![Bundesstraße 437](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bundesstra%C3%9Fe_437.jpg)
''Bundesstraße'' (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n national
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-access ...
s.
Germany
![Bundesstraße 1 number](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bundesstra%C3%9Fe_1_number.svg)
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with rectangular yellow signs with black numerals, as opposed to the white-on-blue markers of the ''
Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
''
controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s. ''Bundesstraßen'', like autobahns, are maintained by the
federal agency of the
Transport Ministry. In the German highway system they rank below autobahns, but above the ''
Landesstraßen'' and ''
Kreisstraße
A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...
n'' maintained by the
federal states and the
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
respectively. The numbering was implemented by law in 1932 and has overall been retained up to today, except for those roads located in the
former eastern territories of Germany.
One distinguishing characteristic between German ''Bundesstraßen'' and ''Autobahnen'' is that there usually is a general 100 km/h (62 mph)
speed limit
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
on federal highways out of
built-up areas, as opposed to the merely advisory speed limit (''
Richtgeschwindigkeit'') of 130 km/h (83 mph) in unmarked sections of the autobahns. However, a number of ''Bundesstraßen'' have been extended as expressways (
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 ...
s) (colloquially called "Yellow Autobahns"), which can be compared to motorway-grade A roads in the U.K. like the
A1(M)
A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...
. Many of these have speed limits of usually 100–120 km/h, others have only an advisory speed limit like autobahns. Most sections of the federal highways are only
single carriageway with one lane for each direction and no hard
shoulder pull-out area.
The closest equivalent in the United States would be the
U.S. highway system
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...
.
Austria
![Hinweiszeichen 19](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Hinweiszeichen_19.svg)
In contrast to Germany, according to a 2002 amendment of the Austrian federal road act, ''Bundesstraßen'' is the official term referring only to
autobahns
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
(''Bundesstraßen A'') and
limited-access road
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
s (''Schnellstraßen, Bundesstraßen S''). The administration of all other former federal highways (''Bundesstraßen B'') has passed to the
federal states (''Bundesländer'').
Therefore, officially classified as ''
Landesstraßen'', they are still colloquially called ''Bundesstraßen'' and have retained their "B" designation (except for
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...
), followed by the number and a name. They are marked by a blue square sign with white number and are per se priority roads.
Before 2002 there has been a further category of ''Bundesstraßen'' with circular yellow sign and black number that shows that this road has no fixed priority (right of way for users). A few yellow signs lived longer than 2002.
Motorway plans
Germany and Austria have plans to reconstruct and/or replace Bundesstraße as/by motorways (Autobahn), outside built-up areas, especially the important ones of 20 to 30 thousands kilometers of the ways in Germany. For Austria they have to replace another 8000 km by schnellstraße/motorways, then Schnellstraße have to be replaced by/rebuilt as motorways.
See also
*
List of federal highways in Germany
External links
*
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sv:Riksväg#Andra länder