[RV]

Which one was the first motorway of your country and when was it constructed?

In Finland, the first expressway was the Kulosaari bridge (constructed 1950-1957) and the first real motorway a 15 Kms section of the Turku motorway near Helsinki (1956-1962).

 

[ChrisZwolle]

Netherlands:

A12 Voorburg - Zoetermeer: 15 April 1937.

 

[Coccodrillo]

Italy: A8-A9-A8/26 Milano-Varese/Como/Sesto Calende in 1924 (around 100 km, one main trunk with two branches (a total of three terminus)

Switzerland: A1 Lausanne-Genève around 1967 (around 60 km)

 

[panda80]

Romania: Bucharest-Pitesti motorway,aprox 100km, finished in 1973.

 

[Aphelion]

Sweden: E22 Malmö - Lund, 1953

 

[ABRob]

Germany:
A115 Berlin (as motor racing circuit): 24 September 1921
A555 Cologne - Bonn (more an expressway): 6 August 1932
A5 Frankfurt - Darmstadt (first 'real' motorway): 19 May 1935

 

[hofburg]

Italy: A8-A9-A8/26 Milano-Varese/Como/Sesto Calende in 1924 (around 100 km, one main trunk with two branches (a total of three terminus)

wow that was soon!

 

[Coccodrillo]

^^ Most of motorways opened in these years were not as we know today. But this one in particular is a new fast road built expressly for motor vehicles, it is not an older road built for horse carts and adapted later. There were not grade separated interchanegs, for example, but it was straight, designed for speed.

 

[Slagathor]

Netherlands:

A12 Voorburg - Zoetermeer: 15 April 1937.

Really, what was the point of that

 

[Fargo Wolf]

It would have been one of the 400 series motorways in the Canadian province of Ontario I believe.

 

[J N Winkler]

Most of motorways opened in these years were not as we know today. But this one in particular is a new fast road built expressly for motor vehicles, it is not an older road built for horse carts and adapted later. There were not grade separated interchanges, for example, but it was straight, designed for speed.

Actually, the Milan-Lakes autostrade did have comprehensive grade separation; no intersecting roads crossed them on the level. However, the bifurcations (where the spurs met the trunk route) were on the level, and the entry and exit points were reached by simple turns (including left turns across the centerline) rather than by ramps allowing gradual change in speed.

 

[Gareth]

UK: Preston Bypass (M6)

 

[darko06]

Croatia: A1, Zagreb-Karlovac, 37 km, 1972.; A6, Orehovica-Kikovica, 12 km, 1972, today designated as expressway (brza cesta).

 

[slash89]

Slovakia: D2 Malacky - Bratislava 30 km, opened in 1973

 

[Cicerón]

Spain: A-2 (then called N-II) Madrid-airport-Torrejón military base (1956)

 

[CairnsTony]

Australia: First section of South-Eastern Freeway, Melbourne, 1961.

 

[ChrisZwolle]

Really, what was the point of that

The beginning of something beautiful

In 1939, the Dutch motorway network consisted of three motorway sections; A12 Den Haag - Utrecht, A4-A44 Amsterdam - Sassenheim and A13 near Delft. There was another ~150 - 200 kilometers of single carriageway "rijkswegen" at that time, which were incorporated in the motorway system in the 1950's and 1960's.

 

[DanielFigFoz]

UK: Preston-by-Pass (now part of the M6) on the surprisingly late 5th December 1958

Portugal: The A5 in 1944, used to be called EN7

 

[CNGL]

Spain: A-2 (then called N-II) Madrid-airport-Torrejón military base (1956)

^^ I believe it's the M-14, not the A-2
And the first tolled motorway: A-19 between Montgat and Mataro, in 1969. Currently signed as C-32 and clinched by me.

 

[khawa]

France: Saint-Cloud - Orgeval, opened 9 June 1946

source: http://routenostalgie.free.fr/