Amsterdam installs 4,400 signs: speed limit goes to 30 mph

4,400 signs

Starting Monday, Oct. 2, the municipality will place the first signs on the future 30-kilometer roads, where you are currently allowed to drive 50. The signs temporarily have a sticker on them saying “December 8 here 30km/h. The sticker will be removed on the night of Thursday, Dec. 7, to Friday, Dec. 8. From then on, you will be allowed to drive a maximum of 30 kilometers per hour on 80 percent of the roads in Amsterdam. How fast you can drive where is clearly indicated by traffic signs on each street. In total, the municipality is using 4,400 new signs for this purpose.

‘Our neighborhood is unsafe!’

Urban interviews show that 67 percent of Amsterdam residents find traffic in their neighborhood (very) unsafe. And 83 percent feel that speeding creates unsafe traffic. “The number of traffic fatalities is about 20 per year and the number of injured is more than 800. With a lower speed limit, the number of accidents decreases by 20 to 30 percent. Also, the consequences of accidents are then less severe. Figures show that the braking distance decreases by half if you go from a speed of 50 kilometers per hour to 30 kilometers per hour,” reports the municipality.

Additional lines of 50-kilometer roads

In the coming weeks, the municipality will install additional lines on the roads that remain 50 kilometers per hour. For example, you should be able to clearly tell the difference between a road where you will soon have to drive 30 and roads that remain 50 kilometers per hour. Applying the lines takes about 15 minutes per location.

Press ridges

In order to allow public transportation to run as smoothly as possible, the municipality is constructing separate public transportation lanes in some areas. Here, public transportation may continue to travel 50 kilometers per hour. Traffic in the adjacent roadway is allowed a maximum of 30. At these locations there will be so-called press ridges. These are tires that separate the OV lane from the roadway.