A12 motorway (Netherlands)

The A12 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. The road connects the city of The Hague with the German border, near Zevenaar, and the German Autobahn BAB 3. On its way, it crosses three Dutch provinces: South Holland, Utrecht, and Gelderland.

European routes

The A12 motorway runs along with parts of three major European routes:

• The European route E30 follows the A12 between interchange Prins Clausplein near The Hague, and interchange Lunetten, just southeast of the city of Utrecht.
• The European route E25 runs along the A12 between interchange Gouwe near Gouda, and interchange Oudenrijn, just southwest of Utrecht.
• The European route E35 follows the route of the A12 from interchange Oudenrijn towards the German border.

The A12 near The Hague

A12 as highway in The Hague.

The section of the A12 road within the city of The Hague (near exits 1, 2 and 3) is actually not a motorway, but a highway. This part of the road, known as the Utrechtsebaan, is too narrow to meet the Dutch requirements for a motorway (for example, it does not have a shoulder), and is therefore a highway with a maximum speed of 70 km/h.

To avoid local traffic from using this heavily congested part of the road, exits 2 through 4 are built as incomplete exits. These exits only feature westbound exits and eastbound entrances, so they can only be used by interlocal traffic. Local traffic is therefore forced to make use of the available local roads.

'Branding' controversy

In 2008, a government programme on route branding, under an umbrella project in urban planning, put stickers on all streetlights of the A12, citing efforts to give it a "route 66-like" allure. This plan, dubbed the "regenboogroute" (rainbow route), received news coverage because of its alleged trivial results (stickers on streetlights) and high costs (€120 000).^[1]

Exit list

Country	Province	Municipality	km	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
The Netherlands	South Holland	The Hague	1	1	1	N44 northeast (Benoordenhoutseweg) / S101 (Zuid Hollandlaan / Benoordenhoutseweg) – Wassenaar, Scheveningen
			2	1	2	Juliana van Stolberglaan / Prins Bernhardviaduct	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		The Hague / Leidschendam-Voorburg municipality line	3	2	3	Schenkkade	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
		Leidschendam-Voorburg	5	3	4	S108 southwest (Maanweg) / Prins Bernhardlaan – Rijswijk, Voorburg	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
		The Hague	6	4	—	E 19 / E 30 / A4	West end of E 30 overlap
			7	4	5	Donau / Koning Willem-Alexanderviaduct
		Zoetermeer	13	8	6	Zuidweg / Afrikaweg	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
			16	10	7	N470
		Lansingerland	18	11	8	N209
		Zuidplas	23	14	9	N219
		Waddinxveen	27	17	—	E 25 / A20	West end of E 25 overlap; eastbound entrance and westbound exit only
			29	18	11	N452
		Bodegraven-Reeuwijk	33	21	12	N459
			35	22	12a	N11	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
			39	24	13	Molendijk / Verlengde Tuurluur
	Utrecht	Woerden	46	29	14	N204
			51	32	14a	N419
		Utrecht	54	34	15	N198 / N228
			57	35	—	E 25 / E 35 / A2	East end of E 25 overlap; west end of E 35 overlap
			59	37	16	Papendorpseweg
	Amsterdam–Rhine Canal		?		Galecopperbrug
	Utrecht	Utrecht	60	37	17	Europalaan
			61	38	18	N408 south (Laagravenseweg) / Waterlinieweg – Nieuwegein, Utrecht
			62	39	—	E 30 / E 311 / A27	East end of E 30 overlap
		Bunnik	?		De Forten rest area Eastbound exit and entrance only
					68	42	19	N229 south (Schoudermantel) / Baan van Fectio – Bunnik, Odijk
		Utrechtse Heuvelrug	71	44	20	N225 east (Hoofdstraat) – Driebergen, Zeist
			77	48	21	N227 – Maarn, Doorn	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
			81	50	22	N226 (Woudenbergseweg) – Maarsbergen, Woudenberg, Leersum
			?		Bloemheuvel rest area eastbound Oudenhorst rest area westbound
		Renswoude / Veenendaal municipality line	92	57	23	N418 north (Nieuweweg-Noord) / Rondweg-West – Veenendaal
	Utrecht / Gelderland province line	Veenendaal / Ede municipality line	104	65	23a	N233 south (Rondweg-Oost) / Rondweg De Klomp – Veenendaal
	Gelderland	Ede	107	66	—	A30 north – Ede
			109	68	24	N781 south (Dr. W. Dreeslaan) – Ede, Bennekom
			?		Buunderkamp rest area eastbound 't Ginkelse Zand rest area westbound
			120	75	25	N224 (Verlengde Arnhemseweg / Amsterdamseweg) – Ede, Arnhem
		Arnhem	121	75	—	A50 south – Heelsum	West end of A50 overlap
			?		De Schaars rest area Westbound exit and entrance only
			128	80	—	A50 north (Delhuijzenweg) – Beekbergen	East end of A50 overlap
			129	80	26	N784 (Apeldoornseweg) – Arnhem
			134	83	—	A348 east (IJsselweg) / N325 west (IJsseloordweg) – Rheden, Arnhem
	IJssel		?		IJsselbrug
	Gelderland	Duiven	136	85	27	N338 east (Rivierweg) – Lathum, Westervoort
			138	86	28	N810 south (Noordsingel) – Duiven
			?		Oudbroeken rest area eastbound Aalburgen rest area westbound
		Zevenaar	143	89	29	N813 east (Nieuwe Steeg / Tatelaarsweg) / N336 (Doesburgseweg) – Didam, Zevenaar
			147	91	—	A18 east – Didam	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
			149	93	30	N812 (Beekseweg) – Babberich, Beek
			?		2theloo rest area Northbound exit and entrance only
			?		—	E 35 / A 3 east – Babberich, Elten	Border with Germany; this road continues as the German A 3; east end of E 35 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rijksweg 12.

Motorways in the Netherlands A1 A2/N2 N3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 N11 A12 A13 N14 A15/A18 A16 A17 A20 A22 A27 A28 A29 A30 A31/N31 A32/N32 N33 A35 N36 A37 A38 A44/N44 A50 N57 A58/N58 A59/N59 N61 A65 A67 A73 A74 A76 A77 A79 N99 A200 N208 A256 A261 A270 A325 A326 A348