Starting this week, major construction operations on the Groningen ring road and the train station will cause delays for travellers.
RTV Noord reports that portions of the ring road between the Euvelgunne junctions and the Hereweg will be closed for road works between Wednesday, 9 May at 10 p.m. and Monday, 14 May at 6 a.m. Traffic will be redirected to the north, east and western portions of the ring road instead.
In the coming days, sheet piling will be installed beneath a section of train tracks and the Helperzoomtunnel will be slid into place. The roofing above the platforms at the Groningen station will also be undergoing much-needed maintenance in the coming days: the roofing is nearly 100 years old and will be fully renovated in 2020.
Arriva
Due to the construction plans, Arriva trains will not be able to fill up the tanks of their diesel trains for several days. As such, from Thursday through Sunday, there will be no trains running between Groningen and Weener and Groningen and Veendam. From Thursday through Saturday, trains will not run from Groningen to Hoogeveen; on Sunday, there will be no trains between Groningen and Assen.
Replacement busses will be available for Arriva travelers from Thursday through Sunday. NS will also rely on replacement buses to Assen as works are finishing up at the Assen train station. Qliner will make more buses available for travelers between Groningen and Assen, but traveling by bus will take up to twice as long as by train.
Construction plans
The Groninger Internet Courant writes that 30,000 residents in the vicinity of the southern section of the ring road were informed about the construction plans in a letter from Aanpak Ring Zuid and Combinatie Herepoort in recent days.
The letter laid out the plans not only for this week, but for the coming years: temporary lanes will eventually be created between the Julianaplein and the Europaweg, and noise pollution (including some works being carried out in the evening or overnight) will be inevitable for the foreseeable future.
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