 | |
|---|---|
| Αυτοκινητόδρομος 2 | |
| Egnatia Odos Εγνατία Οδός | |
 Route of Egnatia Odos | |
| Route information | |
Part of E90 | |
| Length | 670 km (420 mi) |
| Existed | 2009; 16 years ago (2009)–present |
| Major junctions | |
| From | Igoumenitsa |
| To | Kipoi |
| Location | |
| Country | Greece |
| Regions | Epirus,Macedonia,Thrace |
| Highway system | |
| |
TheA2 motorway, also known as theEgnatia Odos (Greek:Εγνατία Οδός),[1][2] is atolledcontrolled-access highway in northernGreece that runs from the western port ofIgoumenitsa to the eastern Greek–Turkish border atKipoi. The entire route is part of the Greek section of theE90 road, which runs fromLisbon,Portugal in the west, andZakho,Iraq in the east.
The A2 motorway runs a total of 670 km (420 mi). Themegaproject began in 1994 and was completed in 2009 at a cost of €5.93 billion ($8.27 billion);[3] it was managed by the state-owned company Egnatia Odos, S.A.
The route traverses the mountainous Greek regions ofEpirus andMacedonia, crossing thePindos andVermio mountain ranges, which posed formidable engineering challenges. It includes 76 tunnels (with a combined length of 99 km / 61.5 miles) and 1,650 bridges. It is a limited-access highway with sophisticated electronic surveillance measures, SCADA controls for the lighting/tunnel ventilation, and advanced vehicle collision absorption measures.[4]
Part of its length, a section of about 360 km (220 mi) fromEvros toThessaloniki, parallels the ancient RomanVia Egnatia, which ran from modernDurrës inAlbania to Thessaloniki and thence to Byzantium (nowIstanbul,Turkey). The project has therefore been dubbed a modern Via Egnatia (inGreek, Egnatia Odos / Εγνατία Οδός). However, the parallel is not exact; the original Via Egnatia was much longer (1,120 km / 696 miles) and its western section, from Thessaloniki to the Adriatic Sea, ran much further north than the modern road.
The project has raised concerns for the survival of nearby sites ofecological andarchaeological significance. The construction of the Pindos stretch (i.e. fromGrevena toIoannina) was delayed due to environmental concerns about the destruction of the habitat of the endangered brown bear. However, a new routing was proposed in 2003, and this part was completed by April 2009.
In addition to the main highway, three perpendicular auxiliary highways are under construction connecting the highway to important cities, ports and airports of Macedonia.
94 km of the motorway had been built as part of other motorways, before the official project began in 1994. Between 1997 and 2004, 393 km of motorway were built.[5]The main part of the project was completed by 30 May 2009.[6] A final bridge was opened on 10 May 2014[7]
 | This section is missing a table that represents a list of exits or junctions. Please help byadding the missing exit or junction list.(November 2021) |
The exits of the completed sections of the A2 motorway:[8]
| Notes | |
|---|---|
| Under construction | |
| Planned | |
In 2020,EIB and Egnatia Odos are committed to fund treatment of 7000 high risk sites in Greece.[9]
