The municipality of Amsterdam is continuously working on the quality of public spaces in the city center. One of these projects is the redesign of the Vijzelstraat. For the Engineering Department of the municipality of Amsterdam, WesselinkVanZijst, in consultation with the local community, conducted an evaluation of the project's BLVC (Accessibility, Livability, Safety, and Environmental impact) measures, also in light of the major challenges facing the city.

The increasing crowds in Amsterdam's city center call for a redesign of a number of important streets and extensive (maintenance) work on bridges and quay walls. After the opening of the North-South Line, the municipality of Amsterdam has initiated several above-ground projects, including the Red Carpet. This is the route from Damrak through the historic city center to Ferdinand Bolstraat. By redesigning the streets along this route, the municipality aims to create an attractive route between Central Station and the RAI.

Part of the Red Carpet project is the redesign of the Vijzelstraat, between Muntplein and Vijzelgracht. Cars will move to the tram tracks, giving pedestrians and cyclists more space. The bridges over the Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht will also be renovated. The municipality began preparations in 2016, work commenced mid-2019, and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

The Engineering Department of the Municipality of Amsterdam has asked WesselinkVanZijst to conduct an evaluation, in consultation with stakeholders, of the BLVC (Accessibility, Livability, Safety, and Containment) measures during the preparation and execution of the work so far.

What have we done?

To address this, we conducted research into how the aspects of accessibility, livability, safety, and communication (BLVC) were prepared, developed, and implemented for this project. After all, the BLVC aspects of projects like these are an important basis for making agreements with the surrounding area to minimize nuisance from the work as much as possible and optimize accessibility. However, properly addressing these aspects is not easy. This sometimes requires making complex trade-offs. Choices that have a positive impact on one aspect can lead to concessions in (one of the) other aspects. For example, keeping the street open as much as possible for trams, cars, bicycles, and pedestrians has a positive effect on the accessibility of the city center and the front doors of residents, shops, and catering establishments, but it becomes more complicated to create a safe traffic situation around the work, also for the contractor's personnel.

After an extensive document analysis, interviews were conducted with stakeholders. The results of these interviews were tested in a workshop with all interviewees and subsequently included in a report. In this assignment, we collaborated with DTV Consultants, a Tilburg-based research and advisory firm focused on traffic and mobility. DTV Consultants specifically examined the aspects of traffic safety and accessibility during two site inspections. These inspection reports have been incorporated into the reporting.

The conclusions and recommendations from the final report can be used by the municipality of Amsterdam for the remaining work in the Vijzelstraat, as well as for future projects in the city center, such as the Oranje Loper and the Bridges and Quay Walls Program. These teams will be directly informed of the recommendations by us.