Road transfer municipality of Landsmeer
As of March 1, we transferred responsibility for road management and maintenance to the municipality of Landsmeer. This involves a total of 28 km of roads, 11 km of which are bicycle paths. This makes the municipality the owner of, for example, all bicycle paths in the Landsmeerderveld and also of the unique Kamelenbrug that connects the village with the Twiske.
The municipality thus owns and manages the roads and everything associated with them. So also of the 21 fixed bridges, 553 trees, 173 traffic signs, waste bins, etc. No other road administrators are now active in the municipality of Landsmeer. This allows the municipality to make completely autonomous decisions about road design and maintenance. This also means that the residents of Landsmeer now always know where to go with complaints - about a crooked traffic sign or damaged bridge railing. The same goes for applying for permits for activities on the public road. Alderman Niels Bonenkamp: "It creates more clarity for our residents and it's also nice for the municipality that we can now take an integrated and total approach to management."
Inspection state of maintenance
Prior to the transfer, all roads, bike lanes and all associated objects were inspected based on predetermined criteria. The roads more than met these. Also, the last 15 light poles, out of a total of 177, are now equipped with LED luminaires. For the transferred roads that lie on dikes, the dike itself remains the property of HHNK. The roadsides will be mowed by the municipality.
Road tax
The transfer is not final until March 1. Therefore, there is still a road charge on the water board tax assessment from HHNK for this year. The assessment for tenants has already been sent at the end of January; the assessment for property owners will come this spring. The revenue from the road levy is intended for road maintenance and is therefore shared with the municipality of Landsmeer. From 2026, residents and businesses in the municipality of Landsmeer will no longer have to pay road charges to HHNK. The municipality itself will then charge the costs for the additional management and maintenance of the roads through the municipal taxes.
213 km of roads managed by HHNK
The Water Board still managed nearly 1,400 km of roads in Hollands Noorderkwartier until 2019, a task that had historically grown that way. Because it makes more sense for municipalities to do the road management themselves - especially given the seemingly random ownership - HHNK is transferring the management task to the municipalities. Hoogheemraad Arnold Langeveld: "With the road transfer we put an end to the ambiguity surrounding road management and the water board can focus on its water tasks. Those are already complex enough." At the beginning of this year, HHNK still managed 242 kilometers of roads and now 214 kilometers remain in Purmerend and Waterland.
Joint press release from the municipality of Landsmeer and HHNK
