# [FIN] Finland | road infrastructure • Moottoritiet



## geogregor

mojaBL said:


> crash barriers on this new section are so shiny


We should let know Radi


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## Qtya

geogregor said:


> We should let know Radi


I think Radi is the most popular forumer on SSC! :lol:


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## DanielFigFoz

Very nice!


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## EszettRocks

E18 construction works in October:


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## RV

Most important current motorway plans in Finland:

National road 1/E 18 Muurla-Lohja (under construction, 51,5 Km)
National road 3/E 12 Tampere western ring road (under construction, 21 Km)
National road 6 Lappeenranta-Imatra (construction starting, 48 Km)
National road 4 Kemi bypass (construction starting, 17,9 Km)
National road 7 Koskenkylä-Kotka (construction planned to begin in 2008 or 2009, 56 Km)
National road 7 Hamina bypass (construction planned to begin in 2008 or in 2009, 15 Km)
National road 7 Hamina-Russian border (construction planned to begin in 2012 or 2013, 30 Km)
Road 51 Kivenlahti (Espoo)-Kirkkonummi (construction will start in 2010, 10 Km)
National road 6 Taavetti-Lappeenranta (planned, 30 Km)


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## EszettRocks

Some E18 construction work pictures from November:









These kind of trees are needed because of the Flying Squirrels in the area, so that they can cross the street safely









Some paved streets in Muurla. Lakiamäki tunnel in the background









These should shine more









Karnainen tunnel and the bridges of Sepänniemensalmi









Eastern entrance of the Lehmihaka tunnel

Some more pictures can be found here: http://e18.pp-viestinta.fi/tyokuvat_1107.html


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## RV

Some pics from Kulosaari bridge (Road 170 near Helsinki city center):

http://www.seisake.net/kuva.php?id=1232&kat=u&kat2=2007-08-29&s=
http://www.seisake.net/kuva.php?id=1241&kat=u&kat2=2007-08-29&s=
http://www.seisake.net/kuva.php?id=1242&kat=u&kat2=2007-08-29&s=
http://www.seisake.net/kuva.php?id=1255&kat=u&kat2=2007-08-29&s=
http://www.seisake.net/kuva.php?id=1268&kat=u&kat2=2007-08-29&s=


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## RV

Verso said:


> Hehe, I know, but I'm more interested in continuous motorway from Helsinki up north. ATM it ends by Heinola, if you follow the E75 (the main road Helsinki - Oulu) or in Tampere, if you follow the E12 and E63 at the end (this one ends up more northerly than E75 though).



Sadly E75 from Heinola to Jyväskylä es being upgraded only to 2+1-road. From Jyväskylä to Äänekoski (about 40 Km north from Jyväskylä) E75 will be upgraded to motorway in the future. The by-pass of Oulu on E75 will be upgraded to 2x3 lanes in the future. Form Kemi to Tornio the road is being built as a motorway. In the future Rovaniemi by-pass well be built as a motorway-standard 2x2 road.

E12 is motorway from Helsinki to Tampere. Projects on E12:

-E12 from Kehä I to Kehä III will be expanded to 2x3 with bus lanes (3. car lanes are needed, tell that to politicians)
-E12 from Kehä III to Nurmijärvi (~ 10 Km) will be soon upgraded to 2x3 and some sections 2x4
-E12 through Hämeenlinna city center could be upgraded to 2x3 in the future
-E12 from Lempäälä to Tampere will have about 70000 cars/24 h by 2025, so it could be expanded to 2x3 on that section in the future
-E12 Tampere western by-pass Tampere-Pirkkala-Nokia-Ylöjärvi (21 Km) is being upgraded to motorway
-E12 from Ylöjärvi to Hämeenkyrö (30-40 Km) will be upgraded to motorway in the future
-E12 Laihia-Helsingby (Vaasa), ~20 Km, will be upgraded to motorway in the future

E18 projects:

-E18 Turku ringroad is from National road 10 to National road 1 junctions a low-quality 2-lane road. In the future it will be upgraded to motorway standars from National road 10 to National road 1 and from National road 1 to road 110 (this part is not E18)
-E18 from Muurla to Lohja (51,5 Km) is very low cuality 2-lane road. It is being upgraded to motorway, and the road is expected to be finished in november 2008. It will be a unique road in Finland, because it will have 7 tunnels. The longest of them will be 2,2 Km long.
-E18/National road 1 from National road 2 junction to Ring road I (~30 Km) will be upgraded to 2x3 lanes
-E18 Ring road III will be upgraded to 2x3 lanes city motorway first from Vantaankoski to airport and later from Vanhakartano to Vantaankoski (~15 Km). The project would had started in 2005, but ministers from other parts of Finland don´t like to give money to Helsinki projects
-E18 Ring road III will be upgraded from NR 4/E75 to NR 7/E18 to 2x3. The 2 remaining trafficlight-grade intersections will be upgraded to grade-separated junctions
-E18 Koskenkylä-Kotka (56 Km) will be upgraded to motorway before 2015
-E18 Hamina by-pass (15 Km) will be constructed as a motorway before 2015
-E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa/Russian border (40 Km) will be upgraded to motorway before 2015


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## SmarterChild

Wow, Im jealous - we never get any new 2x4 or even 2x3 highways in Sweden!  How long is the finnish mway network and is there any maps available of the current and future network?


