Jump to content

International E-road network

From Niidae Wiki

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox highway system

File:Europe Completed Motorways.png
Approximate extent of the completed motorway network in Europe Template:As of

The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan, since they are members of the UNECE.

Main international traffic arteries in Europe are defined by ECE/TRANS/SC.1/2016/3/Rev.1 which consider three types of roads: motorways, limited access roads, and ordinary roads.

In most countries, the roads carry the European route designation alongside national designations. Belgium, Norway and Sweden have roads which only have the European route designations (examples: E18 and E6). The United Kingdom, Albania and the Asian part of Russia only use national road designations and do not show the European designations at all. All route numbers in Andorra are unsigned. Denmark only uses the European designations on signage, but also has formal names for every motorway (or part of such), by which the motorways are referred to, for instance in news and weather forecasts. In Asia, Turkey and Russia show the European designations on signage; this is not the case in many other Asian countries.

Other continents have similar international road networks, e.g., the Pan-American Highway in the Americas, the Trans-African Highway network, and the Asian Highway Network.

History

[edit]
File:Århus(E3-A10)1968.07.27.jpg
E3 in Denmark, before 1992: Changed to E45; the number E3 was re-attributed.

UNECE was formed in 1947, and their first major act to improve transport was a joint UN declaration no. 1264, the Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> signed in Geneva on 16 September 1950, which defined the first E-road network. Originally it was envisaged that the E-road network would be a motorway system comparable to the US Interstate Highway System.Template:Cn The declaration was amended several times until 15 November 1975, when it was replaced by the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries or "AGR",<ref name=1975doc>Template:Cite web</ref> which set up a route numbering system and improved standards for roads in the list. The AGR last went through a major change in 1992 and in 2001 was extended into Central Asia to include the Caucasus nations.Template:Cn There were several minor revisions since, last in 2008 (Template:As of).

Numbering system

[edit]
File:Interchange near Frankfurt airport.jpg
Intersection of E42 and E451 near Frankfurt Airport

The route numbering system is as follows:<ref name=1975doc/>

  • Reference roads and intermediate roads, called Class-A roads, have numbers from 1 to 129.
    • North–south routes have odd numbers; east–west routes have even numbers. The two main exceptions are E4 and E6, both north–south routes.
    • The allocation of numbers progresses upwards from west to east and from north to south, with some exceptions.
  • Branch, link and connecting roads, called Class-B roads, have three-digit numbers above 130.
  • Reference roads are roads numbered 5–95 ending with 0 or 5 or having odd numbers 101–129. They generally go across Europe and are usually several thousand kilometres long.
    • North–south reference roads have numbers that end with the digit 5 from 5 to 95, or odd numbers from 101 to 129, increasing from west to east.
    • East-west reference roads have two-digit numbers that end with the digit 0, increasing from north to south.
  • Intermediate roads are roads numbered 1 to 99 that are not reference roads. They are usually considerably shorter than the reference roads. They have numbers between those of the reference roads between which they are located. Like reference roads, north–south intermediate roads have odd numbers; east–west roads have even numbers.
  • Class-B roads have three-digit numbers: the first digit is that of the nearest reference road to the north, the second digit is that of the nearest reference road to the west, and the third digit is a serial number.
  • North–south Class-A roads located eastwards of road E99 have three-digit odd numbers from 101 to 129. Other rules for Class-A roads above apply to these roads.
  • Class-B roads located eastwards of E101 have 3-digit numbers beginning with 0, from 001 to 099.

Exceptions

[edit]
File:Autostrada del Sole - Italy - panoramio.jpg
The European route E45 near Cassino, Italy

In the first established and approved version, the road numbers were well ordered. Since then a number of exceptions to this principle have been allowed.

Two Class-A roads, E6 and E4 were originally scheduled to be renamed into E47 and E55, respectively. However, since Sweden and Norway have integrated the E-roads into their national networks, signposted as E6 and E4 throughout, a decision was made to keep the pre-1992 numbers for the roads in those two countries. These exceptions were granted because of the excessive expense connected with re-signing not only the long routes themselves, but also the associated road network in the area. The new numbers are, however, used from Denmark and southward, though, as do other European routes within Scandinavia. These two roads are the most conspicuous exceptions to the rule that even numbers signify west–east E-roads.

