Major maintenance on Auke Vleerstraat

Is your first reaction to a road closure usually “damn, I’ll have to take a detour”?
Perhaps a brief look behind the scenes will help you to respect both the thinkers and the doers behind such a project. The Wegverleggers (Road Builders) are getting to work on Auke Vleerstraat. This is a partnership between the municipalities of Enschede and Losser and contractors NTP and Roelofs.

Over four intensive weekends, they will be carrying out major maintenance work on this road with all hands on deck. What is special is that they are doing this in the evenings and at night, something they only do in exceptional circumstances. They are doing this to ensure the accessibility and liveability of Enschede and, with it, Kennispark. The Auke Vleerstraat is a crucial traffic artery in the city.

Planning

They will work as much as possible at night and during weekends to minimise disruption.

They will work in phases to keep businesses accessible:

• Phase 1: Hendrik ter Kuilestraat to Twekkeler Es. From Monday 16 June at 6 a.m. to Monday 23 June at 6 a.m.
• Phase 2: Intersection of Auke Vleerstraat, Hendrik ter Kuilestraat and Windmolenweg. From Thursday 19 June at 8 p.m. until Friday 20 June at 6 a.m. And from Friday 20 June at 6 p.m. until Monday 23 June at 6 a.m.
• Phase cycle path: From Monday 7 July at 6 a.m. until Friday 11 July at 6 p.m.
• Phase 3: Driveway to Westerval from Auke Vleerstraat. From Friday 4 July at 6 p.m. until Monday 7 July at 6 a.m.
• Phase 4: Westerval exit including part of Afinkstraat. From Friday 11 July at 6 p.m. until Monday 14 July at 6 a.m.
• Phase 5: Auke Vleerstraat from Afinkstraat to the intersection of Windmolenweg and Hendrik ter Kuilestraat. From Friday 18 July at 6 p.m. until Monday 21 July at 6 a.m.

Explanation of phase 1 work

Monday 16 June – from 6 a.m.

From 6 a.m., one lane will be closed and the first phase of the work will commence. Traffic will be diverted. Work will start with milling the asphalt, followed by laying the new asphalt surface.

Friday 20 June – 6 p.m.

Auke Vleerstraat will be completely closed and work will commence.

• Six milling machines will start work immediately
• Twenty-five trucks will drive back and forth continuously to remove the milled material
• Four sweepers will follow the milling machines and sweep the road clean immediately
• This work will continue non-stop until Saturday morning at 6 a.m.

Saturday 21 June – from 7 a.m.

• Three full asphalt crews will apply the intermediate layers.
• From 10 a.m., they will be joined by four sawing crews who will cut no fewer than 57 detection loops for traffic lights in just 12 hours, a huge job!

Saturday evening and night – 21 and 22 June

• The road surface will be cleaned and prepared for the top layer.
• On Sunday morning at 7 a.m., three asphalt crews will be ready to apply the top layer.
• At 11 a.m., the marking crews will also start work.

Monday 23 June – 6 a.m.

Auke Vleerstraat will be open to traffic again!

And this is only weekend 1 of 4! It is a huge operation involving dozens of people working together on the road, with equipment in constant motion and everything having to fit together seamlessly.

Curious? Feel free to come and have a look!

The Windmolenbrug offers the best view of this major project. For more information, visit: enschede.nl/auke-vleerstraat.

Want to know more about the Wegverleggers? Visit: wegverleggers.nl.