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## BMXican

EszettRocks said:


> http://e18.pp-viestinta.fi/kuvat/marras_07_07.jpg
> These kind of trees are needed because of the Flying Squirrels in the area, so that they can cross the street safely


:lol: awesome! interesting thread


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## RV

SmarterChild said:


> Wow, Im jealous - we never get any new 2x4 or even 2x3 highways in Sweden!  How long is the finnish mway network and is there any maps available of the current and future network?


Actually, Finland has very few 2x3 sections comparing to the need of them. That´s because of the politicians, that don´t want to give any money to the cities. So nearly all the money goes to the countryside. An example:

Karjaa 2-lane by-pass will serv 3000 cars a day. It costs 10 millions. Under construction.

Motorway Espoo-Kirkkonummi. It has been planned for years. The traffic on this 2-lane section with grade intersections is nearly 30 000 cars/day. Upgrading was planned to start next year, but Agrarian Party´s traffic minister decided that construction will begin in 2010.

Photo of normal traffic on this road:









Another example: Ring road III upgrade to 2x3 city motorway with grade.separated junctions was planned to start in 2005. It´s daily traffic is 92 000 cars. It´s a 2x2 bad cuality road with traffic lights. Vantaa city has asked very many times for money to this project, but the answer of the government has always been negative.

The lenght of finnish motorway network is only 700 Km. By 2020 it will be about 1000 Km.

Another project of E75 is upgrading to 2x4 from Helsinki to Porvoo motorway and to 2x3 from Porvoo motorway to Koivukylänväylä (2 km north of Ring III)


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## ChrisZwolle

Northern Finland (E75)


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## wyqtor

Interesting - I didn't know Finland uses yellow markings on regular 2-lane roads.

As far as I know, this is discouraged in the EU for some reason (but I like them more ). How come Finland kept them?


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## Mateusz

I really like this landscape  Roads between lakes


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## Verso

wyqtor said:


> Interesting - I didn't know Finland uses yellow markings on regular 2-lane roads.
> 
> As far as I know, this is discouraged in the EU for some reason (but I like them more ). How come Finland kept them?


Indeed, didn't the EU ask us to have white markings only? Anyway, it's a very decent road (at least the part on the pix) and lovely landscape.


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## Rebasepoiss

^^I've driven around in Finland quite a lot and haven't seen even one highway in poor condition.


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## RV

Vuosaari road tunnel on ring road III, end of january (pics by Matti Grönroos)


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## Dan

wyqtor said:


> Interesting - I didn't know Finland uses yellow markings on regular 2-lane roads.
> 
> As far as I know, this is discouraged in the EU for some reason (but I like them more ). How come Finland kept them?


Hehe, it's neat...on many road pictures the yellow is about the only thing that helps you distinguish it from Swedish roads. The scenery is often virtually the same, as are the actual road signs (yellow background instead of white in both Sweden and Finland unlike in virtually all of Europe). The only main difference between the two countries are the overhead signs with exits, etc., which have different styles.


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## RV

This year Finland opens ~ 65 Km of motorways:

- E18 Muurla-Lohja (51,5 Km)
- E12 Tampere western by-pass, part 2 (~ 15 Km)

An interesting thing is how on National road 6 there are so many motorway projects, that it seems that the whole road will be motorway from Pernaja (near Porvoo) to east of Imatra.

Road 6 projects:

- Road 6 through Kouvola: 15 Km, consists of upgrading the existent road through the city of Kouvola to motorway standards
- Road 6 from eastern Kouvola to Kaipiainen: 21 Km
- Road 6 from Taavetti to Lappeenranta: 30 Km
- Road 6 from Lappeenranta to Imatra: 48 Km, under construction
- Road 6 from Imatra to Ruokolahti: 10 Km, built in 1997

After this projects will be built, there will be some little pieces of the road that will be stil 2x1, and it seems to be probable that they will also be upgraded to motorway standards:

Koskenkylä-Kouvola (50 Km)
Kaipiainen-Taavetti (20 Km)


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## Dan

How much km-age is Finland currently working on (or starting this year) other than the two opening this year?


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## RV

Dan1113 said:


> How much km-age is Finland currently working on (or starting this year) other than the two opening this year?


Starting:

Road 4 Kemi by-pass (17,9 Km)
Road 6 Lappeenranta-Imatra (48 Km)
Road 51 Kivenlahti-Kirkkonummi (MAYBE, if agrarian traffic minister wants to give monet to southern Finland, 10/15 Km)
Ring road I in Leppävaara, upgrading to 2x3 and rebuilding interchanges


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## Dan

Kiitos.  Another more random question: from what I saw, one of the ring roads (forget which) of Helsinki sure seems like a motorway but is not signed as one. Any reasons why?


