News of: Friday, July 06 2012,
It is final: the passageway under the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will remain a bicycle path. The Amsterdam city council decided so this evening.
The decision ends one of the longest on-going debates in Amsterdam.
The Rijksmuseum has been partially closed for renovation, from 2003. The museum (built in the 19th century) has a passageway in the middle, originally meant to let a tram line through.
The tram line never came, and the passageway became territory for pedestrians and cyclists only - until the closure for the renovation.
During the renovation of the Rijksmuseum, which took much longer and cost much more than planned, the Rijksmuseum started to lobby for the idea to keep the passageway closed for cyclists. The argument: with the growing number of visitors of the museum it would just get too crowded. The entrance of the museum will also be in the passageway.
The neighbourhood council Amsterdam South (where the museum is located) agreed with this idea.
However, from the beginning there had been the promise that the cycleway would open again after the renovation, and it is the central City Council has the final say.
The passageway will get a cycleway separate from the pedestrian path. Scooters/mopeds will not be allowed at all.
The Rijksmuseum is scheduled to re-open completely in 2013 (the museum is partially open, the main paintings can still be seen).
Passage way Rijksmuseum
