Bundesstraße

Bundesstraße (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.

Germany

Germany's Bundesstraßen network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German Bundesstraßen are labelled with rectangular yellow signs with black numerals, as opposed to the white-on-blue markers of the Autobahn controlled-access highways. Bundesstraßen, like autobahns, are maintained by the federal agency of the Transport Ministry. In the German highway system they rank below autobahns, but above the Landesstraßen and Kreisstraßen maintained by the federal states and the districts respectively. The numbering was implemented by law in 1932 and has overall been retained up to today, except for those roads located in the former eastern territories of Germany.

One distinguishing characteristic between German Bundesstraßen and Autobahnen is that there usually is a general 100 km/h (62 mph) speed limit on federal highways out of built-up areas, as opposed to the merely advisory speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 km/h (83 mph) in unmarked sections of the autobahns. However, a number of Bundesstraßen have been extended as expressways (dual carriageways) (colloquially called "Yellow Autobahns"). Many of these have speed limits of usually 100–120 km/h, others have only an advisory speed limit like autobahns. Most sections of the federal highways are only single carriageway with one lane for each direction and no hard shoulder pull-out area.

Bundesstraße 9

The Bundesstraße 9 (shortened B9) is a German federal highway. It follows the left side of the river Rhine from the Dutch border at Kranenburg upstream to the French border near the city of Lauterbourg, where it connects to the French A35 autoroute. The origins of the road can be traced back to Ancient Rome.

Some parts of the road have since been downgraded. The strip from Osterath to Neuss has been downgraded due to the Bundesautobahn 57 running in parallel. Between Cologne and Bonn the Bundesautobahn 555 replaced the Bundesstraße 9. From Bingen to Mainz the road has been replaced by the Bundesautobahn 60, and in the south the Bundesautobahn 65 replaced the Bundesstraße 9. However, some parts of the Bundesstraße 9 have been built to autobahn standards as well, most notably the part between Sinzig and Koblenz as well as the part between Frankenthal and Wörth am Rhein.

The part between Mainz and Worms is closed to transit truck traffic. Previously, this road had been commonly used by drivers who wanted to avoid the tolls on the autobahns. These drivers are now forced to take the Bundesautobahn 63 and Bundesautobahn 61.

Bundesstraße 81

The German Bundesstraße 81 (abbreviated to: B81) acts as a main road link between the Magdeburg, Halberstadt and Nordhausen.

Course

It begins in the city of Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt at the Bundesstraße 71 (Magdeburg Ring). Just before the southern end of Magdeburg is the junction with the A 14 motorway. This is followed by the Langenweddingen ring road. This section was upgraded in the wake of the Langenweddingen train crash, in which 94 people were killed on 6 July 1967.

South of Langenweddingen the B 81 crosses the B 246a, which runs from Wanzleben (West) to Schönebeck (Elbe) (Ost).

In the area of the Egeln ring road the B 180 from Wanzleben joins B 81. As the ring road continues it crosses the River Bode. Following that the B 180 joins from Aschersleben.

The B 81 continues along the Kroppenstedt ring road, built in 2007/2008, and crosses the Bode again as it bypasses the village of Gröningen.

Shortly before Halberstadt it is crossed by the B 245 from Schwanebeck and Eilsleben, in Halberstadt it meets the B 79. The B 81 continues, linking the town of Halberstadt with the North Harz motorway, the B 6n, to the west. As a result, a similar autobahn-like expansion of this road section is one of the broader requirements listed in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (Bundesverkehrswegeplan, BVWP).