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## Rebasepoiss

Dan1113 said:


> Kiitos.  Another more random question: from what I saw, one of the ring roads (forget which) of Helsinki sure seems like a motorway but is not signed as one. Any reasons why?


As far as I know, even Kehä III or Ring III, which is the most motorway like, has a few same level intersections.


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## RV

Dan1113 said:


> Kiitos.  Another more random question: from what I saw, one of the ring roads (forget which) of Helsinki sure seems like a motorway but is not signed as one. Any reasons why?



I think the most motorway-like Helsinki ring road is Kehä II, which is built, unlike Kehä I and Kehä III (built in the 1970´s and 1980´s), with very high standards. The road is, however, very short. In the future it will be built to Hämeenlinna motorway, and it will have very complex interchanges and many tunnels.

Another road that is quite motorway-like is ring road III from Lahti motorway to airport. But from the airoport to Espoo it is a very, very low quality road with grade intersections. The upgrading of this road to 2x3 motorway and the upgrading of the airport road to motorway had to start in 2005, but ministers from Lapland and eastern Finland don´t want to give any money to the most populated part of the country.

Ring road I is more like a 2x3 avenue with interchanges, or an expressway.


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## Verso

OT )): how is the Finnish "ä" pronounced? Like the German [ae], or differently?


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## EszettRocks

Yeah, Ä is pronounced [æ] (like the as in English words _damn_ and _mat_) but it doesn't completely behave like the German Ä. In Finnish Ä is also listed as a letter of its own unlike in German.


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## Verso

^ Ok, thanks. A lot of people say Mika Hakkinen, instead of Hækkinen, although they speak German, for example.


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## Schweden

Hade ingen aning om att skyltarna var på svenska med 

Finland got some of the best motorways in Scandinavia, actually.


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ That Swedish means "The signs looks Swedish" or something?


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## Schweden

Almost! "I didnt know that the signs was in swedish too"


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## Dan

It's thanks to Finland (having Swedish as an official language) that Swedish is an official language of the EU.  It's not official in Sweden, but it is in Finland.


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## Timon91

^^What is the official language in Sweden? Or doesn't it have any?


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## Schweden

^^ Nope, but swedish is de facto.


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## RV

Like in the Norway thread, in the finnish one I will take you to a virtual tour to some important finnish E-routes, starting with the E75:

E75 is an european route that goes trough whole Finland, from Helsinki to its nearly northernmost point in Utsjoki.

*Helsinki metropolitan area*

E75 starts in the city center of Helsinki. It goes through such important streets as Esplanadi (2x2 lanes), Pohjoisranta (2x2), Sörnäisten rantatie (2x3/2x4), Itäväylä (2x3), Hermannin rantatie (2x2) and Gustav Vasa avenue (2x3). It is named as National road 4. 

The road itself starts in Kumpula, in the northern part of the central area of Helsinki. It starts as a 2x3 motorway, that will be improved to 2x4 in the future. In Kumpula there is also a huge road project running: the central by-pass of Helsinki. In the future, an underground motorway will run from Kumpula to Munkkiniemi, by-passing Helsinki city center. It consists of 2 motorway tunnels, one from Turku motorway (E18) to Mannerheimintie, and one from estern Pasila to E75. Between these two future tunnels it´s now being built a part of this motorway, called Hakamäentie. The project consist also from the replacing of Tuusula motorway from Käpylä to Pasila. 

E75 continues as a 2x3 and future 2x4 motorway with two major interchanges on it: Ring road I and Porvoo motorway. Between Ring road I and Porvoo motorway there will be a new interchange to Kivikko, and Viikinmäki interchange south of Ring road I will be completed. 

After the interchange with Porvoo motorway, the road turns to 2x2 congested motorway, that will be 2x3 in the future from Porvoo motorway to Koivukylänväylä or even to Road 152 (north from Ring road III). Between Porvoo motorway and Ring road III there will be built a new interchange that will connect Malmi and Jakomäki to E75. In this section we find two major junctions: Ring road III and Koivukylänväylä.

North of Koivukylänväylä E75 continues as a 2x2 motorway through Vantaa, Kerava and Järvenpää with old 2x1-lane E75 running on its right side.
Major junctions: Road 152, Road 148, Road 145

*Southern Finland*

After Järvenpää E75 continues as a motorway towards Lahti. Lahti is a city with a population of 100 000 persons, and it is situated in the center of southern Finland. 

In Lahti we have a new planned interchange that will connect Lahti southern by-pass with E75. Road 12 goes trough Lahti city center as a 2x2-road with grade intersections. In the busiest sections it has an ADDT of 40 000 vehicles per day. That´s because Lahti needs a southern by-pass. The project includes a high standard city-motorway that will encircle Lahti from the south, and a new motorway section west of Lahti. Int he other side of E75, Road 12 from Lahti to Nastola will be upgraded to motorway.

