Editing Brussels (section)

===Road network===
[[File:Wetstraat.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Rue de la Loi|Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat]] is one of the city's main streets.]]

In medieval times, Brussels stood at the intersection of routes running north–south (the modern {{lang|fr|Rue Haute|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Hoogstraat|italic=no}}) and east–west ({{lang|fr|Chaussée de Gand|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Gentsesteenweg|italic=no}}–{{lang|fr|Rue du Marché aux Herbes|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Grasmarkt|italic=no}}–{{lang|fr|Rue de Namur|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Naamsestraat|italic=no}}). The ancient pattern of streets, radiating from the [[Grand-Place]], in large part remains, but has been overlaid by boulevards built [[covering of the Senne|over the river Senne]], [[Fortifications of Brussels#Construction of the Small Ring|over the city walls]] and over the railway connection between the North and South Stations. In 2012, Brussels had the most congested traffic in Europe and North America, according to US traffic information platform [[INRIX]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.flanderstoday.eu/current-affairs/brussels-and-antwerp-have-worst-traffic|title=Brussels and Antwerp have worst traffic|date=27 June 2012|access-date=8 December 2013|newspaper=Flanders Today|archive-date=12 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212025712/http://www.flanderstoday.eu/current-affairs/brussels-and-antwerp-have-worst-traffic|url-status=live}}</ref>

Brussels is the hub of a range of national roads, the main ones being clockwise: the [[N1 road (Belgium)|N1]] (N to [[Breda]]), [[N2 road (Belgium)|N2]] (E to [[Maastricht]]), [[N3 road (Belgium)|N3]] (E to [[Aachen]]), [[N4 road (Belgium)|N4]] (SE to [[Luxembourg City|Luxembourg]]), [[N5 road (Belgium)|N5]] (S to [[Reims]]), N6 (S to [[Maubeuge]]), N7 (SW to [[Lille]]), [[N8 road (Belgium)|N8]] (W to [[Koksijde]]) and N9 (NW to [[Ostend]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.autosnelwegen.net/frames.html?/nb.html|title=Belgian N roads|publisher=Autosnelwegen.net|access-date=29 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529013951/http://www.autosnelwegen.net/frames.html?%2Fnb.html|archive-date=29 May 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Usually named {{lang|fr|chaussées}}/{{lang|nl|steenwegen}}, these highways normally run in a straight line, but sometimes lose themselves in a maze of narrow shopping streets. The region is skirted by the [[European route E19]] (N-S) and the [[European route E40|E40]] (E-W), while the [[E411]] leads away to the SE. Brussels has an [[orbital motorway]], numbered R0 (R-zero) and commonly referred to as the [[Brussels Ring|Ring]]. It is pear-shaped, as the southern side was never built as originally conceived, owing to residents' objections.

The city centre, sometimes known as the [[Pentagon (Brussels)|Pentagon]], is surrounded by an inner ring road, the [[Small Ring, Brussels|Small Ring]] ({{langx|fr|Petite Ceinture|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Kleine Ring|link=no}}), a sequence of boulevards formally numbered R20 or N0. These were built upon the site of the [[Second walls of Brussels|second set of city walls]] following their demolition. The [[Brussels Metro line 2|Metro line 2]] runs under much of these. Since June 2015, a number of [[Central Boulevards of Brussels|central boulevards]] inside the Pentagon have become car-free, limiting transit traffic through the old city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://circulatieplan.be/en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514223301/http://circulatieplan.be/en|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 May 2015|title=Circulation plan|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>

On the eastern side of the region, the R21 or [[Greater ring (Brussels)|Greater Ring]] ({{langx|fr|Grande Ceinture|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Grote Ring|link=no}}) is formed by a string of boulevards that curves round from [[Laeken]] to [[Uccle]]. Some ''premetro'' stations (see [[Brussels Metro]]) were built on that route. A little further out, a stretch numbered R22 leads from Zaventem to [[Uccle|Saint-Job]].