The Rabat–Tangier-Med expressway is an

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It begins in Morocco's capital of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, and connects to the northern port of

Tanger-Med Tanger Med (in Arabic: طنجة المتوسط ) is a Moroccan industrial port complex, located 45 km northeast of Tanger and opposite of Tarifa, Spain (15 km north) on the Strait of Gibraltar, with handling capacities of 9 million containers, one ...

. The expressway's identity marker is "A5". The Rabat-Tanger expressway originates at an interchange along the Rabat-Fes expressway, at the end of the

Rabat bypass The Rabat Ring Road or Rabat Bypass (official name ''Rocade de contournement de Rabat'') is a Moroccan expressway around the capital Rabat.ADM with project details on thRabat Ringroad, (French), visited 17 March 2012 Background The road is cons ...

. The road then continues to the toll station at the Kénitra centre interchange, before continuing north towards the

Kénitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 201 ...

north interchange where it passes under the RP2 road. Just north of here lies the

north toll station. The expressway then follows the coast past the fishing village of Moulay Bouselham. 30 km north of there is the town of

Larache Larache ( ar, العرايش, al-'Araysh) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many ...

where there is an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

. Another 30 km along the way is the interchange at

Sidi El Yamani ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Wi ...

, connecting to the road to Tetouan and

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

. There is another intersection at

Asilah Asilah (; ar, أزيلا or أصيلة; pt, Arzila; es, Arcila) is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about south of Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact. History The town's history da ...

, with 40 km remaining to

Tanger Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

. The road then crosses the Tahaddart river estuary before reaching its final destination.

History

Construction started in 1993 and in 1995 the first section, between

and Kénitra north, was opened. The road was prolonged to

in 1996. In 2000, the section to Sidi El Yamani was opened, with

being connected in 2002. In July 2005, 12 years after the start of construction, the totality of the

axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

was completed. The axis technically comprises also the Rabat bypass, although it does not conform with

motorway 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 ...

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

. Before its opening in 1997, getting to the origin of the road was a hard task for

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

coming from

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

, as the centre of Rabat had to be crossed.

Financial

In 2007 the toll-revenues for this road totaled 269 million

dirhams The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

(2006: 212 MDh), taking 2nd place in list of ''top earners'' in Morocco (Figure includes sections Tangier-RN2 and Tétouan - M'diq).
Figures regarding investments for road-construction: (costs per km. in brackets)Development programme
on ADM website, visited 23 August 2008 * Rabat - Larache : 1800 M Dh - 13 M Dh/km. * Larache - Sidi El Yamani : 400 M Dh - 15 M Dh/km. * Sidi El Yamani – Asilah : 440 M Dh - 30 M Dh/km. * Asilah - Tanger : 1400 M Dh - 47 M Dh/km. : TOTAL 4040 M Dh and also: * Desserte du port Tanger-Med : 3930 M Dh - 73 M Dh/km.

Links and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabat-Tangier expressway Autoroutes in Morocco E

Expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...