Motorists are facing weeks of chaos on the Dutch roads, as a number of new motorway maintenance projects start.

The infrastructure ministry’s roads department has warned that drivers must add at least an hour to some journeys, with the regions around Amsterdam and Utrecht set to be hardest hit from this weekend.

In particular, the closure of the A1 from the Amsterdam ring road and the A12 between Veenendaal and Utrecht are going to lead to long deviations and delays.

Ministry spokesman Niels van den Brink said that the roads department tries to organise roadworks at night and at the weekend as much as possible.  However, there are too few weekends in the year to carry out all the necessary work, because so much has to be done, he said. “This is more efficient.”

Motorway closures in May and June

• A1 – between junctions Watergraafsmeer and Diemen (Amsterdam → Amersfoort)
  Friday 9 May, 10 pm until Monday 26 May, 5 am.
• A12 – between junctions Lunetten and Maanderbroek (Veenendaal → Utrecht)
  Friday 9 May, 8 pm until Monday 19 May, 5 am.
• A27 – between junctions Everdingen and Lunetten (Vianen → Utrecht)
  Friday 9 May, 10 pm until Monday 12 May, 5 am.
• A58 – between junctions De Baars and Tilburg-Reeshof (Eindhoven → Breda)
  Friday 9 May, 9 pm until Monday 12 May, 5 am.
  Friday 16 May, 9 pm until Monday 19 May, 5 am.
  Friday 13 June, 9 pm until Monday 16 June, 5 am.
• A67 – between junctions Leenderheide and Zaarderheiken (Geldrop → German border)
  Friday 9 May, 9 pm until Monday 12 May, 5 am.
  Friday 16 May, 9 pm until Monday 19 May, 5 am.
  Friday 13 June, 9 pm until Monday 16 June, 5 am.
• A2 – between junctions Maarssen and Oudenrijn (Utrecht → Den Bosch)
  Friday 16 May, 8 pm until Monday 19 May, 6 am.
  Friday 23 May, 8 pm until Monday 26 May, 6 am.