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Enlargement to 3rd lane
for the A14 motorway
Bologna - Bari - Taranto,
Cattolica-Fano Section

The project forms part of the upgrading of the A14 Bologna-Bari-Taranto motorway between Rimini North and Porto S. Elpidio, which includes the enlargement from 2 to 3 lanes (plus an emergency lane) for a total length of 154.7 km. Although the overall characteristics of the motorway are satisfactory to carry the normal traffic flows, they are inadequate during the summer months, and it was for this reason that it was decided to carry out the works for enlargement to a 3rd lane.

The design alignment in the Cattolica - Fano section remains, wherever possible, next to the current route, with a symmetrical enlargement of the carriageway. In some sections, in the presence of geotechnical problems, major consolidation works, or where it is close to urban areas, it was decided to enlarge to just one side of the carriageway. There are also some changes to tight bends, in order to increase the radius of curvature and thereby improve the performance of the current motorway alignment, which was designed at the start of the 1960s.

The following criteria were adopted in the design for the enlargement to the 3rd lane in the section in question:

	minimise the impact on the existing roads and towns from the enlargement to the 3rd lane
	use as much as possible the existing carriageway, in order to reduce the environmental and economic impact of the works
	avoid instability problems linked to the geotechnical characteristics and the geomorphological problems of the territory crossed
	guarantee at least two lanes in each traffic direction during execution of the works.