But they may only be parked in these dedicated spaces. The only bicycles that may still be parked on the street are bicycles for disabled people and these cargo bicycles. In this case 1,293 of the 1,700 spaces, which means it was mainly empty on a rainy Wednesday morning in June. The entrance sign shows how many places are left. Only cargo bikes and bicycles for people with a disability (who wouldn’t be able to go down the stairs) are allowed on the street, but again only in designated spaces. When they saw people parking bicycles they told them to go to the garage instead. I saw traffic wardens on the square doing this even on a rainy Wednesday almost a year after the facility was opened. Wrongly parked bicycles get tagged and they are removed within two hours after tagging. Other signs guide people to the bicycle parking garage. The parking ban is indicated with lines on the ground, no-parking signs and even cones on the street. To make sure people park their bicycles here, a strict no parking regime for two-wheelers is in place in the streets in a wide zone around the square. The walls are shiny and there are two tier racks with space for 1,700 regular bicycles. The parking garage is very bright and clean (even on a rainy day). You have to push your bicycle down the stairs to the underground garage. ![]() You have to pay to use them but they could still be very convenient because for some obscure reason public toilets are rare in the Netherlands. The only further amenity in this garage are toilets. ![]() There are two-tier racks for 1,700 bicycles. If you want to park your bicycle here on a regular basis and also for longer periods, an annual subscription may be more attractive. If you park longer you pay €1.25 per day. It is guarded and the first 24 hours of parking are free. The garage is managed by the city and it is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The stairs and its walls look very luxurious because of this material. The new bicycle parking garage entrance was also created from natural stone, to go well with the original street furniture of the square. They can be collected at the city’s bicycle point but you have to pay a fine. Wrongly parked bicycles are tagged and removed two hours after tagging. ![]() Signs inform people that there is a strict on-street no-parking zone around the new bicycle parking garage. It is unfortunate that the car parking garage is still here, because that is almost the only reason cars can still use this city centre street and square. The object was to create more space for walking and cycling and so most obstacles (including parked bicycles) needed to go. Some trees had to be removed to dig the underground parking garage, so new trees were planted. On this square the monumental street lanterns returned as well as the original benches, fountains (which were actually mangers where horses could drink) and other street furniture. Now that the north-south metro line was finally finished the streetscape from Central Station to the Dam and further south could be beautified. (Still from the Beursplein webcam that you can see 24/7.) (Picture Amsterdam Archive) The Square is now almost completely free of vehicles and can be used by people instead. ![]() The Amsterdam Beursplein in November 1980 when it was still a parking lot for cars. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the world’s first official (formal) stock exchange when it began trading the VOC’s freely transferable securities, including bonds and shares of stock in 1606. Already in 1912 the Stock Exchange moved to a new, dedicated building at number 5. That building was also used by other trade markets. (History repeated itself in a different form in 1982 the cars were sent off the square when the parking garage of the Bijenkorf department store was opened in a corner of the square.) Beursplein was named after the stock exchange that was first located in the building designed by architect Berlage who also designed the square. In July 2018 the underground bicycle parking garage was opened. The railings are glass and stainless steel. All the material is natural stone, the steps, the grooves and the walls. The impressive entrance stairs to the underground bicycle parking. Now the square is clear of most vehicles and its space can be used by people. The 1903 square had been used as car parking space until 1982, after which it had been a sea of parked bicycles. The Amsterdam Beursplein (“Stock Exchange Square”) has been restored in a beautiful way.
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