Luxembourg | Area code 352 | Common abbreviation L | Last updated 31-7-2005 | |||
| Road class | Syntax explanation | Administrative subordination | Sub classes | Zones | System | Remarks |
| European road | E[0-9]<2-3> | Europe | See Europe | |||
| Motorway (autoroute) | A[0-9]<1-2> | national | Derived from parallel national road | Exit numbers: sequential | ||
| Motorway-like single carriageway | B[1-9] | national | Only B3 and B7 | |||
| National road | (N)[0-9]<1-2>{[ab]} | national | Spider-web | |||
| Local road | (CR)[0-9]<3>{[a-f]} | national | 1 south | |||
| 2 Luxembourg (city) | ||||||
| 3 north | ||||||
| General description:
There are 6 motorways: the A1 Luxembourg-Germany (A64-Trier), A3 Luxembourg-France (A31-Metz), A4 Luxembourg-Esch, A6 Luxembourg-Belgium (A4-Brussels) and A7 to the north are the main roads from the capital, and the A13 runs west-east between the N5 near Pétange and the German border (A8-Saarlouis) via Esch and Bettembourg. It is concurrent with the A4 near Esch. The Ax is parallel to the Nx.
The A4 and A13 have a mutual exit number 5 there (this number matches coincidentally: exit numbering begins with 1 both for the A4 and A13).
The B7 is a single carriageway with grade separated crossings bypassing Ettelbrück and Diekirch (it is a shortcut to the N7). This road does not have exit numbers. There used to be a B1 (see History). The B3 links the N3 and the A3 in the city Luxembourg. National roads 1-7 and 11 form a spider-web evolving in clockwise order around the capital. The N1 is the old main road to Trier. There is no correspondence between the number of digits of a number and its importance: the N31 is a main road (west of the A13) but the N25 is of less importance than many CR roads. The N numbers over 31 are recent additions and are generally less important, but the N51 is a former motorway (M4/A1). CR roads with numbers beginning with 1 are in the south of the country, and numbers beginning with 3 are in the north. There is some overlap between the zones. Zone 1 has a 'hole' comprising the city of Luxembourg, where numbers begin with 2 (there are only a few). | ||||||
| Road signs: | ||||||
| Road/destination type | Background | Text | Road numbers | |||
| Class | Shape | Background | Text | |||
| Motorways | Blue | White | A | Rectangle | Blue | White |
| Other roads | Yellow | Black | B/N | Rectangle | Red | White |
| CR | Rectangle | Yellow | Black | |||
| Local destinations | White | Black | ||||
| On new signs, N and CR prefixes tend to be indicated. | ||||||
| History: The current system was introduced around 1985, together with the introduction of new European road numbers. Previously, there were 1- and 2-digit numbers appearing in black in white rectangles.
Recent changes: Motorways used to have 1-digit M numbers (e.g. M4 Luxembourg-Trier). These never appeared on signs and were for administration only. The N numbers over 31 are upgraded former CR roads. Also, the N27 was extended from Insenborn to the N23. When the new system was introduced, the present N11 had only an E number (E29, initially E27). This was later changed to N11, and the old N11 became the N30. That N30 was recently downgraded to CR119. Some other N roads have also been downgraded to CR roads: N9 became CR123, and the N31 between Luxembourg and Bettembourg became the CR196. The A1 around Luxembourg (city) was initially called the B1, but after its completion it was changed to A1 and the old A1 which leads to the city centre was downgraded to N51. Some other roads in the city were upgraded to N roads with numbers in the 50's series. In 2003, there were still signs with E27 instead of E29 near Luxembourg. | ||||||
Sources and links: Various maps and atlases, personal experience
Official sites: | ||||||