Amsterdam traffic will be heavily disrupted for most of 2025 due to large-scale maintenance work and major events taking place throughout the year. To prevent hour-long standstills, the number of cars on Dutch roads needs to be reduced by at least 20 percent, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat).
The municipality of Amsterdam, Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail have a long list of maintenance to be done in and around the Dutch capital during the coming year. Work will be done on highways, tunnels, connecting roads, train stations, bridges and junctions, resulting in multiple closures for transport.
The biggest impact will be felt between May and October 2025 with some routes being closed for extended periods of time. "If we were to do everything only on weekends, we would be 50 weekends short,” Niels van den Brink, traffic manager at Rijkswaterstaat told NOS.
Apart from maintenance and building work, large events such as the Party on the A10 ring road to celebrate Amsterdam’s 750th birthday, SAIL and the NATO summit in The Hague will also cause havoc on Dutch roads as visitors flood through the area.
To prevent traffic from coming to a complete standstill while all these roadworks are being implemented, various measures are being put in place. The Dutch organisations involved are urging drivers to travel via public transport or by bike, travel together or less frequently.
The plan is to reduce traffic by 20 percent, which is expected to be a challenge as in the past peak summer periods traffic was only reduced by 10 percent. "20 percent is a huge challenge," said Amsterdam traffic alderman Melanie van der Horst. "Everyone has to realise that something is really going on, not everyone can continue to travel as usual."
Navigation services will keep drivers up to date on the latest closures and possible detours, while discount campaigns offering savings for shared transport and public transport travel will serve to lessen the number of cars on the road.
Here is a list of the planned disruptions in Amsterdam itself and around the city for the next year:
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