Egnatia Odos (modern road)

A2 motorway shield

A2 motorway
Αυτοκινητόδρομος 2
Egnatia odos
Εγνατία Οδός
Via Egnatia

Route of Egnatia Odos
Route information
Part of E90
Length: 670 km (420 mi)
Major junctions
From: Igoumenitsa
To: Kipoi
Location
Regions: Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace
Highway system
Motorways in Greece
For the ancient Roman road of the same name, see Via Egnatia.
For the street in Thessaloniki, see Egnatia Street.

Egnatia Odos or Egnatia Motorway (Greek: Εγνατία Οδός, often translated as Via Egnatia, code: A2) is the Greek part of European route E90. It is a motorway in Greece that extends from the western port of Igoumenitsa to the eastern Greek–Turkish border at Kipoi. It runs a total of 670 km (420 mi). The project began in 1994 and was completed in 2009; it was managed by the company Egnatia Odos, S.A.

Geography

The route traverses the mountainous Greek regions of Epirus and Macedonia, crossing the Pindos and Vermio mountain ranges, which posed formidable engineering challenges. It includes 76 tunnels (with a combined length of 99 km / 61.5 miles) and 1,650 bridges. It is a limited-access highway with sophisticated electronic surveillance measures, SCADA controls for the lighting/tunnel ventilation, and advanced vehicle collision absorption measures.[1]

Part of its length, a section of about 360 km (220 mi) from Evros to Thessaloniki, parallels the ancient Roman Via Egnatia, which ran from modern Durrës in Albania to Thessaloniki and thence to Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey). The project has therefore been dubbed a modern Via Egnatia (in Greek, Egnatia Odos / Εγνατία Οδός). However, the parallel is not exact; the original Via Egnatia was much longer (1,120 km / 696 miles) and its western section, from Thessaloniki to the Adriatic Sea, ran much further north than the modern road.

The project has raised concerns for the survival of nearby sites of ecological and archaeological significance. The construction of the Pindos stretch (i.e. from Grevena to Ioannina) was delayed due to environmental concerns about the destruction of the habitat of the endangered brown bear. However, a new routing was proposed in 2003, and this part was completed by April 2009.

In addition to the main highway, three perpendicular auxiliary highways are under construction connecting the highway to important cities, ports and airports of Macedonia.

History

94 km of the motorway had been built as part of other motorways, before the official project began in 1994. Between 1997 and 2004, 393 km of motorway were built.[2] The main part of the project was completed by 30 May 2009. [3] A final bridge was opened on 10 May 2014 [4]

Exit list

The exits of the completed sections of the A2 motorway:[5]

Regional unit Exit Name Destinations Notes
Evros Kipoi-İpsala border crossing D110 ( Turkey)
eastern terminus of the A2
Ardani GR-51 ( Bulgaria, Turkey)
Alexandroupoli industrial area
Alexandroupoli
Makri GR-2
Mesti GR-2
Rhodope Komotini east
Komotini west GR-2
Iasmos
Iasmos Toll Station
Xanthi Xanthi east GR-2
Xanthi west
Kavala Chrysoupoli
Perni
Lefki GR-2
Kavala east
Palio
Kavala
Kavala west
Eleftheroupoli
Moustheni
Galypsos - Orfani
Serres Strymonas GR-2
Thessaloniki Asprovalta
Rentina
Nymfopetra
Profitis GR-2
Lagadas (Also serves Serres) A25 ( Bulgaria)
Derveni
Girokomeio
Efkarpia A25
Diavata
Kalochori
Sindos south
Chalastra
Axios A1
Nea Malgara
Imathia Kleidi A1
Alexandreia
Kouloura
Veria
Kozani Polymylos
Kozani A27 (( Macedonia)
Kalamia
Siatista east
Siatista west A29 ( Albania)
Grevena Grevena east GR-15
Grevena west GR-15
Venetikos
Agia Paraskevi
Kallithea- Panagia A3 (future)
GR-6
Ioannina Metsovo GR-6
Peristeri - Chrysovitsa
Arachthos - Zagoria
Ioannina Toll Station
Pamvotida
Ioannina GR-5
Pedini A5 (future)
Dodoni GR-17
Thesprotia Selles - Tyria
Neochori - Paramythia GR-79
Vasilikos
Igoumenitsa - Ladochori
Igoumenitsa - Lykopodi GR-18
Igoumenitsa port ferry to Kerkyra, Italy
western terminus of the A2

Gallery

References

External links

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