, heading south towards the Apennines. at
Gravellona Toce The A26 begins from the Genoese town of
Pra', which lies on the coast to the west of the city centre. (Note that the gate of Pra' is still wrongly named "Voltri", nevertheless, Voltri has anything to do with the motorway gate and that the City of Genova has formally asked for the change of its name in "Gate of Pra' "). It crosses the Apennines at the
Passo del Turchino (532m) and passes through
Ovada. Near Castelferro (
frazione of
Predosa) an eastern branch, the Autostrada A26/A7, provides links to
Novi Ligure and to the
Autostrada A7 (Genoa –
Milan) which it joins near
Spineto Scrivia, to the south of
Tortona. The A26 continues northwards until near
Alessandria there is an interchange with the
Autostrada A21 (
Turin –
Brescia). The road crosses the
Po River just east of
Casale Monferrato. South of
Vercelli a western branch, the
Autostrada A4/26, provides a connection to the
Autostrada A4 (Turin –
Trieste) near
Santhià, and continues as the
Autostrada A4/A5 to the
Autostrada A5 (Turin – Aosta – Monte Bianco) which it joins at
Pavone Canavese, just south of
Ivrea. Further north, between
Greggio and
Biandrate Vicolungo to the west of
Novara, the A26 intersects with the
Autostrada A4 (Turin – Trieste), and at
Sesto Calende with the
Autostrada A8. The road passes close to
Romagnano Sesia and
Ghemme where there is an exit for the
Valsesia. It proceeds north-east and follows the shore of
Lago Maggiore with exits for
Arona,
Brovello-Carpugnino,
Baveno -
Stresa,
Verbania and
Gravellona Toce. From here the continues the route northwards, initially as a
superstrada (a form of expressway), to
Domodossola and then via the
Val Divedro to the
Swiss border, affording access to the
Simplon Pass.
A7/A26 Bettole-Predosa connection The
Autostrada A7/A26 Diramazione Bettole-Predosa (
A7/A26) is a 17 km motorway which links the A26 near
Predosa with the
Autostrada A7 near Bettole (a
frazione of
Pozzolo Formigaro). The entire autostrada is within the
Province of Alessandria. Its sole exit is for
Novi Ligure and it provides a convenient means of access to both the A7 and the A26 from that town.
A4/A26 Stroppiana-Santhià connection The
Autostrada A4/A26 Diramazione Stroppiana-Santhià (A4/A26) is a 32 km motorway which links the A26 near
Stroppiana with the
Autostrada A4 near
Santhià. It forms part of the 1,547 km
European route E25 which connects
Hook of Holland in the
Netherlands to
Palermo in
Sicily. The layout of the road is level with two lanes in each direction.
A8/A26 Gallarate-Gattico connection The
Autostrada A8/A26 Diramazione Gallarate-Gattico (A8/A26) is a motorway which connects the A26 near
Gattico with the
Autostrada A8 near
Gallarate. It forms part of the 1,290 km
European route E62 which connects
Nantes in western
France to
Genova. The road was built to provide a route for traffic from
Domodossola and the
Simplon Pass to
Milan and thence to the parts of the peninsula to the east of the Apennines. It has two lanes in each direction from Gallarate to
Sesto Calende and three from Sesto Calende to Gattico. == See also ==