Wernink aerial photography website. (Photo: Leiden municipality).

The county of South Holland and the municipality of Leiden finally make the decision: the site of Wernink, between Oude Rijn and the High Railroad Bridge, has been converted into a residential area with space to work. 600 to 750 homes will be built on site. At the end of January, the municipality and the county entered into a relocation agreement.

Accessibility to the new residential area is currently the biggest challenge. There has been much speculation about the possibility of a tunnel, bridge or ferry. The municipality announced that no decision has been made regarding accessibility to the area.

“The traffic investigation is underway. We expect the results to be announced in mid-March.”
In this study, a number of potential traffic variables are investigated: a redesign of Amphoraweg and / or a tunnel to the Hoge Mors and / or a bridge to the Haagweg, says a municipality spokesperson.

Low traffic
GroenLinks said earlier that if it were up to them, the neighborhood would be Leiden’s first car-free residential area. But no decision has been made on this either. “We would like to see the new district become ‘low-traffic’: an area where space is provided for cyclists and pedestrians and the car is the guest,” the spokesperson says. How this might be included in the vision for the area is being investigated.

Since the site Wernink will be given a different purpose, three and a half hectares of business park should be compensated. Leiden municipality wants to conclude an administrative agreement with the Katwijk municipality for this. The regional business park strategy cooperates with that municipality.

Housing construction on the Wernink site is slated to start in 2023. Developer ABB from Sliedrecht will undertake the project.

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