Utrecht’s canal ring is complete

[791] The return of the Utrecht canal ring around the historic centre. The reconstruction of the former city moat was finished after almost 20 years in September 2020. The festive opening was on 12 September 2020. More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.w...

[@imajeenyus42]

I love the glass roofed/ceiling "underpass" through the shopping mall, that's a brilliant idea!

[@RosesAndIvy]

@@ionae3440 Me too! I've walked there many times, I thought they were just modern fountains, never realized you could see through to the canal underneath!

[@AlexFlodder]

But a danger to (ice) skaters, due to that part freezing later and weaker... At least onlookers can watch people drown.

[@RosesAndIvy]

@@AlexFlodder I mean.. come on now we haven't had any skateable ice in years. Our winters are getting warmer, so I doubt that will be a huge problem.

[@AlexFlodder]

@@RosesAndIvy True, but it will be fun to watch as soon as that happens.

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@AlexFlodder If that's an argument we should permanently ban all bridges.

[@popeurban4741]

One thing I find interesting is that so much work has went into making the place around the canal beautiful. Its not just that they replaced the road with a canal, but along with that they put plenty of trees along it, they made the brickwork and edges beautiful, and I love the little flower areas at 3:37. And the floor of that shopping centre is a really clever idea.

[@chorton38305]

It is so heartwarming to see some small piece of the earth taken back from the automobile and given to humans. Congratulations Utrecht!

[@bertjesklotepino]

Too bad the entire country's taxpayers have to pay for it, once again, after they first destroyed what was already there. This happens over here in 's-Hertogenbosch as well. First they demolish a water well that has stood on the market place for centuries. Then they come to the conclusion that it was a bad idea. SO they build it back. Costs: 200k Euro. Same goes for the destroyed walls around the city. Now they are being rebuild (or have been already in some places) It is those crazy nutcases in politics (socalled civil servants) who come from all kinds of places to run their mouth in cities they have not been born in, don't know anything about, etc etc. They destroy the city, throwing cash as if its nothing in a deep well, filling their pockets with a bit of that money ofcourse. (most of it i assume) And then they are gone. Democracy and capitalism in a nutshell for you.

[@xFD2x]

It has it's price, but then the stain is removed from the city's heart. A mistake corrected.

[@georgecostanza831]

The only mistake is you thinking cars are evil. Cars represent freedom of movement. Have fun on your boat.

[@xFD2x]

@@georgecostanza831 " freedom of movement" Only when you are driving. Not when you are struggling to find a parking spot, or when you are stuck in traffic.

[@KhangTran-sl3yb]

@@georgecostanza831 , do you have freedom to sleep when you're on your way from A to B by car? Nay. Lol. But people on bus, metro do. Surprise.

[@bertjesklotepino]

@@georgecostanza831 Cars represent freedom of movement. Yeah. Adam Something has a channel on youtube. He has shown us this great freedom of movement in many videos. And one of his latest shows what idiots have done to Prague, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Idiots allowed cars to travel into the historic centers where they dont even fit. Taking all the space away so people cant even walk on the sidewalks because the sidewalks are only 10 centimeters wide to give the car some space. So 1 person has had "freedom of movement", since most cars are used by individuals. Ey, go to Dubai. Have a look at the great freedom over there. Huge skyscrapers with nice roads in between. You can go by car from one skyscraper to the next. And, in every skyscraper is the same shit. Housing, shops, shit. So you dont even have to go anywhere else once you entered one of em buildings. Plus: there is No need to go on the streets, cause there aint nothing to see there but buildings and roads for cars. No living streets where people meet, walk, enjoy themselves. Just roads, with cars. For people to go from one skyscraper to the one next to it. To jeez, i dunno, maybe get another dealer at the table of Black Jack? (o, sorry, that is racist. Coloured Jack i meant)

[@bertjesklotepino]

@@georgecostanza831 it's a miracle those same idiots have not demolished some buildings to make room for cars so they could drive through the Zlatá ulička u Daliborky. The Golden Lane where a sister of writer Franz Kafka rented number 22, which he then used for a year or so to write. Cars are nice, but they are taking up WAY TOO MUCH space. Especially since most of them are used by individuals. Not by families. Single person in a huge SUV. It is just ridiculous. Imagine 10 of em visiting the same small street in some historic city center. Ridiculous.