North of Lahti we find a new motorway section, completed in 2005. It runs from Lahti to Heinola. Heinola is famous for the longest motorway bridge in Finland, Tähtiniemi bridge. The bridge is 924 meters long and it has 2 lanes for each direction. It was built in 1993.

*Central Finland*

After by-passing Heinola, the motorway continues ~10 Km and then ends. Now we have to continuate towards Jyväskylä on a low standard 2x1-road. The paisage is caracterized with its many hills, mountains and forests. This road is being improved to an 2+1-lane expressway with grade-separated junctions, but a motorway is needed.

After 150 Km of 2x1 road we reach Vaajakoski, a suburb of Jyväskylä. There motorway starts again. This stretch was completed in 1977. The road offers a good sightseeing of Jyväskylä, and you can see the many high-rises of Lutakko. It is planned to continue the motorway stretch south of Vaajakoski towards Helsinki. Near downtown Jyväskylä we must turn right to continuate on E75 to the so-called Rantaväylä (Coastal hinghway). It is a motorway build in the 80´s that by-passes Jyväskylä near it´s downtown from the east. This motorway continues to Kirri, and in Kirri the section ends. And then we have again a congested 2x1-stretch. It has been planned to continue the motorway ~50 Km north up to Äänekoski, but this will happen way in the future, like nearly all road projects in Finland hno:

The road (2x1 lanes, of course...) by-passes Äänekoski, and then goes towards Oulu.

*Towards north*

After Äänekoski the road is pretty much the same all the way to Oulu: 2x1 old road. We pass the towns of Viitasaari, Pihtipuhdas, Pyhäjärvi, Kärsämäki and Tyrnävä, and then we find ourselves near Oulu.

*Northern Finland*

Motorway stretch starts near Oulu in Liminka, with a huge roundabout, where Road 8, old E75, E75 and E75 motorway cross. The by-pass of Oulu is a 37 Km long motorway, and it is planned to be continued south to Tyrnävä and north to Ii. The motorway by-passes suburbs like Liminka and Tyrnävä, and then it enters to Oulu. The road oldest part is the Oulujoki bridge, completed in 1967. The by-pass of Oulu is sometimes really congested, and it is planned to upgrade to 2x3 lanes on a stretch of ~15 Km. North of Oulu motorway continues to Haukipudas, where it turns to an 2x1-lane expressway. Further north it turns to a normal 2x1 road. It goes through such towns as Ii and Simo, towards Kemi.

*Lapland*

Kemi is a little city in coastal Lapland, with a population of ~25 000 persons. In Kemi there is running a huge road project. They are upgrading the road by-pass of Kemi to motorway, including a bridge across Kemijoki. The project will be completed in 2010. After Kemi the road goes towards Tornio, where we must turn right to continue towards Rovaniemi. Motorway continues as Road 29 to Tornio and Swedish border. 

There is not very much population between Kemi and Rovaniemi. When we reach Rovaniemi, we can see as an 2x2 urban road stretch starts. Near downtown Rovaniemi this road has city motorway standards, but in it´s southern part it has grade intersections. Int he future this section will be improved to city motorway standrads and continued towards south.

After Rovaniemi we enter to real Lapland, and after not so much driving kilometres we cross the Polar circle, or Napapiiri in finnish. The paisage is beautiful: huge forests, rivers, huge lakes and mountains everywhere. But that´s not so amazing than the sightseeing of Lapland than we find when we go north of Sodankylä, when E75 meets Road 5 (E63). 

Nature is impressing. We pass Ivalo and then Inari, with Inari lake in our right (eastern) side. After many driving kilometres we have in our left (western) side the Natural park of Kevo. And then we reach Tana river and Utsjoki. And then we are in Norway!

*Notable sections*

Motorway Kumpula-Porvoo motorway (Helsinki)
Completed: 1967, 1971
Lanes: 2x3 (future 2x4)
AADT: 50 000-90 000

Motorway Porvoo motorway-Road 152 (Helsinki and Vantaa)
Completed: 1973
Lanes: 2x2 (future 2x3)
AADT: 30 000-60 000

Motorway Road 152-Järvenpää
Completed: 1973
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 20 000-40 000

Motorway Järvenpää-Lahti
Completed: 1998, 1999
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 15 000-35 000

Motorway Lahti-Heinola
Completed: 1993, 1996, 2005
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 15 000-25 000

--------------------------

Motorway Vaajakoski-Jyväskylä
Completed: 1977
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 20 000-30 000

Motorway Jyväskylä-Kirri
Completed: 1989, 2005
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 10 000-30 000

---------------------------

Motorway Liminka-Haukipudas 
Completed: 1967, 1977, 1981, 1993, 1996, 2003
Lanes: 2x2 (future 2x3)
AADT: 10 000-60 000

---------------------------

Motorway Kemi-Tornio
Completed: 2001
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 10 000-25 000

---------------------------

Rovaniemi by-pass 
Completed: 1967, 1996
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 10 000-30 000

*Future motorway sections*

- Vaajakoski motorway (southern extension)
- Jyväskylä-Äänekoski
- Oulu by-pass (southern and northern extensions)
- Kemi by-pass
- Rovaniemi by-pass (upgrading and southern extension)


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## RV

E18 is an important road that passes Finland from west to east. It is an important commercial route.

