Rijksweg 3

Car route N3 in the Netherlands
map
Basic data
Operator:
Overall length:	9.6 km
Provinces :	South Holland
Requirement for use:	Toll free
Development condition:	2 × 2 lanes + emergency lanes
Course of the road Further on  (23)  Papendrecht Papendrecht Merwedebrücke Papendrecht Beneden-Merwede Dordrecht -De Staart Wantij Start of the road Werkendam Albert Schweitzer Hospital Dordrecht -Sterrenburg End of the road (20)  's-Gravendeel Further on

The Rijksweg N3 runs between Dordrecht and Papendrecht . The road connects the A15 and A16 motorways over a length of 9.6 kilometers. The road has four lanes throughout its course, but does not have separate lanes and hard shoulders everywhere and therefore does not meet the necessary standard for a declaration as a motorway.

There are two bridges along the road, the Merwede Bridge and the Wantij Bridge. In the northern part of the route between the A15 and Wantij bridge, a speed limit of 80 km / h applies , in the rest of the route this is 100 km / h. The N3 serves as a shortcut between the A15 and A16 motorways and as a diversion route for transports that are not allowed to pass the Drecht tunnel on the A16.

Original planning

In the Rijksweg plan of 1932, Rijksweg 3 was planned as a direct connection between Amsterdam and Rotterdam via Gouda . The initially planned route should cut through the Groene Hart between Amsterdam and Gouda. In the Rijksweg plan from 1968, the route was then changed towards Dordrecht. Apart from the newly planned section to Dordrecht, the plans for Rijksweg 3 were dropped in the 1970s . The A20 now runs on the originally planned route of Rijksweg 3 between Gouda and Rotterdam .

In Amsterdam as in Amstelveen , preliminary work was done for the construction of the A3, which has since been built over. Today's exit 4 of the A9 ( Ouderkerk aan de Amstel ) was originally planned as a motorway junction with the A 3 and appears correspondingly oversized. In 2006 and 2007 the southern part of the junction was renewed. The routes were adapted to the required conditions. Thus, only the oversized bridges and the sweeping route in the northern part of the junction remain as recognizable remnants of this plan.