The GRA or Grande Raccordo Anulare (literally, "Great Ring Junction") is a toll-free, ring-shaped long orbital motorway that encircles

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. GRA is one of the most important roads in Rome, and traffic reaches 160,000 vehicles per day as of 2011. The GRA features 14 tunnels, with lengths varying from the 66 meters of Parco di Veio II tunnel to the 1,150 meters of the Appia Antica tunnel as well as eight rest areas. It has 42 junctions, with the

Via Aurelia The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Cl ...

numbered 1 and the rest following clockwise. The motorway has always been toll-free. However, there are plans to introduce a fee for vehicles entering the GRA from highways. Maintenance costs are around 11 million per year. Its acronym was given after one of its main designers and supporters, Eugenio Gra, chairman of

ANAS ''Anas'' is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was s ...

, the Italian roads Authority, at the time of construction. The official number among the Italian motorways is A90, but is widely known by Romans as ''Il Raccordo'' ("The Junction").

History

Plans for an orbital road around Rome were proposed by the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. One of the designers' main purposes was to build the road as most equally distant as possible from the geographic centre of town, the Campidoglio, away from the motorway. Construction works started in 1948. The first section, Flaminia to Tiburtina (north-to-east section) opened in 1952, later extended in stages. The last section to be opened was the west-to-north section ( Aurelia to Flaminia), in 1970. Although the GRA was initially planned and built as a

single-carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a ...

road, it was soon clear that traffic was rapidly growing well beyond the expectations. Upgrade works to motorway standards started in late 1950s with first dual-carriageway, four-lane section (Salaria to Tuscolana) opened 1962. Further works were carried over throughout the 1970s, and by 1979, the remainder sections were upgraded to four-lane and the entire ring classified as toll-free highway. Upgrade works to 6-lane started in 1983 and were completed in stages throughout the 1990s and 2000s. As of April 2008 97% of the GRA was 6-lane with final sections (new tunnel under Via Cassia) opened 2011.

Timeline

* 1948: Building works began. * 1951: The Appia-Aurelia section is opened. * 1952: The Flaminia-Tiburtina section is opened. * 1955: The Tiburtina-Appia section is opened. * 1960: The road was part of the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

course of the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. * 1962: The lane number is doubled in Salaria-Tuscolana section * 1970: The Aurelia-Flaminia section is opened, the ring is completed. * 1979: GRA is now officially a highway. * 1983: Works to a 6-lane set begin. * 1997: 50% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane (2x3) set * 2000: 75% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane set * 2007: 97% of the GRA track is on a 6-lane set * 2011: End of works to the 6-lane set

Future expansion

It has been suggested that a second ring might be constructed in the future,L'ANAS vuole un secondo Raccordo Anulare
(in Italian) firstly as an attempt to alleviate congestion on the old one and secondly to offer access to a number of new industrial, commercial and residential zones built around it. Such a project would imply a new external ring-shaped orbital motorway of about , denominated NIA (Nuova infrastruttura anulare, "New ring infrastructure"), which would cost over €5 billion.

In popular culture

The road was the subject of the 2013 documentary film '' Sacro GRA'' which won the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

Trivia

Although the name ''GRA'' officially stands for ''Grande Raccordo Anulare'' ("Large Orbital Motorway"), the name was actually coined in order to make its acronym be the name of the head of the project, engineer Eugenio Gra.

References

Bibliography

* Marco Pietrolucci. ''La città del Grande Raccordo Anulare''. Gangemi Editore, 2012. {{Authority control Ring roads in Italy Transport in Rome Autostrade in Italy Rome Q. XXXI Giuliano-Dalmata Rome Q. XXX San Basilio Rome S. IX Aurelio Rome S. X Trionfale Rome S. VIII Gianicolense Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletics venues