*Turku metropolitan area*

In Turku E18 has two alternative routes, a motorway to central Turku and Turku by-pass. 

Central Turku:
E18 starts at Turku harbour. The route goes through such streets and avenues as Pansiontie (2x2 lanes), Ratapihankatu (2x2) and Helsinginkatu (2x2). The road passes under Aninkainen bridge, an important 2x3-laned street in central Turku, that supports 50 000 cars every day. After this interchange with Aninkainen bridge E18 turns in a wide 2x2-laned avenue, that goes through districts built in the 1940´s and 1950´s. Then the road passes Aurajoki on a bridge built in the 1990´s. After passing Aurajoki river E18 turns on an urban highway with 2 or 3 lanes in each directions. In the right (southern) side of the road is situated Turku university and Turku central hospital. After this, road goes into a short tunnel, and motorway starts. 

In the other side E18 starts from Naantali harbour. It starts as a normal 2x1-lane road named Road 40 or Turku by-pass. Then it enters to Raisio, where it turns to a 2x2-lane highway with grade intersections. After passing Rauma motorway (E8/National road 8), that will be improved to motorway first to Nousiainen and later to Mynämäki, E18/Road 40 turns into a motorway-like 2x2/2x3-lane road. It passes National road 9/E63 (Tampere motorway), and National road 10 (Hämeenlinna road). Then it turns into a congested 2x1-lane road. There are plans to improve the road to 2x2-lane highway from Naantali to Raisio, from NR 10 to NR 1/E18 and from NR 1/E18 to old E18. Construction is expected to start 2010-2020. In the estern side of Turku, Road 40/E18 links with National road 1/E18 motorway.

In our right side runs old E18, that is an 2x2-laned urban highway build in the 1970´s. E18 used this route until motorway was completed in the late 1990´s.
Motorway by-passes Kaarina and Piikkiö, two towns/suburbs in the eastern side of Turku.

*Varsinais-Suomi*

Road continues trough fields and forests towards Salo. Salo by-pass was built as a 2x1-lane expressway in the 1970´s, and it was used in the 1990´s tu build the new motorway from Turku to Salo. After that motorway was continued to Muurla in the 2000´s. But after Muurla, E18 turns in a very low quality 2x1-lane road. Fortunately, motorway from Muurla to Lohja is under construction, and will be finished in November 2008. 

*Uusimaa and Helsinki metropolitan area*

After this bad quality narrow road section of ~50 Km, Road connects to Lohja motorway, that will be part of E18 when motorway Lohja-Muurla is finished. Then E18 turns in a 2x2 motorway built in the 1960´s. E18 links in Palojärvi in Vihti with National road 2, an alternative road built in the 1970´s for the traffic from Helsinki to Pori. This road is a very congested 2x1-lane road. This is because they are imporving it into a 2x2-laned road with grade-separated interchanges, first to Nummela and later to Karkkila and even maybe to Forssa.

E18 or National road 1 is very congested from Palojärvi to Helsinki city center. To improve this, there are many road plans:

- 2x3 lanes from Munkkiniemi to Kehä I, expected starting 2010-2015
- 2x3 lanes from Kehä I to Kehä II, expected starting 2008
- 2x3 lanes from Kehä II to Hista (west from Kehä III), expected starting 2010-2015
- 2x3 lanes from Hista to Palojärvi/National road 2, expected starting 2010-2020

After this congested section of motorway we must turn to a ramp that goes to east to Ring road/Kehä III to continue E18. 

In Espoo Kehä III is a good quality 2x2 motorway-like road. But when we enter to Vantaa, it turns to a really, really bad quality old 2x2 road with grade intersections. This road will be improved to a 2x3-lane city motorway. Works were expected to start in 2005, but nothing has happened since 2x3-section Airport-Tikkurila was finished. Now they expect works will start 2010-2015. 

This section handles 90 000 daily vehicles, and passes such important roads as Vihti highway (will be improved to 2x2-lane highway north of Kehä III), E12/National road 3 (motorway towards Tampere that will be improved to 2x3 and 2x4-laned city motorway up to Nurmijärvi), and Airport highway (Will be improved to motorway), and passes important logistic and industrial areas.

After Airport interchange, E18 turns to a 2x3 and 2x4-lane city motorway, and passes important highways, like Tuusula motorway (will be improved to 2x3 lanes from Kehä I to Ilola, ~10 Km north of Kehä III), and Lahti motorway/E75. Then is turns to a quite narrow 2x2-lane highway with grade separated interchanges. It will be improved to 2x3 lanes in the future. But then traffic light-controlled intersections start again, and E18 goes towards Porvoo motorway/National road 7. This ring road section will be improved to 2x3 lanes, and they will build a new interchange to serv Jakomäki and interchange with Porvoo motorway will be rebuilt.

