M6 (Hungary)

The M6 is a north-south motorway on the western side of the Danube in central Hungary. It begins on the M0 and is planned to be extended to the Croatian border. Part of European route E73, it forms the northern section of what will eventually be a motorway route between Budapest and Ploce (Croatia) crossing Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is currently the only motorway in Hungary which includes tunnels on its route.

Budapest to Dunaujváros

Final downhill after exit 34.

The northernmost sections the the M6 opened in 2006. The M6 begins on a trumpet interchange on the M0 with a speed limit of 80 km/h and immediately turns left on a fairly tight bend. After a short straight another tight bend swings 90 degrees right. After a third bend to the left where the road crosses a local road and a railway exit 18 is reached and the beginning of a 100 km/h limit. On both northbound and southbound carriageways a lane is gained from the previous D2M between exit 18 and 20. The road runs as D2M under the overbridge for the exit 20 junction. Here the national speed limit takes over and heading southbound the road begins to climb a steep hill where a climbing lane joins the road from the exit 20 onslip, up the hill and round the bend and leaves as the exit 22 offslip. A last tight bend at the top of the hill reduces the speed limit to 100 km/h for a short period until after the southbound onslip from exit 22. Northbound there is no change in the speed limit.

From exit 22, the road starts to travel over the rolling hills to the south of Budapest. From exit 22 it flows downhill over a long sweeping bend with the distinctive 3 towering chimneys of the Danube power station in Szazhalombatta on the left. The road sweeps uphill again and round onto a fairly long straight passing the first service station on the route. On the left the vast expanse of the MOL refinery comes into view, often with a pungent smell in the area. The M6 dips downhill and climbs two more times before emerging on rather flat uneventful scenery for the next few kilometres. Here it it followed by the railway and a line of trees and power lines follow the west side of the carriageway between exits 45 and 50.

The scenery remains quite flat, traversing slightly uphill after exit 55 past a rest area. After this the road bypasses Dunaujváros, a very industrial city built in the 1950's under the communist era. Once past exit 67, the northern exit for the city, the communist style blocks of flats are visible from the motorway with a UFO shaped water tower standing tall behind them. Exit 70 diverges from the road to provide the central exit to the city and has a short run of C and D carriageways due to the proximity of the junction and the second service area on the motorway. From here the road climbs slightly to cross a railway before reaching Exit 75 which is a large cloverleaf interchange where the M6 crosses the M8. There are concrete roadblocks on some movements due to the M8 only being a short section of its overall planned length. C and D carriageways run alongside the M6 for over a kilometre.