In the past, the motorway A2 was interrupted at one location, near Maastricht. This section was referred to as N2, to make a distinction between the motorway and the non-motorway.
The N2 through Maastricht
Until recently, the motorway A2 was interrupted between the interchanges Kruisdonk and Europaplein through Maastricht. This road section was built as a highway with several at-grade intersections with traffic lights. In December 2016 the Koning Willem-Alexandertunnel was opened traffic, a 4-lane tunnel built in two layers, which put an end to this situation.
The N2 around Eindhoven
The beltway around the city of Eindhoven, the so-called Randweg between the interchanges Ekkersweijer and Leenderheide, uses a system of local-express lanes. The inner two lanes do not have any exits, so it is exclusively for express traffic passing the city of Eindhoven; it is considered a motorway with a maximum speed of. The outer two lanes are used by vehicles to and from Eindhoven and the neighbouring towns. It does not meet theDutch standards of a motorway, and has a maximum speed of. These outer lanes have road number N2, to distinguish the local lanes from the express lanes.
History
Other reconstruction projects
The A2 motorway was subject to multiple reconstruction projects. Next to the project around Eindhoven, as described above, the A2 was being rebuilt at the following locations:
Amsterdam - Utrecht
Between interchanges Holendrecht and Oudenrijn, the road has been widened from six to ten lanes. It has enough space to expand the road to fourteen lanes. Near the city of Utrecht, a system of local-express lanes has been applied, with the inner three lanes serving express traffic, and the outer two lanes serving local traffic. Unlike the situation near Eindhoven, the motorway status is maintained for local lanes, which means that all ten lanes will keep the name A2.
Between interchanges Oudenrijn and Everdingen, the A2 was expanded to 2x4 lanes. Between interchanges Everdingen and Deil, the road is widened from four to eight lanes ; the section between interchanges Deil and Empel was expanded from four to six lanes.
's-Hertogenbosch beltway
The A2 around the city of 's-Hertogenbosch was rebuilt similarly to the future situation near Utrecht. However, there are only just four express lanes, instead of the six near Utrecht, so the road has 4x2 lanes.
's-Hertogenbosch - Eindhoven
Since both the 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven beltways were finished in 2009, a new bottleneck appeared between both cities. The motorway has only 2x2 lanes while both beltways are having twice the capacity. Construction of expanding this section to 2x3 lanes started on December 13, 2011.
