Noordeinde one-way

As a resident of TeVreewijk, I and my children cycle on the Noordeinde almost daily. We have frequently encountered dangerous situations due to the narrowness of the road, the two-way traffic, the large buses and the dangerous crossings (to the Witte Singel, Korte Rapenburg and Blauwetram straat). Unfortunately, in your new plan I don’t really see a solution to any of these issues.

I would suggest more far-reaching changes. The road is simply too narrow for two-way traffic. It should be made one-way with a separate cycle path. Only then could you avoid the scary near misses that we have frequently encountered. That would also allow for wider pavements and bike parking outside the student housing. It would also ease the problems caused by delivery vans that are frequently parked outside the restaurants on the street, thus making an already dangerous situation even worse. I realise that one-way traffic would make vehicle access to the centre more difficult. But as modern day cities are no longer the domain of cars, I think the benefits far outway the challenges.

There should also be a bicycle crossing to enter the Haagweg carpark. At present, my children have to weave between the cars to wait in the middle of the road until the traffic lights change. Oncoming traffic frequently strays outside its lane and drives too fast, plus cyclists have to wait ages for the lights to change. This can be very frightening.

In addition, I firmly believe that Leiden would benefit enormously from having far less traffic in the historical centre in general. Large buses should be kept out of the centre, smaller shuttle buses should be used and cars should be ‘guests’, as is the case in many other historical Dutch city centres. At present, the Noordeinde and whole area around the Beestenmarkt, Korte Rapenburg and Steenstraat are unattractive and dangerous. Making the whole area one-way and free of large buses would be a huge improvement. This also corresponds with the municipality’s ambitions for a greener, safer city.