The A4 motorway, also called Rijksweg 4, is a motorway in the Netherlands running southwards from Amsterdam to the Belgian border near Zandvliet, north of the city of Antwerp. The A4 is divided into two sections; the first and longer section runs from Amsterdam to the A15 near the city of Rotterdam, while the second section starts near Heijningen, where the A29 and the A4 meet, going to the Belgian border.
Between the A29 near the village of Klaaswaal (south of Rotterdam), and the Sabina interchange (where the A4-A29 meets the A59), the route is numbered A29. Three European routes run concurrently with this highway at some point: E19, E30, and E312.
There are no authorized plans for the missing link between Pernis (south of Schiedam and west of Rotterdam) and the A29 near Klaaswaal, though right-of-way has been acquired for the future A29 interchange with the A4.
Route description
Amsterdam to Rotterdam The A4 begins in the province of North Holland in the southeastern part of the city of Amsterdam at an interchange on the A10 ring road called Knooppunt De Nieuwe Meer. At this interchange, the E19 continues from the eastern segment of the A10 onto the A4, and the E22 begins northwards along the A10. Even though the A4 starts at this interchange, the A4 has priority from the eastern direction toward the interchange, as entering onto the A4 from the east does not require a turn (in contrast to staying on the A10, which requires a turn to the right).
From the north, staying on the A10 and entering the A4 both require a turn. From the Knooppunt De Nieuwe Meer interchange, the road travels to the southeast, concurrent with a rail line that runs between both directions of the motorway. After , the road intersects A9 at the Badhoevedorp partial cloverleaf interchange. After leaving this interchange, the rails travel southwards underground towards Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Schiphol Continuing towards Schiphol, the A4 enters the Schiphol tunnel underneath a runway and two taxiways. Exit 2 of the motorway serves the airport. After this, another taxiway bridge crosses the A4. Southeast of Schiphol, A5 joins the A4 at the De Hoek incomplete interchange. This interchange lacks a ramp from the A5 to the northbound lane of the A4, because the A9 already serves traffic from A5 to A4 in both directions. Shortly before leaving the province of North Holland and entering South Holland, the A44 branches off of the A4 at the Burgerveen interchange. This interchange is also incomplete, as one can only travel onto the A44 from Amsterdam.
The Hague The road crosses the Ringvaart using the Ringvaart aqueduct and enters South Holland. At the border between Leiderdorp and Leiden, the road uses the Limes aqueduct to travel under the Oude Rijn river. The A4 now approaches The Hague. In the Vinex-location Leidschenveen-Ypenburg in the municipality of The Hague, the motorway connects to the Prins Clausplein stack interchange with the A12 and the E30, and the Ypenburg interchange with the E30 (A13) and the E19. In between these two interchanges, the A4, the E19, and the E30 all run concurrently, and at this location, there is a basketweave exchange. The outer lanes of the basketweave are for connecting the A13 and the stack exchange ramps to and from the A12, and the inner lanes are the continuing the A4.
Delft and the Nieuwe Maas Leaving the basketweave interchange, the A4, now concurrent with the E30, continues southwards towards southeastern Delft, where it continues partially below ground level through the Midden-Delfland region. It then enters the Rotterdam region at the semi-directional Kethelplein T-interchange, where the A4 travels to the south and the A20 (concurrent with the E25) travels from east to west.
When traveling under train tracks, the road approaches exit 16, which allows access to Vlaardingen to the east and Schiedam to the west. This exit is special, as the northern exit and southern entrance first travel parallel with the A4 through the Beneluxtunnel under the Nieuwe Maas river. This results in more lanes for drivers to use, since the ramps connect to the A4 on the southern side of the Nieuwe Maas. They branch off shortly after and enter the Benelux interchange (named 17a so as to not confuse drivers, since the previous exit on A15 to the west is already exit 17), an incomplete T-interchange with only a southbound exit and a northbound entrance. This interchange is the southern terminus of this segment of the A4, and the road continues both west and east as the A15.
Heijningen to the Belgian border The final segment of the A4 with the A29 starts in the province of North Brabant near Heijningen at the Hellegatsplein interchange, crossing the estuaries Hollands Diep (to the east), Haringvliet, and the Volkerak (to the west). Shortly after, the A4 enters the Sabina trumpet interchange (named after a nearby fort) with the A59. The A29 and the A59 both enter this interchange from the north, and the A29 ends here. The A4 continues to the south, while the A59 branches off to the east.
Crossing the Dintel and passing by Dinteloord, the A4 makes a large curve to the west and subsequently continues to the south, forming a tangent around Steenbergen. In the southern part of the curve, the A4 travels along Fort Henricus, a now-demolished fort with only the shape of the land intact. Here, the road also tunnels under the Steenbergse Haven using the third Steenbergen aan Zee aqueduct.
