Bundesautobahn 44 Information & Bundesautobahn 44 Links at HealthHaven.com

Basic data

Bundesautobahn 44 Route of the German federal motorway system
Total length:	266 km (165 mi)
States of Germany:	North Rhine-Westphalia Hesse (planned Thuringia)
Map

The Bundesautobahn 44 (BAB 44 or A 44) is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main-parts and a few smaller parts. It begins in Aachen at the German-Belgian border and ends near Kassel. Before the German unification it was an unimportant provincial-motorway but after this event it became an integral part of the German highway-system. The A 44 is a high-frequented link between the Rhine-Ruhr-Area and the new German states, especially Thuringia.

1 History of construction
- 1.1 Auxiliary runway for military aircraft
2 International E-road network
3 Constructions
- 3.1 Interchange Neersen
  - 3.1.1 Connections from A 44 to A 52
  - 3.1.2 Connections from A 52 to A 44
4 Plannings
- 4.1 Lengthening near Kassel
- 4.2 Demolition of a section
5 Exit list
6 External links

[edit] History of construction

The first section of this motorway which was opened was the connection between Aachen and the interchange Aachen. This was in 1963.

[edit] Auxiliary runway for military aircraft

The section Geseke-Büren 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 a 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.

[edit] International E-road network

The Lichtenbusch-interchange Aachen section is part of the European route E 40. Between interchange Dortmund-Unna and interchange Kassel-Süd (Kassel south) the A 44 is part of the European route E 331.

[edit] Constructions

[edit] Interchange Neersen

Interchange Neersen is a typical Cloverleaf interchange.

After the opening of the Flughafenbrücke near Düsseldorf-Airport the connections from and to the A 52 were extended. Since the opening two ramps have been closed. If you enter the network at Moenchengladbach-Ost you cannot change directly to the Roermond-bound direction of A 52 and 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:

[edit] Connections from A 44 to A 52

direction	kind of connection
Moenchengladbach–Düsseldorf	tangential ramp
Krefeld–Roermond	tangential ramp
Moenchengladbach–Roermond	using the ramp Moenchengladbach–Düsseldorf and via the north-western loop
Krefeld–Düsseldorf	loop (270°)

[edit] Connections from A 52 to A 44

direction	kind of connection
Düsseldorf–Moenchengladbach	loop (270°)
Roermond–Krefeld	therefor a bridge which will be above A 44 will be constructed
Roermond–Moenchengladbach	loop (270°)
Düsseldorf–Krefeld	tangential ramp

[edit] Plannings

[edit] Lengthening near Kassel

Near Kassel the Autobahn will be lengthened to Thuringia

Following sections are planned:

section	status
interchange Kassel-Ost–jct Helsa-Ost	project investigations
jct Helsa-Ost-jct Hessisch Lichtenau-West	project investigations
jct Hessisch Lichtenau-West–jct Hessisch Lichtenau-Mitte	planning permission hearings successful finished
jct Hessisch Lichtenau-Mitte–jct Hessisch Lichtenau-Ost (Walburg)	completed (opening on October 6th 2005)
jct Hessisch Lichtenau-Ost (Walburg)–Hasselbach	planning permission hearings in progress
Hasselbach–jct Waldkappel-Ost	planning permission hearings in progress
jct Waldkappel-Ost-Wehretal/Hoheneiche	planning permission hearings in progress
Wehretal/Hoheneiche-jct Sontra-Nord	planning permission hearings in progress
jct Sontra/Ulfen–interchange Wommen (A 4)	planning permission hearings in progress

[edit] Demolition of a section

The interchange Jackerath-interchange Holz section and the junction Otzenrath were permanently closed to traffic on October 14th 2005. The reason for the closure was the opencast 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 Moenchengladbach-Wanlo was constructed.

When the open cast mine is exhausted - expected in 2017 - a new section of the A 44 will be built across the A 61. This new route will be to the south of the old route. The same to the new junction Jackerath.

This section was taken out of the official network-register in November 2005 and is no longer officially a Bundesautobahn.

