Roads in the Netherlands

The first motorway in the Netherlands dates back to 1936, when the current A12 was opened to traffic between Voorburg and Zoetermeer, near The Hague. Motorway construction accelerated in the 1960s and 1970s but slowed in the 1980s. Current motorway expansion mostly occurs outside the Randstad. General maximum speed limits were introduced in 1957 (50 km/h within built-up areas) and in 1973 (100 km/h on extra-urban highways); the motorway limit was raised to 120 km/h in 1988. ==Roads by management authority==

National and provincial roads About 5,200 km of national roads (rijkswegen) are controlled by the Rijkswaterstaat, and the country's twelve provinces control about 7,800 km of provincial roads. Most motorways are national roads, and the remaining national roads are mostly expressways. Only a few motorways are provincial, and these are generally shorter and serve regional traffic. Municipal roads Municipal roads make up the bulk of the Dutch road network, totalling 120,000 km. Water council roads Aside from the division into provinces, the Netherlands is also divided into 21 water management districts. Together with other authorities, they own and control another 7,500 km of roads. ==Roads by legal types and definitions==

From 1998 to 2007, more than 33,000 km of roads have been converted to regional access roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h, as indicated by signage. Regional access roads are visually distinct from other roads by having no center line marking. Slower vehicles and non-motorised traffic are allowed; busier roads have adjacent cycle tracks, while quieter ones have advisory bike lanes. Regional access roads can fall under any of the road management authorities. On extra-urban roundabouts, the CROW recommends that motor vehicles have priority over cycle tracks, as opposed to urban roundabouts where cycle tracks have priority. Within built-up areas From 1998 through 2007, more than 41,000 km of city streets have been converted to local access roads with a speed limit of 30 km/h, for the purpose of traffic calming. and around 2 million people (over 10% of the country) were living in woonerven. ==Notable roads and statistics==

As a side effect of the dense road network, roadside and verge grass strips account for three percent of the Netherlands' total land area. Quality In 2019, a World Economic Forum report ranked the quality (extensiveness and condition) of the Dutch road infrastructure as the best in Europe, with a 6.4 score on a 7point scale. It was ranked the second-best of 141 countries in the world behind Singapore and ahead of Switzerland. Although traffic congestion is a relative constant in the Netherlands, a Europe-focused summary of TomTom's 2021 traffic congestion statistics found that there were no Dutch cities in the global Top100. There were also no Dutch cities in the high congestion category, although Haarlem was ranked #103 at 28% congestion in 2021, 2% below the "heavy" category. Major motorways / A16 near Rotterdam The busiest Dutch motorway is the A13 between the Hague and Rotterdam, with a traffic volume of 140,000 motor vehicles per day. Utrecht, in the centre of the country, has the busiest motorways on average (almost 100,000 vehicles a day), with major motorways A1, A2, A12, A27 and A28 running through it. The number of passing motorised vehicles is counted every minute of the day at 20,000 measuring stations on the Dutch motorway network. ==See also==