*Eastern Uusimaa*

Then E18 turns east to Porvoo motorway, while Kehä III continues towards Vuosaari new harbour.

Porvoo motorway is a quite good quality road built in the 1970´s. Recently Helsinki annexed part of Sipoo, and when residential construction starts in this area, traffic volumes will increase. That´s because it´s obvious that old E18 and E18 will be improved.

Old E18, that runs in our right (southern) side, is a congested 2x1 road. In Helsinki city proper it is firstly a 2x3-lane city motorway, then after Itäkeskus a 2x2 highway. But after Vartiokylä it turns to a narrow 2x1-lane road, which supports an AADT of 25 000 daily vehicles. Road supports heavy residential construction near of it, and it will be improved to a 2x2-lane urban highway from Vartiokylä to Kehä III and later through western Sipoo.

E18 motorway runs through Sipoo until it enters to Porvoo. There we can find a big industrial and logistical area, Kuninkaanportti, under construction. When it finishes, a new interchange will be built in the western side of E18/Road 55 interchange. Road 55 will be improved to 2x2 lanes to Kuninkaanportti.

E18 by-passes Porvoo and then goes towards Loviisa. Motorway goes through partially quite high hills and finishes in Koskenkylä, with interchange to National road 6 towards Kouvola. Then it turns to an 2x1-lane expressway that by-passes Loviisa. Then it turns to a normal 2x1-laned road that turns again into a very congested 2x1-laned expressway near Kotka. There are plans to build this road into a motorway between Koskenkylä and Kotka. Works are expected to start 2010-2015.

*Eastern Finland*

After this expressway section near Kotka road turns again in a 2x2-lane motorway that by-passes Kotka and goes through city center of Karhula, a former town that´s now a part of Kotka.

Motorway runs towards Hamina, when it turns again to a 2x1-road. It goes through Hamina city center, and it´s very congested. There are plans to build a huge by-pass for Hamina, that will containe many interchanges and two motorway tunnels. Construction is expected to start 2010-2015.

After Hamina, E18 turns into a 2x1-road famous for it´s really long lorry jams, that can be up to 70 Km long. There are plans to build this 40 Km section as a motorway, and construction is expected to be started 2010-2020. National road 7 ends in Vaalimaa, where E18 continues through Russian border to St. Petersburg.

*Notable road sections*

Motorway Turku-Muurla
Completed: 1997, 2003
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 6 000-40 000

--------------------------

Motorway Lohja-Kehä III/Helsinki
Completed: 1962, 1968, 1971, 2005
Lanes: 2x2/2x3 (future 2x3/2x4)
AADT: 20 000-80 000

Kehä III NR 1-NR 7
Completed: 2x1 in 1962, 2x2 in many fases between 1970 and 1995
Lanes: 2x2/2x3/2x4 (future 2x3/2x4)
AADT: 30 000-90 000

Motorway Jakomäki/Kehä III-Porvoo
Completed: 1972, 1979
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 20 000-40 000

Motorway Porvoo-Koskenkylä
Completed: 2002
Lanes: 2x2
AADT: 10 000-25 000

--------------------------

Motorway Kotka-Hamina
Completed: 1971, 1994
Lanes: 2x2
ADDT: 15 000-40 000

*Future motorway sections*

- Muurla-Lohja
- Kehä III
- Koskenkylä-Kotka
- Hamina by-pass
- Hamina-Vaalimaa/Russian border


----------



## RV

Some pics from Länsiväylä motorway in Espoo, near Helsinki, taken in mid-february:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

How old is that road actually? It looks quite dated.


----------



## RV

Chriszwolle said:


> How old is that road actually? It looks quite dated.


That section was constructed in 1963, so you are quite right. However, it was reconstructed in te 1980´s.


----------



## RV

Road 55 in Porvoo








E18 near Porvoo
















Road 148 in Sipoo
































E75 near Kerava








Kehä III/Ring road III


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice pics, thanks. We haven't seen too much of Finnish motorways yet.


----------



## RV

E18 motorway 30 Km west from Helsinki








Old E18
















Paisage








Road








Huge building in Nummi








New E18 motorway under construction








Road








E18 motorway near Salo
















Tunnel








E18 near Turku









Bonus pic: Helsinki ring road I/Kehä I, signage in the night


----------



## PLH

No crash barrier :no: To say nothing of a shiny one


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ There is no need when the distance between 2 directions is so big.


----------



## PLH

^^ But will it really stop a speeding car?


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

PLH said:


> ^^ But will it really stop a speeding car?


It will not. In California, most of I-5 in Sacramento Valley north of Sacramento does not have any barrier - just a grass median 8-10 metres wide. Probably, the road agency calculated that preventing several head-on collisions in a year is not worth installing a barrier.


