Access roads

Access roads are located in a residential area and provide access to homes, businesses, schools, shops, etc. This means that the residential function is more important here than the traffic function and that all kinds of traffic mix here: pedestrians, cyclists, mopeds, cars, and trucks. Because of the large difference in mass between traffic participants and because pedestrians and cyclists are largely unprotected, the speed of the motorised traffic on access roads should be low.

Within built-up areas.

A speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour applies on access roads within built-up areas. To support this limit, physical speed brakes are usually installed, such as chicanes, speed humps, flower boxes and so on.

In addition to 30-kilometer-per-hour access roads, there are erven (home zones), as shown in the picture above. There, the speed limit is 15 kilometers per hour and pedestrians are allowed to use the entire width of the road for walking and playing. Erven (home zones) occur not only in residential areas, but also in shopping and station areas.

Outside built up areas.

The 2 images above show a access road outside built-up areas.

A speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour applies on access roads outside built-up areas. All these roads are designed for a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour.

However, if you are shown such a road at the CBR with only a sign indicating out of built-up area, without the 60 kilometer per hour zone sign, you have to enter 80 kilometers per hour as the maximum speed. Very strange, because pretty much all access roads in the Netherlands are designed as 60-kilometer-per-hour zones. Even stranger is to enter 80 kilometers per hour on roads that are not divided into 2 or more lanes. Therefore… look carefully at the picture and signs indicating a speed limit at the CBR!

In special situations, for example when the access road is a parallel road with only destination traffic, at an important crossing or on access roads in quiet areas and hamlets, a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour can be set.

Physical speed bumps on access roads are generally limited to intersections. The intersections are then constructed on a raised plateau.

On the road sections, bicycle lanes or suggestion lanes with a broken line are often installed. This creates a driving lane for motor vehicles in the middle of the carriageway. This leads to a visual narrowing of the road and thus to a lower driving speed. If there is sufficient width, cyclists can use the side lanes on either side of the travel lane. An edge line is usually not present on a access road.

Below you can see 2 more images used by the government a year or so ago as information.