European route E34

Road in trans-European E-road network

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E34

Major junctions
West end| Zeebrugge, Belgium
East end| Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
Location
Countries|  Belgium
Netherlands
Germany
Highway system

* International E-road network

* A Class
* B Class

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.

E34 near Kamen, looking east. E34 tunnel under the canal that connects Ghent with the Western Scheldt.

## History and name

[edit]

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 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) 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.[1]

## Congestion

[edit]

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

[edit]

E34 Zeebrugge - Bad Oeynhausen

|  |  |
State | National
Road
Number | Section | Junction
(national numbering)

......Province |  |  |
West Flanders

East Flanders |  N49 (A11) | Zeebrugge \- Zelzate |

N49 (A11)  14  Zelzate
N49 (A11)  Ghent–Terneuzen Canal
N49 (A11)  13  Zelzate
East Flanders

Antwerp |  A11 (N49) | Zelzate \- Antwerp | A11 (N49)  12 Moerbeke
A11 (N49)  11 Kemzeke
A11 (N49)  10 Vrasene
A11 (N49)  Beveren
A11 (N49)  9 Melsele
A11 (N49)  8 Waaslandhaven east
A11 (N49)  7 Sint-Anna Linkeroever (Left Bank)
Antwerp |  R1 | Antwerp Southern Ringway | R1  E17 Antwerp west
R1  6 Linkeroever (Left Bank)
R1  Kennedy Tunnel (Scheldt River)
R1  5a South
R1  Antwerp centre
R1  E19 Antwerp south
R1  5 Le Grellelaan
R1  4 Berchem
R1  3 Borgerhout
R1  E19 E313 Antwerp east
Antwerp |  A13 | Antwerp east - Ranst | A 13  18 Wommelgem
A 13  Ranst
A 13  E313 Ranst
Antwerp |  A21 | Ranst \- Retie | A 21  19 Oelegem
A 21  20 Zoersel
A 21  21 Lille
A 21  22 Beerse
A 21  Gierle
A 21  23 Turnhout west
A 21  24 Turnhout centre
A 21  25 Oud-Turnhout
A 21  26 Retie

......Province |  |  |
North Brabant

Limburg |  A67 | Hapert \- Venlo | A 67  29 Hapert
A 67  30 Eersel
A 67  31 Veldhoven-West (Planned)
A 67  E25 De Hogt
A 67  32a High Tech Campus (Philips Research)
A 67  33 Waalre
A 67  E25 Leenderheide
A 67  34 Geldrop
A 67  35 Someren
A 67  36 Asten
A 67  37 Liessel
A 67  38 Helden
A 67  39 Venlo
A 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 Straelen
A 40  3 Wankum
A 40  4 Wachtendonk
A 40  5 Kempen
A 40  6 Kerken
A 40  Neufelder Heide
A 40  7 Neukirchen-Vluyn
A 40  8 Moers E31
A 40  9 Moers centre
A 40  10 Duisburg-Rheinhausen
A 40  11 Duisburg-Homberg
A 40  12 Duisburg Hafen (Port)
A 40  13 Duisburg
A 40  14 / A 3  14 Kaiserberg E35
OB |  A 3 | Duisburg \- Oberhausen | A 3  13 Oberhausen-Lirich E35
A 3  12 Oberhausen west
A 3  11 Oberhausen-Holten
A 3  10 / A 2  1 Oberhausen E35

BOT

HAM

WAF

LIP

MI |  A 2 | Oberhausen \- Bad Oeynhausen | A 2  2 Oberhausen-Königshardt
A 2
A 2  3 Bottrop
A 2  4 Gladbeck \- Ellinghorst
A 2  5 Essen & Gladbeck
A 2  6 Gelsenkirchen \- Buer
A 2
A 2  7 Herten
A 2  8 Recklinghausen
A 2  9 Recklinghausen south
A 2  10 Recklinghausen east
A 2  11 Henrichenburg
A 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 E37
A 2  17 Bönen
A 2  18 Hamm
A 2
A 2  19 Hamm-Uentrop
A 2  20 Beckum
A 2  21 Oelde
A 2  22 Junction closed
A 2  23 Rheda-Wiedenbrück
A 2
A 2  24 Gütersloh
A 2  25 Bielefeld
A 2  26 Bielefeld \- Sennestadt
A 2  27 Bielefeld centre
A 2  28 Ostwestfalen / Lippe
A 2  29 Herford / Bad Salzuflen
A 2
A 2  30 Herford east
A 2  31 Vlotho \- Exter
A 2  32 Bad Oeynhausen E30

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Monitoring van het ecoduct Kempengrens, acht jaar na de aanleg ervan (T8)". vlaanderen.be (in Dutch). September 2023. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* UN Economic Commission for Europe: Overall Map of E-road Network (2007)

* v
* t
* e

International E-road network

* E1
* E3
* E4
* E5
* E6
* E7
* E8
* E9
* E10
* E11
* E12
* E13
* E14
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* E29
* E30
* E31
* E32
* E33
* E34
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* E38
* E39
* E40
* E41
* E42
* E43
* E44
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* E48
* E49
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* E96
* E97
* E98
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* E101
* E105
* E115
* E117
* E119
* E121
* E123
* E125
* E127

* E134
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* E201
* E231
* E232
* E233
* E234
* E251
* E261
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* E271
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* E311
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* E331
* E371
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* E391
* E401
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* E403
* E404
* E411
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* E429
* E441
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* E451
* E461
* E462
* E471
* E501
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* E511
* E512
* E531
* E532
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* E551
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* E571
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* E576
* E577
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* E579
* E581
* E583
* E584
* E591
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* E601
* E602
* E603
* E604
* E606
* E607
* E611
* E612
* E641
* E651
* E652
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* E661
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* E671
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* E691
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* E711
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* E751
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* E771
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* E801
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* E821
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* E848
* E851
* E852
* E853
* E871
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* E901
* E902
* E903
* E931
* E932
* E933
* E951
* E952
* E961
* E962
* E981
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* E001
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* E003
* E004
* E005
* E006
* E007
* E008
* E009
* E010
* E011
* E012
* E013
* E014
* E015
* E016
* E017
* E018
* E019

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