----------



## X236K

I love the nature in Finland... beautiful country.


----------



## lena5538

cold and dark roads of cold and dark country..


----------



## ChrisZwolle

lena5538 said:


> cold and dark roads of cold and dark country..


Actually, Finland has a lot of sunshine and relatively warm summers. The annual precipitation is lower than in other European countries.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

lena5538 said:


> cold and dark roads of cold and dark country..


Winters are dark and cold, yes, but summers are quite warm and days in the summertime are very long.


----------



## RV

Actually we had a quite warm winter with no snow but this spring is getting awful :bash:


----------



## Janne_H

Here are my photos of Finnish motorways in Espoo.

*Länsiväylä*









Nokia's HQ next to road.










*Kehä I*









Wider view









I have also made a time lapse video. Here you go:





(roads in the video: 1st scene: Länsiväylä, 2nd scene Kehä I, 3rd and 4th scenes Turku/Åbo Motorway. Music by Nuspirit Helsinki  )


----------



## mgk920

PLH said:


> No crash barrier :no: To say nothing of a shiny one


Replace that white line on the left side of those roadways with a yellow line and that would look almost exactly like a USA interstate. Some I-routes are getting cable barriers in their wide grassy medians, too, but that looks wide enough to not be a problem.

And that scenery looks almost exactly like northern Wisconsin, Northern Minnesota and Michigan's upper peninsula, too.

(No wonder so many immigrant Finns settled in those places!)

:cheers1:

Mike


----------



## Schweden

RV said:


> Actually we had a quite warm winter with no snow but this spring is getting awful :bash:


Same thing in sweden


----------



## Draminoss

..


----------



## Draminoss

*Sverige-Soumi*

I have a question, maybe its a crazy question, 
If it is possible to construct a motorway between Femahrn (Germany) and Lolland (Danmark) ,
is it not possible to build a bridge like the Femarn-Belt-Bridge (19km), between
Ahvenanmaa Äland (Filnland) and Upland (Sweden) it is the same distance 20km, 
I think the other parts to Helsinki are not so defecault!
than helsinki will be not 1800 km from stockholm but only 450km.
You hear in Finland notimes about this idea?


----------



## EszettRocks

A Sweden-Åland-Finland bridge link is not very realistic. It wouldn't be impossible to build one, but it would be damn expensive. It would also require several different bridges, not just one as the whole area consists of thousands of islands. And because the cultural and natural value of the archipelago is very respected, a project like that would die in a split second. I can also imagine that the shipping industry wouldn't be very delighted.


----------



## G.C.F

Taattua suomalaista laatua, oikeen selkeät ja hyvät moottoritiet. Vihdoinkin löysin jonkun suomalaisen keskustelupalstan tästä sivustosta, koska ei niitä kauheasti ole. Jatkakaa vain samaa matkaa.


----------



## Morsue

G.C.F said:


> Taattua suomalaista laatua, oikeen selkeät ja hyvät moottoritiet. Vihdoinkin löysin jonkun suomalaisen keskustelupalstan tästä sivustosta, koska ei niitä kauheasti ole. Jatkakaa vain samaa matkaa.



Eehh... Perkele? I can say that and football (jaalkapallo) in Finnish :rock:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

He says something about Finnish motorways (Moottoritiet and suomalaisen or something).


----------



## RV

G.C.F said:


> Taattua suomalaista laatua, oikeen selkeät ja hyvät moottoritiet. Vihdoinkin löysin jonkun suomalaisen keskustelupalstan tästä sivustosta, koska ei niitä kauheasti ole. Jatkakaa vain samaa matkaa.


True finnish quality, very clear and good motorways. Finally I have found some finnish discussion in this forum, because there are not many. Continue the same way.


----------



## Timon91

Finnish seems very difficult to me. Very different language structure. Isn't it quite similar to Hungarian and Estonian?


----------



## Qwert

Timon Kruijk said:


> Finnish seems very difficult to me. Very different language structure. Isn't it quite similar to Hungarian and Estonian?


They are actually from the same language family. And yes they are different since they are (unlike the most of European languages) not from Indo-European family.


----------



## RV

Pics by Matti Grönroos:
Finlands only 4-story interchange in southern Tampere on E12
















Karkuvuori tunnel on E63 (Tampere eastern by-pass)








Motorway under construction on E12 (Tampere western by-pass)








Interchange E63 (Tampere eastern by-pass)/Hervanta highway


----------



## Timon91

RV said:


>


I once had a Nokia


----------



## Verso

^ No shit.  I have it now. :cheer:


----------



## Gareth

Scathing/humourous article on Finnish roads, by a Brit who lives there.

http://www.kolumbus.fi/richard.bevan/traffic/


----------



## Alle

Talk about exaggerations.


----------



## RV

Ironic, I have never seen an empty road or street in Helsinki (main streets, of course). They are nearly always full of cars. Some interchanges in ring roads are truly really, really badly designed, but not even nearly all.


