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| Dutch ‘Singing Road’ Silenced After Villagers Complain: ‘I’m Going Nuts’ | Dutch ‘Singing Road’ Silenced After Villagers Complain: ‘I’m Going Nuts’ |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| It seemed like a good idea at the time. | It seemed like a good idea at the time. |
| Instead of putting “rumble strips” on a road in a small Dutch village to warn drivers who veered onto the shoulder, officials installed musical strips. | Instead of putting “rumble strips” on a road in a small Dutch village to warn drivers who veered onto the shoulder, officials installed musical strips. |
| Workers painted the stretch of road near the village, Jelsum, last Friday to “play” music from the regional anthem when tires rumbled along the raised strips. But soon, the biggest rumbling was coming from the village as residents begged the authorities to make it stop. | Workers painted the stretch of road near the village, Jelsum, last Friday to “play” music from the regional anthem when tires rumbled along the raised strips. But soon, the biggest rumbling was coming from the village as residents begged the authorities to make it stop. |
| Sietske Poepjes, vice governor of Friesland Province, said in a phone interview on Thursday that officials had chosen Jelsum for the experiment partly because it was in the provincial capital, Leeuwarden — which was named as a 2018 European capital of culture — and partly because the road, the N357, was long and straight and had a new surface. | |
| “This was not a novelty thing,” Ms. Poepjes (pronounced PO-pee-us) said by phone. “This was a necessity for the maintenance of the road. Sometimes people are distracted on the road, and we know people go on the shoulder. We wanted to see how the paint was keeping up.” | |
| Local officials hoped the strips would encourage drivers to stick to the speed limit. | Local officials hoped the strips would encourage drivers to stick to the speed limit. |
| In addition, Ms. Poepjes said, “Since we’re the cultural capital, we said, ‘Let’s make a cultural event of it.’ ” | In addition, Ms. Poepjes said, “Since we’re the cultural capital, we said, ‘Let’s make a cultural event of it.’ ” |
| The coastal province of Friesland, while part of the Netherlands, has its own language. “We don’t speak Dutch; we speak Frisian,” Ms. Poepjes said. “So that’s why we gained the title of cultural capital in 2018, and we wanted to highlight that.” | |
| Working overnight last Friday, road crews painted about 490 feet of a newly paved, 124-mile stretch of the road with the strips. | Working overnight last Friday, road crews painted about 490 feet of a newly paved, 124-mile stretch of the road with the strips. |
| Ms. Poepjes said music from “a popular part” of the regional anthem, “De Alde Friezen,” or “The Old Frisians,” from the 19th century, had been painted on. The project cost 80,000 euros, or about $99,000. | Ms. Poepjes said music from “a popular part” of the regional anthem, “De Alde Friezen,” or “The Old Frisians,” from the 19th century, had been painted on. The project cost 80,000 euros, or about $99,000. |
| Signs told drivers, “You are approaching a singing road.” When drivers hit 60 kilometers per hour, about 38 m.p.h., the regional anthem rang loud and clear. And if drivers wandered onto the shoulder at a lower speed? | |
| “If you go too slow, it’s the same thing like if you play a normal record: brr-brr-brr,” Ms. Poepjes said, imitating a slowed-down record. | “If you go too slow, it’s the same thing like if you play a normal record: brr-brr-brr,” Ms. Poepjes said, imitating a slowed-down record. |
| And if a driver drove on the shoulder backward? | And if a driver drove on the shoulder backward? |
| “You’d get the same thing if you play a Madonna record backward,” she said, laughing. | “You’d get the same thing if you play a Madonna record backward,” she said, laughing. |
| “It’s basically vinyl on the road,” Ms. Poepjes explained. “It’s like grooves on the record, but with literally grooves on the road. It’s a very basic concept.” | “It’s basically vinyl on the road,” Ms. Poepjes explained. “It’s like grooves on the record, but with literally grooves on the road. It’s a very basic concept.” |
| But soon, villagers began complaining that they could not sleep. | But soon, villagers began complaining that they could not sleep. |
| “The Frisian national anthem is fine, but not 24 hours a day,” Sijtze Jansma, who lives about 600 feet from the road, told the news website RTL. “I’m going nuts. You can’t sit outside and you can’t sleep at night.” | |
| Residents are accustomed to noise because the village is home to an air base where fighter jets regularly take off and land. But another resident, Alie Tiemersma, told a local daily, The Leeuwarder Courant: “I would rather the planes than this. At least they stop at 5 p.m.” | |
| Yet another, Margriet de Ruiter, told the newspaper that the noise from the road was “psychological torture.” | Yet another, Margriet de Ruiter, told the newspaper that the noise from the road was “psychological torture.” |
| Ms. Poepjes said she had visited the village to hear complaints because officials wanted to be in sync with villagers on the project. What she heard, she said, was that “it’s working — but, please, not here.” | Ms. Poepjes said she had visited the village to hear complaints because officials wanted to be in sync with villagers on the project. What she heard, she said, was that “it’s working — but, please, not here.” |
| Basically, she said, “They hated it.” | Basically, she said, “They hated it.” |
| Ms. Poepjes said residents had complained that a lot of drivers were deliberately veering onto the shoulder to start the anthem. “Enthusiastic young people were driving way too fast,” she said. | Ms. Poepjes said residents had complained that a lot of drivers were deliberately veering onto the shoulder to start the anthem. “Enthusiastic young people were driving way too fast,” she said. |
| Referring to the complaints from residents, she added: “I can completely relate. They could hear the anthem over and over when they were sitting in their garden; it has been wonderful weather.” | Referring to the complaints from residents, she added: “I can completely relate. They could hear the anthem over and over when they were sitting in their garden; it has been wonderful weather.” |
| So, less than two days after the strips were laid down, province officials had them scraped off overnight Wednesday. | So, less than two days after the strips were laid down, province officials had them scraped off overnight Wednesday. |
| The Jelsum experiment is not the first of its type in the Netherlands. In 2014, the city of OSS installed glow-in-the-dark, “smart” highway lanes. | |
| And the Netherlands isn’t the first country to make roads “sing” in an effort to improve safety. Denmark, Japan, South Korea and the United States also have musical roads. | |
| Denmark claims credit for the first known musical road, known as the “Asphaltophone.” In Albuquerque, N.M., a section of Route 66 rumbles “America the Beautiful.” In Japan, rumble strips near Mount Fuji can be brought to life. In South Korea, musical grooves were installed in dangerous stretches to get drivers to pay attention, including one road that plays an off-key version of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” | |
| In Lancaster, Calif., however, a stretch of desert highway is woefully out of tune. It is supposed to play the “William Tell Overture” from Rossini’s opera when drivers hit 55 m.p.h. | In Lancaster, Calif., however, a stretch of desert highway is woefully out of tune. It is supposed to play the “William Tell Overture” from Rossini’s opera when drivers hit 55 m.p.h. |
| The grooves in the road, however, were not installed at the right distance from each other, distorting the sound. | The grooves in the road, however, were not installed at the right distance from each other, distorting the sound. |
| As for the Dutch experiment, Ms. Poepjes said officials had not totally given up. | As for the Dutch experiment, Ms. Poepjes said officials had not totally given up. |
| “It has been fun, but now we’re in a cool-down period,” she said. “We’re not going to drop the idea completely. If we do it again, we will do it with a complete understanding of the neighborhood and make sure nobody is bothered by it.” | “It has been fun, but now we’re in a cool-down period,” she said. “We’re not going to drop the idea completely. If we do it again, we will do it with a complete understanding of the neighborhood and make sure nobody is bothered by it.” |
| She added, “It just wasn’t a good idea in the end.” | She added, “It just wasn’t a good idea in the end.” |