[@BrokenCurtain]

This place looks so much more liveable with the promenade next to the canal.

[@DJAvren]

I had some of my first driving lessons through that underpass back in 2009. I'm glad it's gone. It was ugly, attracted way too many cars to the city centre, and the canal that is now flowing through again is a fantastic sight so cycle next to.

[@KY-dg8gp]

They did the EXACT same thing in Breda. Canal was made into a parking garage and many decaded later they build a canal again. Now there is a big boat party every year on it called "Breda drijft".

[@mourlyvold7655]

I always wonder, why not have parking under the canal? Would be a great provision in Amsterdam for instance. After all they built tunnels under "het IJ" so it's not impossible.

[@ingmarsteenbergen2619]

@@mourlyvold7655 the soil in the Netherlands is poorly suited for projects like that. We do not have a solid bedrock ground. Our soil is more marshy soggy swamp soil. Building an entire parking garage would be a huge challenge. Tunnels on the other hand are pre-constructed tubes that we push, or sink into the right place. But pre-building an entire parking lot isn't really an option duo to its size. Of course i am confinced that our ingenieurs are able to solve this challenge, maybe by using modulair sections. But i think it is a highly costly proces when looking at the soggy soil underneath a canal.

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@ingmarsteenbergen2619 You seem to be more of an engineer than I am. And you're right, it's very challenging. I once dug out a cellar in Amsterdam; removed the old tiles, started digging and hit something hard. Upon inspection it was another layer of older tile flooring. We removed them, same thing happened again...and again and again. In all we took out 12 or 13 layers. Apparrently that's how people used to deal with the sinking swamp under their houses, just pile up new layers of sand and tiling.. Apart from maybe the top 20 centimeters in a few places the wooden fundaments were still in good shape, built 'op kleef'. The tiles were used to line the new cellar, quite a feature as you can imagine. In my everlasting queste of stopping parked cars from blocking the views of the canals, may I suggest parkings under the roads besides the canals as an alternative? The costs, though still considerable, could actually be lower. Ah, just some thoughts... Fijne dag!

[@isaacho4573]

America: LETS BUILD A 16 LANE FREEWAY THROUGH OUR CITY CENTER!

[@isaacho4573]

@Frank Heuvelman In Oakland, they destroy 29 city blocks of a neighborhood to build a freeway (Interstate 980) that hardly anyone uses.

[@stephenvanwijk9669]

Yeah, we had that kind of thinking in The Netherlands. But it always had a lot of resistance. We are simply not Americans. We like our way.

[@hang3xc1]

We have roughly 20 THOUSAND cities in the US. A few hundred cities definitely do have freeway access and lots of cars, but we also have thousands and thousands of smaller cities and towns with PLENTY of space for biking & walking. We also have much nicer weather. The Netherlands have EIGHT months per year with high temps below 60 F. and just 2 months when the temp rises to a 'balmy' 72 F So you don't have a summer at all. You have a never ending autumn. Spectacular. There are also, on average, 182 days of rain per year. THat is exactly half. So chilly most of the time, and rainy half of the time. Sure makes for some awesome bike riding weather... but yeah, some large cities in America have freeways running alongside them.

[@nielsdebakker3283]

@@hang3xc1 Better a never ending autumn than never ending forest fires. And somebody is still not using the iso system.

[@stephenvanwijk9669]

hang3xc1 Rain, snow, hailstorm, storms, we Dutch don’t give a f. We bicycle home, were it is ‘gezellig’.

[@SOUTHALLAlanTMobilityScooter]

The time before the last that I was in Utrecht the people I stayed with lived beside that motorway and (understandably) were pissed off with it being there. I am for one am pleased to see it has gone.

[@meneer7465]

Beautiful! Thank you, the constructors, Utrecht, the men and women who started this great project. Thank you, thank you!

[@mysurlytrucker7510]

Good on you the Netherlands city's should be for the people, not for the car.

[@georgecostanza831]

People need the car.

[@mysurlytrucker7510]

@@georgecostanza831 some do am sure I have a car myself, but its way overdue that the world and most people were not inconvenienced most places just for the car .

[@georgecostanza831]

@@mysurlytrucker7510 No you are brainwashed by the NWO agenda

[@mysurlytrucker7510]

@@georgecostanza831 really you don't think the city should be for the people?.