Further exceptions are:

  • E67, going from Finland to the Czech Republic (wrong side of E75 and E77), assigned around year 2000, simply because it was best available number for this new route.
  • Most of E63 in Finland (wrong side of E75)
  • Part of E8 in Finland on the wrong side of E12 after a lengthening around 2002
  • E82 (Spain and Portugal, wrong side of E80).

These irregularities exist just because it is hard to maintain good order when extending the network, and the UNECE want to avoid changing road numbers.

Because the Socialist People's Republic of Albania refused to participate in international treaties such as the AGR, it was conspicuously excluded from the route scheme, with E65 and E90 making noticeable detours to go around it. In the 1990s, Albania opened up to the rest of Europe, but only ratified the AGR in August 2006, so its integration into the E-road network remains weak.

Signage

[edit]

Where the European routes are signed, green signs with white numbers are used.

File:M8 cropped wiki route confirmationBE.JPG
The E201 in Ireland

There are different strategies for determining how frequently to signpost the roads.

  • Sweden, Norway and Denmark have integrated the E-road numbers into their networks, meaning that the roads usually have no other national number.
  • In Belgium, E-numbers are traditionally associated with highways, even though other grade E-roads pass through the country. As a result, the E-number is signposted (and referred to) only on the highway portions of the E-road network, while for non-motorways only the national number (if any) is shown. On the highway portions of the E-network, the E-numbers are the standard and thus referred to in news bulletins rather than the national number. Serbia and Italy have a similar principle.
  • In most countries the E-roads form a network on top of the national network. The green signs are frequent enough to show how to follow the roads, but do not usually show how to reach them.
  • In some countries, like Croatia, Bulgaria and Albania, E-roads are well signposted, but they sometimes follow older routes instead of highways.
  • In some countries, like Germany, Italy and Greece, E-roads are signposted only on motorways and main road itineraries.
  • In Ireland the signposting of E-roads is specified in Chapter 2 of the 2010 Traffic Signs Manual published by the Department of Transport, and specifies that E-roads are to be signed on route confirmation signs only.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first E-road numbers were signed in July 2007 on the N11 bypass in Gorey. Since then they have gradually spread across the E-road network in Ireland.
  • In a few European countries such as the United Kingdom,<ref name=TSRGD>Template:Cite web</ref> Albania, and many Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, the E-roads are not signposted at all.

Road design standards

[edit]

The following design standards should be applied to Euroroutes unless there are exceptional circumstances (such as mountain passes etc.):<ref name=1975doc/>

  • Built-up areas shall be by-passed if they constitute a hindrance or a danger.
  • The roads should preferably be motorways or express roads (unless traffic density is low so that there is no congestion on an ordinary road).
  • They should be homogeneous and be designed for at least Template:Convert (see Design speed). The motorways should be at least Template:Convert.
  • Gradients should not exceed 8% on roads designed for Template:Convert, decreasing to 4% on roads designed for Template:Convert traffic.
  • The radius of curved sections of road should be a minimum of Template:Convert on roads designed for Template:Convert rising to Template:Convert on roads designed for Template:Convert.
  • "Stopping distance visibility" should be at least Template:Convert on roads designed for Template:Convert, rising to Template:Convert on roads designed for Template:Convert.
  • Lane width should be at least Template:Convert on straight sections of road. This guarantees adequate clearance for any vehicle having a superstructure of width Template:Convert which is the maximum specified width in Directive 2002/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council which recognise some specific tolerances for some specific countries.
  • The shoulder is recommended to be at least Template:Convert on ordinary roads and Template:Convert on motorways.
  • Central reservations should be at least Template:Convert unless there is a barrier between the two carriageways.
  • Overhead clearance should be not less than Template:Convert.
  • Railway intersections should be at different levels.

These requirements are meant to be followed for road construction. When new E-roads have been added these requirements have not been followed stringently. For example, the E45 in Sweden, added in 2006, has long parts with Template:Convert width or the E22 in eastern Europe forcing drivers to slow down to Template:Convert by taking the route through villages. In Norway, parts of the E10 are Template:Convert wide and in Central Asia even some gravel roads have been included.

