Runways on motorways

Going on holiday? Just returned with pictures or news? Found an interesting website? Post everything international in here.

Moderator: Site Management Team

stewartt
Member
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 05:34
Location: Reading, Berkshire

Runways on motorways

Post by stewartt »

Prompted by a post in another thread, I remembered being told that in cold war west germany there was a long stretch of autobahn which was perfectly straight, where all the street furniture (lighting, barriers, the lot) were removable, with rest areas at either end the same. This had been built as such to allow it to be used as an emergency runway.

I guess that my question is does anyone know a) did i remember this correctly, b) where is it, c) is it still there and d) germany is special in the history of the cold war, but did they do the same thing anywhere else?

Stewart

Edit: - with the help of wikipedia I found the stretch I was told about - its here
JosephA22
Member
Posts: 188
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:11
Location: Poland

Post by JosephA22 »

Back in the 1980s there was a long section of runway on the A2 in Poland (the section east of Poznan was the only section completed in those days).

It was about 2 miles long, with what resembled huge parking areas at each end (the no parking signs did not deter truckers from parking up).

I remember driving along there with my parents, and being overtaken by a German-registered Merc using the central reservation (we were in the outside lane overtaking a truck, and the 100mph we were doing was obviously not worth slowing down for). The amount of small stones and debris that showered the windscreen was phenomenal. However, traffic levels were so low in those days that most of the time you could mosey over to the far side (inside lane in the opposite direction) and no one would be any the wiser. Not that we did of course...

This section has long gone, as the road has been completely rebuilt since then.
Octaviadriver
Member
Posts: 1791
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 20:20
Location: Powys

Post by Octaviadriver »

When I was in Bulgaria last year, there was a section of motorway near Varna on the Black Sea coast that was very wide and with no central reservation; just painted lines down the middle.

I can only guess that this too can be used as a runway?
User avatar
J--M--B
Member
Posts: 14647
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 17:34
Location: Lochaber, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by J--M--B »

stewartt wrote:Prompted by a post in another thread, I remembered being told that in cold war west germany there was a long stretch of autobahn which was perfectly straight, where all the street furniture (lighting, barriers, the lot) were removable, with rest areas at either end the same. This had been built as such to allow it to be used as an emergency runway.

I guess that my question is does anyone know a) did i remember this correctly, b) where is it, c) is it still there and d) germany is special in the history of the cold war, but did they do the same thing anywhere else?

Stewart

Edit: - with the help of wikipedia I found the stretch I was told about - its here
I would thought that all motorway street furniture, even in this country, is removable when you have a tank or bulldozer to remove it. In the same way as supermarkets become instant hangars for Harriers, you just drive a tank or bulldozer through through the windows and push the shelves out of the way.
JMB
Fort William
http://www.mbriscoe.me.uk

"Give me the third best technology. The second best won't be ready in time. The best will never be ready." Robert Watson-Watt
User avatar
wibble
Member
Posts: 304
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 15:32
Location: Munich, Germany

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by wibble »

stewartt wrote: I guess that my question is does anyone know a) did i remember this correctly, b) where is it, c) is it still there and d) germany is special in the history of the cold war, but did they do the same thing anywhere else?
There were many off them, German Wikipedia has an article about the "Autobahn Notlandeplatz" (Motorway Emergency Airfield) here. It is (obviously) in german, but there are some good photos of planes taking off and landing on the motorway, it also has a list of 27 locations where they occured.

The Wikipedia link also mentions that the concept was also used in Poland, Austria and Switzerland.

This web site (also in german) has more information, and detailed phots of a NATO excercise in 1984, & removable street furniture. (plus some photos of autobahns being used as runways in WW2).
User avatar
Gavin A74
Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 20:52
Location: Kilmarnock
Contact:

Post by Gavin A74 »

According to Jeremy Clarkson's "Motorworld", several Swiss motorways double up as runways (there's even a level crossing across a runway but not on the motorway network AFAIK).

It may be a rumour, but doesn't a certain amount of every US interstate have to be straight so it can double up as a runway?
signol
Member
Posts: 1568
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 10:29
Location: Norwich
Contact:

Post by signol »

I saw a prgramme about the Swiss motorways on TV in France some years ago... Very interesting, they showed the "hangars" carved out of mountainsides.

Here is a road / runway crossroads :)

signol
http://www.travelsignal.co.uk
Flight and travel videos
Nena Kitsune
Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 21:21
Location: Västerås, Sweden

Post by Nena Kitsune »

Gavin A74 wrote:According to Jeremy Clarkson's "Motorworld", several Swiss motorways double up as runways (there's even a level crossing across a runway but not on the motorway network AFAIK).

It may be a rumour, but doesn't a certain amount of every US interstate have to be straight so it can double up as a runway?
If I recall correctly, that is mostly just an urban legend based on the fact that alot of US motorways have such poor design, at least in the regard to the Americans almost Italian affection for completely straight motorways stretching tens of kilometres.

