Wiener Außenring Autobahn
Motorway A21 | ||||
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Wiener Außenring Autobahn A21 | ||||
Vienna Outer Ring Autobahn | ||||
Route information | ||||
Part of E60 | ||||
Length | 38.2 km (23.7 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
From | A 1 in Altlengbach | |||
To | A 2, S 1 in Vösendorf | |||
Location | ||||
Country | Austria | |||
States | Lower Austria, Vienna | |||
Highway system | ||||
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The Wiener Außenring Autobahn A 21 (also Allander Autobahn) is a motorway in Austria and part of the European route E60. It connects the West Autobahn (A 1) at the Steinhäusl interchange with the Süd Autobahn (A 2) at the Vösendorf interchange, where it continues as the Wiener Außenring Schnellstraße (S 1).
In the future, the Wiener Außenring Autobahn, in conjunction with other expressways and motorways, will form part of the so-called regional ring around Vienna.
Description
The A 21 has six lanes between the Vösendorf interchange and Brunn am Gebirge. The further route to the Steinhäusl interchange is basically four lanes, but in gradient areas there is an additional slow lane.
The two sections of the A 21 at Steinhäusl and Gießhübl, with a maximum grade of 5.2%, are among the steepest sections of the Austrian motorway network. Several times a year, when snow falls in eastern Austria, snow chains have to be made compulsory for trucks, or the highway has to be completely closed to trucks.
History
The Wiener Außenring Autobahn was already planned in the 1930s. The construction of the valley crossings had already begun in 1940. Thus, for example, in Weissenbach or Sittendorf barracks were set up, initially housing regular construction workers, but later serving as accommodation for prisoners of war. Thus, in the Sittendorfer camp, originally relatively well-paid workers from Vienna and the Burgenland, but also from Germany, were housed. In September 1941 Ukrainians came to this camp and were trained as soldiers. Later, prisoners from France and later Serbia came to the camp. The camp housed up to 250 inmates. In 1942, typhoid fever broke out and claimed numerous victims. After the barracks briefly served as a warehouse for aircraft parts from the Seegrotte, their usage was stopped in the war turmoil like all other construction sites.[1] Another camp was located on the Fischerwiese in Klausen-Leopoldsdorf, where Roma were also imprisoned, who had to work as forced laborers on the highway.[2] In 1938, a barrack camp was built in Sittendorf, which originally served for the workers and later French prisoners of war, as well as for Serbian forced laborers. Today, a plaque commemorates the place of remembrance in the barracks camp and at the Sittendorf cemetery.[3]
After the war, land already exchanged or replaced fell into Soviet hands as German property and only returned to the Republic of Austria after the State Treaty in 1955.
Other route variants were also considered before the further construction. One variant, for example, was to make the A 21 run more southwards from Alland. However, since the
On the first section opened in 1962 between the Vösendorf interchange and Brunn am Gebirge, only one directional roadway was available. It was only passable in both directions from 1968 onwards. The last sections between Mayerling and Hinterbrühl were completed in 1982. Furthermore, the highway was planned to continue to Schwechat, where it would become the A 4. This section was realized in the form of the S 1 expressway, which opened in 2006.
Soon after the opening of the continuous motorway, a rest area was to be built at the location of today's Hinterbrühl rest stop. After partial resistance from the local population, who feared that their habitat would be adversely affected, the plan was dropped and the rest area was built in Alland instead.
Opening | Section | Length |
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19.12.1962 | ASt Brunn/Gebirge - Knoten Vösendorf (right carriageway) | 2.116 km |
11.04.1968 | ASt Brunn/Gebirge - Knoten Vösendorf (left carriageway) | 2.116 km |
24.09.1971 | Knoten Steinhäusl - Klausen-Leopoldsdorf | 13.200 km |
07.10.1977 | Klausen-Leopoldsdorf - ASt Mayerling | 4.017 km |
24.10.1980 | ASt Hinterbrühl - ASt Brunn/Gebirge | 10.442 km |
29.09.1982 | ASt Heiligenkreuz - ASt Hinterbrühl | 3.031 km |
29.09.1982 | ASt Mayerling - ASt Heiligenkreuz (left carriageway) | 5.437 km |
29.10.1982 | ASt Mayerling - ASt Heiligenkreuz (right carriageway) | 5.437 km |
Accidents
On the night of 22 February 2010, a German coach bus traveling towards Steinhäusl collided with a truck in front of it. Six people were killed, ten seriously injured, and twenty slightly injured. Temperatures around the freezing point made it difficult to use emergency services on the closed motorway.[4][5]
Problems
On 2 December 2010, after heavy snowfall, 80 trucks were stuck on the A 21 and the entire highway was closed for five hours. After heavy snowfalls, the A 21 had to be closed on 1 December 2016 at the Steinhäusl interchange, because trucks got stuck there despite having winter equipment. One reason was the gradient of more than 5% there.
Bibliography
- Bernd Kreuzer: Der Bau der Autobahnen und Schnellstraße in Österreich. – In: ASFINAG (Hrsg.): Das Autobahnnetz in Österreich. 30 Jahre Asfinag. – Vienna, 2012, S. 99
References
- ^ Niederösterreichische Nachrichten on the occasion of the construction of the "Barackendenkmal" 2007
- ^ Heribert Artinger: Chronik der Freistadt Rust, 1850-1950: Tagebuch der kleinsten Stadt Österreichs mit eigenem Statut.
- ^ "Erinnerungsort Barackenlager Sittendorf". iehi.eu. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ "NÖ: Busunfall auf A21 fordert sechs Todesopfer". Die Presse. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ Die Tragödie auf der A 21 in Brandaus von 3/2010 (PDF)
- ^ "Wintereinbruch sorgte für Chaos auf A21 - Niederösterreich". Heute.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-02.
- ^ Zukrigl, Gerald (2017-04-21). "Nö: Schnee-Chaos auf der A21 Teil 2 → Feuerwehren die Nacht hindurch im Einsatz". Fireworld.at (in German). Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ "A21 nach Schneechaos stundenlang gesperrt". noe.orf.at (in German). 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
- ^ "Lenker üben Kritik an der Asfinag nach Schneechaos auf A21". kurier.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-02.