Demolition of the ‘ghost petrol station’ – BP Oudbroeken on the A12 near Zevenaar – gets underway

Demolition has begun on the former BP petrol station at Oudbroeken, which has been in a state of disrepair for years, on the A12 motorway near Zevenaar. The petrol station, where 22 people once worked, is making way for the new De Liemers junction.

Every motorist who drove along the A12 motorway between Duiven and Zevenaar would have recognised the Oudbroeken petrol station. Not because of refuelling or a visit to the manned shop, but mainly because of the sorry sight that the former BP petrol station presented at the service area for years. Officially abandoned on 31 December 2021, the petrol station became a ruin in the years that followed, littered with rubbish, graffiti and overgrown scrub. The ‘ghost station’, as it soon came to be known locally, is now all but a thing of the past. This week, the firm Rouwmaat began demolishing the former petrol station where 22 people once worked.

Process

The closure of BP Oudbroeken did not go without a struggle. Bats and legal proceedings slowed down the process. In November 2021, the operator, Oliehandel Nederland (OHN), appealed to the Council of State to prevent the closure of the petrol station. “This is about loss of business and the interests of nineteen employees. If you have to shut the place down, the staff will be gone and that cannot be undone,” was the argument put forward during urgent proceedings. The Council of State ruled in favour of demolition.

Rouwmaat has now begun demolishing the former petrol station. This is being carried out in several stages. Not everything from the petrol station will be lost in the process: several building materials are being given a new lease of life. Wooden beams and joists are being reused elsewhere, as are the site’s paving and old concrete rubble, which is being used to make new concrete. An underground LPG tank will be removed.

The petrol station, which was built in 1989 alongside the service area and has borne the BP brand ever since, is making way for the new Liemers junction. This is where the extended A12 and A15 motorways are set to converge, in a project known as ViA15. This is an important step in alleviating a bottleneck that should improve access to the eastern Netherlands.

If everything goes according to plan, the first vehicles should be travelling along the extended A15 by 2031.

Read also:

• After three years, the ‘ghost station’ along the A12 is briefly coming back to life
• Possible bats throw a spanner in the works for the demolition of the A12 ‘ghost station’