Federal motorway in Germany
Bundesautobahn 44 (translates from German as "Federal Motorway 44", short form Autobahn 44, abbreviated as BAB 44 or A 44) is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main sections and a few smaller sections. It begins in Aachen at the German–Belgian border (Belgian motorway A3) and ends near Kassel (Bundesautobahn 7). Before German unification it was a regional motorway. In the 1990s, it became an integral part of the German motorway system. The A 44 is a heavily-used link between the Rhine-Ruhr-Area and the new German states, especially Thuringia, and also eastern European states like Poland.
History of construction.
The first section of this motorway to open was the connection between Aachen and the Aachen interchange in 1963.
Auxiliary runway for military aircraft.
The Geseke-Büren section was constructed as an auxiliary runway. This section is even and straight, without any constructions like bridges and the crash-barriers can be taken out. It was constructed to be a runway for US-military aircraft in the event of war with NATO's opponent, the Warsaw Pact. At both ends of the section there are parking lots for parking and maintenance of the aircraft.
International E-road network.
The Lichtenbusch-Aaachen interchange section is part of the European route E 40. Between the Dortmund-Unna and Kassel-Süd (Kassel south) interchanges, the A 44 is part of the European route E 331.
Constructions.
Neersen Interchange.
Neersen Interchange is a typical cloverleaf interchange.
After the opening of the "Flughafenbrücke" near Düsseldorf Airport, the connections to and from the A 52 were extended. Since the opening, two ramps have been closed. If you enter the network at Mönchengladbach-Ost, you cannot change directly to the Roermond-bound direction of A 52. If you approach from Krefeld, you cannot change directly to the Düsseldorf-bound direction. To reactivate these connections, two new bridges are necessary. Construction has been in progress since January 2006.
When construction is complete, the interchange will have the following connections:
Plans.
Extension near Kassel.
Near Kassel, the Autobahn will be extended to Thuringia. The following sections are planned:
Demolition of a section.
The interchange Jackerath-interchange Holz section and the Otzenrath junction were permanently closed to traffic on 14 October 2005. The reason for the closure was the open mine at Garzweiler II. Before this section was closed, the Bundesautobahn 61 was widened from two to three lanes in each direction. For the closed junction, the junction Mönchengladbach-Wanlo was constructed.
When the open cast mine was exhausted, expected in 2017, a new section of the A 44 was built across the A 61. This new route is built to the south of the old route, and the new junction Jackerath is now located south of the old one.
This section was taken out of the official network-register in November 2005 and is no longer officially a Bundesautobahn.
References.
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