Cultural significance

[edit]

In Belgium, for example, motorway E-numbers have taken on the same kind of persistent cultural integration and significance as M-numbers in the UK, or Interstate numbers in the United States. Local businesses will refer to, or even incorporate the road designator in their business name. The annual road cycling race "E3 Harelbeke" takes part of its name from the former E3 (the part between Antwerp and Lille was renamed E17 in 1992). The same applies to the retail chain "E5-mode" (E5-fashion) that started with shops easily accessible from the former E5 (renamed E40 in 1992).

In Sweden, the ice hockey games between HV71 from Jönköping and Linköping HC from Linköping have come to be called "the E4-derby".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It's about 130 km between the cities, and they are situated in different provinces and counties, so the "derby" denomination is really far fetched, and it's often joked about that HV71's meetings with the teams from Stockholm or even as far north as Luleå would be an "E4 derby" just as much.

In Norway, the band D.D.E. released a song named after E6.

List of roads

[edit]

Notes to the listings

[edit]

In the road listings below,<ref name=1975doc/> a dash ('–') indicates a land road connection between two towns/cities—the normal case—while an ellipsis ('...') denotes a stretch across water. Not all such places are connected by ferry, and operating ferry connections are usually run by private companies without support from the respective governments, i.e. they may cease operating at any time.

A Class roads

[edit]
File:E-roads-Caucasus-countries.png
The E-road network in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. However, the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is closed due to strained relations between the two countries.
File:E-roads in BY.png
The E-road network in Belarus
File:E-wegen België.png
The E-road network in Belgium
File:E-road BG.png
The E-road network in Bulgaria
File:Main roads of Estonia.svg
Main and E-roads in Estonia
File:Finland european roads.png
The E-road network in Finland
File:E Road in GEO.svg
The E-road network in Georgia
File:European Highways DE.png
The E-road network in Germany
File:European roads in Hungary.png
The main E-road network in Hungary
File:Italia - Mappa strade europee.svg
The E-road network in Italy
File:Lithuania-roads-(E) v2.png
The E-road network in Lithuania
File:E-wegenNederland.png
The E-road network in the Netherlands
File:European Highways PL.svg
The E-road network in Poland
File:Romania-drumuri.svg
The E-road network in Romania
File:E-roads-Turkey.png
The E-road network in Turkey
File:European Highways UK-EI.png
The E-road network in the United Kingdom and Ireland
File:UA euro routes.png
The E-road network in Ukraine

North–South reference

[edit]

West–East reference

[edit]

North–South intermediate

[edit]

West–East intermediate

[edit]

B Class roads

[edit]

Records

[edit]
File:Hämeenlinnanväylä.jpg
An aerial view of the European route E12 between the cities of Tampere and Helsinki in Finland

Historical numbering

[edit]

These were the historical roads before 1975:

