Bundesautobahn 7

Infobox Bundesautobahn
NUMBER=7
TOTAL LENGTH=945
BUNDESLÄNDER=Schleswig-Holstein
Hamburg
Lower Saxony
Hesse
Bavaria
Baden-Württemberg
Bavaria
JUNCTIONS=table
type=class="wikitable"
hdrs=!!!!!"Denmark"------------"(single lane, second lanes under construction)"----!"Austria"

BAB intro|7 is the longest German Autobahn and the longest national motorway in Europe at 935 km (581 mi). It splits the country almost evenly from north to south. In the north, it starts at the border to Denmark as an extension of the Danish "E45". In the south, it ends 18 km from the Austrian border. This gap is in the process of being closed, including the construction of two tunnels of 630 and 1245 m length.

The North

In the northern Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein the A7 follows a medieval trade route from Scandinavia to Hamburg. There, it passes underneath the Elbe river in four parallel tunnels.

Across the Lüneburg Heath the lanes for both directions run at an unusual distance from each other.

The Middle

Near Hannoversch Münden, the A 7 crosses the river Werra on the Werratalbrücke, most notably known for its speed traps on the long northbound slope. The autobahn crosses the river close to the ICE high-speed rail line running from Hanover to Würzburg. After crossing the Werra, it ascends and descends in a hilly landscape known to motorists as "Kasseler Berge", before finally reaching the city of Kassel. This was intentional by design, as the early autobahn plans of the 1920s and 1930s were considering giving motorists "an appealing scenery" whilst traveling. As far as traffic is concerned not only are there numerous construction sites to meet the new traffic demands of the land, but this section of autobahn has some of the most traffic in volume this not only is one of the only 2 ways connecting Northern Germany to Southern Germany, but is part of only a handful routes connecting areas like Frankfurt/Main to the former East Germany and Berlin. That said this stretch of Autobahn is one of the most traveled and most congested.

The South

Construction of the southern parts was delayed by disagreements between the Bundesländer of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg about the route. When an agreement was reached in 1969, insufficient funding delayed the actual start of construction until the 1980s. Once actually started, construction proceeded unusually fast, although the challenging terrain of Frankenhöhe and Swabian Alb required the construction of two tunnels and multiple bridges.

Strecke 46

Through the Rhön Mountains and Spessart, where the autobahn was known as "Strecke 46", some bridges were built as early as 1937, but construction was halted in October 1939 due to World War II. In 1954, the "Strecke 46" trajectory was abandoned and the final route of the A7 in this area was later built on a slightly different route and finally completed in 1968. The remains of Strecke 46 have been classified as a listed building in 2003 by the government of Bavaria.

External links

* [http://www.strecke46.de Web site about the abandoned Strecke 46 plans (German language)]