[@georgecostanza831]

@@mysurlytrucker7510 It already was. within 10 years we will all be on the buses/trains only! Doesnt sound like "for the people" to me.

[@koekum]

Did the ring twice yesterday. Nice to see it finished after all these years

[@muhammadislam2986]

Thank you for these videos of hope.

[@n.gk2523]

Ι'm so happy for all of you Dutch citizens...You set the example for all of us !! This one and a lot of other things makes me wanna live in Netherlands... Soon enough ,I hope.. !! Greetings from Greece

[@MrBerendd]

Proud Utrechter here. Love ur videos. I moved to Utrecht 6 years ago and couldn’t be happier with return of the canal.

[@genghisconn7770]

I believe I once saw an older video of yours that showed the partial restoration of the canal in 2016. The landscaping looks absolutely beautiful now, really nice to see it grew in well.

[@Shatterer101]

Congrats Utrecht, looking forwards to seeing all this in person in December, now just let's hope that I can fly without problems. Fingers crossed.

[@Jerbod2]

And, are you coming?

[@lucasuijtt]

Wat een heerlijk informatief filmpje, dit blijft een van de leukste accounts op youtube

[@abbaby555]

This is so very cool, I wish we'd do things like this project here in New York

[@thokim84]

New York does not have the topography or such a low population density to allow anything like this.

[@canuzzi]

Well the Broadway was orginally the canal of New Amsterdam.

[@SpitefulAZ]

At least new York is one of the most bicycle friendly cities in USA

[@eliajoe22]

I really like the Highline project in New York. It's very similar and an excellent example of improving that you have!

[@berend8724]

thokim84 what are you talking about? The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world it's about principles

[@ElectariumTunic]

This video feels exactly like one of those 5-minute obscure/interesting documentaries on TV. You know the ones they run when a show stop at 17:50 due to no ad-breaks, and they need to fill the space until 18:00

[@yash1152]

thanks for mentioning the year alongside (3:02 and throughout)

[@qqnqqpart]

Hey there stranger! I've seen you in the comments here before!

[@amannaikwade3118]

Netherlands never fails to impress me ❤

[@mourlyvold7655]

Well, we do have a tendency to lose quarter- and half finals in football... 😢

[@vaibhavhalk]

was on BT to Utrecht for 2 months, its an amazing place...

[@weggespamt7816]

Beautiful Story! The Dutch are amazing :)

[@nicbing2598]

It's all that cannabis sativa, they imported from Indonesia , & these days you can do a DOOBIE in a cafe ...yes THE DUTCH are AMAZING !

[@aimeek9384]

Afgelopen weekend voor 't eerst even gekeken, mooi weer en veel bootjes, echt leuk!

[@MetDaan2912]

I was there right after it opened and I knew you were going to make a video about it 😂 I also love the fact that you can peddle underneath the mall and look up through the glass.

[@hang3xc1]

SImple minds are easily amused

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@hang3xc1 Ah, now I get it. I've read some of your comments, things are getting clear. You've got some chip on your shoulder and think you'll get rid of it by picking random fights with random strangers. Sad really. Don't worry, lad. Live will get better when you grow up.

[@gopi0905]

Hated Utrecht when I moved here many years ago. Slowly I am warming up to this city which has seen lot of improvements. New railway station, modern shopping mall and now canals.

[@Blackadder75]

It always had canals. This is just a little part of the canal system that has been restored.

[@gopi0905]

@@Blackadder75 Ya true. Did a lovely canal ride during one of our friends wedding. They made the canals more complete recently I think.

[@tomasbeltran04050]

beautiful. I find it amazing ðat we can create green spaces where a highway once was

[@arjundimazz]

I drove on that side road hundreads of time and had no idea that there used to be a highway

[@ImranShaikh-gh2wd]

Amazing - the Dutch are way ahead of the world in urban planning

[@marleneglass8324]

Yes they are. Belgium is on its way too though, in Ghent they also did this. Rebuild an old canal that was used as parking space for decades....now it's the biggest urban car free zone in Europe

[@ImranShaikh-gh2wd]

@@marleneglass8324 that’s good to know - not been to Belgium will have to visit Ghent when I get a chance to cycle over

[@sjaakdewinter6258]

We are the only country to change twice a situation, but the result is something to be proud.

