A27 motorway to close for four weeks for road widening work

The A27 motorway will be closed for the next six weeks south of Utrecht while the road is widened to ease congestion.

The 23km between Everdingen and Gorinchem is the most congested stretch of motorway in the country, according to motoring organisation ANWB, and has been earmarked for an upgrade since 2022.

The northbound carriageway, heading from Gorinchem towards Utrecht, was shut at 5am on Monday and will remain closed until July 17. The road in the opposite direction will close on June 29 and reopen on August 3.

Highways agency Rijkswaterstaat will add a smart shoulder lane to the two-lane carriageway that can open to traffic at peak periods, build new sliproads and move a cycle bridge.

The agency said its summer programme of improvements was the most intensive in its history. “Many roads, bridges and viaducts from the 1950s and 1960s need to be renewed or improved after intensive usage,” it said.

But a package of major repairs in the northern provinces, including improvements to the A7 and A28 motorways, have been shelved until 2028 because Rijkswaterstaat is grappling with a budget shortfall.

The decision means 92 kilometres of road surface will not be replaced, 104 kilometres of guard rails will not be replaced or repaired and 94 bridges, sluices and viaducts will not be maintained for another two years.

Rijkswaterstaat said it may have to impose temporary measures such as lowering speed limits to reduce the stress on the road surface until it can be repaired.