[B] Belgian Motorways • Autoroutes de Belgique • Belgische Autosnelwegen

[ChrisZwolle]

Yeah i don't like that too. You see names like Doornik, Bergen, Gand en Bruges all the time. And how the hell am i suppose to know that Aix-la-Chapelle is Aachen and Montjoie is Monschau?

Look, Brussel/Bruxelles is double-languaged, but Antwerpen and Liège are just Dutch and French. So sign em all the way, you have to know that name anyway to get there.

[ChrisZwolle]

R0 Ring Brussel - Bruxelles - Brussels - Brüssel
The R0 is a 76km ringroad around the Capital of Europe and Belgium. The road is mostly 2x3 lanes or more, but has a non-motorway section southeast of Brussels.

119 photos, Picasa Webalbum

[De Snor]

Originally Posted by Verso

What I hate by Belgian roads, is 'nationalistic' signage. How am I supposed to know that Anvers is Antwerpen, or that Luik is Liège?

Most of the Belgian population are people with a very narrow minded idea towards the 3 languages spoken in my country.
You are absolutely right about this but it is getting (finally) better...

Belgian nationalistic crap shouldn't be used in road signalisation + all signs should post the original name!

[julesstoop]

Knowing my Belgian neighbours, I suspect considerable debate in that case as to what are the "original" names...

[ChrisZwolle]

They make it uselessly complicated, in fact, it's quite easy:

Use the name what the entrance city limits sign says.

So that makes Brussel/Bruxelles the only city with double names.

But you always have those guys who don't like Dutch/French/German and keep painting on signs. Sad.

[Josh]

Yeah for instance, the thread title would lead to a major conflict since Dutch and German are left out.

[hix]

Originally Posted by julesstoop

Knowing my Belgian neighbours, I suspect considerable debate in that case as to what are the "original" names...

No, there is no debate about the 'original' names. The debate is should they be used everywere.
I would like to know how they do it in Switserland. Do they use the Belgian system or do they use the original name everywere in the country. Does somebody know this?

[ChrisZwolle]

http://www.autobahnen.ch/

They have pics of entire Switzerland.

[ChrisZwolle]

Looks like they have different. Here you see Genève instead of Genf, but i've also seen San Gottardo instead Gotthard, but that's because the tunnel is on 2 language areas, like Brussels.

[hix]

So, they use the same system like in Belgium? Names of cities are in the languages of the region were the sign is?

[ChrisZwolle]

No, looks like they don't. That Genève sign is in German-language area (near Bern).

The Gotthard is from the north and San Gottardo from the south. Comparable to the Brussels situation.

[hix]

Indeed they should use that system in Belgium too, always use the original name of the city. it's too complicated for foreigners.

[ChrisZwolle]

And in the Netherlands. They sign Luik too instead of Liège. Immediatly after crossing the border, Luik is replaced by Liège, so what's the use of signing Luik at all?
However, they do use Köln and Aachen, so it's not very consequent.

[Verso]

Originally Posted by Chris1491

Bern-Bethlehem, I always get lost there. Yes, Swiss signage is interesting, always with original names (even the French-speaking Swiss have given up on writing places also in French, before you could see "Berne/Bern" or "Bâle/Basel", maybe there are still some on less important roads). Although it surprises me that unlike writing "Biel/Bienne" in German-, as well as in French-speaking parts of Switzerland, they always write only "Fribourg" even in German parts of CH, although it's officially bi-lingual (also Freiburg), there's more French speakers though.

I wouldn't mind places being written only in the original language, after all, if you're a German, and wanna go to Warsaw ("Warschau" in German), you're sooner or later gonna have to know it's called "Warszawa" in Polish. But it can get tricky, when a city is just mono-lingual, but some nation thinks it should be bi-lingual (in its language, of course). We all know cases like the French city of Strasbourg/Straßburg. Officially it's just French-speaking, whereas Germans think it should also be German-speaking. Then it's easy only to write "Bruxelles" (and perhaps also "Brussel"), without "Brüssel" in Germany, but it gets embarrasing in cases like Strasbourg/Straßburg, so maybe it's still better to use both, local and original expressions.

I hope I didn't bore you to death.

[ChrisZwolle]

In Germany and German-speaking Belgium, you see signs Lüttich too.

[hix]

Originally Posted by Verso

I hope I didn't bore you to death.

No, it was very intresting.

[ChrisZwolle]

Time for another video

this time;

The Verviers Circuit

A steep downhill from the Hautes Fagnes (High Moors) through and actually over the city of Verviers, which is very curvy and windy with circuit walls. Anyone ever driven this Autoroute would remember this section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-mhGLgboLw

[ChrisZwolle]

let's go to the next page.

[ChrisZwolle]

E314 Leuven - Geleen (NL)
This is a serie of the important E314 in Central Eastern Belgium. It is one of the two main routes to the German Ruhrvalley. (the other being the E40). However, this route is not as packed with trucks as the E313.

104 pics, Picasa Webalbum

[Verso]

Originally Posted by Chris1491

let's go to the next page.

How do you know? Does each page contain exactly 20 posts?

Anyway, nice photos you made. That's some awesome cut-and-cover, actually looking like a tunnel and as I can see, there's a stretch with hard shoulder on the left. I just don't understand what that crossed out exit number 19 means (by Herent).