VIDEO - Singing road drives Dutch villagers mad - Reuters TV

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COMING UP: Share Opener Variant 4

Transcript

00:00:02

Drive down this highway in the Netherlands, and it'll sing you a song.

00:00:07

The local government wants to have liven up journeys through the Friesland Province where the city of Leeuwarden was found 2018's European Capital of Culture. But the novelty has worn thin for locals, who say the musical road has created a neverending cacophony that's keeping them awake at night. The strips responsible for the sound are usually used at the site of major roads, to warn drivers they're straying off course.

00:00:30

A local newspaper said officials had hoped it would promote road safety as drivers need to go over them at the correct speed for it to sing out the Friesland national anthem. That might have backfired. Last Saturday night, taxis were driving from Leeuwarden to Stein, and on the way back they tried to go across the lines as quickly as possible.

00:00:47

And we had the anthem playing all night at high speed. After striking the wrong chord with locals, the Friesland authority has agreed to remove the $99,000 strips less than a week after they were installed.