The Dutch government has agreed on plans to increase the speed limit to 130 kilometres per hour on four motorway sections in the Netherlands. 

The Netherlands to increase maximum speed on four motorways

Minister Barry Madlener of Infrastructure and Water Management has announced that it should be possible to raise the speed limit of certain Dutch roads to 130km / h in the short term without additional measures to limit nitrogen deposition and noise.

To do this, the Dutch minister is considering raising the maximum speed on the following four highway sections for the daytime:

• A6 between Lelystad Noord junction and Ketelbrug
• A7 Afsluitdijk between Stevinsluizen and the Lorentzsluizen
• A7 between Zuidbroek junction and the German border
• A37 between Holsloot junction and Zwartemeer junction

On these routes, motorists are already able to drive at a maximum speed of 130 km / h during the evenings and nights. This would make it easier to introduce the higher speed limit during the day without further measures to reduce nitrogen emissions and noise pollution.

Further research needed before increasing Dutch speed limits

In 2020, the speed limits of highways in the Netherlands were lowered from 130 km / h to 100 km / h to reduce the amount of nitrogen emitted from cars. According to Madlener, increasing the speed limits on all highway routes to what they were before 2020 is “not realistic due to the rules that must be met, such as for nitrogen and noise.”

Many motorways in the Netherlands are located in Natura 2000 areas - protected areas with Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats. Before the maximum speed is increased, it has to be confirmed that nature reserves will not deteriorate further due to the higher speed limit. “The point now is that we complete all the necessary studies for this so that motorists can continue driving where possible," said Madlener in a government statement.

Choosing to implement the 130 km / h speed limit on the four motorways where it is already in place at night and where the protected areas are not overloaded with nitrogen increases the likelihood that the higher maximum speed can be introduced soon. However, research is still needed to prove that there will be no extra nitrogen deposition. Minister Madlener aims to have the final decision at the beginning of 2025.