- Greek National Road 12
.
Information
The highway starts in downtown
Thessaloniki and runs diagonally to the northeast. It forms an interchange with theThessaloniki Bypass (GR-2). It forms a joint and withVia Egnatia in the superhighway section. For 10 km, it is the older road of the superhighway, it enters theKilkis Prefecture and the northwesternVertiskos mountains. The highway passes throughLachanas after reentering and exits the prefecture. It enters theSerres Prefecture along with theStrymon as valley. It passes nearStrymoniko and bypassesSerres , after, forms a junction with the GR-63 and passes throughNea Zichni and up to the highway connecting withAmfipoli . It enters a valley area and passes into the city of Drama and for several kilometres is a joint with the GR-61. It enters a mountainous area for several kilometres after passingNestos River and entersThrace . The highway ends inXanthi .A stretch from Serres to Sidirokastro is a superhighway that is also numbered GR-63, the numbering system is not in use.
History
The highway was first paved in the 1920s and the 1930s and was not fully paved until the 1950s. Between the 1990s and 2004, the southern and the northern sections became a superhighway and will not be fully complete until as early as 2012. The superhighway will feature more tunnels. The superhighway is nearly aligned with a high speed rail connecting
Bulgaria andCentral Europe .Places and Junctions
*
Thessaloniki
*Thessaloniki Bypass (GR-2, GR-16 and the GR-67
*Junctions with the old and the new GR-2 or the Via Egnatia
*Road toLagkana
*Lachana
*Road toStrymoniko
*Serres Bypass ?
*Road to Chryso
*Nea Zichni
*Second junction with the GR-63 (Amfipoli - Serres -Sidirokastro -Bulgaria n border)
*Drama
*First and second junctions with the GR-61 (Kavala - Drama -Orvelos )
*Bridge over theNestos
*Xanthi
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.