[@jusssie010]

Hopefully my hometown Rotterdam will follow up the same example. They are planning it tho. Would love to see a canal like this back in Rotterdam.

[@keyup2626]

I look so forward to seeing the new part of the canal.

[@volkiruski1221]

Utrecht was en is weer een van de mooiste steden van Europa! Het is leuk vertoeven voor menig tourist met ondernemingsdrift...

[@isoscelestriangle]

There's something a bit "off" with the frame rates on some of the 2020 clips. Is this due to your new GoPro having a different frame rate? It looks like the new clips are 25fps in a 30fps video.

[@BicycleDutch]

Actually it is 60fps but I filmed in 4K for a while and just one of those shots in a video makes everything else go crazy. So I stopped doing that but there was some of that footage I needed. Even converting before using it didn’t help. There’s no GoPro footage in this video.

[@PaulMutser]

@Frenk Frenk That is completely untrue

[@mentos93]

@Frenk Frenk the human eye doesn't work with fps there is no limit.

[@davebalmada]

Aww that looks so beautiful! I want to move back to Utrecht now.

[@mbos14]

I wonder if it also is in part because of water management. They are binging back old stream and such in my city for that reason. I mean to much concrete and alsphalt doesnt help against the big rain storms.

[@BicycleDutch]

The water was never really gone for water management reasons. There was an underground tube where the water had continued to flow for all those years. So that is not the reason here.

[@yumi419]

A local council woman is fighting plans to implement protected bike paths, narrower streets, and more greenery to save 39 trees that were part of a beautification project just a few years ago. She thinks that projected was "wasted" if we proceed on the new street design. I can't imagine what she would think of removing roadways to build a canal... people value the weirdest things rather than for the community's better interest.

[@agaistin]

This is wonderful! Congratulations to all involved. I find it so depressing how far behind my own country, Ireland, is, An Ísealtír go deo!

[@VacuousCat]

I went there not long ago. I'd never thought it once was turned into a road.

[@petertraudes106]

Het genie van Nederland is het vermogen om vroeger gemaakte fouten te erkennen en recht te zetten

[@lapland123]

En weer nieuwe fouten te maken, zodat we bezig blijven ;-)

[@eliseumds]

Are there more efficient ways of digging canals like that? It seems so painfully slow. Genuinely curious.

[@teweg7355]

The main issue with building a canal on that location is transportation. You are in the middle of a city, wich means no possibility for a barge. And those trucks when they are loaded are also the maximum weight for the streets, so in that way this is probably one of the most efficient ways.

[@kockhhmat]

Bravo! Greats from Hamburg!!

[@braindump1446]

The first shots from OLD to NEW were done very nicely. Clever! I love your videos, they calm me. I have seen all the videos at least once and just noticed that I wasn't even subscribed. Apologies for that ... I just fixed that mistake ;-) I hope that everyone reading this comment will do the same.

[@snowbird5381]

Gezellig!

[@alfidotv]

i hope indonesia will do the same

[@yash1152]

0:57 those boats with standing would feel like constant balance needed... like sort of unicycle aint it ??

[@eggy6857]

They're called stand up paddle boards, you inflate them before use and they are surprisingly stable.

[@fryfrysk]

surprisingly popular !

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

That constantly balancing yourself is the trick. It is a total body-workout. Although you will be slower than you would have been in a kayak, you see more of the surroundings than just the waters-edge, because of the upright position.

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

👍👌👏 Simply fantastic!

[@christophermhofman]

Where did they relocate all the sand and earth as well as the road debris?

[@BicycleDutch]

It didn't even leave Utrecht. It was all re-used to build housing.

[@-30h-work-week]

Excelent. Congrats for having the cojones to make a such big call and get it done! But... more work is needed to blend the canal into the background. Those sandy dirt river banks don't look right. You either make'em concrete, or have grass, bushes, trees cover it.

[@BicycleDutch]

Maybe you should rewatch from 3:18. Grass and trees need some time to grow, but the green will come.

[@onceagain569]

... y'know, as some beaches erode, I'm willing to bet that dirt they dug up could be used to buffer beach shores. Imagine if we did this in the U.S? Bringing back traditional canals and buffing the tourist shorelines(because apparently there is a sand shortage). That'd be so nice!

