Cologne Beltway
Encyclopedia
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
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The Cologne Beltway (German:Kölner Autobahnring) is the generic term for the Autobahns encircling Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. It consists of the Bundesautobahn 3, the Bundesautobahn 4 and the Bundesautobahn 1. The beltway handles one of the highest traffic volumes in Germany.
The Autobahns on the beltway cross Bundesautobahn 559
Bundesautobahn 559
is an autobahn in Germany.The A 559 is a former alignment of the A 59. The A 59 was rerouted in the 1980s to relieve congestion at the Gremberg four-way interchange with the A 4....
, Bundesautobahn 555
Bundesautobahn 555
Bundesautobahn 555 , connecting the cities of Cologne and Bonn, was constructed between 1929 and 1932, and opened to traffic on August 6, 1932....
and Bundesautobahn 57
Bundesautobahn 57
The Bundesautobahn 57 is a German Autobahn that begins at the Dutch-German border near Goch and ends in Köln. It runs parallel to the Rhine River. Neuss and Krefeld are the biggest cities at this motorway. The A 57 is continuation of the Dutch A77...
. The Bundesautobahn 59
Bundesautobahn 59
is an autobahn in Germany that starts in Dinslaken and runs with three breaks along Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne to Bonn.In the south of Duisburg it is the city highway, too....
is tied to the beltway at the interchange Leverkusen-West in the north and to Dreieck Heumar in the south.
History
Leverkusen
Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....
. In 1936 the section between Leverkusen and Cologne-Mülheim was built as a component of the Autobahn Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
-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 in 1937 the section to Siegburg
Siegburg
--122.148.78.228 05:06, 14 November 2011 Siegburg is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany...
was finished. Thus today's Ostring (East-Ring) was drivable at that time. In 1941, the Rodenkirchener Autobahnbrücke
Cologne Rodenkirchen Bridge
The Cologne Rodenkirchen Bridge is a suspension bridge over the Rhine located in Cologne, Germany. Completed in 1954, it has a main span of 378 metres. It was named after the Cologne district of Rodenkirchen.-Planning and construction:...
was completed and the connection between the A 3 and the Autobahn to Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
(today A 555
Bundesautobahn 555
Bundesautobahn 555 , connecting the cities of Cologne and Bonn, was constructed between 1929 and 1932, and opened to traffic on August 6, 1932....
) was established.
From 1957 to 1960 the Autobahn Cologne-Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
was finished and the section from Kreuz Köln-Süd to the later Kreuz Köln-West was put into service in 1958. Construction of a second Autobahn-bridge across the Rhine in the north of Cologne began in 1961. At its completion, the beltway could be used along its entire length.
In 1971, the A 1 was extended to the south beyond the Köln-West interchange and in 1974 the A 4 was connected to the A 3 from the east at the Köln-Ost interchange. Since then, the section between interchanges Kreuz Köln-Ost and Dreieck Heumar consists of two Autobahns, the A 3 and the A 4.
Current state
Traffic volume on the Cologne Beltway has been increasing continuously since the 1950s. All sections have since been expanded to three lanes in each direction, but since more than 180,000 cars use at least part of the Autobahnring every day, traffic jams are a frequent occurrence.The section between the interchanges Kreuz Köln-Ost and Dreieck Heumar was expanded to four lanes in each direction in 2005, a first for North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
.
In preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
the A 3 was outfitted with a traffic management system which is able to route traffic around congestion and construction sites.