European route E 59 is a north-south Class-A intermediate

European route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central ...

. It begins in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, passes through

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, ending near

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The total length of the route is . The E59 largely consists of

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s but some sections are developed either as expressways or two-

lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in eac ...

roads with

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ar ...

s. The motorway sections are generally tolled through varying systems and rates. Individual segments of the E59 route are shared with several other European routes. Originally, the route extended through

Bihać Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, Croatia.

Route description

Route of the E59 starts in

, and proceeds southeast along the D1 motorway towards

Jihlava Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihla ...

, where it leaves the motorway and turns south along the route 38, a regular road comprising

s. The route passes near Moravské Budějovice and

Znojmo Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...

. It crosses from the Czech Republic to

between Chvalovice and Haugsdorf as it switches to Austrian B303 state road, representing another two-lane road with at-grade intersections. North of Guntersdorf, the E59 transfers to the S3 expressway until it reaches

Stockerau Stockerau () is a town in the district of Korneuburg (district), Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria. Stockerau has 16,974 inhabitants, which makes it the largest town in the Weinviertel. Stockerau is also called "Lenaustadt" (Lenau Town) because ...

and the A22 which carries the E59 east to

. Within the city, the E59 turns south once again in

Donaustadt Donaustadt (; "Danube City") is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria (). Donaustadt is the easternmost district of Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpagestatistik.at-23450. Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). Geography The Donaustadt ...

, transferring to the A23 taking it to the southern outskirts of the city. There it proceeds further south along the A2 motorway taking the route past

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

to the city of

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. Graz itself is bypassed by the motorway and the E59 switches there to the A9 motorway marking the final southbound leg of the E59 through Austria until it reaches

Spielfeld Spielfeld ( Slovene: ''Špilje'') is a former municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Straß in Steiermark. It was an Austria-Slovenia ...

/ Šentilj border crossing to

. South of the border crossing the E59 route follows the Slovenian A1 motorway to the south of

where the E59 leaves the A1 route and joins the A4 taking it to Gruškovje/

Macelj Macelj () is a location in northern Croatia bordering on Slovenia, encompassing a hilly forest and several villages. There is an official border crossing in Macelj, and the end of the A2 highway. The villages are administratively divided into G ...

border crossing to

. South of the border, the E59 follows Croatian A2 motorway running past

Krapina Krapina (; ) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region of Croatia ...

. The E59 terminates at Jankomir interchange of the

Zagreb bypass Zagreb bypass () is a U-shaped motorway partially encircling Zagreb, Croatia. The largest part by far, between Jankomir and Ivanja Reka interchanges, was built between 1977 and 1979, while the Ivanja Reka – Sveta Helena section was built betw ...

, where southbound E59 traffic defaults to the eastbound A3 motorway. Originally the E59 extended further south past Zagreb, to

and

at the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

coast, however, that segment of the route was subsequently transferred to the European route E71. Nonetheless, the E59 shares segments of the route with a number of other

s. A part of the E59 spanning Prague and Vienna corresponds to the Pan-European Corridor IV, and the segment spanning Graz and Zagreb corresponds to the

Pan-European Corridor Xa The Corridor Xa is a branch of the Pan-European Corridor X. It runs north–south between the cities of Graz and Zagreb through three countries: Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The road route of Corridor Xa is concurrency (road), concurrent with ...

Toll

Various sections of the E59 are tolled, using a range of toll collection systems. In Czech Republic, vehicles exceeding using the D1 motorway are charged toll using an

electronic toll collection Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or Road pricing, toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing Tol ...

(ETC) system, while other vehicles are required to have a

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

displayed. The same applies to Austrian motorways. Slovenia has a similar system in place, although vehicles exceeding the weight limit are provided with a number of payment options. The Croatian A2 is also a tolled motorway, using a

ticket system A ticket system, also known as a closed toll collection system, is a system used on some toll roads in which a user pays a toll rate based on the distance traveled from their originating entrance to their destination exit. The correct toll is d ...

. As of August 2011, the toll charged along the A2 route between various toll plazas at each motorway exit and two mainline toll plazas, varies depending on the length of route travelled and the vehicle classification in Croatia. The toll is payable in either Croatian kuna or euros and by major credit and debit cards. A prepaid toll collection system is also used.

History

UNECE was formed in 1947, and their first major act to improve transportation was a joint UN declaration no. 1264, the Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries, signed in Geneva on September 16, 1950, which defined the first E-road network. This declaration was amended several times before November 15, 1975, when it was replaced by the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries or "AGR", which set up a route numbering system and improved standards for roads in the list. The AGR went through several changes, with the last one, as of 2011, in 2008. Reorganization of the E-roads network of 1975 and 1983 redefined the E71 designation previously associated with

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

–

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

–

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

road and assigned it to Košice–Budapest–Zagreb route. The same documents assigned the Zagreb–Bihać–Split section to the E59, as the E71 terminated in Zagreb at the time, however, the most recent revision of the E-network truncated the E59 in Zagreb, and transferred its former southern leg to the E71, shortening the E59 considerably.

Concurrencies

{, class="wikitable" , - , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , Country , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , km , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , Route , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , Control
cities , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , Connecting
routes , align=center bgcolor=#f2f2f2 , Notes , - , rowspan=2 ,

, 0-114 , style="align=center , D1 ,

, R1
19
34 , Northbound E59 traffic leaving the segment defaults to Brněnská Street in Prague. Southbound E59 traffic leaves the D1 motorway at exit 112A. This segment is concurrent with the E50 and the E65 routes.
The northernmost segment of the route. , - , nowrap=yes, 114-209 , style="align=center , 38 , Jihlava

, 23
53 , Regular road with

s. , - , rowspan=6 ,

, 209-234 , style="align=center , B303 , Haugsdorf
Guntersdorf , B45 , Regular road with at-grade intersections. , - , 234-255 , style="align=center , S3 , Guntersdorf

, B4
B40 , Expressway , - , 255-285 , style="align=center , A22 , Stockerau

, S1
B8 , Southbound E59 traffic leaving the segment switches from the A22 to the A23 at Kaisermühlen interchange
This segment is concurrent with the E49. , - , 285-296 , style="align=center , A23 , Vienna , A4 , Northbound E59 traffic leaving the segment switches to the A22 at Kaisermühlen interchange.
Southbound E59 traffic leaving the segment switches to the A2 at Inzersdorf interchange. , - , 296-481 , style="align=center , A2 , Vienna

, A3
A21
S4
S6 , Southbound E59 traffic leaving the segment transfers to the A9 at Graz-West interchange.
Northbound E59 traffic leaving the segment transfers to the A23 at Inzersdorf interchange.
A part of this segment, between Fürstenfeld and Graz is concurrent with the E66. , - , 481-522 , style="align=center , A9 , Graz

, B70 , Northbound E59 traffic leaves the A9 at Graz-West interchange.
This segment is concurrent with the E57. , - , rowspan=2 ,

, 522-548 , style="align=center , A1 , Šentilj

, A5 , Southbound E59 leaves the A1 at Maribor jug interchange.
This segment is concurrent with the E57. , - , 548-583 , style="align=center , A4 , Maribor
Gruškovje , 2 , - ,

, 583-644 , style="align=center , A2 ,

, A3
D205
D307 , Southbound E59 traffic leaving the segment defaults to eastbound A3 ( E70) at Jankomir interchange of the

.
The southernmost segment of the route.

References

External links

UN Economic Commission for Europe: Overall Map of E-road Network (2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:European Route E59 59 E059 E059 E059 E059