Autoroute 1 (New Duveland)

This is an article related to the Commonwealth of New Duveland

A1 autoroute
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Route information
Length	5,350 kilometres (3,320 mi)
Existed	1965–present

Autoroute 1 (locally known as the A1 autoroute, or simply just the A1) is a network of highways that circumnavigate the mainland of New Duveland, connecting all mainland capital cities together. At a total length of approximately 5,500 km (3,400 mi), it is one of the longest national highways in the world. Over a million people traverse some part of the highway network every day.

History

Autoroute 1 was officially adopted after the unification of New Duveland in 1963, comprising of the existing provincial and local road and highway network at the time, and is the only route to reach across all mainland provinces of New Duveland. Under the original Autoroute 1 scheme, certain major traffic routes that ran parallel to the main route were designated National Route Alternative 1. Most of these route designations have been replaced by either a province route designation, or an alpha-numeric route designation, depending on which province the section is in.

The system in place was named after France's Autoroute network, but unlike the French version, Autoroute 1 lacks any tollways.

Route

Large sections of Autoroute 1 are shared with the New Duveland National Highway, though the two are not synonymous. Where they diverge, Autoroute 1 mostly follows a coastal route, such as the Taranui Highway from Millau to Espérance, whereas the National Highway follows generally more direct route between major cities, such as the Cashel Highway and Freeway from Tasbury to Lisburn.

Clockwise from Espérance's central business district, it heads southwards towards Millau via the Taranui Highway, passing through notable cities such as Loisieux, Grenoble and Pāpāmoa, and then westwards to Toulon via the Arriére Highway through the Arriére-Pays mountains to cross the Devereaux River over the longest bridge in the entire network at almost 6km long, the Pont de la Portesud, which acts as a border of Toulon's southern suburban sprawl. It then continues south passing through Lavenay, where it detours inland for a portion to bypass McKenzie's rocky north-east coast where the route used to run before rockslides closed it off in the early 200s. An inland route via Titanhi was selected, where it continues to Connacht and it's coastal route.

From Connacht, it continue south-east to Raoroa, before heading south-west inland towards Wicklow around the Paparahiki Plateau, where it continues south, largely following the McKenzie River towards the eastern suburbs of Lisburn, where it still follows the river's course before crossing to the west side once it passes the city's CBD. There, it continues south before heading west from Billis. It then makes it way to Cashel before crossing the Southern Tasman Ranges to the west coast of the mainland at Oaonui.

From Oanui, the A1 travels north-west towards Tasbury and crosses the Tasbury harbour over the iconic Koterataha Bridge, directly connecting to the city centre and tunnelling under Poroquay. Heading north this section becomes the most used portion of the network anywhere in the country, where it continues north-west up the Mahi Peninsula towards Macquarie and circumnavigates the entire Macquarie Peninsula. It then heads north, going inland after Shannon, towards Alexandria, and continues north-west before becoming coastal again after the Tapaera Lakes at the border with Tasman. Going north, it crosses through Plymouth over the city's iconic Fitzgerald Harbour Bridge over Fitzgerald Harbour, where it becomes one of the busiest in the network as well, directly connecting to the suburbs of Onario.

North from Onario, it skirts the edge of Georgetown, before going inland again to avoid the Kaupoi National Park and returns the coast again shortly after passing into Lapérouse and the largest city on the west coast of the province, Channais. This section of road becomes the most remote section in the entire network, with all other sections mentioned above being dual carriageways, this section known as L'autoroute du désert (The desert highway), and was the last of the network to be sealed. Travellers along this section are encouraged to bring at least 3 days worth of food & water, as well as additional fuel. This section continues until the continental divide at the Coulogne Mountains to Pontault.

Eastwards from Pontault, the route goes to it's northern-most extent, through the city of Évrard before quickly heading south again, where it continues the largely be coastal until reaching Saint-Magne, where it climbs over the northern-most reaches of the Northern Tasman Ranges to Korere, before finally heading back to Espérance via Valéry.

Road conditions

View south along L'autoroute du désert, about 27 km (17 mi) south of Léandry, north-west Lapérouse.

With such a vast length, road conditions vary greatly; from multi-lane freeways in populous urban and rural areas, to sealed two-laners in remote areas, such as Le Petit Désert Côtier, to single lane roads, such as in rural Lapérouse. Isolated roadhouses serving the small amount of passing traffic are often the only signs of human activity for hundreds of kilometres, with this particular section having een described as a "death trap", particularly two-lane sections due to driver fatigue. The vast distances between destinations and limited rest areas, especially those suitable to trucks, contribute to the problem.