Tangenziale di Venezia
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|---|---|
| Autostrada A57 | |
| Tangenziale di Mestre | |
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| Route information | |
| Length: | 26 km (16 mi) |
| Existed: | 1972 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| From: | Dolo (A4) |
| To: | Quarto d'Altino (A4) |
| Location | |
| Regions: | Veneto |
| Highway system | |
| Autostrade of Italy | |
The Tangenziale di Mestre (Mestre beltway), or Autostrada A57, was opened to traffic on 3 September 1972 in northern Italy.
The original design was to have a central dual carriageway as the Autostrada A4 (motorway A4), and alongside a separated single carriageway to serve as a local beltway (similar to what was built around Bologna): but, high costs for a motorway that was not then expected to carry much through traffic (east of Venice, it could go only to Udine and Trieste which latter was at that time the border with the Iron Curtain). The opposition of conservationist groups to a double dual carriageway running inside a city caused the plan to reduce to a single dual carriageway section instead, serving both as Autostrada A4 and localbeltway.
By the 1990s, it became evident that a road designed to cope with a 55,000-vehicle daily traffic level would not be able for traffic levels of up to 150,000–170,000 vehicles (of which 30% were HGV's) by the early 2000s.
A first but temporary solution was to open a "third dynamic lane" on each carriageway: in the most trafficked hours, the emergency lane was suppressed, to be used as a lane for lorries and slow vehicles.
A second definitive solution was to build the Passante di Mestre: opened on 8 February 2009, after about 4 years and a half of construction. It completely bypasses the Tangenziale di Mestre, finally separating Autostrada A4 from the local beltway.
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Wikipedia