This sluice is ornamental. Water levels aren't any higher or lower before or after. The 'automated solution' would just be to open it most of the time and perhaps lay down a small footbridge so pedestrians and cyclists can still cross it.
> Water levels aren't any higher or lower before or after.
Yes they are. It's a fully functional sluice, and the water level on the city centre-side is higher than the water level of the Vecht outside the city. They cannot open both sluice doors at once. During summer, sluice operators are active all day to guide boats through, and they cannot pass the sluice after the operators' working hours.
