Cologne Ring

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Basic data

Total length

31 miles (50km)

Bundesland

North Rhine-Westphalia

Autobahns

A 1, A 3, A 4

Exit list

Eastring (14 km) A 3 E 35
	(23)	Kreuz Leverkusen A 1 E 37
	(24)	Leverkusen
	(25)	Köln-Mülheim
	(26)	Köln-Dellbrück
	(27)	Kreuz Köln-Ost A 4 E 40
	(28)	Dreieck Heumar A 4 E 40, A 59
Southring (22 km) A 4 E 40
	(16)	Kreuz Köln-Ost A 3 E 35
	(15)	Dreieck Heumar A 3 E 35, A 59
	(14)	Kreuz Gremberg A 559
	(13)	Köln-Poll
		Rodenkirchener Brücke
	(12)	Kreuz Köln-Süd A 555
	(—)	Containerbahnhof Köln-Eifeltor
	(11)	Köln-Klettenberg
	(10)	Kreuz Köln-West A 1 E 31
North-westring (18 km) A 1 E 31/37
	(104)	Kreuz Köln-West A 4 E 40
	(103)	Köln-Lövenich
	(102)	Köln-Bocklemünd
	(101)	Kreuz Köln-Nord A 57 E 31
	(100)	Köln-Niehl
		Leverkusener Brücke
	(99)	Kreuz Leverkusen-West A 59
	(98)	Kreuz Leverkusen A 3 E 35

The Cologne Ring (German:Kölner Autbahnring) is the generic term for the Autobahns around Cologne. It consists of the Bundesautobahn 3, the Bundesautobahn 4 and the Bundesautobahn 1. The ring handles a high amount of traffic.

The Autobahns on the ring cross the Bundesautobahn 559, the Bundesautobahn 555 and the Bundesautobahn 57. The Bundesautobahn 59 is tied to the ring at the interchange Leverkusen-West in the north and to Dreieck Heumar in the south. The ring is the outer beltway of Cologne.

1 History
2 Actual state
3 "Second ring"
4 See also
5 Weblinks

[edit] History

The ring was built clockwise from Leverkusen. In 1936 the section between Leverkusen and Cologne-Mülheim was built as a section of the Autobahn Oberhausen-Wiesbaden, in 1937 the section to Siegburg was finished. Afterwards the Eastring was finished and usable. 1941 the Rodenkirchener Autobahnbrücke was finished and the connection between the A 3 and the Autobahn to Bonn (today A 555) established.

From 1957 to 1960 the Autobahn Cologne-Aachen was finished, the section from Kreuz Köln-Süd to the later Kreuz Köln-West was usable from 1958 on. in 1961 the constructions of a second Autobahn-bridge across the Rhine in the north of Cologne began. When it was finished the ring could be used in it's total length.

In 1971 the A 1 was extended to the south, in 1974 the A 4 was attached to the A 3in the east. Since then the section between Kreuz Köln-Ost and Dreieck Heumar consists of two Autobahns, the A 3 and the A 4.

[edit] Actual state

The volume of traffic on the Cologne Ring is increasing continuous since the 1960s. Expansions to three lanes were done on every road, but because more than 180.000 cars use some sections of the ring everyday, traffic jams are often occur. The section between Kreuz Köln-Ost and Dreieck Heumar was expanded to four lanes per way in 2005, as the first one in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In preparation of the Football World-cup 2006 the A 3 was arranged with a traffic management system which is able to route the traffic around traffic jams and construction sites.

[edit] "Second ring"

In the 1970s the government thought about a second freeway-beltway around Cologne, instead of epanding the roads to more lanes. An expansion of the old ring would be to expensive because of the many bridges. They planned to use Cologne's other Autobahns for this. Even today these plans are continued.