page_title: 2+1 road
section_title: Germany
hierarchical_section_title: 2+1 road / By country / Germany
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: B 54 bei Steinfurt
context_page_description: 2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and separated usually with a steel cable barrier. The second lane allows faster-moving traffic to overtake slower vehicles at regular intervals. Traditional roads of at least 10 metres width can be converted to 2+1 roads and reach near-motorway safety levels at a much lower cost than an actual conversion to motorway or dual carriageway.
context_section_description: The "2+1-System" refers to expressways with three lanes on a single carriageway where bypassing on the lane of the opposite direction is prohibited so that speed restriction is not required to increase safety. These expressways are grade-separated with a design speed of 100 to 120 km/h (60 to 75 mph) and the side of two lanes (allowing to bypass lower speed vehicles) alternates about every 1.5 to 2 kilometres (0.9 to 1.2 mi). In hilly country the uphill direction is usually the one with two lanes to allow overtaking of heavy, slow vehicles. In many cases there is no median barrier or it consists of concrete blocks – additional safety measures are mostly needed near the end of the two lane section where some motorists tend to pull in very late so that a longer no-traffic section needs to be inserted on the middle lane.
  After some good experiences with test roads the system has been used often in places where the amount of traffic does not justify construction of a dual carriageway expressway but remote rural areas should be connected to major towns with a high speed road. Existing examples are B 1, B 4 near Uelzen, B 16, B 20, B 31n near Stockach (120 km/h (75 mph)), B 33, B 54, B 56n, B 67 between Bocholt and Rhede, B 72, B 210, B 300, B 482, and parts of the A 98.
caption: 2+1 section of B54 near Steinfurt. Note the overpass (bridge) in the distance
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