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''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads that cross the boundary of a rural or urban district ('' Landkreis'' or '' Kreisfreie Stadt''). A ''Landesstraße'' is thus less important than a ''
Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...
'' or federal road, but more significant than a ''
Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...
'' or district road. The classification of a road as a ''Landesstraße'' is a legal matter (''Widmung''). In the free states of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
and
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
– but not, however, in the Free State of
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
– ''Landesstraßen'' are known as ''Staatsstraßen''.


Designation

The abbreviation for a ''Landesstraße'' consists of a prefixed capital letter ''L'' and a serial number (e. g. L 1, L 83, L 262 or L 3190). ''Staatsstraßen'' in Saxony are similarly abbreviated using a capital ''S'' (e. g. S 190) and the ''Staatsstraßen'' in Bavaria are prefixed with the letters ''St'' (e. g. St 2108). The kilometrage is shown on white signs by the roadside with black letters, known as location signs (''Stationszeichen''), that replace the former kilometre stones. The beginning and end of a ''Landesstraße'' is specified using so-called hub (''Netzknoten'') numbers. That makes its location unambiguous, which is important for rapid assistance when there is an accident, for example. The hub numbers are displayed on the upper part of the sign and also indicate their direction. In the example in the photograph, therefore No. 6608 039 is left of the sign 6608 023 to the right. In the bottom right-hand corner of the sign can be seen the so-called ''Stationierungsrichtung'' or direction of signage. It runs in the example from right to left and indicates in which direction the road kilometres are counted. In
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
, this new system has been in place since 2007 and divides the ''Landestraßen'' into sections numbered 10, 20, etc. The location signs (''Stationszeichen'') comprise two panels. The location panel (''Stationierungstafel'') displays the name of the state (''Niedersachsen'') and county letters (e.g. ''Kreis WF'') at the top, and the road letter and number below (e.g. ''L 627''). The classification panel (''Klassifizierungstafel'') shows the section number, kilometrage and direction of the start hub (e.g. ''10 Abschnitt'' and ''2,0 → 0,0''). The letters ''OD'' indicate a location post within a town or village and may be displayed in places other than on a white post. By the end of 2008, almost all the 8,000 kilometre posts on Lower Saxony's ''Landesstraßen'' had been replaced.''Stationszeichen - Neue Orientierung an den Straßen in Niedersachsen'', brochure by the Niedersächsische Landesbehörde für Straßenbau und Verkehr, Feb 2009.


Properties

In terms of their construction, ''Landesstraßen'' tend to be built to a lesser standard than ''Bundesstraßen'' and their cross-section is generally smaller. In individual cases, however, the standard of construction may vary depending on when it was built and its importance as a route. However, Landesstraßen can be built as limited-access dual carriageways in densely populated areas. Due to the division of funding, the federal states usually try to get the more substantial ''Landesstraßen'' officially designated as ''Bundesstraßen'', so that their subsequent improvement and maintenance is funded from the Federal budget. The ''Bundesstraßen'' are, however, intended as links between cities (major centres) and radiate from them. It is not usually possible to have concentric roads, which link the satellite towns with one another, designated as ''Bundesstraßen''. Similarly, it is difficult to transfer responsibility for the short stub roads running from cities to nearby motorways to the Federal Authorities.


Situation in the new federal states

Following
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
the ''Bezirksstraßen'' of the GDR (also called Category 1 ''Landstraßen'') were generally classified as ''Landesstraßen'' without consideration for their condition. This leads to a wide range of road types falling within this category. On the one hand, there are inter-city roads which have been modernised to a good quality standard. On the other hand, due to the austere design of the country road network in the GDR (e. g. occasionally one of two parallel roads or, where they were of low traffic importance, the links between them were simply allowed to fall into disrepair) there are today in the new federal states several '' unpaved roads'' and dirt tracks that are formally ''Landesstraßen'' (e. g. the L 208 between Burkersroda and Balgstädt in
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...
or the L 1062 between Wittersroda and Lengefeld in
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
). The upgrade of these roads is unlikely in view of the lack of funding and their low importance; in most cases attempts are being made to have their status downgraded.


Situation in Austria

In
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
today all important roads, apart from autobahns and ''Schnellstraßen'' (
limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...
s) managed by the publicly owned ASFiNAG corporation, are called ''Landesstraßen''. Since 2002, even the former ''
Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...
n'' national highways are ''Landesstraßen'', because they were placed under the responsibility of the federal states. Before 2002 there were two types of ''Bundesstraße'': * A white number on a blue square sign identified the more common type that are at the same time priority roads (Vorrangstraße). Their vehicle users had the right of way already by the blue sign. * A black number (typically greater than 100) on a yellow circular sign marks state roads that are ''not'' per se priority roads. Except in
Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , 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 the state with the second-highest popu ...
, the former ''Bundesstraßen'' continue to be designated with the prefix ''B''. The remaining ''Landesstraßen'' are prefixed with the letter ''L''. On traffic signs the prefixes are usually not used, unlike the ''A'' (for ''
Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
'') and ''S'' (''Schnellstraße''). Roads numbered with fewer digits are generally of more importance in the road network. The former designation of more important ''Landesstraßen'' in several states as ''Landeshauptstraßen'' (''LH'', in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
: ''Hauptstraßen A'') is only occasionally seen now on road and street maps.


See also

*
Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
*
Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...
* Gemeindestraße *
Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landesstrasse Roads in Germany Roads in Austria Roads by type