[edit] Exit list

E 40		Belgium
	(1)	Border crossing Lichtenbusch
		Services Lichtenbusch
	(2)	Aachen-Lichtenbusch
	(3)	Aachen-Brand
	(4)	4-way interchange Aachen A 4 E 40 , A 544
	(5a)	Broichweiden
	(5b)	Alsdorf
	(6)	Aldenhoven
	(7)	Jülich-West
		Raststätte Ruraue
		Rurbrücke
	(8)	Jülich-Ost
	(9)	Titz
	(10)	3-way interchange Jackerath A 61

interrupted by opencast mining
section closed since 14 October 2005 reconstruction not earlier than 2017

	(12)	3-way interchange Holz A 46
	(13)	Mönchengladbach-Odenkirchen
interrupted (not required)

	(21)	Mönchengladbach-Ost
	(22)	4-way interchange Neersen A 52
	(incl.)	Neersen (touches B 7)
	(23)	Münchheide
	(24)	Krefeld-Forstwald
	(25)	Krefeld-Fichtenhain
	(26)	Osterath
	(27)	4-way interchange Meerbusch A 57
	(28)	Lank-Latum
		Tunnel Strümp 640 m
		Tunnel Ilvericher Altrheinschlinge 870 m
		Flughafenbrücke 1.287 m
	(29)	Düsseldorf-Messe/Stadion
	(30)	Düsseldorf-Stockum B 8
		Tunnel Flughafentunnel 1070 m
	(31)	Düsseldorf-Flughafen
	(32)	4-way interchange Düsseldorf-Nord A 52
	(incl.)	Reichswaldallee
		Tunnel Volkardeytunnel 695 m / 725 m
	(33)	Ratingen-Schwarzbach
	(34)	4-way interchange Kreuz Ratingen-Ost A 3
interrupted (urgent need)

	(36)	Heiligenhaus-Hetterscheid
		Tunnel Birth 807 m / 814 m
	(37)	Dreieck Velbert-Nord B 224
		Talbrücke Hespersbach
	(38)	Velbert-Langenberg
interrupted (urgent need)

	(42)	4-way interchange Bochum/Witten A 43
	(43)	Witten-Zentrum
	(44)	Witten-Stockum
	(45)	Witten-Annen
	(46)	4-way interchange Dortmund/Witten A 45
interrupted (further need)

		Tankstelle -
	(52)	4-way interchange Dortmund/Unna A 1 E 331
		Talbrücke Bornekamp
	(53)	4-way interchange Unna-Ost A 443
		Talbrücke Kessebürenbach
		Talbrücke Lüner Bach
		Services Am Haarstrang
	(54)	4-way interchange Werl A 445
	(55)	Werl-Süd im Bau
		Talbrücke Ostönner Bach
	(56)	Soest
		Services Soester Börde
	(57)	Soest-Ost
	(58)	Erwitte/Anröchte
		Talbrücke Pöppelsche
		Talbrücke Schledde
		Talbrücke Westerschledde
	(59)	Geseke
	(60)	Büren
		Almebrücke
		Talbrücke Friedenstal
	(61)	4-way interchange Wünnenberg-Haaren A 33
		Talbrücke Ottensgrund 500 m
	(62)	Marsberg-Meerhof
		Talbrücke Langer Grund 200 m
		Talbrücke Apfelbaumgrund 350 m
		Talbrücke Krügersgrund 375 m
		Talbrücke Klingenbach 480 m
		Talbrücke Heubach 200 m
		Diemeltalbrücke 100 m
		Services Am Biggenkopf
	(64)	Diemelstadt
	(65)	Warburg
		Twistetalbrücke 650 m
		Talbrücke Breuna 650 m
	(66)	Breuna
		Services Bühleck
	(67)	Zierenberg
	(68)	Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
	(69)	Kreuz Kassel-West A 49
		Fuldatalbrücke 700 m
	(70)	Dreieck Kassel-Süd A 7 E 331
New building (urgent need)

	(75)	Hessisch Lichtenau-West
		Tunnel ???
	(76)	Hessisch Lichtenau-Ost B 7
		Tunnel Hopfenbergtunnel
		Tunnel Walburgtunnel
		Talbrücke ???
	(77)	Walburg-Ost B 7
New building (urgent need)

	(83)	3-way interchange BAB 44/BAB 4 A 4 (planned / urgent need)