Overview
- Multiple tunnel systems, including camera monitoring, failed and Rijkswaterstaat closed both directions of the Noordtunnel as a safety measure.
- Technicians were sent to the scene and by the latest reports the connection to tunnel systems was restored so the Gorinchem direction reopened fully and the Rotterdam direction reopened with one lane.
- Traffic was first diverted over the nearby Brug over de Noord (N915) and then routed along longer national highway detours via A2/A59/A16 toward Rotterdam and A20/A12/A50 toward Nijmegen.
- The closure caused heavy congestion on the A15, with reports of nearly 15 kilometres of queues at midday, a situation worsened because the Papendrechtsebrug (N3) is already closed.
- Rijkswaterstaat says it closes tunnel tubes when monitoring or safety systems fail to prevent accidents, and it coordinated the staged reopenings while final checks continue.