Federal highway 420

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / Maintenance / DE-B
	Federal highway 420 in Germany
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Federal Republic of Germany
Overall length:	124 km
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate; Saarland;
Development condition:	1 lane in each direction

The federal highway 420 (abbreviation: B 420 ) connects Rhineland-Palatinate with the Saarland and runs almost exactly in the east-north-east-west-south-west direction.

It starts right on the Rhine in Nierstein (on the B 9 ) and ends on the Blies in Ottweiler . This federal highway is not replaced by a motorway at any point and consists almost entirely of only one directional lane. There are only two two-lane sections on the inclines from Unkenbach to Callbach and between Hochstätten and Fürfeld.

Planning

Planned eastern extensions to Hesse from 2007

In October 2007, an extension of the B 420 in an easterly direction was discussed controversially. A bridge over the Rhine at Nierstein or Oppenheim would have had to be built for this. The route would then run in the direction of Groß-Gerau in Hesse and join the A 67 or the B 44 .

An extension of this type was discussed in earlier times, but B 26 was intended as a designation for it . It would have crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim and would then have run further south to Darmstadt and henceforth continued its course as the B 26 to Aschaffenburg and Bamberg. At a later date, parts of this route were to be expanded as a motorway together with the B 420 up to the level of Bad Kreuznach and from there neutrally to the Moselle. This so-called Magistrale Brussels-Prague would have been designated A 60 in this part . The resulting motorway junction with the A 61 at Gau-Bickelheim was largely completed at that time and now serves as a simple junction.

Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030

In the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 published in 2016, two bypass routes for the B 420 are announced. The first directly for Nierstein / Oppenheim as "Additional requirements with planning rights", as well as a southern bypass for Wörrstadt and Sulzheim which is entered as "Additional requirements".

tourism

The federal highway 420 passes the Nierstein entrance

This approximately 124 km long road mainly leads through scenic and quiet areas. Individual sections - especially on the Glan - can only be very busy on weekends .

The smaller wine villages in Rheinhessen, the old residential town of Meisenheim , the old Veldenz town of Lauterecken and the section of the Glantalbahn along the Glans ( Bad Sobernheim - Lauterecken - Altenglan ) that has been converted into a draisine train are all worth seeing . In the Ostertal, a ride on the Ostertalbahn museum railway and a detour along the well-developed cycling and hiking trails are worthwhile .

particularities

The B 420 does not end on another federal road (or motorway), but on a state road (L 124) in Ottweiler : about 150 m later you reach the B 41 between St. Wendel and Saarbrücken . Before the new construction of the B 41 from Neunkirchen to Ottweiler via the Kohlwald, the current L 124 was the B 41. The B 41 was therefore downgraded to the L 124 in its old section.
Both the start and end point are directly on a railway bridge: the beginning at a bridge on the Kursbuch route 660 ( Mainz – Worms – Ludwigshafen ), the end on a bridge on the Kursbuch route 680 ( Nahe Valley Railway ).
In Wörrstadt, an interest group of residents has formed, which calls for a bypass road , as the section there is a shortcut of almost ten kilometers between the federal highways 61 (Gau-Bickelheim junction) and 63 (Wörrstadt junction). This was used by toll trucks until the start of road construction work in Wörrstadt at the beginning of 2011 and was closed to through traffic during the construction work. In May 2015, a night driving ban for trucks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. was introduced on this section of the route.

Nierstein: Start, in the foreground the B 9
Nierstein: the other side of the bridge
At the railway bridge of the Nahe Valley Railway in Ottweiler, the vehicle turns from the L 124 into the B 420, which ends here, looking towards the northwest