Editing Essen (section)

=== Streets and motorways ===
[[File:A40-Ruhrschnellweg-Huttrop.jpg|thumb|[[Bundesautobahn 40|Ruhrschnellweg]] towards the central business district of Essen]]
The road network of Essen consists of over 3,200 streets, which in total have a length of roughly {{convert|1600|km|mi|0}}.

Four ''[[German Autobahnen|Autobahnen]]'' touch Essen territory, most importantly the [[Bundesautobahn 40|A 40]], known as {{lang|de|Ruhrschnellweg}} ({{lit |Ruhr expressway}}), which runs directly through the city, dividing it roughly in half. In a west-eastern direction, the A 40 connects the Dutch city of [[Venlo]] with Dortmund, running through the whole [[Ruhr]] area. It is one of the arterial roads of the Ruhr area (carrying over 140,000 vehicles per day) and suffers from heavy congestion during rush hours, which is why many people in the area nicknamed it {{lang|de|Ruhrschleichweg}} ({{lit |Ruhr crawlway}}). A tunnel was built in the 1970s, when the then-[[Bundesstraße]] was upgraded to [[Autobahn|motorway]] standards, so that the A 40 is hidden from public view in the inner-city district near the [[Essen Hauptbahnhof|main railway station]].

In the north, the [[Bundesautobahn 42|A 42]] briefly touches Essen territory, serving as an interconnection between the neighboring cities of [[Oberhausen]] and [[Gelsenkirchen]] and destinations beyond.

A part of the [[Bundesautobahn 44|A 44]], a highly segmented connection from [[Aachen]] and the Belgian border to [[Kassel]], planned to go further into [[Central Germany (cultural area)|central Germany]], ends in Essen's south.

A segment of the [[Bundesautobahn 52|A 52]] connects Essen with the more southern region around [[Düsseldorf]]. On Essen territory, the A 52 runs from the southern boroughs near [[Mülheim|Mülheim an der Ruhr]] past the fairground and then merges with the [[Bundesautobahn 40|Ruhrschnellweg]] at the [[Autobahndreieck]] Essen-Ost junction east of the city centre.

With the A 40/A 52 in the southern parts of the city and the A 42 in the north, there is a gap in the motorway system often leading to congestion on streets leading from the central to the northern boroughs. An extension of the A 52 to connect the Essen-Ost junction with the A 42 to close this gap is considered urgent;<ref>Bundesverkehrswegeplan 2003, p. 124{{incomplete short citation|date=July 2021}}</ref> it has been planned for years but not yet been realized – most importantly due to the high-density areas this extension would lead through, resulting in high costs and concerns with the citizens.