Number Start via End
E1 London – Southampton – Le Havre – Paris – Lyon – Nice – Ventimiglia – Genoa – La Spezia – Pisa – Livorno – Rome – Naples – Salerno – Reggio di Calabria – Messina – Palermo
E2 London – Dover – Calais – Reims – Dijon – Dole – Lausanne – Simplon – Milan – Parma – Modena – Bologna – Ancona – Foggia – Bari – Brindisi
E3 Lisbon – Salamanca – San Sebastián – Bordeaux – Paris – Lille – Gent – Antwerp – Eindhoven – Venlo – Oberhausen – Bielefeld – Hanover – Hamburg – Flensburg – Kolding – Frederikshavn – Gothenburg – Arboga – Stockholm
E4 Lisbon – Elvas – Mérida – Madrid – Zaragoza – Barcelona – Nîmes – Chambéry – Genf – Lausanne – Bern – Basel – Karlsruhe – Frankfurt (Main) – Kassel – Göttingen – Hanover – Hamburg – Lübeck – Fehmarn – Vordingborg – Copenhagen – Helsingør – Helsingborg – Jönköping – Stockholm – Uppsala – Sundsvall – Umeå – Tornio – Lahti – Helsinki
E5 London – Dover – Calais – Gent – Brussels – Liège – Cologne – Frankfurt (Main) – Würzburg – Nuremberg – Passau – Linz – Melk – Vienna – Nickelsdorf – Győr – Budapest – Szeged – Belgrade – Gevgelija – Thessaloniki – Alexandroupolis – Peplos – Ipsala – Silivri – Istanbul – İzmit – Bolu – Ankara – Aksaray – Adana – İskenderun – Turkey/Syria border
E6 Rome – Florence – Bologna – Modena – Verona – Trento – Brenner – Innsbruck – Griesen – Munich – Nuremberg – Hof – Leipzig – Berlin – Stralsund – Sassnitz – Trelleborg – Malmö – Helsingborg – Gothenburg – Svinesund – Oslo – Hamar – Otta – Trondheim – Mo i Rana – Alta Kirkenes
E7 Rome – Perugia – Forlì – Bologna – Ferrara – Padua – Mestre – Cervignano – Udine – Villach – Bruck an der Mur – Vienna – Brno – Český Těšín – Kraków – Warsaw
E8 London – Harwich – Hook of Holland – The Hague – Utrecht – Osnabrück – Hanover – Magdeburg – Berlin – Poznan – Krośniewice – Warsaw – Poland/USSR border
E9 Amsterdam – Maastricht – Liège – Arlon – Luxembourg – Metz – Strasbourg – Mulhouse – Basel – Olten – Luzern – Andermatt – (Gotthard) – Lugano – Chiasso – Como – Milan – Tortona – Genoa
E10 Paris – Cambrai – Brussels – Antwerp – Rotterdam – The Hague – Amsterdam
E11 Paris – Saint-Dizier – Nancy – Strasbourg – Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg
E12 Paris – Metz – Saarbrücken – Mannheim – Nuremberg – Plzeň – Prague – Náchod – Kłodzko – Łódź – Warsaw – Białystok – Moscow
E13 Lyon – Modena – Turin – Milan – Brescia – Verona – Padua – Venice
E14 Trieste – Ronchi – Udine – Villach – Salzburg – Linz – Tábor – Prague – Jablonec – Szczecin
E15 Hamburg – Berlin – Dresden – Zinnwald – Prague – Brno – Břeclav – Bratislava – Budapest
E16 Bratislava – Český Těšín – Katowice – Łódź – Gdańsk – Gdynia
E17 Chagny – Dijon – Basel – Zürich – Winterthur – St. Gallen – St. Margarethen – Innsbruck – Wörgl – Salzburg
E18 Stavanger – Kristiansand – Larvik – Oslo – Karlstad – Arboga – Köping – Stockholm
E19 Albania/Greece border – Ioannina – Arta – Agrinio – Antirion – Rion – Corinth
E20 Koritza – Vari – Edessa – Thessaloniki – Sofia
E21 Aosta – Turin – Savona
E21a Martigny – Grosser St. Bernhard – Aosta
E21b Geneva – Bonneville – Mont-Blanc – Aosta
E22 Berlin – Wrocław – Opole – Bytom – Kraków – Rzeszów – Przemyśl – Poland/USSR border
E23 Ankara – Kirsehir – Kayseri – Sivas – Erzincan – Erzurum – Agri – Turkey/Iran border
E24 Kömürler – Gaziantep – Urfa – Mardin – Cizre – Hakkari – Bajerge – Turkey/Iran border
E25 Burgos – Madrid – Bailén – Sevilla – Cádiz – Algeciras
E26 Barcelona – Tarragona – Castellón de la Plana – Valencia – Granada – Málaga – Algeciras
E31 London – St. Albans – Northampton – Doncaster – Scotch Corner – Carlisle – Abington – Glasgow
