Czech Roads - I/48 and E-462

I/48 (E-462)


All photos courtesy Michal Polák on this I (primary) class route, heading east from Frýdek-Místek to Dobrá.


I/48 eastbound at I/56 on the southeast side of Frýdek-Místek.


The westbound I/48 exit meets I/56 at a rotary, where the freeway commences north to Ostrava (well, the outskirts thereof - the freeway part of motoway D-47, a partial western beltway, does not quite meet the 56 freeway). The eastbound exits form half a cloverleaf (the whole interchange is only missing the northwest quadrant of ramps), and then for some distance to the south, I/56 is an arterial with mixed at-grade intersections and grade-separated interchanges. On the other side of Český Tęšín is Cieszyn, in Poland. Obviously, Tęšín (Czech) and Cieszyn (Poland) are pronounced about the same, but one is Czech (Český).


EB and WB at třída Tomáše Garrigue Masaryka (třída is Road, the rest is a name). "Mimo" means except, so buses get to be as heavy as they like, in metric tonnes even (heavier than your regular Imperial ton).


The onramp from třída Masaryka to I/48 WB, a typical interchange merge with ample sidewalks and less than ample pavement markings. The Czech Republic likes to merge two lanes into one - it even has its own non-European-standard sign for it.


Here, enjoy another freeway onramp, from třída Masaryka to I/48 EB. The yellow diamond gives control to the main road, while the ramp has one with a slash through it cropped out of this photo. Here you see the Czech standard for merge signs, somewhat below the US standards, but on the other hand the ramp gets a sign telling drivers they're about to merge.


Westbound now, entering the city with different-looking signs on opposite sides at the same point on the highway. It appears the median sign is newer.


I/48 EB at II/477, which does not use třída Masaryka, despite what Google says, but is in fact the next interchange to the east. Good luck reading the little white median signs at freeway speeds. Using the blue inside the green is not widespread in Europe; usually signs entirely match the color of the destination road, but here the origin road is mixed in. PL is Poland and SK is Slovakia, useful for foreigners who may be looking for their home country and wouldn't recognize it in Czech.


The westbound gore sign is the only one at the interchange that's all blue, and then you get a taste of roundabout signage on the exit ramp. As is typical in other European countries, roads without route numbers have destinations in black-on-white.


EB signage up to a newly signed exit and the first exit number photo I've seen on I/48, at III/4733. WB signage is similar. 4733 isn't signed here, since (II?)/648 is a much more important road. Notice the Czech-style sound walls and rumble strips in the first photo, the common autoroute/freeway symbol in the centered exit tab, and the I/48 distance sign on the exit ramp. My intuition says that for a time, the freeway ended here, and I/48 headed over to 648 (which is either a I or a II route, definitely not a III) which was its old surface alignment.


III/4733 SB at that interchange. Even though E-462 gives the distance signs for the freeway a green color, the I/48 shield is still blue. I'm not sure I agree with that practice, but as long as the Czech Republic is consistent, I can't fault them.


Some numbered route, but I don't know which because Google Maps won't tell me (so it's probably a II or III class route), just south of I/48 at what clearly is the original route (I/48 here, like I/56, is an arterial with mixed intersections and interchanges). First photo northbound and second southbound (with old signs even!), east of Dobrá. Except for the white stripes, their turn bays are similar to those in the United States. The arrows are similar to other parts of Europe, except the top-mounted arrow is a unique concept.

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