EPvE RijnlandRoute – N434

In the coming years, the Holland Rijnland region will invest in maintaining and strengthening its position in the Randstad, for example by improving accessibility and growth of the housing supply. Without the RijnlandRoute – a new connection between the A4 and Katwijk – the developments will lead to an increase in traffic on the existing road network, which is already under pressure. Spatial integration of the RijnlandRoute is a complex task, for which an Aesthetic Program of Requirements has been drawn up. The provincial road will be intertwined with the existing national highways A4 and A44 and constructed in very vulnerable landscapes and densely built-up areas around Leiden. The road design is therefore reserved and subordinate to the landscape.

The intersections of the national and provincial roads are the places where the RijnlandRoute manifests itself. The Hofvliet junction at the A4 with its flyovers provides a panoramic view of the Groene Hart and the mill, the Ommedijk junction is hidden in the landscape due to its sunken location, so that the unobstructed view from the A44 is preserved. The large-scale infrastructure should result to minimal additional fragmentation of the landscape as possible. Local connections should be preserved, restored or optimized.

The most prominent part of the connection between the two national roads is the drilling tunnel, the Corbulotunnel, of approximately 2.5 kilometers under the vulnerable landscapes of the Papenwegse Polder and Oostvlietpolder. This road, the N434, also consists of a sunken location with an aqueduct and fauna passage. This ensemble is approached as one integral construction, one gesture for the motorist and minimally visible in the open landscape. The road does not cross the landscape, it dives under.

The Aesthetic Program of Requirements (EPvE) translates the project ambitions with regard to spatial quality and design into a quality framework with associated requirements. The EPvE is used as a contract document for the tender and serves as an assessment framework for the q-team and the five aesthetics committees of the relevant municipalities. For the province of South Holland, the quality framework for the extensive and far-reaching infrastructure project has been drawn up on the basis of expertise on spatial integration and perception. In 2015 the part for the main contract was drawn up and in 2017 the part for the N206 on the side of Katwijk and Valkenburg. The RijnlandRoute is currently under construction.