A7 motorway (Netherlands)

Location of the A7 motorway in the Netherlands.

The A7 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands connecting Zaandam, via the Afsluitdijk, Sneek and Groningen to the German border near Bad Nieuweschans. The entire road is part of the European route E22, with exception of the first kilometre, between the terminus in Zaandam and the interchange Zaandam. With a length of 236 km it is the longest motorway in the Netherlands.

Motorway interruptions

The motorway A7 is interrupted twice:

• Around Sneek, the road is 'demoted' to a highway for several kilometres, and includes some at-grade intersections.
• Also around the city of Groningen it is demoted over a distance of several kilometres, mainly for the at-grade intersection with motorway A28, and for the road's small alignment through the city in general.

Both of the abovementioned sections are denoted as 'N7', to distinguish those parts from the motorway, for which the 'A' designation is used in the Netherlands. The A7 together with the N7 is called the Rijksweg 7.

Westbound A7 near Groningen.

Interruption of the A7 in Groningen.

Speed limit experiment

As of March 2011, on a section of the A7 motorway motorists are allowed to drive at 130 km/h, instead of the normal country wide maximum of 120 km/h. This is a government test to investigate if driving at these higher speeds has an effect on environment and safety. If the test results positively, more motorways in the Netherlands will have a higher speed limit.

Afsluitdijk

The A7 runs along a historic part of Dutch engineering, the Afsluitdijk. This dam was originally created to protect a large coastal line from floods, by creating a large fresh water lake. The road over the Afsluitdijk was previously an N road, but is now a proper motorway.

Exit list

Province	Municipality	km.	#	Name	Roads	Notes
North Holland	Zaanstad	4		Zaandam		Terminus at roundabout in Zaandam.
		5		Interchange Zaandam	A8
		7	2	Zaandijk		For Zaanse Schans
	Wormerland	11	3	Wijdewormer
	Purmerend	14	4	Purmerend-South	N235
		15	5	Purmerend
		17	6	Purmerend-North	N244
	Koggenland	29	7	Avenhorn/Hoorn-West	N243, N247
	Hoorn	32	8	Hoorn
		34	9	Hoorn-North	N302
	Medemblik	36	10	Wognum	N241
		39	10a	Abbekerk
		43	11	Medemblik	N239
	Wieringermeer	50	12	Middenmeer	N242
		55	13	Wieringerwerf	N240, N248
	Wieringen	64	14	Den Oever	N99
Afsluitdijk
Friesland	Súdwest Fryslân	97	-	Kornwerderzand
		101		Interchange Zurich	A31
		101	15	Zurich
		105	16	Witmarsum
		110	17	Bolsward-North	N359
		112	18	Bolsward-East
		115	19	Nijland
		Gap in motorway A7; the road continues as highway N7 as follows:
		118	20	Sneek-West
		119	21	Sneek-South	N354
		119	21a	Sneek-Woudvaart		Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
		120	22	Sneek-East
		The road continues as motorway A7 as follows:
	Skarsterlân	133	23	Joure-West
		136		Interchange Joure	A6
		140	25	Oudehaske
	Heerenveen	142	26	Heerenveen-West		Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
		144		Interchange Heerenveen	A32
		147	26a	Tjalleberd
	Opsterland	152	27	Gorredijk
		158	28	Beetsterzwaag
	Smallingerland	161	29	Drachten-Centrum		Centrum means (town) centre
		165	30	Oosterwolde	N381
		165	30a	Drachten	N31
	Opsterland	170	31	Frieschepalen	N358
Groningen	Marum	176	32	Marum
		180	33	Boerakker	N388
	Leek	184	34	Leek	N372
	Groningen	191	34a	Westpoort (Groningen)
		193	35	Hoogkerk	N372
		196	36	Ring Groningen-West	N370
		Gap in motorway A7; the road continues as highway N7 as follows:
		196	36a	Martini hospital		Westbound exit only (Martini hospital accessible from other directions via 36)
		197		Intersection Julianaplein	A28
		198	37	Helpman
		198	37a	Oosterpoort		Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
		199	38	Europaplein
		204		Interchange Euvelgunne	N46
		205	39	Westerbroek
		The road continues as motorway A7 as follows:
	Hoogezand-Sappemeer	213	40	Foxhol	N386
		215	41	Hoogezand	N387
		218	42	Sappemeer
	Menterwolde	222	43	Zuidbroek
		224	44	Noordbroek	N33
	Scheemda	230	45	Scheemda	N362
		232	46	Heiligerlee
	Winschoten	240	47	Winschoten	N367
	Bellingwedde	246	48	Oudeschans
	Reiderland	251	49	Bad Nieuweschans
Border with Germany; this road continues as the German A280.