There are a few extra-wide roads here in Sweden that used to double as airstrips, and along many older national highways there are occassional hangars along the road, particularly in forested areas. I think they date from the World War or maybe some bright guy thought it up as defense in the event of some future "Soviet invasion".
t1(M)
Member
Posts: 7281
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2002 23:15
Location: kingston-upon-thames

Post by t1(M) »

Accoerding to The Motorway Archive 26th April 1975 a Jaguar landed on the M55 and took off again. (this was an aircraft, not an XJ6, and the motorway was still under construction )Image
Ploes
Member
Posts: 506
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 15:24
Location: 127.0.0.1

Post by Ploes »

I dont know, but I could find out.... since I was told about this when I was in the Netherlands last time.

Is there an A54 or A45 ? I seam to rember those numbers!
User avatar
moogal
Member
Posts: 603
Joined: Wed May 04, 2005 02:14
Location: London
Contact:

Post by moogal »

Gavin A74 wrote:(there's even a level crossing across a runway but not on the motorway network AFAIK).
There's one of these in Gibraltar, where the main road in crosses the runway for Gibraltar airport.
Andy P
Member
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 19:17
Location: Heidelberg, Germany

Post by Andy P »

I remember travelling back from Poland in about 1984, and to my surprise there was a large runway on the motorway in the old East Germany between Frankfurt an der Oder and Berlin (now the A12).

My recollection is that the runway part was much wider than the two carriageways plus central reservation of the rest of the motorway, and that the forest on either side of the runway had been cut back much further still.
signol
Member
Posts: 1568
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 10:29
Location: Norwich
Contact:

Post by signol »

moogal wrote:
Gavin A74 wrote:(there's even a level crossing across a runway but not on the motorway network AFAIK).
There's one of these in Gibraltar, where the main road in crosses the runway for Gibraltar airport.
Indeed - take a look at the photo link I posted earlier up the thread :)

signol
http://www.travelsignal.co.uk
Flight and travel videos
User avatar
Cherskiy
Member
Posts: 187
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 23:31
Location: Northumberland

Post by Cherskiy »

Andy P wrote:I remember travelling back from Poland in about 1984, and to my surprise there was a large runway on the motorway in the old East Germany between Frankfurt an der Oder and Berlin (now the A12).

My recollection is that the runway part was much wider than the two carriageways plus central reservation of the rest of the motorway, and that the forest on either side of the runway had been cut back much further still.
There were several in the former East Germany for use by Luftstreitkrafte MiG-21s and MiG-23s back in the 1970s - I have a c.1979 aircrew map for central Europe that shows their locations. May try to dig it out if I remember sometime.

The Swedes were still flying Saab Viggens from various road strips around Lulea at least once each year on exercises until the type's withdrawal from service at the end of 2005. Not sure if the replacement Gripens do the same.

Going back much further in time, the Luftwaffe's Jagdverband 44 (JV44) flew operations from a stretch of autobahn during April 1945 with their Messerschmitt Me262A-1 jet fighters. There are photos of the section of the former Ulm-Augsburg-Munich Reichsautobahn with Me262s parked in the trees along each side. The handful of two-seat Me262B-1a/U1 jet night-fighters belonging to Kommando Welter (11./NJG11) also operated from this autobahn. Another section of Reichsautobahn up near Lubeck was also used by Kommando Welter. Several more improvised airstrips were built along the Munich-Salzburg Reichsautobahn for use by JV44 but the Americans overran these before the jets could use them.
You call that low?
User avatar
J--M--B
Member
Posts: 14647
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 17:34
Location: Lochaber, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by J--M--B »

The AIX forum has a thread about the Mandria Highway Strip on Cyprus and says there are two others there.
JMB
Fort William
http://www.mbriscoe.me.uk

"Give me the third best technology. The second best won't be ready in time. The best will never be ready." Robert Watson-Watt
Benny
Member
Posts: 2240
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2013 18:04

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by Benny »

The M96 of course is a runway made to look like a motorway :)


Credit: Steven Jukes and the fantastic PM website.


http://pathetic.org.uk/secretive/m96/
Living my life on the edge......of two counties!

Formerly known as Roverman

Still driving a British built car, made in a former Rover factory......
User avatar
RichardA626
Member
Posts: 8030
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 22:19
Location: Ashton Under Lyne
Contact:

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by RichardA626 »

I did read somewhere that at least one WWII runway was turned into a road when the base it was on was closed.
Beware of the trickster on the roof
User avatar
RichardA35
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 6002
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 18:58
Location: Dorset

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by RichardA35 »

RichardA626 wrote:I did read somewhere that at least one WWII runway was turned into a road when the base it was on was closed.
A372 at Westonzoyland is one.
Octaviadriver
Member
Posts: 1791
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 20:20
Location: Powys

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by Octaviadriver »

RichardA626 wrote:I did read somewhere that at least one WWII runway was turned into a road when the base it was on was closed.
At the Husbands Bosworth airfield in Northamptonshire, after the closure of the aerodrome and release of the land by the government, the truncated Sibbertoft Road was realigned along part of the line of the former No.1 runway. I can remember in the 1950s you could drive araound most of the runways. The road is now an S2 with a gliding club using part of the old airstrip.
User avatar
vlad
Member
Posts: 2614
Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 16:20
Location: Near the northern end of the A34

Re: Runways on motorways

Post by vlad »

RichardA626 wrote:I did read somewhere that at least one WWII runway was turned into a road when the base it was on was closed.
There's one here in Lincolnshire - it even still looks a bit like a runway.
"If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed." - Sylvia Plath
Post Reply