The AP-9 or ''Autoestrada do Atlántico'' is a toll

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 ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It starts in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...

and runs south past the cities of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

and

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

, before ending at the town of Tui, a few kilometres north of the Portuguese border at the

Minho River The Minho ( , ) or Miño ( , , ; cel-x-proto, Miniu) is the longest river in Galicia, sharing the border with Portugal, with a length of . By discharge, it is the fourth river of the Iberian peninsula, after the Douro, Ebro, and Tagus. The Min ...

. The AP-9 is 178 km (111 miles) in length. The first 16 km (10 miles), from A Coruña to the A-6 ''autovía'' near the towns of Guísamo and

Betanzos Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During the ...

, form part of

European route E70 European route E70 is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from A Coruña in Spain in the west to the Georgian city of Poti in the east. Itinerary The E 70 routes through ten European countries, and includes one sea-crossing, ...

, while the remainder forms part of

European route E01 European route E1 is a series of roads in Europe, part of the United Nations International E-road network, running from Larne, Northern Ireland to Seville, Spain. There is a sea crossing between Rosslare Harbour, in Ireland, and Ferrol, but ...

. Between A Coruña and Vigo, the motorway runs parallel to the N-550 road, and between Vigo and Tui it runs parallel to the A-55 ''autovía'' . The AP-9 has two spurs: the 36 km (22.5 mile) long AP-9F from Guísamo to Ferrol, which runs parallel to the N-651 road and also forms part of European route E01; and the 4 km (2.5 mile) long AP-9V, which runs into the centre of Vigo.

History

Construction of the motorway, originally known as the A-9, began in the mid-1970s with the section between Pontevedra and Vigo, including the Rande Bridge, and also the section between A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. The latter opened in 1979, the former two years later. Between 1988 and 1992, these two sections were gradually linked. In 1994, construction of the spur to Ferrol commenced. In the late 1990s, the A-9 was extended from Vigo to what is now the junction with the Autoestrada AG-57. Then, in the early 2000s, it was extended from this point to Tui. The spur to Ferrol was completed in 2003, and in the same year the A-9 was redesignated the AP-9, as part of the general redesignation of Spanish autopistas and autovías.

Gallery

File:Puente de Rande - Atardecer.jpg, Rande Bridge, Vigo File:Pontedaría.jpg, Ponte da Ría, Pontevedra

External links

Autopista AP-9 ConcessionaireAutopista AP-9 in Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:AP-9 Transport in Galicia (Spain) Autopistas and autovías in Spain