The Wijkertunnel on the A9 highway will be fully closed in both directions from Sunday, July 12, 2026, until Saturday, August 8, 2026.
Rijkswaterstaat announced the four-week closure is needed to replace the tunnel's entire ventilation system.
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The current ventilation system has reached the end of its operational lifespan, according to reports from NH Nieuws and Zaanstad Nieuws.
Motorists traveling through the IJmond region should expect delays of 30 minutes to over an hour.
Detour Routes and Traffic Management
Traffic will be detoured via the Velsertunnel and Coentunnel. To manage congestion, Rijkswaterstaat plans to close access ramps at the Velsertunnel to stabilize traffic flow.
Vehicles unable to use the tunnel will be redirected to the Velsen ferry.
Ed Nijman, environmental manager at Rijkswaterstaat, emphasized the safety importance of the upgrade.
"If, for example, there is a fire in the tunnel, the fans turn on and blow all the smoke out of the tunnel.
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This allows people to escape safely and gives emergency services better access," he said.
Nijman also explained why the project was separated from recent asphalt resurfacing on the A9, which caused severe traffic jams last month.
"Otherwise, you would have first stood in a traffic jam on the A9, and then in a traffic jam for the Wijkertunnel.
We don't want that, so we consciously chose to plan it one after the other," he stated.
Construction company BAM addressed separate scheduling constraints regarding regional infrastructure maintenance. "The asphalt must be applied continuously and the work must be completed within the weekend closure.
Only in this way can the road open to traffic on time. That is why we decided to postpone the work," BAM said.
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The Wijkertunnel is scheduled to reopen to regular traffic on August 8, 2026, at 5:00 a. m.
