Grande Raccordo Anulare

'Great ring junction') or GRA is a ring-shaped autostrada (Italian for "motorway") 68.2 kilometres (42.4 mi) long in Italy located in the region of Lazio that encircles Rome.

Its acronym was given after one of its main designers and supporters, Eugenio Gra, chairman of Anas, the Italian roads Authority, at the time of construction.

One of the designers' main purposes was to build the road as most equally distant as possible from the geographic centre of town, the Campidoglio, 11.4 kilometres (7.1 mi) away from the motorway.

It has been suggested that a second ring might be constructed in the future,[2] firstly as an attempt to alleviate congestion on the old one and secondly to offer access to a number of new industrial, commercial and residential zones built around it.

Such a project would imply a new external ring-shaped orbital motorway of about 120 kilometres (75 mi), denominated NIA (Nuova infrastruttura anulare, "New ring infrastructure"), which would cost over €5 billion.

Map of the Grande Raccordo Anulare
Grande Raccordo Anulare in the 1950s
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Fiumicino exit
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Isola Farnese
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Via Anagnina exit
Grande Raccordo Anulare near Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia exit