European route E34
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The European route E34 is a road in Europe and a part of the United Nations International E-road network. It connects Zeebrugge, a major container port on Belgium's north west coast with Bad Oeynhausen, a German spa town located beside the River Weser at the eastern edge of North Rhine-Westphalia. At Bad Oeynhausen the E34 links to the E30, a major pan European east-west artery. It also passes, relatively briefly, through the Netherlands, following the southern by-pass of Eindhoven. Within Germany the route follows from south-west to north-east the full length of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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[edit] The three names of the road from the coast
By the early 1990s the western portion of the route, between Antwerp and the coast, was a dual carriageway with frequent intersections, the more busy of which were controlled by traffic lights and marked by 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) speed limits. Starting at the Antwerp end, this part of the E34 has more recently been progressively upgraded with junctions either eliminated or else replaced by motorway-style intersections. The road is still of sub-motorway quality between the coast and Zelzate, but to the east of the road tunnel under the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, the upgrade is virtually complete. The upgrade from National road to Autoroute quality has been reflected in a name change, from N49 to A11: in terms of national road numbers, as long as the upgrade remains incomplete, the two names are currently used interchangeably or together (N49-A11) when referring to the full length between Antwerp and Zeebrugge. In Belgium the E route numbers are given prominence at least equal to nationally assigned road numbers, so that in practice the road may be marked, using all three names, as the N49-E34-A11. Locally the road is often referred to more simply as the expressway (den expresweg).
[edit] Congestion
The route skirts Antwerp using the southern R1 inner ringroad which includes the Kennedy Tunnel: this is closed to vehicles with certain classes of dangerous loads. These are required to divert onto the northern R2 outer ringroad. To address the resulting delays, and because the inner southern ring route itself frequently becomes seriously congested, a northern inner ring road for Antwerp is planned, currently with a projected completion date of 2015.
The German portion of the E34 pases across the northern side of Germany's Ruhr industrial belt. Most of the road, which is currently being progressively upgraded, is now a six lane (three in each direction) highway. Access points are relatively close together in this section and the route - especially the section between Duisburg and Dortmund - is nevertheless prone delays resulting from traffic congestion.
[edit] The route
| E34 Zeebrugge - Bad Oeynhausen | ||||
| State | National Road Number |
Section | Junction (national numbering) |
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   ......Province |
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| West Flanders East Flanders |
 N49 (A11) |
Zeebrugge - Zelzate | N49 (A11)  14  ZelzateN49 (A11)  Ghent-Terneuzen CanalN49 (A11) 13 Zelzate |
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| East Flanders Antwerp |
 A11 (N49) |
Zelzate - Antwerp | A11 (N49)  12 (Junction not yet open)A11 (N49) 11 KemzekeA11 (N49) 10 VraseneA11 (N49) BeverenA11 (N49) 9 MelseleA11 (N49) 8 Waaslandhaven eastA11 (N49) 7 Sint-Anna Linkeroever (Left Bank) |
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| Antwerp | R1 |
Antwerp Southern Ringway | R1 E 17 Antwerp west R1 6 Linkeroever (Left Bank)R1 Kennedy Tunnel (Scheldt River)R1 5a SouthR1 Antwerp centreR1 E 19 Antwerp southR1 5 Le GrellelaanR1 4 BerchemR1 3 BorgerhoutR1 E 19 E 313 Antwerp east |
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| Antwerp | A13 |
Antwerp east - Ranst | A 13 18 Wommelgem A 13   RanstA 13  E 313 Ranst |
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| Antwerp | A21 |
Ranst - Retie | A 21 19 Oelegem A 21 20 ZoerselA 21 21 LilleA 21 22 BeerseA 21 GierleA 21 23 Turnhout westA 21 24 Turnhout centreA 21 25 Oud (Old) TurnhoutA 21 26 Retie |
|
 ......Province |
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North Brabant Limburg |
A67 |
Eersel - Venlo | A 67 32 Eersel A 67 E 25 De HogtA 67 32a High Tech Campus (Philips Research)A 67 33 WaalreA 67 E 25 LeenderheideA 67 34 GeldropA 67 35 SomerenA 67 36 AstenA 67 37 LiesselA 67 38 HeldenA 67 39 VenloA 67 ZaarderheikenA 67 40 VeldenA 67 41 Venlo (A61 - German) |
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  Land/District |
||||
| KLE WES DU |
A40 |
Venlo - Duisburg | A 40 2 Straelen A 40 3 WankumA 40 4 WachtendonkA 40 5 KempenA 40 6 KerkenA 40 Neufelder HeideA 40 7 Neukirchen-VluynA 40 8 Moers E 31A 40 9 Moers centreA 40 10 Duisburg-RheinhausenA 40 11 Duisburg-HombergA 40 12 Duisburg Hafen (Port)A 40 13 DuisburgA 40 14 / A 3 14 Kaiserberg E 35 |
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| OB | A3 |
Duisburg - Oberhausen | A 3 13 Oberhausen-Lirich E 35 A 3 12 Oberhausen westA 3 11 Oberhausen-HoltenA 3 10 / A 2 1 Oberhausen E 35 |
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| OB BOT RE DO UN HAM WAF GT BI LIP HF MI |
A2 |
Oberhausen - Bad Oeynhausen | A 2 2 Oberhausen-Königshardt A 2  A 2 3 BottropA 2 4 Gladbeck - EllinghorstA 2 5 Essen & GladbeckA 2 6 Gelsenkirchen - BuerA 2  A 2 7 HertenA 2 8 RecklinghausenA 2 9 Recklinghausen southA 2 10 Recklinghausen eastA 2 11 HenrichenburgA 2 12 Dortmund North-westA 2 12 Dortmund-MengedeA 2 13 Dortmund North-eastA 2 14 Dortmund-LanstropA 2 15 KamenA 2 16 Kamen E 37A 2 17 BönenA 2 18 HammA 2 A 2 19 Hamm-UentropA 2 20 BeckumA 2 21 OeldeA 2 22 Junction closedA 2 23 Rheda-WiedenbrückA 2 A 2 24 GüterslohA 2 25 BielefeldA 2 26 Bielefeld - SennestadtA 2 27 Bielefeld centreA 2 28 Ostwestfalen / LippeA 2 29 Herford / Bad SalzuflenA 2 A 2 30 Herford eastA 2 31 Vlotho - ExterA 2 32 Bad Oeynhausen E 30 |
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[edit] Sources and further reading
- This article is based on a translation of Europese weg 34 from the Dutch Wikipedia (2008-05-20).
- This article is based on a translation of A11 (België) from the Dutch Wikipedia (2008-05-20).
- This article is based on a translation of Rijksweg 67 from the Dutch Wikipedia (2008-05-22).
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