is a short autobahn in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The 8.4 kilometres (5.2 mi) long motorway crosses the Rhine River, connecting the cities of Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

 and Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

, the capital cities of the federal states (German: Bundesländer) of Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

 and Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

, respectively. It is one of two autobahns in Germany that connect two neighboring federal state capitals in only one exit.

However short the A 643 may be, it is a vital link within the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region, being only one of three routes across the Rhine in the region. It is an important connection between Autobahn 66

Bundesautobahn 66

is an autobahn in southwestern Germany. It connects the Taunus to Fulda, passing close to Frankfurt am Main. The first part of the autobahn between Wiesbaden and the Nordwestkreuz Frankfurt, was opened as early as 1934, then called the Rhein-Main-Schnellweg. It became an autobahn in 1965.The...

 on the north bank of the Rhine and A 60 south of Mainz.

History

The A 643 was built in 1966, together with the Mainz Ring Road, the A 60. The original plan for the highway included a section from Wiesbaden to Taunusstein

Taunusstein

Taunusstein is the biggest town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It consists of more than 29,000 inhabitants.- Location :...

-Neuhof, replacing a section of Bundesstraße 417. This project was never realized.

Route

The A 643 begins at the Dotzheim Interchange in Wiesbaden as a continuation of Schiersteiner Straße (Bundesstraße 262) to and from the city center (alternatively, southbound traffic on Schiersteiner Straße can continue on Saar Straße/Kreisstraße

Kreisstraße

A Kreisstraße is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a Kreis or district or between two neighbouring districts. In terms of importance, the Kreisstraße ranks below a Landesstraße , but above a Gemeindestraße or "local road"...

645 to Schierstein

Wiesbaden-Schierstein

Schierstein is a southwestern borough of Wiesbaden, capital of state of Hesse, Germany. First mentioned in historical records in 860, Schierstein was incorporated into Wiesbaden in 1926. Today the borough has about 10,000 residents...

). This interchange also includes an exit ramp to Erich-Ollenhauser Straße (K 655), which leads northwest to Wiesbaden-Dotzheim

Wiesbaden-Dotzheim

Dotzheim is a western borough of Wiesbaden, capital of the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the largest borough of the city by area and, with over 26,000 inhabitants, it is the second-most populated of Wiesbaden's suburban boroughs. It was the largest village in the former Duchy of Nassau...

 and southeast to Biebrich

Wiesbaden-Biebrich

Biebrich is a borough of the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. With over 36,000 inhabitants, it is the most-populated of Wiesbaden's boroughs. It is located south of the city center on the Rhine River, opposite the Mainz borough of Mombach...

.

The A 643 soon intersects with the A 66 at Schiersteiner Kreuz. It crosses the border with Rhineland-Palatinate on the Rhine with the Schierstein Bridge

Schierstein Bridge

The Schierstein Bridge is long, four-lane highway bridge in Germany. It carries Bundesautobahn 643 over the Rhine River between Mainz-Mombach, Rhineland-Palatinate and Wiesbaden-Schierstein, Hesse...

. It then leads to the Hochstraße Lenneberg in the Mainz district of Mombach

Mombach

Mombach, with about 13,000 inhabitants, is a borough in the northwest corner of Mainz, Germany. Mombach can be reached via Mainz-innenstadt or Bundesautobahn 643.- Location :...

, through the Mainz Sand Dunes

Mainz Sand Dunes

The Mainz Sand Dunes are a small geological and botanical supra-region and important nature preserve in Mainz, Germany. Within this protected area rare plants and animals can be found...

 nature reserve, and ends at the Mainz Dreieck in the A 60.

Source

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of 2009-01-05.