The Autovía A-62 (also known as ''Autovía de Castilla'') is a Spanish

autovía An ''autovía'' is one of two classes of major highway in the Spanish road system similar to a British motorway or an American freeway. It is akin to the autopista, the other major highway class, but has fewer features and is never a toll road ...

which starts in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

and runs through the community of

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

, via the cities of

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

, before ending at the Portuguese border and the A25 autoestrada. It forms part of

European route E80 European route E 80, also known as Trans-European Motorway or TEM, is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from Lisbon, Portugal to Gürbulak, Turkey, on the border with Iran. The road connects 10 countries and has a length ...

and replaced the former N-620 road.https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/09/30/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-10439.pdf It is one of the most-used roads in Castile and León, as it is frequently used by drivers travelling between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Portugal.

History

Conversion of the N-620 to autovía standard began in the mid-1980s, when the section between Palencia and Valladolid was upgraded to

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

with same-level junctions. During the 1990s, the Burgos - Palencia and Valladolid - Salamanca sections were upgraded in a similar manner, but with

grade-separated junction A grade-separated junction is a transport junction where at least one bridge or tunnel is used to separate traffic flows (known as grade separation). Relevant articles include: * Road interchanges, known as grade-separated junctions in the UK * A ...

s and

slip road In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

s; the junctions on the Palencia - Valladolid section were improved accordingly at a similar time. The A-62 designation was introduced in 2003, as part of the general renumbering of Spanish autovías. The section between Salamanca and

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank ...

was built during 2003 and 2004, and the section between Ciudad Rodrigo and Fuentes de Oñoro during 2008. The final section, connecting Fuentes de Oñoro with the Portuguese border and the A25 autoestrada, opened in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autovia A-62 A-62 A-62