In the coming months, GelreGroen and Rijkswaterstaat will begin tree felling at various locations within the ViA15 project area.
We are creating working space for the extension of the A15 and the widening of the A12 and A15. Where will this happen, and when? We list seven questions and answers.
When will the trees be felled?
Tree felling takes place during the felling season. This is the season when birds do not breed, roughly between 15 September and 15 March. This way, we ensure that birds and other animals are disturbed as little as possible. The first trees will be felled in the 2025 - 2026 felling season. One year later, in the 2026 - 2027 felling season, we will fell the second and final part.
We start at the locations where it is first necessary to begin work. For example, because archaeological research will soon be carried out there, because cables and pipelines are being relocated, or because a construction road is being built.
How many trees are involved?
We will fell approximately 2,200 individual trees in total. Additionally, about 17 hectares of shrubs will be felled. In the current 2025-2026 felling season, this involves about 900 individual trees and 8.5 hectares of shrubs. The remaining individual trees and shrubs will be felled in the following felling season.
Will the trees be replanted after construction?
For every tree felled, we plant a new one. We do this where possible at the original location or as close as possible nearby. In total, we plant more trees than are felled: over 2,400 individual trees and 400 individual shrubs.
Additionally, there will be 2.2 km of landscape hedges, nearly 4 km of green noise barriers, and 18 hectares of new shrubs. In the Landscape Plan (appendix 5 of the 2017 Trace Decision) you can find what and where is replanted.
The trees will return once construction activities are mostly completed. At project completion, all trees will have been planted.
Do you take flora and fauna into account?
Before tree felling begins, we first conduct ecological research. We investigate whether protected plants and animals occur in the area where we work. If necessary, we apply for nature permits.
The ecological research has shown that rooks, buzzards, owls, bats, and badgers live in the project area. If the felling can disturb protected species or destroy habitat, we only proceed after a permit has been granted. Moreover, we provide appropriate measures for the species concerned.
What happens to the felled trees?
The wood goes with the contractor who performs the tree felling. Some trees have a special significance for the area, such as an old chestnut tree near Huis Rijswijk. We are currently investigating whether we can process the wood from this tree into, for example, an artwork and cultivate collected chestnuts into new saplings.
Rijkswaterstaat is in talks about this with the Residents Council Groessen and Environmental Friends Duiven.
What about the felling permits?
If a permit is required for felling, we apply for it. With the email service Messages about your Neighborhood , you stay informed about requested and granted permits in your area. Enter your email address and automatically receive official announcements around a self-chosen address, for example your (holiday) home or business.
Where will the felling take place?
Until March 2026, we will fell trees at various locations throughout the entire project area, both in De Liemers and in the Betuwe. The locations where we will fell until March 2026 are marked on this general overview map . The route is marked in yellow, the pink spots mark the felling locations. As many trees as possible are preserved; only the necessary trees are felled.
