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Grande Raccordo Anulare

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Autostrada A90 shield}}
Autostrada A90
Grande Raccordo Anulare
Route information
Part of E80
Maintained by ANAS
Length68.2 km (42.4 mi)
Existed1951–present
Major junctions
Beltway around Rome
FromRome
Major intersections A1 in Rome
A24 in Rome
A91 in Rome
ToRome
Location
CountryItaly
RegionsLazio
Highway system
A 60 A 91
Map of the Grande Raccordo Anulare

Autostrada A90 or Grande Raccordo Anulare (lit.'Great Ring Junction') or GRA is a ring-shaped autostrada (Italian for "motorway") 68.2 kilometres (42.4 mi) long that encircles Rome. GRA is one of the most important roads in Rome, and traffic reaches 160,000 vehicles per day as of 2011.

The GRA features 14 tunnels, with lengths varying from the 66 meters of Parco di Veio II tunnel to the 1,150 m (3,770 ft) meters of the Appia Antica tunnel as well as eight rest areas. It has 42 junctions, with the Via Aurelia numbered 1 and the rest following clockwise.

The motorway has always been toll-free. However, there are plans to introduce a fee for vehicles entering the GRA from highways. Maintenance costs are around 11 million per year.

Its acronym was given after one of its main designers and supporters, Eugenio Gra, chairman of Anas, the Italian roads Authority, at the time of construction. The official number among the Italian motorways is Autostrada A90, but is widely known by Romans as Il Raccordo (lit.'The Junction').

History

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Grande Raccordo Anulare in the 1950s

Plans for an orbital road around Rome were proposed by the end of World War II. One of the designers' main purposes was to build the road as most equally distant as possible from the geographic centre of town, the Campidoglio, 11.4 kilometres (7.1 mi) away from the motorway.

Construction works started in 1948. The first section, Flaminia to Tiburtina (north-to-east section) opened in 1952, later extended in stages. The last section to be opened was the west-to-north section (Aurelia to Flaminia), in 1970.

Although the GRA was initially planned and built as a single-carriageway road, it was soon clear that traffic was rapidly growing well beyond the expectations. Construction works to motorway standards started in late 1950s with first dual-carriageway, four-lane section (Salaria to Tuscolana) opened 1962. Further works were carried over throughout the 1970s, and by 1979, the remainder sections were widened to four-lane and the entire ring classified as toll-free highway.

Widening works to 6-lane started in 1983 and were completed in stages throughout the 1990s and 2000s. As of April 2008 97% of the GRA was 6-lane with final sections (new tunnel under Via Cassia) opened 2011.

Timeline

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  • 1948: Building works began.
  • 1951: The Appia-Aurelia section is opened.
  • 1952: The Flaminia-Tiburtina section is opened.
  • 1955: The Tiburtina-Appia section is opened.
  • 1960: The road was part of the marathon course of the 1960 Summer Olympics.[1]
  • 1962: The lane number is doubled in Salaria-Tuscolana section
  • 1970: The Aurelia-Flaminia section is opened, the ring is completed.
  • 1979: GRA is now officially a highway.
  • 1983: Works to a 6-lane set begin.
  • 1997: 50% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane (2x3) set
  • 2000: 75% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane set
  • 2007: 97% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane set
  • 2011: End of works to the 6-lane set

Future expansion

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It has been suggested that a second ring might be constructed in the future,[2] firstly as an attempt to alleviate congestion on the old one and secondly to offer access to a number of new industrial, commercial and residential zones built around it. Such a project would imply a new external ring-shaped orbital motorway of about 120 kilometres (75 mi), denominated NIA (Nuova infrastruttura anulare, "New ring infrastructure"), which would cost over €5 billion.

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The road was the subject of the 2013 documentary film Sacro GRA which won the Golden Lion at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.[3]

Trivia

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Although the name GRA officially stands for Grande Raccordo Anulare ("Great Ring Junction"), the name was actually coined in order to make its acronym be the name of the head of the project, engineer Eugenio Gra.

Route

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Grande Raccordo Anulare near Fiumicino exit
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Isola Farnese
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Via Anagnina exit
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia exit
GRANDE RACCORDO ANULARE
Autostrada A90
Exit ↓km↓ ↑km↑ Province European Route
Via Aurelia
Aurelio
Vatican City
Ladispoli
Civitavecchia
Port of Civitavecchia
0.0
68.2
--
Montespaccato
2.3
65.9
--
Via della Maglianella - Via di Boccea
Montespaccato
Via della Maglianella
2.6
65.6
--
Via di Boccea
Primavalle
Casalotti
3.4
64.8
--
Via di Casal del Marmo
Via di Selva Candida
Palmarola
Primavalle
Casalotti
Selva Candida
4.4
60.6
--
Rest area "Selva Candida"
8.6
59.6
--
Via Trionfale
Ipogeo degli Ottavi
Ottavia
Primavalle
San Filippo Neri Hospital
La Giustiniana
Lake Bracciano
Viterbo
10.0
58.2
--
Via Cassia
Tomba di Nerone
Corso Francia
La Giustiniana
Lake Bracciano
Viterbo
12.2
56.0
--
Sant'Andrea Hospital
Via di Grottarossa
17.3
50.7
--
Via Cassia Veientana
Viterbo
17.5
50.9
--
Labaro
Labaro
17.8
51.2
--
Via Flaminia Saxa Rubra
RAI radio and television centre
Stadio Olimpico
Flaminio
Cimitero Flaminio
Prima Porta
Terni
Fano
Perugia
18.1
50.1
--
Castel Giubileo
Via di Castel Giubileo

