any forecasts on traffic volumes, he just expressed his vision in 1906. In this vision he dropped the idea of special access controlled motorways (without knowing or mentioning the term itself). That was quite revolutionary at the time. To what extend his vision would become truth, he would at that moment not have apprehended himself.
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At first it seemed that Lely had been barking up the wrong tree: in 1908 the Parliament decided to lower the Maximum Speed Limit to 10 km/h within City Limits.. The same year, the young engineer L.R. Wentholt was committed the task to investigate the usage of State own roads. His report concluded, that there was hardly any motorized transport still
In Ch 5 we will Re-encounter Wentwolt as director of Rijkswaterstaat.
Slowly, the government realized that State road were used more frequently. Especially the narrow roads in the west, which were situated on a river (or canal) dikes, became problematic. Although the speed limit was 10 and 15 km/h within and outside city limits, few people adhered to it.
Very few other regulations like giving way, did exist at the time. It was not even formally obliged to drive on the right side of the road (although a rule as such might have existed under Napoleon Law). Many accidents occurred as a result. In 1906 driving on the right side of the road became formal law.
In 1894 the ANWB (the national cyclists federation), began to issue road signs. Before road signs were a local initiative (if any). The first wooden road sign appeared to be very useful to fuel to stove in the first fierce winter. Streetwise, the ANWB placed the 1000th iron road sign in 1904. They all were signs at the crossing themselves, which was more than sufficient given the low speed on the road. .
The number of cars remained low until WW-I. Although the number nearly tripled between 1909 and 1913 (until 4000), the ownership was still well below 1:1000, hence an elite gadget.
On 28 July 1915 (now) Minister Lely proposed a bill to improve road standards. The tide had turned due to World War I. Although the Netherlands were formally neutral, the decline in trade and shipping caused a economic recession. A fuel shortage even triggered a temporary ban on private car trips. The bill remained undiscussed by parliament and was withdrawn later (by Lely’s successor König) een
Plan, as proposed by Lely for the State Road Improvement Plan 1915
In 1915 Lely instigated a Road Commission, an advisory board on Road Infrastructure. The commission basically lay the foundation for the National Road Plan of 1927 (see section 3.4).
During the Interbellum the car density increased 6-fold. In 1924 there were nearly 31000 motorcars, now that the car became affordable for the better middle class and as transporter car for shop owners and farmers. The T-Ford standardization attributed largely to the trend of cheap and reliable cars. .
3.3 The Road Issue
In the thirties the roads got busier and busier by the increasing number of cars and cyclists (the latter presumably resulting from industrialization). Narrow roads (usually < 3m), telegraph polls, trees, tram tracks, ferries, toll houses and lacking connections were impeding fast travel. Besides, the (brick) roads were frequently damaged by heavy motorcars and lorries. Something needed to be done…
The urge for road works was acknowledges in the early twenties, but funding was problematic.
In 1920 the first conference on Roads (Nederlands Wegencongres) was organized by a Organisation of Engineers (KIVI) and the A
In 1923 the department of Road Technology was created within Rijkswaterstaat to deal with technical and social issues of Road Construction. Department Head was G.J. van den Broek. He was trusted by all parties and could stipulate the new road plan, partly funded by the new Road Tax Law in 1926, drafted under Van den Broek’s suggestions. With the new tax, new road works could be funded.
Van den Broek’ s design principles were mobility and safety, still the two most important road design pillars.
3.4 State Road Plan 1927
In June 1927 the first State Road Plan was issued. It contained existing, improved and planned (new) roads. It was envisaged the 300 million Guilders plan would take 30 years to realize. The plan contained tables, legends and figure. The figures contained a network of main roads that would accommodate long distance travel (within the Netherlands mainly). The roads still connected the larger cities without by-passing them. Fully new planned roads were:
* Den Haag - Gouda - Utrecht
* Rotterdam - Gouda - Amsterdam
* Den Haag - Rotterdam
* Amsterdam - Utrecht
* Amsterdam - Leiden
It was basically the first new update (after more than a century) of the Napoleon Road Plan.
130 km/h ? Dan haalt de trein me nog steeds in ...