European route E34 forms part of the United Nations International E-road network. It connects Zeebrugge, the major seaport of Bruges, with Bad Oeynhausen, a German spa town located beside the River Weser at the eastern edge of North Rhine-Westphalia. At Bad Oeynhausen the E34 links to the E30, a major pan European east-west artery. It also passes, relatively briefly, through the Netherlands, following the southern by-pass of Eindhoven. Within Germany the route follows from south-west to north-east the full length of North Rhine-Westphalia.
History and name By the early 1990s, the western portion of the route, between Antwerp and the coast, was a dual carriageway with frequent intersections, the more busy of which were controlled by traffic lights and marked by speed limits. Starting at the Antwerp end, this part of the E34 has more recently been progressively upgraded with junctions either eliminated or else replaced by motorway-style intersections. The road is still of sub-motorway quality between the coast and Zelzate, but to the east of the road tunnel under the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal, the upgrade is virtually complete. The upgrade from National road to Autoroute quality has been reflected in a name change, from N49 to A11: in terms of national road numbers, as long as the upgrade remains incomplete, the two names are currently used interchangeably or together (N49-A11) when referring to the full length between Antwerp and Zeebrugge. In Belgium the E route numbers are given prominence at least equal to nationally assigned road numbers, so that in practice the road may be marked, using all three names, as the N49-E34-A11. Locally the road is often referred to more simply as the expressway (de expresweg).
In 2014 a wildlife crossing named Kempengrens was realised over the E34 at the Belgian/Dutch border at Postel.
Congestion The route skirts Antwerp using the southern R1 inner ring road which includes the Kennedy Tunnel: this is closed to vehicles with certain classes of dangerous loads. These are required to divert onto the northern R2 outer ring road. To address the resulting delays, and because the inner southern ring route itself frequently becomes seriously congested, a northern inner ring road for Antwerp is being planned.
The German portion of the E34 passes across the northern side of Germany's Ruhr industrial belt. Most of the road, which is currently being progressively upgraded, is now a six lane (three in each direction) highway. Access points are relatively close together in this section and the route - especially the section between Duisburg and Dortmund - is prone to delays resulting from traffic congestion.
Route E34 Zeebrugge - Bad OeynhausenStateNational Road NumberSectionJunction (national numbering) ......Province West FlandersEast Flanders N49 (A11) Zeebrugge - Zelzate N49 (A11) 14 ZelzateN49 (A11) Ghent–Terneuzen Canal N49 (A11) 13 Zelzate East FlandersAntwerp A11 (N49) Zelzate - Antwerp A11 (N49) 12 Moerbeke A11 (N49) 11 KemzekeA11 (N49) 10 Vrasene A11 (N49) BeverenA11 (N49) 9 MelseleA11 (N49) 8 Waaslandhaven eastA11 (N49) 7 Sint-Anna Linkeroever (Left Bank) Antwerp R1 Antwerp Southern Ringway R1 Antwerp west R1 6 Linkeroever (Left Bank)R1 Kennedy Tunnel (Scheldt River)R1 5a South R1 Antwerp centre R1 Antwerp south R1 5 Le GrellelaanR1 4 BerchemR1 3 Borgerhout R1 Antwerp east Antwerp A13 Antwerp east - Ranst A 13 18 WommelgemA 13 RanstA 13 Ranst Antwerp A21 Ranst - Retie A 21 19 OelegemA 21 20 ZoerselA 21 21 LilleA 21 22 BeerseA 21 GierleA 21 23 Turnhout westA 21 24 Turnhout centreA 21 25 Oud-TurnhoutA 21 26 Retie ......Province North BrabantLimburg A67 Hapert - Venlo A 67 29 HapertA 67 30 EerselA 67 31 Veldhoven-West (Planned)A 67 De Hogt A 67 32a High Tech Campus (Philips Research) A 67 33 Waalre A 67 Leenderheide A 67 34 Geldrop A 67 35 Someren A 67 36 Asten A 67 37 Liessel A 67 38 Helden A 67 39 VenloA 67 Zaarderheiken A 67 40 Velden A 67 41 Venlo (A 61 - German) Land/District KLE WES DU A 40 Venlo - Duisburg A 40 2 StraelenA 40 3 WankumA 40 4 WachtendonkA 40 5 KempenA 40 6 KerkenA 40 Neufelder HeideA 40 7 Neukirchen-VluynA 40 8 Moers A 40 9 Moers centreA 40 10 Duisburg-RheinhausenA 40 11 Duisburg-Homberg A 40 12 Duisburg Hafen (Port) A 40 13 DuisburgA 40 14 / A 3 14 Kaiserberg OB A 3 Duisburg - Oberhausen A 3 13 Oberhausen-Lirich A 3 12 Oberhausen westA 3 11 Oberhausen-HoltenA 3 10 / A 2 1 Oberhausen OB BOTREDOUNHAMWAFGTBILIPHFMI A 2 Oberhausen - Bad Oeynhausen A 2 2 Oberhausen-KönigshardtA 2 A 2 3 Bottrop A 2 4 Gladbeck - EllinghorstA 2 5 Essen & GladbeckA 2 6 Gelsenkirchen - BuerA 2 A 2 7 HertenA 2 8 Recklinghausen A 2 9 Recklinghausen southA 2 10 Recklinghausen eastA 2 11 HenrichenburgA 2 12 Dortmund North-west A 2 12 Dortmund-Mengede A 2 13 Dortmund North-east A 2 14 Dortmund-Lanstrop A 2 15 Kamen A 2 16 Kamen A 2 17 Bönen A 2 18 Hamm A 2 A 2 19 Hamm-Uentrop A 2 20 Beckum A 2 21 OeldeA 2 22 Junction closedA 2 23 Rheda-WiedenbrückA 2 A 2 24 GüterslohA 2 25 BielefeldA 2 26 Bielefeld - SennestadtA 2 27 Bielefeld centreA 2 28 Ostwestfalen / LippeA 2 29 Herford / Bad SalzuflenA 2 A 2 30 Herford eastA 2 31 Vlotho - ExterA 2 32 Bad Oeynhausen
References
External links UN Economic Commission for Europe: Overall Map of E-road Network (2007)