Skip to main content

Siemens traffic solutions improve Amsterdam bottleneck

Solutions supplied by Siemens are helping to improve traffic conditions at the Coentunnel, one of the most heavily used traffic arteries in the Netherlands, used by 100,000 vehicles every day. The tunnel, which links Amsterdam to the province of North Holland, has been a cause of traffic congestion and delays for many years. A much-needed second tunnel opened in spring 2013, together with a three kilometre long elevated section of freeway connecting the tunnel with the southern part of the city to relieve t
July 9, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Solutions supplied by 189 Siemens are helping to improve traffic conditions at the Coentunnel, one of the most heavily used traffic arteries in the Netherlands, used by 100,000 vehicles every day.

The tunnel, which links Amsterdam to the province of North Holland, has been a cause of traffic congestion and delays for many years. A much-needed second tunnel opened in spring 2013, together with a three kilometre long elevated section of freeway connecting the tunnel with the southern part of the city to relieve the heavily-used A10 route.

At the heart of the solution is the tunnel control centre's Sitraffic ITCC, which monitors and manages all of the operating and traffic systems and all of the outdoor equipment. A closed-circuit television system (CCTV) provides traffic monitoring, while the integrated automatic incident detection (AID) system provides identification of smoke as well as congestion and accidents.

Siemens also equipped the elevated section with state-of-the-art traffic technology including a traffic management system, monitoring technology and technical infrastructure components such as communication and camera technology.

To meet stringent safety requirements for the elevated section, Siemens used safety technologies similar to those used in the tunnel: sensors along the elevated section measure traffic volume and flow and automatically notify the control centre in the event of stationary traffic, slow-moving vehicles and wrong-way travel.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Saving the smartphone zombies from themselves
    October 15, 2020
    As roads – particularly in cities – become busier, companies are fielding a steady trickle of products to keep pedestrians safe and vehicles flowing
  • Free-flow upgrade to Holland's Westerschelde tunnel's toll system
    February 1, 2012
    Unbroken service Technolution's Winifred Roggekamp and Dave Marples describe efforts to upgrade the Westerscheldetunnel's tolling system to give free-flow capability. Until 2003 the Flanders region of Zeeland, in the south-west of the Netherlands, was connected to the mainland only by ferry. The new Westerscheldetunnel, a 6.6km toll tunnel, improves communications with the region considerably, taking some 100km off the alternative road journey. In 2006 it was recognised that the toll plaza for the tunnel ne
  • Traffic management to the fore at Vision 2014
    December 8, 2014
    Colin Sowman reviews some of the traffic-related exhibits at the 2014 Vision Show in Stuttgart. Traffic was a major theme at this years’ Vision Show in Stuttgart and several manufacturers used the exhibition to highlight their traffic-related equipment and applications.
  • New York's award-winning traffic control system
    February 28, 2013
    A comprehensive ITS strategy in New York built on a system of key building blocks has been crowned with an IRF award for the city’s Midtown in Motion adaptive control system. Jon Masters reviews New York’s ITS modernisation plan as the city looks to the next phase of expansion. In January this year the International Road Federation (IRF) presented TransCore and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) with the IRF Global Road Achievement Award. This was for deployment of New York’s Midtown in