A city centre that becomes an attractive place to spend time, with the character of a city park. That is our vision. But a city centre that is greener, more sustainable and more appealing in which to live, work, spend time and enjoy life does place certain demands on traffic. After all, more space for greenery means less space for traffic. Of course, our visitors will continue to be very welcome in the city centre. We will be diverting through traffic.
Over the coming years, pedestrians and cyclists will be given more and more space in the city centre. There will soon be no through traffic. Motorists will mainly park on the outskirts of the city centre, in multi-storey car parks. There, you may be able to switch to other forms of transport. The city will remain easily accessible by public transport. And, of course, the city centre will also remain accessible to cars heading for a destination within the city centre.
In addition, from 2030, the city centre will become a zero-emission zone for urban logistics. This is an area where businesses will only be allowed to use zero-emission vans and lorries. You can read more about this on the Project page: Zero-emission zone from 2030.
To ensure that there is no longer any through traffic in the city centre, three road closures will be put in place. On Stationsstraat (between Kalverstraat and Kanaalstraat), on Molenstraat Centrum (between Stationsstraat and Korte Molenstraat) and on Stationsplein, between Stationsstraat and Sophialaan. This does not mean that vehicles are no longer allowed on these roads, but that they must turn back if their destination lies further on. Car parks, the shopping area and residential areas will remain easily accessible.
On the evening of Tuesday 5 March 2024, the council organised a meeting for local residents and business owners to discuss the exact location and design of the barriers. This meeting followed on from two meetings held in the summer of 2023 at which the plans were presented. During these meetings, those present were given an explanation of the mobility vision and greening plans for the city centre and were told what this would mean in practical terms for traffic.
View the presentation from 5 March 2024 (PDF, 3.4 MB)
Both during the meetings in the summer of 2023 and during the meeting in March 2024, there was an opportunity for discussion following the presentation. Questions and points for consideration regarding the plan, accessibility, traffic flow, speed limits and enforcement were raised. Deliveries were also a key point of concern. We have addressed the questions that were asked most frequently.
View frequently asked questions
In 2021, we carried out preliminary studies to identify the first urban park projects. These are the projects: Grote Markthof, Griftpark and Parkstraat.
Together with residents, business owners and other interested parties, we developed these projects into preliminary designs between November 2022 and May 2023. In September 2023, we will ask the local council to approve the preliminary designs and to make funds available for their further development. As part of this, we will also be finalising the traffic arrangements in and around these areas.
Reducing car traffic in the city centre has implications for the economy. It changes how people get into the city, which can lead to economic changes. The city’s appeal as a place to stay also influences the number of visitors and how long they stay. Apeldoorn City Council and Centrummanagement Apeldoorn commissioned a study to understand how these traffic measures affect the economy. The study answers the following questions:
Apeldoorn is growing. Many people want to live, work and enjoy their leisure time here. That is why we are making Apeldoorn even greener and even more of a city. A city with a city centre that is transforming into a green living room where you can literally feel the Veluwe. A real city park. We set out how we intend to achieve this in 2020 in the Development plan for ‘Apeldoorn City Park’.
This development outlook also calls for a new vision for transport. What do the future plans mean for pedestrians, cyclists, car traffic, parking and public transport in the city? We have outlined these topics in the mobility vision. In it, we set out our vision for how we see accessibility to the city centre. The vision was drawn up with input from our partners involved in the city centre and was adopted by the city council in June 2021. You can find the mobility vision on the Mobility Vision webpage.
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