Opening of freeway 2 Amsterdam-Utrecht

Amsterdam, April 1954

This photo was taken north of the nowadays Amstel-interchange (A2/A10), and has become municipal cityroad S110.

Hooggelegen and Oudenrijn. This picture was taken in 1960.

The right of way and groundworks between Hooggelegen and Vleutenseweg (on the picture down of the elevated roundabout) had been completed in 1938. WW-II however prevented the road from opening until 2 november 1953.

Vleutenseweg-intersection west of Utrecht in 1966, as it still was unchanged since the completion of the A2 in 1954.

Construction of Ypenburg interchange in 1959. At the same time the new r-o-w for freeway 13 is being used. This situation has changed unrecognisable since the late 1980-ies.

Ypenburg Interchange (rw13/rw4A), may 22, 1960

After completion of the elevated roundabout above rw13 the new freeway 4A in 1961 made it possible to travel form Amsterdam to Rotterdam without having to pass the Hague urban area.

Freeway 4A near Hoogmade in 1963. This location is now the scene of the construction of a high-speed-railroad crossing with the A4.

Construction of Burgerveen interchange, 1960

The old freeway 4 (now A4/A44) makes a turn to the west, the new freeway 4A  (now A4) continues in a straight line.

Ringvaartaquaduct, construction, 1960

Construction works are on the first dutch aquaduct (short river tunnel).

Ringvaartaquaduct, completed.

It lasted until january 28, 1961 before the last gap in the A4 had been opened to traffic. This picture was taken on march 6, 1961 and showes us a very quiet freeway.

South of the Velsertunnel (opened in 1957) the right-of-way for freeway 6 are already visible in 1961. However, it lasted until 1974 before the road had opened. Today this is the interchange between the A22 and the A208.

Start of the construction of the northern part of the Rottepolderplein-interchange in 1961.

Construction of the southern part of Rottepolderplein-interchange in 1963. This interchange has very sharp curves resulting in many accidents over the years.

Construction of the northern part of Rottepolderplein-interchange in 1963. In the right-above corner of the picture the southern part of the interchange is visible.

Construction of the Amstelplein interchange in 1970. Here the crossing of freeways 3 and 6 was projected. The projected freeway 3 never appeared and freeway 6 today is the A9 near Amstelveen. Today you’ll find only a non-important junction here (4; Ouderkerk a/d Amstel).

Freeway 8, seen from the air in 1967. The Coentunnel had been opened for just one year and work progressed to extend the Coentunnelroad in the direction of Koog aan de Zaan and make a spur to Purmerend.

The Zaandam-interchange under construction in 1967. The spur to Purmerend was constructed as a provincial freeway. In 1976 that road was numbered A7. It would last until 1994 before it would become a national freeway.

A closeup on the construction of Zaandam interchange, 1967.

Construction of the Coenbridge over the Zaan-river near Koog a/d Zaan in 1967. The A8 has been extended to Westzaan since and has never been completed. There still is a gap of only 3,5 mile to the A9-motorway. At this moment this network-completion is not an issue, although the situation in Krommenie is far from safe and sound.

Freeway 12 Utrecht-Germany had already been projected before WW-II. During the German occupation works on this road continued. In 1944 the road had that much been finished between Utrecht and Veenendaal, that only the pavement was missing. Groundworks and viaducts were ready.

After WW-II rebuilding of demolished roads and bridges had the most priority. Nevertheless one carriageway of the section between Utrecht and Driebergen could be opened in 1947. In 1955 the road would be doubled and became a real freeway.

Maarsbergen junction in 1958. Maarsbergen was reached in 1949, as one carriageway between Driebergen and Maarsbergen had been completed. In 1956 the second carriageway would be inaugurated.

Veenendaal junction in 1958. The road had been extended from Maarbergen to Veenendaal in 1951 with the construction of one carriageway. The second would be completed in 1956.

Planken-Wambuis junction in 1959. The freeway had been extended from Veenendaal; this part had two carriageways since its opening in 1956. In 1957 the road was extended again to Arnhem-Noord. These fast extensions in the fifties were made possible because the right-of-way had already been cleared and massive groundworks had been done during the period 1940-1945.

Velp viaduct in 1961.

The A12 had already been extended to Velperbroek interchange.

Velperbroek interchange in 1961. The IJsselbridge had been opened with just one carriageway; the second would be completed in 1964. The groundworks for the A12-flyover are visible, but the construction of the flyover still would have to wait for nearly 25 years.

Construction of the IJsselbridge near Zwolle in 1969.

IJsselbrug Zwolle under traffic, 1970

A28 north of Harderwijk, 1963

This part of freeway A28 would be isolated from the rest of the freeway-network until 1967, and it lasted until 1970 before the A28 between Amersfoort and Zwolle had been completed.

Freeway 1 crossing the Amsterdam-Rijn-channel between Diemen and Muiden in 1966. A few years after this picture was taken the bridge was replaced by an 8-lane new one.

Road number 1 near Muiden Vechtbridge in 1958. The section between Muiden and Naarden (background) had already been converted into a freeway.

This 2-lane bridge was replaced by an 8-lane new one in 1965.

Reconstruction works on road number 1 near Blaricum. In 1964 the new freeway had been opened. In this picture the situation 2 month before the opening.

Hoevelaken interchange in 1954. Roads 1 and 28 still had only one carriageway. Since then a lot has changed: look at how this interchange has developed over the years.

Construction of freeway 4 near Leiden in 1965 between the prewar end of the freeway near Oegstgeest and the old road Leiden-The Hague. Today this is the A44.

Construction of the Hollandsebridge in 1964. The bridge was opened in 1968; the year the new southern Flevopolder had become land from out of the water.

Construction of  “the egg of Saint Joost” in 1962.

Freeway 75 (now A2) between St. Joost and Born was opened to traffic in 1963, the section from St. Joost to Grathem (including a new Maas-bridge) in 1966.

Construction of Kooimeerplein-roundabout near Alkmaar in 1961.

Construction of the A10-west freeway in 1964. Today this junction (S102) is one of the heaviest used junctions in the Amsterdam ringroad.

Construction of freeway A15 near Tiel in 1963.

Klaverpolder interchange (A16/A17) in 1967.

In the background the old Moerdijkbridge is visible.

From right-under to left-above a deserted right-of-way of a railroad can be seen (Lage-Zwaluwe-Moerdijk). The place where this “line” crosses the A16 and A17 motorways, the interchange is completed in 2003, making it possible to drive from Zonzeel interchange directly to Noordhoek interchange, thus eliminating the need for building the A59 south of Zevenbergen.

Kethelplein interchange (A4/A20) in 1967

Today it still hasn’t been completed – the A4 to Delft has still not been build.

Leenderheide interchange (A67/A2) in 1964.

Still no flyover for the A67. The right-of-way is big enough to create a complete cloverleaf – this however has never been done.

Freeway 75 (now A2) near Meerssen under construction in 1961.

Maastricht-Beek was opened in 1962 as an isolated part of the freeway-network. It was connected to Kerensheide-interchange in 1968. In 1989 the A2 was completed near Weert, and it would last until the nineties before the road Den Bosch-Eindhoven had been transformed into a freeway. Connecting Maastricht to the network started quite early, but it has taken a lot of time before the A2 had totally been completed.

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