is a
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
in northwestern Germany. It runs from west to east, starting at the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
border. On the border it connects with the Dutch
A1 motorway, hence, the A 30 is part of the important European connection
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
-
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. It is an important connection from
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
and
Minden to
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
,
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...
and the Netherlands, and part of
European Route E 30.
Course
The A 30 starts as the continuation of the Dutch
A1 motorway, at the Dutch border between
Nordhorn
Nordhorn ( Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the ...
and
Bad Bentheim
Bad Bentheim (; nds-nl, Beantem) is a town in the southwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany, in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim on the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands roughly 15 km south of Nordhorn and 20 km ...
. In its course towards the east it first crosses
Bundesautobahn 31 near
Schüttorf
Schüttorf ( Northern Low Saxon: ''Schüttrup'') is a town in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in southwesternmost Lower Saxony near the Dutch border and the boundary with Westphalia ( North Rhine-Westphalia). The town of Schüttorf forms with ...
, offering connections towards the
Ruhr area
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
(south) and
Emden (north). It passes
Rheine and near
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
it crosses the
A 1 and
A 33, offering connections to the north in the direction of
Bremen (A 1) and to the south in the direction of
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...
(A 1) and
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
(A 33).
About 50 kilometer farther to the east the A 30 ends in
Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 kilometres southwest) ...
. Traffic continues over the
Bundesstraße 61 through the health resort Bad Oeynhausen. After this town there is 1 additional kilometer of highway A 30, leading to the
A 2. There the A 30 ends and continues as
B 514.
History
The first plans for an international motorway were made in 1933 with the Netherlands. The road was to run along
Oldenzaal
Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border.
It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the city ...
,
Bad Bentheim
Bad Bentheim (; nds-nl, Beantem) is a town in the southwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany, in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim on the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands roughly 15 km south of Nordhorn and 20 km ...
,
Salzbergen
Salzbergen is a municipality in the Emsland district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Ems, approx. 25 km south of Lingen, and 10 km northwest of Rheine.
It has the oldest oil refinery in the world, opened in 1860.
...
and
Rheine. The 1938-1940 German road network plans contained a road that would run to the south of Salzbergen, north of Rheine and south of
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
and would meet the
A 2 near
Herford
Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.
Geography
Geographic locat ...
and
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
.
In earlier plans the A 30 would run along
Bundesstraße 65 to
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. However, these plans were abandoned. Merely the bypass of
Stadthagen
Stadthagen () is the capital of the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km east of Minden and 40 km west of Hanover. The city consists of the districts Brandenburg, Enzen-Hobbensen, Hörkamp-L ...
and the southern bypass of
Minden (part of the
B 65) and parts of a planned interchange in
Laatzen
Laatzen is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated directly south of Hanover.
Division of the town
In 1964, the municipalities of Laatzen (nowadays about 22,000 inhabitants) and Grasdorf (3,500 inh.) were merge ...
remain as evidence of these earlier plans. If the A 30 had been further extended through Minden and Stadthagen to Hannover, then today's segment of the A 30 around
Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 kilometres southwest) ...
would have had the number
A 339.
Bad Oeynhausen Bypass
The closing of the highway gap near Bad Oeynhausen has been planned for decades, however, it has not been executed up to now due to disputes about the location of the planned northern bypass of Bad Oeynhausen. In the city there are frequent traffic jams, and traffic (especially freight traffic) is expected to increase. Hence, the gap closure towards the A 2 is judged especially urgent.
The government of the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
Detmold
Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...
has issued a planning decision for this last segment of the A 30 at the request of the North Rhine-Westphalian state company for road construction in January, 2007. The planned section is nearly 10 km long and the section should receive two new exits, 28 bridges and a tunnel. The citizens' group which exerts itself against the construction of the highway has submitted a complaint and an application for granting temporary legal protection against the planning decision before the
Federal Administrative Court. In July 2008, the Court decided to reject the plaints against the planning decision.
Road construction began in autumn 2008. The section of A 30 bypassing around Bad Oeynhausen opened to traffic on 9 December 2018.
References
External links
History of the A 30 Point of view of the citizens' group against the northern bypass
{{coord, 52, 14, 39.97, N, 8, 05, 33.32, E, dim:100000_region:DE_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
30
A030
A030
Constituent roads of European route E30