[@BruceHamilton]

Meanwhile my city in California is finally building a bike path you have to drive out to use. And most neighborhoods don't even have side walks. It's a relatively large area too, pretty sad.

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

a bike path you have to drive out to use? brilliant

[@brulaapgaapmeester8234]

Vroeger kon je er ook met een boot doorheen, op een aanhanger, dus zoveel is er niet veranderd.

[@nielsdebakker3283]

Probeer dezelfde route nog maar eens met je auto ;)

[@quenchfeline9951]

ach jij moet lekker binnen blijven met de gordijntjes dicht

[@panlomito]

Zo ben ik laatst op de speed pedelec ingehaald door een waterscooter... kzbin.info/www/bejne/faO7oZKojtKLg7M

[@Annatar3469]

Dat heeft Utrecht toch wel goed gedaan. Ik hoop dat Den Haag binnenkort ook allerlei grachten gaat heropenen. Er zijn in ieder geval plannen gemaakt door buurtbewoners in samenwerking met architecten en de Haagse politiek heeft positief gereageerd. Het is vooral hopen dat werkzaamheden snel gaan beginnen en dat de plannen niet door de loop van tijd vergeten zullen worden. Ik hoop dat meer Nederlandse steden Utrecht gaan volgen.

[@lapland123]

Den Haag heeft een paar aardige nieuwe gebouwen, moet gezegd, maar het wordt echt tijd om een geheel van de stad te maken. En dat kan misschien met behulp van grachten. En weer gaat Den Haag voor 10 jaar op de schop... Groeten vanuit een omsingelt Utrecht. (o nee daar ben ik niet rijk genoeg voor. groeten van buiten de singel.)

[@SmR8008]

Such a great project! 😊

[@canadianlady777]

So proud of the Dutch for doing this project...

[@stephenvanwijk9669]

Finally. It looks Dutch again.

[@Taerial]

Motor boats in stead of motor vehicles... hmmm?!

[@peterslegers6121]

@@Taerial All kinds of boats! Google rondvaart Utrecht ; SUP board huren Utrecht ; waterfiets huren Utrecht ; sloep huren Utrecht ; boot huren Utrecht; kano huren Utrecht

[@pawernielsbroek3971]

@@Taerial its nicer that 100%

[@windsurfer]

Amazing!!

[@peterjones3557]

Wonderful!

[@qwertyTRiG]

What size of boat (beam, draft, air draft) can travel on those canals, do you know?

[@koekum]

Underneeth the building height is restricted to 1.5 meters (5 feet). There is a bit more room but bigger boats need to go through the actual center

[@qwertyTRiG]

@@koekum Thanks.

[@koekum]

Was looking for more information on restrictions on the city's website but couldn't find it that easily. The 1,5 meters i know for sure because i saw the sign as i passed the building although i could stand up straight in the boat with room to spare and i am 1,89 meters tall

[@tobiasbrohl5958]

Maybe have regular microferries run on those canals?

[@peterslegers6121]

There are plenty of bridges + boats to go around in Utrecht: Google rondvaart Utrecht ; waterfiets huren Utrecht ; sloep huren Utrecht ; boot huren Utrecht; kano huren Utrecht

[@MachimoLP]

I follow a Built Environment studie in Utrecht, one of my teachers told me that is was down to one vote to make the entire water girth a highway... instead it became a few kilometers long. Together the smallest and most useless highway in the world.

[@Jerbod2]

This is how its done! Restoration of golden times. It wont disappoint.

[@Pakistan-db6gr]

Only Allah knows how dearly I love Netherlands. I love the simplicity and nature oriented ways of life adopted by people there. Can anyone help how to visit this land of my dreams?

[@jimkoppenaal7160]

I’ve spotted myself at 3:15 🙌🏻

[@pawernielsbroek3971]

Nice

[@Sblatus]

Total admiration. How long in total was restored to a canal?

[@Lunavii_Cellest]

Hi, ive recently heard that region eindhoven-helmond are wanting to build a tram system, do you know if this is true?

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

Not a tram system but lightrail. "Daarnaast hebben de gemeenteraden van Eindhoven en Helmond zich eerder dit jaar op initiatief van GroenLinks uitgesproken voor een onderzoek naar een lightrail-verbinding tussen Helmond, Eindhoven, de TU/e, de High Tech Campus en het BIC bij Eindhoven Airport. Steenbakkers en Brainport scharen zich nu volmondig achter dat plan." www.ad.nl/eindhoven/brainport-wil-miljoenen-voor-aanleg-lightrail~a881b7f7/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

[@Lunavii_Cellest]

@@Cl0ckcl0ck thank you

[@cliffp.8396]

This is refreshing to see

[@Taerial]

Yep! Motor boats in stead of motor vehicles....

[@KJSvitko]

Every city needs to become a bicycle city. Share with your local transportation planners and elected officials.

[@Teutonius88]

I'm happy my city (Rotterdam) is slowly becoming more bike friendly.

[@davidcorneliocornelio9178]

Utilizan una ingeniería de primera, espero volver pronto para 🇳🇱 y conocer otros lugares como Utrech, Roterdam y La Haya. Le echan un líquido especial a los canales?. Groeten uit Lima Perú 🇵🇪 nederlandse honderd procent 🇳🇱

[@peterslegers6121]

There's no special fluid in the canals. It's just water, mainly from the Rhine (Kromme Rijn).

[@davidcorneliocornelio9178]

Ok. Always. Groeten uit Lima Perú 🇵🇪 nederlandse honderd procent 🇳🇱

[@TheSnowLeopard]

Looks much more attractive now!

[@popatop75]

what month will the celebration be in 2022 and will there be a web site for the activties? thanks for the video

[@BicycleDutch]

www.utrecht900.nl/

[@yash1152]

3:49 waiiit what was thatt???

[@Paul_C]

See through canal

[@nederspoorns4158]

Wow, wow, wow, wow🍀👍👍

[@Eric.T.Cartman]

I have some nostalgic feelings about the old road. I pledge to bring it back...

[@mourlyvold7655]

🤣 You, silly you...

[@C0deH0wler]

The video is bit jittery in parts.

[@DES1GN3R007]

now i wana go

[@SanderEvers]

Boats replace motor vehicles, well.. there are some motor boats as well.

[@klontjespap]

well yeah, but judging by the small size of the moat and the height of that bridge, it's purely recreational. the point is taking away the passing through commuter traffic from the city centers first and foremost, leaving it nice for people that actually go there as their destination. business owners actually get more customers by not sitting in a glorified car lane noone stops at too, i'm glad the dutch provinces are smart enough to not walk into the "bigger is better" pitfall so many countries seem to use as their default strategy and end up with congested city centers 6 lanes wide. cars aren't exactly at their most efficient when they have to stop and start all the time for traffic lights, and at a large scale it actually gets to have implications on air quality in the cities.

[@pawernielsbroek3971]

Its 100% beter to look at and the air quality is also better now

[@hiddescherphof6064]

Pretty much every civilization ever: Let's build our cities around rivers The Dutch: Let's build rivers in our cities

[@DjamieA]

I understand the joke, but a canal and river are actually 2 different things 😂

[@Wouter10123]

@@hiddescherphof6064 Utrecht is built around a river, called "Vecht".

[@lapland123]

@@Wouter10123 Je bedoelt de Rijn.

[@Wouter10123]

@@lapland123 Nee, ik bedoel de Vecht.

[@lapland123]

@@Wouter10123 Intressant de Romeinen hadden een fort aan de Rijn hier...

[@Manlop26]

I love Utrecht

[@henkzaanstad2256]

Kost wat, maar dan heb je wat.

[@Maurazio]

why can't they do this in milan, just because it would cost half a billion they basically abandoned the project...

[@volkiruski1221]

The Italians can ask the Dutch to pay it 😉

[@sanderc25]

@@volkiruski1221 haha damn, thats a harsh joke man

[@yasseral-saadi6557]

I wish Germany would be more like the Netherlands in this regard 🙄 Here in Germany the car is seen as something holy.

[@taerial879]

As well as those silly plastic hats (aka the holy-helmet, an idea of the car-lobby, to keep the number of people on bikes as low as possible)....

[@Blackadder75]

Mercedes BMW Audi, the holy trinity ...... With Opel and VW as the altar boys

[@peterslegers6121]

@@taerial879 Germany´s roads aren´t as safe for cyclists as the Dutch, as you can see in this dash cam footage on Eure Videos Fahrnünftig: kzbin.info/www/bejne/faSZnZetjd1shtU beware, not for the faint hearted.

[@juanmartimguth1288]

Foi retirado todo o concreto e asfalto

[@ADCFproductions]

wow really amazing! 3:49

[@Zones33]

Usa could take a lesson in this. It’s terrible here with so many cars

[@coolsoenie]

Then u need beat the automobile lobby first. They are responsible for making usa depending on car only.

[@peterslegers6121]

@@coolsoenie It's not about the best lobby. It's all about the grass roots. Change is made by individuals who simply act. Anyone can make a difference. Nowadays it's easy to get in touch with people who want change. There are all kinds of initiatives, supporting change makers, providing knowledge to people with a desire for action. If you search for it, you´ll see enough places that are remade for people instead of cars. To see some examples, you might take a look at YT channel Streetfilms.

[@azmd888]

That's really a good decision, very wishful thinking. Unfortunately I don't see it coming in my country.

[@tomm4073]

And the concrete and steel of the old motor high way went away, truck load after truck load, and where did it go "away" to?

[@dennis7100]

To be reused/recycled highly likely, the Dutch are pretty keen on this. I have been part as a researcher on the European’ Horizon 2020 project about reusing materials after a road is to be renewed. The goals of this project is to close the material loop/cycle of roads, to minimalize waste.

[@wolfy1987]

Don't know how it works in the Netherlands, but even in the US concrete and steel are recycled. I live near one of the plants where old concrete is ground up and recycled. Some of the piles of used concrete are the height of a 3 story building.

[@infernoexportgmbh9864]

fabulous

[@sagancmbp]

You can step twice into the same stream...

[@qibble455]

I love the Netherlands.

[@TheNatasha66]

Brilliant

[@praxis6172]

Hardly any life jackets. Shallow?

[@xFD2x]

Life jackets ? Are those akin helmets ? Most people can swim here ! And they'd better be good at it with so much water around.

[@wolfy1987]

If you know how to swim you don't need a life jacket that close to shore

[@Linda-hs1lk]

If people would use life jackets for a canal like that, we'd have to wear them all over the country. Canals all over the place. Luckily most of us can swim.

[@zuur303]

It is rather shallow. No part of the moat is designated swimming water because of that.

[@praxis6172]

Life jackets are meant to save you if you hit your head or something.

[@klontjespap]

my hometown alphen aan den rijn is somewhat represented through vlasman working on this :P

[@ravenfeeder1892]

Brilliant to see it finished. Shame they used lorries to take the spoil away, I hoped they would use canal barges.

[@fryfrysk]

well, canal barges use diesel as fuel as does the trucks. So not much advantage there. But the main reasons were that these (recreational) canals are not suited at all for heavy loades barges and no widen entrances to regional canals available. It simply could not be done that way.

[@ravenfeeder1892]

@@fryfrysk Thanks. Barges are much more efficient on a fuel to tonnage ratio, although obviously slower and less flexible in use. However it not being connected to the regional canals makes the whole thing a no go.

[@greencrt399]

Wow, the city looks so much better now, it's just like Amsterdam! This makes me want to come to Utrecht.

[@nielsdebakker3283]

Comparing Amsterdam to Utrecht is an insult to Utrecht.

[@canuzzi]

It is much better to visit then Amsterdam. At least it were before Corona times - Amsterdam had much to many tourists - and Utrecht is the calm cozy little brother of Amsterdam.

[@lapland123]

@@canuzzi And so is: Delft, Leiden, Den Bosch, Leeuwarden, Alkmaar , Groningen, Breda, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Zwolle, Middelburg and many more old Dutch cities (but not Nijverdal of Nieuwegein). When the tourists spread out they are not a nuisance. In A'dam it is like it is in Venice, you can't see the canals though the tourists.

[@peter1062]

Prachtig

[@DutchLabrat]

Just a little pet-peeve of mine but... A 'singel' is not a canal, it is a moat. The shape gives it away, they circled the star-shaped city defences.

[@danutatokarska7428]

Utrecht jest bardzo ładny

[@jackjackmillar]

@ Glasgow City Council