R0 | |
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Brussels Ring | |
Route information | |
Length: | 76 km (47 mi) |
Highway system | |
Motorways in Belgium |
The Brussels Ring (Dutch: Grote ring rond Brussel, French: Ring de Bruxelles) numbered R0, is a ring road surrounding the city of Brussels as well as other smaller towns south of Brussels. It is about 75 km long, with 2 or 3 lanes in each direction. While most of it is classified as a motorway (highway), part of it (in the Forêt de Soignes/Zoniënwoud) is merely an express route. It crosses the 3 regions of Belgium: its main part (51.7 km) is situated in Flanders, whereas Wallonia comprises 18.2 km of the total stretch and 5.5 km is on Brussels territory.
The clockwise carriageway is referred to as the inner ring (ring intérieur in French, binnenring in Dutch), while the anticlockwise carriageway is referred to as the outer ring (ring extérieur in French, buitenring in Dutch).
The first sections of the road were built in the late 1950s, but the main part was built during the 1970s, with the end of the construction in 1978. The Brussels Ring has interchanges with the European routes E40 (at the Groot-Bijgaarden and Sint-Stevens-Woluwe interchanges), E19 (at the Machelen and Ittre interchanges), E411 (at the Leonard crossroads) and E429 (at the Halle interchange). It also has interchanges with national highways A12 (at the Strombeek-Bever interchange) and A201 (at the Zaventem interchange).