European route E 78 is a road part of the

International E-road network The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Cen ...

. It begins in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and ends in

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

. It links the Tyrrhenean and Adriatic coasts. The road follows:

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

- Arezzo -

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

/Selci Lama -

. It intersects with the E80 at Grosseto, with the E35 at

Bettolle Bettolle is a ''frazione'' of Sinalunga, in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Of ancient origin, it was settled by the Etruscans, as attested by the numerous archaeological findings. In the Middle Ages it was a possession of the abbots of ...

, with the E45 at Città di Castello/ Selci Lama and terminates at the E55 at Fano. At present, not a single part of the E78 is constructed at motorway standard. Even though sections are dual carriageway, the Apennine section is not at the standard laid down for E-roads in the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries (which applies to E-routes). Plans to upgrade the entire route have existed since the late 1960s. This project is significant, because the completed E78 would be the only fully grade-separated and fully dual carriageway route between the Tyrrhenean and Adriatic coasts in an area that runs from

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

. There are plans to create other similar links in the area. In the first phase of the project, the E78 expressway will consist of an upgrade of the existing Grosseto - Siena road, then run to the A1 at

. The duplex with the A1 stops near Arezzo. From there, the E78 is intended to run directly east to Fano. Plans to shortcut the A1 duplex by creating a direct link from

Rigomagno Rigomagno is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Sinalunga, Province of Siena The province of Siena ( it, provincia di Siena, link=no, ) is a province in Tuscany, Italy. Its capital is the city of ...

on the Siena - Bettolle route to the new Arezzo - Fano route are in study. The Siena - Bettolle link was completed in 2008 and sections of road at the Eastern and Western terminus expressways. For the rest, the E78 currently (May 2010) consists of a patchwork of sections of upgraded road, sections in the process of being upgraded and sections still to be upgraded. The Apennine crossing will run via the Galleria della Guinza tunnel between Mercatello sul Metauro and Lama di

San Giustino San Giustino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about northwest of Perugia on the Tiber River. History In ancient Roman times it was a town named ''Meliscianum''. Nearby at Colle ...

. While a first tube of this tunnel was constructed between 1990 and 2004, construction of the second tube was interrupted as a result of a lack of funds. The first tube is currently unused, because it lacks connecting roads on its western end; only grading northeast of Cantone gives any indication that the tunnel has a western end. As at May 2010, studies as to the construction of this link are still pending. In 2016 there's the agreement for the total construction of the E78. It'll cost 680 millions € for the Tuscan part and 520 millions € for the Umbrian part.

References

External links

UN Economic Commission for Europe: Overall Map of E-road Network (2007)
{{E-road 78 E078