Provincial road N34 is a Dutch provincial road that links the N36 near

Ommen Ommen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in the Vechte, Vecht valley of the Salland region in Overijssel. Historical records first name Ommen in ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

to Rijksweg 28 near

De Punt De Punt is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Tynaarlo, and lies about 11 km south of Groningen. The village closely cooperates with Yde and they are often referred to as Yde-De Punt, however both ...

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

. The entire road is an expressway, of which the part between

Coevorden Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...

and Emmen-West (the junction with the N391) consists of two lanes in each direction.

Route description

The N34 starts in the north in De Punt where it cuts off from the A28 in the province

and ends in the south in

where it continues as the R105 in the province of

. At the White Pole between Ommen and

Hardenberg Hardenberg (; or '' 'n Arnbarg'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, Eastern Netherlands. The municipality of ...

, the N36 crosses the N34. At the grade-separated Interchange Holsloot, the A37 crosses the N34, also the N33 crosses the N34 with roads that are grade-separated. In Drenthe the N34 is also known as the Hunebed Highway, because of the many hunebeds near the N34. They even have signs suggesting an American Interstate. The most important cities alongside the N34 are Ommen,

, Coevorden, Emmen, Borger,

Gieten Gieten is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 14 km east of Assen. History The village was first mentioned in 1223 as Geten. The etymology is unclear. Gieten is an ''es ...

Annen Annen is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Located in the municipality of Aa en Hunze, it lies about 12 km (7.4 mi) northeast of Assen. History The village was first mentioned in 1309 as Anne. The etymology is unknown. Annen is an ...

and

Zuidlaren Zuidlaren ( Noordenvelds: ''Zuudlaoren'') is a village in the province of Drenthe in the Northern Netherlands. Zuidlaren has just over 10,000 inhabitants and is situated on natural heightened land which is called the Hondsrug. The village is part ...

History and future

The route of the N34 has a steeped history. There has been a road for centuries that connects the same locations as the N34 does. This is mainly because a large part of the road is located on the

Hondsrug image:Hoogstraatje RA.JPG, 300px, The Hoogstraatje in Groningen (province), Groningen, the northernmost hill of the Hondsrug The Hondsrug () is a Dutch ridge of sand that is mainly located in the province Drenthe and partly in the province Gronin ...

. This ridge crossed above the swamps that were on either side, and habitation was mainly concentrated on the Hondsrug. In 2010 the N34 was rerouted around Ommen to reduce the traffic load in the city and the hamlet of Hoogengraven; the road used to go through Ommen. The interchange with the N33 used to be a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

, but because this is the provincial road with the most accidents by date and especially that crossing,

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry ...

decided to make it a grade-separated interchange; this also resulted in a better flow of traffic. Because the N34 is known as a dangerous road (a dodenweg in Dutch) a lot of changes were made over the last few years. Crossings were adjusted so the N34 has no more same-level-junctions anymore. From Ommen to Coevorden it is prohibited to overtake for 18 kilometer as part to make the road more safe. The N34 used to run to the town center of Ommen, but now ends a couple of kilometres east of the town. The original route was downgraded into a recreational route, and traffic now has to use the new northward extension of the N36 to get around Ommen. Because the road is an important road between bigger cities/towns in the eastern part of the Netherlands, where Enschede, Hengelo, Almelo, Vriezenveen, Ommen, Hardenberg, Coevorden, Emmen, Borger and Groningen are connected with each other, the both provinces want to double the road on four places to discourage an overtake and ease the traffic. At least the part between Coevorden-Noord and Emmen (where the N34 meets the N381) will be doubled before 2022.

Junction and exit list

References

{{Provincial roads in the Netherlands 34 34 34