Greek National Road 12

The Greek National Road 12 (short or common GR-12 and the Thessaloniki - Serres - Drama - Xanthi Road) is a highway or route that links the towns and cities of Thessaloniki, Lachanas, Serres Drama and Xanthi. The entire stretch of highway is the E85. It serves traffic north to the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia and runs up to 30 km north of the Via Egnatia.

Information
The highway starts in downtown Thessaloniki and runs diagonally to the northeast. It forms an interchange with the Thessaloniki Bypass (GR-2). It forms a joint and with Via Egnatia in the superhighway section. For 10 km, it is the older road of the superhighway, it enters the Kilkis Prefecture and the northwestern Vertiskos mountains. The highway passes through Lachanas after reentering and exits the prefecture. It enters the Serres Prefecture along with the Strymonas valley. It passes near Strymoniko and bypasses Serres, after, forms a junction with the GR-63 and passes through Nea Zichni and up to the highway connecting with Amfipoli. 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 passing Nestos River and enters Thrace. The highway ends in Xanthi.

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 and Central 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 to Lagkana
 * Lachana
 * Road to Strymoniko
 * Serres Bypass?
 * Road to Chryso
 * Nea Zichni
 * Second junction with the GR-63 (Amfipoli - Serres - Sidirokastro - Bulgarian border)
 * Drama
 * First and second junctions with the GR-61 (Kavala - Drama - Orvelos)
 * Bridge over the Nestos
 * Xanthi