International E-road network

The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E 1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan, since they are members of the UNECE.

In most countries, roads carry the European route designation beside national road numbers. Other countries like Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have roads with exclusive European route signage (Examples: E 18 and E 6) while at the other end of the scale, British road signs do not show the routes at all.

Other continents have similar international road networks, e.g., the Pan-American Highway in the Americas, the Trans-African Highway network, and the Asian Highway Network.

History

UNECE was formed in 1947, and their first major act to improve transport was a joint UN declaration no. 1264, the Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries, signed in Geneva on September 16, 1950, which defined the first E-road network. Originally it was envisaged that the E-road network would be a motorway system comparable to the US Interstate Highway System. The declaration was amended several times before November 15, 1975, when it was replaced by the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries or "AGR", which set up a route numbering system and improved standards for roads in the list. The AGR last went through a major change in 1992 and in 2001 was extended into Central Asia to include the Caucausus nations. There were several minor revisions since, last in 2008 (as of 2009).

European route E90

European route E 90 is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from Lisbon in Portugal in the west to the Turkish-Iraqi border in the east.

Itinerary

The E 90 routes through five European countries, and includes four sea-crossings: Barcelona, Spain - Mazara del Vallo, Italy; Messina, Italy to Reggio di Calabria, Italy; Brindisi, Italy to Igoumenitsa, Greece, and Eceabat, Turkey to Canakkale, Turkey.

 Portugal

Lisbon - Setúbal (Start of Concurrency with ) - Landeira (End of Concurrency with )

Landeira () - Évora (Start of Concurrency with ) - Estremoz (End of Concurrency with ) - Elvas

 Spain

European route E4

European route E 4 passes from north to south through Sweden from the border with Finland, with a total length of 1,590 kilometres (990 mi). The Finnish part lies entirely within Tornio in northern Finland, and is actually only 800 metres (0.50 mi) long. The Swedish part, however, traverses most of Sweden except the extreme north and the west coast region, and is commonly considered the highway backbone of Sweden, since it passes in the vicinity of most of its largest cities (exceptions include Gothenburg, Karlstad, Västerås, Östersund and Örebro) and through the capital Stockholm. In particular, it is the mainline road used by most vehicle traffic, both personal cars and freight trailers, between the north (Norrland) and southern Sweden or beyond.

From Haparanda on the Finnish border, it stretches south along the Gulf of Bothnia to Gävle, then on a more inland route southwards. It ends in Helsingborg in Sweden, at the port for the ferry to Elsinore in Denmark. Under the new system of European routes, it was planned to have been a part of E 55, but it remains in the pre-1992 designation (E 4) within Sweden, because the expenses connected with re-signing this long road portion would be too large. Besides the signs along the road, there are thousands of signs, especially in cities, showing how to reach the E 4 road. The road is now fully authorized as E 4 by the relevant authority, not as E 55.

European route E125

European route E 125 is a Class A in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Itinerary

The E 125 routes through four Asian countries: