The Rabat–Tangier-Med expressway is an expressway in

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 A ...

. 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 populatio ...

, 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, on ...

. 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 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 2 ...

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. Man ...

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, thei ...

. 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. W ...

, 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 territori ...

. 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 d ...

, 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 capit ...

. 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 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 ...

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. Fo ...

. 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 (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