The A4 continues southbound and passes Bergen op Zoom to the east, with a few exits serving this city. Between exits 27 and 28, the A58 runs concurrent with the E312, which joins A4 to the south. All three roads travel concurrently southbound, and at the Markiezaat trumpet interchange, the A58 and the E312 both leave the A4 and travel to the west, entering the province of Zeeland. The A4, however, continues to the south until reaching the Belgian border near Zandvliet. A few meters before crossing the border, the northbound entrance and southbound exit ramps start on Dutch soil; the rest of this exit is within Belgium and is part of the Belgian A12.
History
20th century Work started on A4 in the 1930s, and followed high construction standards for the time. By the late 1930s, various sections were in service. One of these roads went between Amsterdam and Sassenheim, and while part of the historical A4, it is not on the current route.
In 1938, ground was broken for Rijksweg 4A, which went between Burgerveen and Leidschendam. This road would later be renumbered to Rijksweg 4, and it now forms a section of A4. Groundwork began in 1939 near Leidschendam, but was cancelled in 1942 due to World War II. Construction of the Ypenburg interchange also started that same year.
In 1957, the A4 opened between the Ypenburg and Leidschendam interchanges, the latter now known as Prins Clausplein, with 2 lanes in both directions. Construction from the latter interchange further north to Hoogmade was done in 1958. In 1960 and 1961, the section between the Burgerveen and Hoogmade interchanges opened, including an aqueduct underneath the Ringvaart canal.
One lane of Rijksweg 4 between Klaaswaal and the Hellegatsplein interchange opened in 1964, and in 1965, another lane was added. This section is currently designated as the A29. In 1966, another standalone section of the A4 was opened with 3 lanes in each direction, between Amsterdam (where the Badhoevedorp interchange is now located) and Hoofddorp, leaving a gap between Hoofddorp and the Burgerveen interchange. The Badhoevedorp interchange, which is between Amsterdam and Hoofddorp, was opened a year later in 1967, which was the first cloverleaf interchange with collector/distributor lanes in the Netherlands. In 1972, this segment of the A4 was lengthened northward to connect to the De Nieuwe Meer interchange. Another unconnected section of the A4 was constructed at the Kethelplein en Pernis interchange in 1967 in western Rotterdam. This included the construction of the Beneluxtunnel under the Nieuwe Maas, which was a tolled tunnel at construction but was converted to free in 1980. In 1972, this section was extended southward to the Benelux interchange.
In 1971, the sections of Rijksweg 4 designated as A29 were extended from the Hellegatsplein interchange to Dinteloord. It was first administratively and publicly known as Rijksweg 19, but in 1976, it was renumbered to Rijksweg 4 and designated as A29. Another section of Rijksweg 4 concurrent with A58 was opened around Bergen op Zoom between 1973 and 1976. In 1985, the Leidschendam interchange was renamed and redesigned to a 4-level stack interchange Prins Clausplein. The segment between Badhoevedorp and Hoofddorp was widened to 2x4 lanes in 1988, and ten years later in 1998, the tubes in the Schipholtunnel were renewed.
In 1993, the section around Bergen op Zoom was extended southwards from the Markiezaat interchange (where concurrency with A58 stopped) to the Belgian border near Zandvliet, where it connected to the Belgian A12. In 1999, the section between The Hague-Zuid and Delft-Zuid opened for traffic after the section between the Ypenburg interchange and The Hague-Zuid was opened with 3 lanes in each direction in 1998.
21st century In 1998, the A4 between Zoeterwoude and Leidschendam was widened to 2x3 lanes, and in 1999, the part between Leidschendam and the Prins Clausplein interchange was widened to 2x5 lanes. In 2003, a new set of express lanes was added to both directions between Hoofddorp and the Burgerveen interchange, giving this segment a total of 2x5 lanes. Formerly restricted to rush hours, these express lanes were permanently opened on 2 April 2013. In 2006, the segment between Hoogmade and Roelafarendsveen was widened to 2x3 lanes.
In 1997, construction had started on the second Beneluxtunnel in Rotterdam. On 11 May 2002, the project was completed with 4x2 lanes and a reversible lane, allowing for 5 available lanes in the peak direction. Between the De Nieuwe Meer and Badhoevedorp interchanges in southwestern Amsterdam, express lanes were added in 2011 to relieve the 2x3 lanes on this segment of the A4 during rush hours, which saw use by 180,000 vehicles every day. Construction for the express lanes was started in the summer of 2010. The same year, construction also started on new lanes between Hoofddorp and Hoofddorp-Zuid for the construction of the realigned N201, commissioned by the province of North Holland. These parallel lanes are between the Den Ruygen Hoek rest area and Schiphol exit. Work was completed on 15 December 2013.