I don’t often write about Amsterdam—I consider it Jason’s turf over at “Not Just Bikes”. But sometimes, I have to. Amsterdam is changing rapidly and significantly. It’s becoming much more people-friendly and is no longer a place for free-roaming car traffic. Since I happened to accidentally film the “before” of a street that has now been reconstructed as a cycle street, I felt compelled to capture the “after” as well. This post is about what the street “Weesperzijde” looked like in 2022 and again in the late summer of 2024, when reconstruction was nearly complete.
This is the cycleway outside a primary school (visible on the right). Notice the car parking on the left. The cycleway was a two-way path with speed bumps designed to slow mopeds.
The cycleway has been replaced with two one-way paths separated by a median, which now features a row of newly planted trees. This change makes it easier and safer for children to cross the cycleway in two stages. It also helps prevent cyclists from straying into the opposing lane during busy school pick-up times. The removal of car parking and street clutter has tidied up the area considerably.
The street was due for reconstruction. Roughly every 30 years, the pipes for water and sewage, as well as the cables for electricity and communications, of almost every street in the Netherlands are up for replacing. This presents an opportunity for the city to redesign streets.
“Weesperzijde” is a main cycling route along the river Amstel, but it didn’t look the part. It was designed as an old-fashioned street with a central strip of black asphalt for two lanes of moving traffic, including cyclists, flanked by parking lanes on both sides. Pedestrians had narrow sidewalks on either side. The city aimed to create more space for cycling and walking while also improving safety for these vulnerable road users. Additionally, the redesign aimed to make the street greener.
The S-shaped access to a bridge on the left, featuring tram rails, was not part of the reconstruction, aside from some updated markings. However, the rest of the street underwent a dramatic transformation.
The redesign transformed an “ordinary” street into a cycle street and replacing the two-way cycle path with two one-way paths. The parking area on the right was removed to make room for improved greenery, including trees and perennial plants of high quality, designed for longevity.
The parking lot on the right could be accessed by bypassing the cycleway. To its left were a few small planting beds collectively referred to as the “neighbourhood garden,” which had opened in 2014.
The redesign removed 22 parking spots, creating space to expand the neighbourhood garden. During my visit last September, the new garden was still under construction, but it reopened at the end of October. The upgraded space includes numerous new plants and 70 insect hotels. (More information: Weesperzijde Garden Enhancements)
The reconstruction was ambitious, involving a complete redesign from the façades to the waterfront. To make the project manageable, the street was divided into three sections. The southern section was reconstructed in 2022 and 2023, followed by the middle section in 2023 and 2024. Unfortunately, the reconstruction of the northern section has been postponed indefinitely because the city and local residents couldn’t agree on the number of car parking spaces to retain. Even in Amsterdam—a city reducing car parking spaces by the thousands—debates over parking availability can still delay projects.
In the sections that have been completed, pedestrians now enjoy wider sidewalks and more greenery. An existing neighbourhood garden has been reconstructed and expanded. The roadway surface has been replaced with red asphalt to signal that this is a cycle street where bicycles have priority. Although most residents preferred a brick surface, the city chose red asphalt for uniformity. This is a main cycle route. Bricks were included, but only in the median to visually narrow the roadway and in the speed bumps.
Notably, this street is home to a primary school, and the part of the street in front of it was already off-limits to cars. This part of the street already acted as a modal filter in the before situation. Even so, the cycleway there was also reconstructed. There are now two separated cycle lanes (one in each direction) to make crossing safer for children, allowing them to focus on one direction of cycle traffic at a time. Speed bumps have been added to the cycleway as well—originally mainly constructed not to slow cyclists but to deter moped (scooter) riders who go too fast. I’m hoping these bumps will also slow down the growing number of speeding fat-bike riders in Amsterdam. A row of trees was planted in the new median between the two cycle lanes.
An unremarkable street, clearly designed for car traffic, but over the years increasingly used for cycling.
A cycle street that, while still unremarkable by Dutch standards, now reflects modern urban design. With more space for walking and cycling and a reduced emphasis on private car use, it better meets the needs of contemporary cities.
The middle section of “Weesperzijde” was festively opened on 25 October 2024, but my video was filmed in September 2024 when it was almost finished. The entire new street is a joy to cycle on, as you’ll see when you ride with me in the video!
BICYCLE DUTCH 
From good to better!