Baptism of fire

Tuesday, 16 July 2024
The first incident to be reported on the N434, the new and largely underground link between the A4 and A44 at Leiden, came in on 7 July. BRL, the local IM recovery operator, received the call-out at 2.37 am, to recover a broken-down car in the northbound tunnel bore at hectometre marker 5.2. Later that day, there were another two incident call-outs.

Pascal van Wissen of BRL Leiden arrives at a breakdown on the N434, on 8 July 2024 (IM 137629)

The Province of Zuid-Holland expects that around 50,000 motorists per day will use the new road link. The link diverts traffic that would otherwise largely clog up the N206 in Leiden, with its 10 sets of traffic lights. The N434 first saw the light of day shortly before the Second World War, when it was provisionally given the name National Road 4B. Construction started in 2017. The road was opened to traffic on 5 July 2024.