Funeral preparations lead to traffic jams

30 March 2004

AMSTERDAM — Traffic on main roads to The Hague and Delft were busier than usual on Tuesday morning in the run up to the funeral of former Dutch queen Princess Juliana.

Hundreds of members of the public watched as her coffin was carried with full ceremonial honours from Paleis Noordeinde in The Hague on the way to the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. The cortege is expected in Delft at about midday.

A nine to 10km traffic jam built up on the A13 (Rotterdam to The Hague) during the morning rush hour, but traffic was moving smoothly again by 10am, news agency ANP reported.

The traffic jam was caused by the closure of the exit on the A16 at De Kuip stadium, which blocked access to the A13. The exit was closed to everyone except the ceremonial honour guard of soldiers assigned to accompany the funeral cortege.

Police re-opened the A16 once the last soldiers had moved on by 9.40am.

Traffic on the A12 (Utrecht to The Hague) and the A15 to Rotterdam was also reportedly heavy during the morning as a result of people going to the Hague and Delft for the royal funeral.

The national police service KLPD also closed off the right-hand side of motorways to all traffic, except for transports of people and material for the funeral.

People intending to travel to Delft for the funeral or on other business are advised by the city’s municipal council to travel by public transport or by bicycle. Extra facilities will be provided to lock up bicycles.

Car access to the city will be severely restricted and many roads leading into Delft will be closed.

Precise information on the traffic restrictions can be found in Dutch on the city’s website (http://www.begrafenisindelft.nl/)

Subject: Dutch news + Princess Julian’s funeral