Greek National Road 90
National Road 90 | |
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Εθνική Οδός 90 | |
Major junctions | |
West end | Siteia |
Location | |
Country | Siteia |
Highway system | |
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Greek National Road 90, also known as VOAK (Northern Crete Highway:
.The road consists of two traffic lanes (one in each direction) without a
The planned A 90 motorway is essentially the upgrade of this highway which it will replace after its completion.
Route description
The National Road 90 is a large expressway on the West-East axis in Crete that connects the westernmost city and port, Kissamos with the easternmost, Sitia. It is also part of two major European routes: E65 (Kissamos-Chania) and (E75 Chania-Rethymno-Heraklion-Agios Nikolaos-Sitia).[1]
Throughout its length, it has a width of about 12 metres (39 ft) Some other sections are 8 metres (26 ft) wide.[2]
The total length of the Old National Road is about 320 kilometres (200 mi), while the new is 240 kilometres (150 mi).
Notable structures
Remarkable valley bridges are the bridges of Palaiokastro and Pantanassa near Heraklion, which were built to avoid landfilling of the respective valleys, as proposed in the original study. The tunnel in Vrachasi, Lassithi was built instead of a cutting through the mountain range of Anavlychos, because its unstable morphology would lead to landslides. These large and relatively innovative works were built in 1971-1973.[2]
History
The "Royal Road"
The first national road in Crete was the "royal road" (Greek: Βασιλικός δρόμος), a dirt road that was built about a thousand years ago, on which
Today's old National Road 90 (then known as the "National Road of Crete"), began construction in 1911, during the years of the Cretan State and was completed in 1925, initially as a dirt road and later with gravel.[4][3]
The new National Road 90 was designed in the early 1960s and began construction in 1968, with the aim of connecting major urban centers, ports and airports and residential and tourist development, as well as replacing the old national road. Prior to its construction, other ideas had been proposed, including the upgrading of the old National Road. Contrary to what is believed by the locals, it was not invented during the years of the
The initial cross section was 11-12.5 meters wide, in the section from Kastelli to Agios Nikolaos and ~ 8 m. in the section from Agios Nikolaos to Sitia, but then a slow lane was added in places with steep slopes.[2] However, the goal of keeping the slopes below 7.5% and the average design speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) was not possible due to the mountainous terrain, while for reasons of cost reduction, the original design did not include tunnels or valley bridges. The Pantanassa and Paleokastro bridges near Heraklion, 150 metres (490 ft) long each, were built in 1971, instead of landfilling the two respective valleys. The Vrachasi tunnel, 285 metres (935 ft) long, was built in 1971-1973, instead of cutting into loose rocks, with the risk of landslides. The Vrachasi tunnel was the first tunnel in a national highway built in Greece. During its opening, there was a landslide due to loose soil (graphite), but the loose volume was stabilized with cement injections.[2]
The construction of the New National Road helped the economic and tourist development of northern Crete in the 1970s and 1980s. Over time, new sections began to be added, a total of about 47 kilometres (29 mi), and a width of 12.5 metres (41 ft). Other sections that were built later were the bridges between Heraklion and Malia, the bridge in Hamezi and the tunnels between Agios Nikolaos and Kalo Chorio, Lassithi. During the 1990s, due to the increase in traffic load, the construction of Motorway 90 began.[2]
References
- ^ "EUROPEAN AGREMENT [sic] ON MAIN INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC ARTERIES (AGR)" (PDF) (PDF). United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Ο παλιός βασιλικός δρόμος της Κρήτης και τα Γουβιανά χάνια". ΠΑΤΡΙΣ (in Greek). 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ^ a b "Ποιος πραγματικά έκανε τον ΒΟΑΚ;". ΠΑΤΡΙΣ (in Greek). 2020-01-24. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-03-07.