Vlietroute Roosendaal

Along the Vliet and beyond: discover the watery history of West Brabant

The water has always been part of this region. From small streams and larger canals for lively trade to locks for fortified towns. A bike ride through this landscape takes you into the history of water in West Brabant. Get on your bike and discover the history.

From the south and west, several streams come together in Roosendaal, where the water from the quay has the name Roosendaalse Vliet . If you continue your way further north, it will be named Steenbergse Vliet, after which the water ends via the Benedensas locks in the Volkerak. The Vliet serves for the drainage of rainwater and also has an important function as a waterway. When the watercourse was made navigable in 1451, Roosendaal flourished enormously. Until the eighteenth century, the Vliet was a river and the straight canal, as we know the water today, was created in various phases. Until the 1970s, the Vliet played an important role in the supply and transport of raw materials and products, for example in peat extraction and later in the transport of sugar beets. This function has now largely disappeared and the water increasingly has a recreational function.

You leave Roosendaal along the Eastern and Western Havendijk and continue towards the Gastelsveer. The name has its origins in the fact that before 1861 people had to cross the water here with a ferry. After there was a Bailey bridge here until many years after the Second World War, an emergency facility, a modern bridge was constructed in 1983.

If you cycle a little further you will arrive at the Mark-Vlietkanaal . The plans for this canal date back to 1911. Heavy resistance, the Second World War and subsequent reconstruction meant that it could only be completed in 1983. The Mark-Vliet Canal connects Roosendaal with Breda and ensures that Roosendaal is accessible for ships up to 1,350 tons.

In 1822 it was decided to seal the Vliet at the Volkerak. To this end, locks and discharge sluices had to be built. The first lock at Bovensas was completed in 1824 and is now filled in. The new lock from 1914 is permanently open, because there has been no tidal movement since 1987 due to the closure of the Volkerak as a result of the Delta Works. The name of this lock, Blue Lock, is not due to the color of the water. It is the stones that turned dark blue when they became wet that give the lock its name.

The historic Benedensas lock complex was also created after the decision to close the Vliet in 1822. It partly dates from 1824 and partly from 1884. From the lock doors you have a beautiful view of the Krammer, Volkerak and the Dintelse Gorzen. Directly behind the dike you can even find a German bunker that was part of the Atlantic Wall, a 5,000 kilometer long defense line during the Second World War.

Fort Henricus, located just above Steenbergen, dates from 1626 when it protected the fortified city. The fort was part of the West Brabant Waterline and Zuiderwaterlinie. From the lookout tower you have a fantastic view of the star-shaped fort and the vast polders of West Brabant.

Near the highway is the aqueduct called Steenbergen aan Zee, which was constructed to keep the port of Steenbergen accessible, as Steenbergen was an important fortified town in the early days. On Kaaistraat we find the former town hall from 1938, designed by the famous architect Jacques Hurks. A little further on, the Catholic St. Gummarus Church (designed by Joseph Cuijpers, 1901) and the Dutch Reformed Church stand out. These churches are so-called water state churches; churches that were built between 1824 and 1875 under the supervision of Rijkswaterstaat engineers.

Short circuit route - 31 km

For the shortened route, from junction 41 follow the junctions: 42 - 43 - 75 - 65 - 69 - 03