E32 Abington Edinburgh
E33 Northampton – Coventry – Cannock – Warrington – Liverpool
E34 Amsterdam – Cannock – Shrewsbury – Corwen – Holyhead
E35 Amsterdam – Amersfoort – Zwolle – Groningen – Winschoten – Oldenburg – Hamburg
E36 Hook of Holland – Rotterdam – Gouda – Utrecht – Arnhem – Oberhausen – Cologne
E37 Breda – Gorinchem – Utrecht
E38 Breda Eindhoven
E39 Antwerp – Heerlen – Aachen
E40 Brussels – Namur – Bastogne
E41 Calais – Valenciennes – Mons – Charleroi – Namur – Liège
E42 Phalsbourg – Sarreguemines – Saarbrücken – Luxembourg – Echternach – Bitburg – Prüm – Euskirchen – Cologne
E43 Avallon Dijon
E44 Belfort Mulhouse
E45 Dole – La Curs – La Faucille – Gex – Geneva
E46 Lyon – Amberieu – Geneva
E47 Aix-en-Provence Marseille
E48 Nîmes Marseille
E49 Bordeaux – Toulouse – Narbonne
E50 Coimbra – Porto – Vigo – A Coruña – Oviedo – Santander – Bilbao – San Sebastián
E51 Albergaria a Velha – Viseu – Celorico da Beira
E52 Vila Franca de Xira – Pegões – Beja – Vila Verde de Ficalho – Rosal de la Frontera – Sevilla
E53 Turin – Asti – Alessandria – Tortona
E54 Canteggio Piacenza
E55 Pisa – Migliarino – Pistoia
E56 Ponte-Garigliano – Caserta – Foggia
E57 Naples Arienzo
E58 Bari Tarent
E59 Messina Syracuse
E60 Arth Zürich
E61 Bellinzona – San Bernardino – Chur – St. Margrethen – Bregenz – Lindau – Munich
E62 Hof – Karl-Marx-Stadt – Leipzig – Halle – Magdeburg
E63 Hamm – Kassel – Herleshausen – Erfurt – Karl-Marx-Stadt – Dresden
E64 Berlin – Neubrandenburg – Rostock – Warnemünde – Gedser – Nykøbing – Vordingborg – Copenhagen
E65 Lübeck – Rostock – Stralsund
E66 Esbjerg – Kolding – Middelfart – Nyborg – Korsør – Copenhagen – Malmö
E67 Vejle Middelfart
E68 Bergen – Gudvangen – Laerdalsöyra – Nystua – Fagernes – Oslo
E69 Ålesund – Åndalsnes – Dombås
E70 Winterthur – Schaffhausen – Donaueschingen – Tübingen – Stuttgart – Heilbronn – Schwäbisch Hall – Würzburg – Fulda – Hersfeld – Herleshausen
E71 Hanover – Bremen – Bremerhaven
E72 Oldenzaal – Lingen – Bremen
E73 Cologne Hamm
E74 Berlin Szczecin
E75 Stjördal – Storlien – Östersund – Sundsvall
E77 Feldkirch Buchs
E78 Tornio Kilpisjärvi
E79 Vaasa – Tampere – Helsinki
E80 Turku – Helsinki – Lappeenranta – Imatra
E81 Gdańsk – Elbląg – Ostróda – Mława – Warsaw – Lublin – Poland/USSR border
E82 Piotrków Trybunalski Warsaw
E83 Jelenia Gora – Wrocław – Poznań – Świecie – Grudziądz
E84 Prague – Jihlava – Znojmo – Vienna
E85 Olomouc – Žilina – Prešov – Košice – Romania/Bulgaria border
E86 Wörgl Rosenheim
E87 Ioannina – Trikkala – Larissa – Volos
E88 Ioannina Preveza
E89 Rion Patras
E90 Vevi Kozani
E91 Cervignano Ronchi
E92 Thessaloniki – Aghios Athanasios – Verria – Kozani – Larissa – Lamia – Athens – Corinth – Argos – Kalamai
E93 Bruck an der Mur – Graz – Spielfeld – Sentilj – Maribor – Ljubljana
E94 Klagenfurt – Loibltunnel – Ljubljana – Zagreb – Belgrad – Bela Crkva – Yugoslavia/Romania border
E95 Nis – Dimitrovgrad – Yugoslavia/Bulgaria border
E96 Rijeka – Zagreb – Čakovec – Donja Lendava – Yugoslavia/Hungary border
E97 Bulgaria/Turkey border – Edirne – Büyükkarıştıran – Silivri
E98 Kemerhisar – Niğde – Kayseri
E99 Toprakkale – Kahramanmaraş – Malatya – Elazığ – Tunceli – Selepür
E101 Madrid Valencia
E102 Mérida Link with E52
E103 Bailén – Granada – Motril – Málaga

See also

[edit]

Template:Portal Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Notes

[edit]

Template:Reflist

References

[edit]

Template:Reflist

[edit]

Template:Commons category

Template:E-road Template:Europe topics

Retrieved from "https://wiki.niidae.com/index.php?title=International_E-road_network&oldid=38395"