Labaro
18.8
49.4
--
Via Salaria
Salario

Rome Urbe Airport

Rieti

Monte Terminillo

Ascoli Piceno
20.0
48.2
--
Via di Settebagni
Colle Salario

Fidene

Settebagni

Bel Poggio
20.7
47.5
--
GRA-Fiano Romano
Firenze
21.0
47.2
--
Via della Bufalotta
Via delle Vigne Nuove

Monte Sacro Alto
22.3
45.9
--
Rest area "Settebagni"
23.3
44.9
--
Via Nomentana
Talenti

Monte Sacro

Mentana

Monterotondo

Palombara Sabina

Fonte Nuova
26.6
41.6
--
Centrale del Latte
Torraccia

San Basilio

Via di Sant'Alessandro

Casal Monastero
28.3
39.9
--
Via Tiburtina
Ponte Mammolo

Policlinico Umberto I

Settecamini

Tivoli
29.9
38.3
--
L'Aquila - Teramo
Tangenziale Est

Firenze-Napoli

Pescara
31.5
36.7
La Rustica
La Rustica

Tor Sapienza
32.8
35.4
Uffici Finanziari
Via Capranesi

Via Boglione
34.0
34.2
Via Prenestina
Centocelle

Prenestino

Villaggio Falcone

Palestrina
34.6
33.6
Tor Bella Monaca
Torre Angela
35.0
31.2
Via Prenestina bis
Centocelle

Prenestino
36.0
30.2
Rest area "Casilina"
37.5
30.3
Via Casilina
Giardinetti

Torre Maura

Casilino

Torre Angela

Frosinone

Cassino
38.0
30.2
GRA-San Cesareo
Napoli
39.3
28.9
La Romanina
University of Rome Tor Vergata

Torrenova
39.9
28.3
Via Tuscolana
Cinecittà

Tuscolano

Frascati
40.9
27.3
Via Anagnina
Cinecittà

Tuscolano

Osteria del Curato

Gregna Sant'Andrea

Casal Morena

Grottaferrata
41.6
26.6
Gregna Sant'Andrea
Ciampino
43.2
43.2
Via Appia
Appio

San Giovanni

Rome Ciampino Airport

Cisterna di Latina Velletri
44.4
23.8
Via Ardeatina
Ardeatino

EUR

Divino Amore

Santa Palomba

Ardea
48.0
20.2
Rest area "Ardeatina"
51.0
17.2
Via Laurentina
Laurentina

Università Campus Bio-Medico

Trigoria

Ardea
52.6
15.6
Via Pontina
EUR

Sant'Eugenio Hospital

Palazzo dello sport

Pomezia

Aprilia

Anzio

Latina

Terracina
54.8
13.4
Via Cristoforo Colombo
Casal Palocco

Lido di Ostia
55.3
12.9
Via del Mare
Via Ostiense
Ostiense

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Acilia

Ostia Antica
Lido di Ostia
57.8
10.4
Parco de' Medici
Viale Parco de' Medici
59.9
8.3
Fiumicino
EUR

Magliana

Fiera di Roma [it]

Civitavecchia

Port of Civitavecchia

Leonardo Express

Rome Fiumicino Airport
60.6
7.6
Via della Magliana
Trullo

Magliana

Via Portuense

Fiumicino

Port of Fiumicino

Leonardo Express

Rome Fiumicino Airport
61.1
7.1
--
Centro direzionale
Via Marchetti
62.1
6.1
--
Via della Pisana
Gianicolense

Portuense

Ponte Galeria
64.5
3.7
--
Rest area "Pisana"
66.1
2.1
--
Via di Casal Lumbroso
Via del Pescaccio

Casal Lumbroso
66.5
1.7
--
Via Aurelia
Aurelio
Vatican City
Ladispoli
Civitavecchia
Port of Civitavecchia
68.2
0.0
--

See also

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Other Italian roads

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References

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  1. ^ 1960 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 1. p. 118.
  2. ^ L'ANAS vuole un secondo Raccordo Anulare (in Italian)
  3. ^ "Italian documentary Sacro GRA wins Golden Lion". BBC News. 8 September 2013.

Bibliography

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Media related to Autostrada A90 (Italy) at Wikimedia Commons