A7 motorway (Netherlands)

A7 motorway
Rijksweg 7
Location of the A7 motorway
Highway system
Roads in the Netherlands Motorways E-roads Provincial City routes

The A7 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands connecting Zaandam, via the Afsluitdijk, Sneek and Groningen to the German border near Bad Nieuweschans. The entire road is part of the European route E22, with exception of the first kilometre, between the terminus in Zaandam and the interchange Zaandam. With a length of 236 km it is the longest motorway in the Netherlands.

Motorway interruptions

The motorway A7 is interrupted twice:

• Around Sneek, the road is demoted to a highway for several kilometres, and includes some at-grade intersections The at-grade intersections were replaced with grade-separated intersections in 2008–2010. However, it isn't a motorway.
• Also, around the city of Groningen, it is demoted over a distance of several kilometres, mainly for the at-grade intersection with motorway A28, and for the road's small alignment through the city in general.

Both of the abovementioned sections are denoted as N7 to distinguish those parts from the motorway, for which the A designation is used in the Netherlands. The A7 together with the N7 is called the Rijksweg 7.

Westbound N7 near Groningen.

Interruption of the A7 in Groningen.

Speed limit experiment

From March 2011, on a section of the A7 motorway, motorists were allowed to drive at 130 km/h (80 mph), opposed to the then national speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph). This was a government test to investigate if driving at these higher speeds have an effect on the environment and safety. The test resulted positively, and the national speed limit was raised to 130 km/h (80 mph) in October 2012.

Afsluitdijk

The A7 runs across a historic part of Dutch engineering, the Afsluitdijk. This dam was originally created to protect the country's long interior coastline from floods by creating a large freshwater lake. The road over the Afsluitdijk was previously a 2-lane N road, but is now a proper motorway; the upgrade to motorway was achieved by utilising the dike's unused railway reservation for the second carriageway. Its midpoint is near the village of Breezanddijk. The former State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment, Joop Atsma, issued a statement detailing the factors influencing the decision to build a new naviduct on the Afsluitdijk section of the A7 at Kornwerderzand. A naviduct and new locks was costed at €200–450 million, depending on the size of locks and size of highway. A naviduct would give waiting time annualised benefits €13 million to road traffic, based on the existing bridge opening 7,000 times a year. Cost–benefit analysis of all potential solutions were considered, and a naviduct could be built to replace the locks when they reach the end of their useful life in 2050.^[1]

Exit list

Country	Province	Municipality	km	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Netherlands	North Holland	Zaanstad	4	2	—	S151 west / S155
			5	3	—	A8 / E 22 northeast	West end of E 22 overlap
			7	4	2	N515 west
		Wormerland	11	7	3	Oosterdwarsweg
		Purmerend	14	9	4	Laan der Continenten
			15	9	5	N235 east / Zuiddijk
			17	11	6	N244
		Koggenland	29	18	7	N243 southwest / N247 south
		Hoorn	32	20	8	Provincialeweg
			34	21	9	N302 east (Westfrisiaweg)
		Medemblik	36	22	1	N241 west (A.C. de Graafweg) / Tender
			39	24	10a	Tuinstraat / Broerdijk
			43	27	11	N239 (Dijkweg)
		Wieringermeer	50	31	12	N242 southwest (Alkmaarseweg)
			55	34	13	N240 west and south / N248 south
		Wieringen	64	40	14	N99 southwest (Rijksstraatweg)
	IJsselmeer / Wadden Sea				Afsluitdijk
	Friesland	Súdwest Fryslân	101	63	—	A31
			101	63	15
			105	65	16	Weersterweg
			110	68	17	N359 / Oude Rijksweg
			112	70	18	Kloosterlaan
			115	71	19	Tsjaerddyk / Hottingawei
			118	73	20	State As	West end of N7 road designation
			119	74	21	N354 south (Lemmerweg) / Lemmerweg
			119	74	21a	Akkenwinde / Selfhelpweg	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
			120	75	22	N354 northeast / Oppenhuizerweg / Lorentzstraat / Burgemeester Rasterhofflaan	East end of N7 road designation
		Skarsterlân	133	83	23	Woudfennen
			136	85	—	A6 southwest / Geert Knolweg
			140	87	25	De Dolten / Nije Fjildwei
		Heerenveen	142	88	26	Wetterwille / Weinmakker / Nije Fjildwei	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
			144	89	—	A32
			147	91	26a	Zestienroeden / Pastoriesingel
		Opsterland	152	94	27	N392 (Koaibosk)
			158	98	28	Beetserweg
		Smallingerland	161	100	29	Zuiderhogeweg
			165	103	30	N381 south
			165	103	30a	N31 northwest
		Opsterland	170	106	31	N358 northwest (De Scheiding) / De Scheiding
	Groningen	Marum	176	109	32	N980 north (Noorderweg) / Noorderweg / Noorderringweg / Parallelweg
			180	112	33	N388 north (Boerakkerweg) / Boerakkerweg
		Leek	184	114	34	N372 south (Oude Postweg) / N978 north (Oude Postweg) / Pasop / Blinkweg / Lage Traan / Kapteynlaan
		Groningen	191	119	34a	Westpoortboulevard / Matsloot
			193	120	35	N372 south (Ruskenveen) / Zuiderweg / Roderwolderdijk
			196	122	36	N370 north (Laan 1940-1945) / Jan Evert Scholtenlaan / Laan Corpus Den Hoorn / Paterswoldseweg / Muntinglaan	West end of N7 road designation
			196	122	36a	N370 north	Westbound entrance only
			197	122	—	E 232 south (Julianaweg) / A28 / Emmaviaduct / Hoornsediep
			198	123	37	Hereweg
			198	123	37a	Meeuwerderbaan / Europaweg / Winschoterdiep	Westbound entrance and eastbound exit only
			199	124	38	Europaweg / Bergenweg / Lübeckweg / Osloweg / Euvelgunnebrug / Gotenburgweg / Kieler Bocht / Skagerrak
			204	127	—	N46 northwest (Beneluxweg)
			205	127	39	Europaweg	East end of N7 road designation
		Hoogezand-Sappemeer	213	132	40	N386 southwest (Rengerslaan) / Rengerslaan / A.B. Nobellaan
			215	134	41	N385 south (Kerkstraat) / N387 north (Provinciale Weg) / Rijksweg West / Rijksweg Oost / Knijpslaan
			218	135	42	Noordbroeksterstraat / Rijksweg oost
		Menterwolde	222	138	43	Kerkstraat / Europaweg / Burgemeester Omtaweg
			224	139	44	N33
		Scheemda	230	143	45	N362 north (Rijksweg) / Rijksweg
			232	144	46	N964 south
		Winschoten	240	149	47	N367 south (Oostereinde) / N966 northeast (Oostereinde) / N967 north
		Bellingwedde	246	153	48	Ulsda / Ulsderweg / Heeresloot
		Reiderland	251	156	49	Hamdijk
Netherlands / Germany country line	Groningen / Lower Saxony province line	Reiderland / Bunde municipality line	?		—	E 22 / A 280 east	Border with Germany; this road continues as the German A280; east end of E 22 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

References

1. Atsma, Joop (3 July 2012). "Toezegging naviduct Afsluitdijk" (PDF) (in Dutch). Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu. Retrieved 2 August 2013.

External links

Media related to Rijksweg 7 at Wikimedia Commons