Amsterdam halted the trial six weeks ago With the “Polar Plan” for a car-free Jordan. Suddenly, after only ten days, when the trial was supposed to last a year. The Amsterdam region wants to continue with the plan, while much of the neighborhood has finished with it entirely. What is going wrong here and what can other municipalities learn from this disaster?
The fact that the neighborhood has absolutely no confidence in Jordan’s polar plan was painfully clear during the residents’ evening. After the district president asked the reason for the lack of trust, a local resident stood up and asked those present who did not trust the municipality to stand up as well. Then almost the entire room stood up…
Confidence between business and residents suffered a severe blow due to the disaster. How was such a plan developed without any measurements of traffic in and around the neighborhood? Why did things get so bad with emergency services?
Furthermore, a plan does not have a concrete, measurable goal. No one seems to know how much it costs or what it will cost. It was a plan in which residents and business people were marginalized from their opinions and participation by not publishing traffic decisions in advance. Who will take car-free plans seriously?
Much more has gone wrong with the blocking of Amsterdam’s Weesperstraat than the local councilor previously said he knew.
Municipalities want to work on a policy that will make their city more attractive. The car is not a normal part of this. However, things often go wrong with ambitious traffic plans.
Three tips: Make sure the plans are right, make sure the plans fit together, and make sure there is a connected story.
Traffic plans begin with a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of existing traffic flows and the design of public spaces. What problems do you want to solve? When is it successful? The plan should include a risk analysis of impacts on emergency services, relocation of the target group, waterbed impacts, and undesirable behaviour. Naturally, it coordinates interventions with other interventions in the region.
New public space attracts new jobs. How do you get a handle on that? Eventually, the whole thing will become a terrace or bike park. With the new course “Amsterdam makes space” This policy will only be implemented in the coming years. Shouldn’t you wait for that?
Of course, you properly follow the basic rules regarding decision-making, participation and viewpoints. The manipulation of at least nine traffic decisions in the Jordan area was not transparent and showed little respect for the residents.
There are now separate plans for different modes such as cycling, walking, taxi, public transport and car. If you add these layouts together, the overall space should be twice as large. No fundamental choices were made. You first expect a cohesive approach before giving up space, time and money. You can only do it right once. You cannot continue to interrupt network traffic with impunity.
Municipalities need new stories that help them stay outside familiar trenches, discover unexpected solutions, and attract new target groups. The term “car-free” alone scares a lot of people off. You write that story with everyone involved; Residents, business people and visitors. It takes time.
For car-free plans, the traffic advisor also needs the other council members responsible for this: spatial planning and economics. Last but not least, a large budget is needed for implementation.
Believing you will win by pushing a plan on ideological grounds alone is unwise. This does not lead to more confidence. If you as a municipality do not have the knowledge and resources to arrange it properly, you should not start it at this time. Invest if car-free is really that important.
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