----------



## Dan

It is soon that the E18 motorway projects are completed, correct? (Turku-Helsinki) Are they on schedule?


----------



## RV

Motorway from Turku to Helsinki will be completed October-November 2008. They will start to build motorway to Kotka 2009-2010, and by-pass of Hamina and motorway from Hamina to Russian border some years later.


----------



## RV

Vantaa city decided that it´s going to borrow money to the state to begin the upgrading of Ring road III/E18 to a 6-lane city motorway. First they are going to add the 3. lanes. That will start in 2009. 

The second phase is upgrading te whole Ring road III/E18 from Vanhakartano to Porvoo motorway/E18 to a 6-lane urban motorway with grade-separated interchanges. But the second phase will start in 2012 

Kehä III (Pics by Helsingin Sanomat)
























1. Phase:


----------



## RV

Länsiväylä/Western motorway in Lauttasaari, Helsinki (PIC BY JANNE_H)


----------



## RV

Kulosaari bridge, completed southbound carriageway in 1957 and northbound carriageway in 1958:


----------



## Kese

Do all the motorways in Finland have lighting? If so what is the point? I do not get it in Belgium either. Also - if I might suggest something - it would be nice to see a map of the current freeways, maybe in the first post of this thread.


----------



## RV

Here you go:
Current motorways (greysh blue):








Future motorways and motorway-like roads (green) and possible future motorways and motorway-like roads (red):


----------



## RV

And here Helsinki area by 2030 (Motorways, motorway-like roads in blue and other dual carriageway roads in green and new single carriageway roads in turquoise):








Tampere area by 2030 (Motorways and motorway-like roads in blue, other dual carriageway roads in greenish, possible/probable DCW/motorways in red and central tunnel/northern by-pass in black):








Turku area in 2030 (Motorways and motorway-like roads in blue, other dual carriageway roads in green and possible/probable DCW/motorways in red):


----------



## Kese

^^Thanks. A cool summary. :cheers:


----------



## Jeroen669

Finland seems to be going to have a decent road network.


----------



## RV

Actually the Kehä II (2nd ring road) was planned as far east as Tuusula motorway, it would take a lot of vehicles from the saturated ring road I. There is plenty of space to build it, only forest. But becouse of the central "park" (forest) of Helsinki they will build it only from Turku motorway to Tampere motorway. In the sixties they planned it from Western motorway to Porvoo motorway.

Here RR II built in 2000 (light blue), as planned now (blue), as planned a few years ago (greeen) and as planned in the 1960´s (brown). Black --> estimated ADDT of 80 000-150 000 vehicles in 2030. Greenish blue --> estimated ADDT of 50 000-80 000 vehicles in 2030 (facts why RR II should be built).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Webcams from Suomi


----------



## Rijeka

Can anyone tell me how are roads in Laponia? I'd like to make a big road trip Stockholm-Kemi-Rovaniemi-Inari-Nordkapp (or something like that). In July


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Do you mean Lapland? If so, I drove there in 2003 and at least then the roads were very good. Traffic is really light. The only problem is reindeers that don't want to leave the road sometimes.


----------



## Dan

They aren't too big though and if it is very snowy/wintery/etc it can be quite trecherous, so the most important things to keep in mind are:
-Drive very carefully and often slower than you think you should
-Expect delays (due to weather, not traffic)
-Be VERY alert for animals (the biggest problem in the north of Scandinavia)


----------



## Timon91

Animals can be very dangerous. In Alaska it's a big problem as well. When leaving Anchorage airport I almost hit a moose. In the rest of the trip we also saw moose along the road, but because they've removed a few metres of forest on each side of the road, you can see them coming. This is way safer IMO.


----------



## Rijeka

Rebasepoiss said:


> Do you mean Lapland? If so, I drove there in 2003 and at least then the roads were very good. Traffic is really light. The only problem is reindeers that don't want to leave the road sometimes.


Yes, I thought of Lapland. Thanks for your information.


----------



## Rijeka

^^ Thanx everyone, I didn't think of animals, I must admit, good to know. So the quality of the roads is OK everywhere in Northern Sweeden, Finland and Norway, I only have to pay attention not to hit any moose or alike


----------



## Dan

The roads are just fine I'd say, it's just that it can get quite slippery! Depending on how this winter might be, you'll be shocked how much snow there can be, hehe.


----------



## Rijeka

I can imagine, that's why im planning to go there in July! :lol: I'm from the coastal part of Croatia and I'm not very used to drive in winter/snow conditions. :nuts: Can you arrive by car all the way to Nordkapp? Is it better (road quality and scenerywise) to go from Inari directly to Karasjok, or to take E75 to Utsjoki and than E6 to Karasjok. I see on Viamichelin that E75 and E6 is about 120km longer.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ Yes you can get to Nordkapp by car, but you have to drive through a looong tunnel(since Nordkapp is an island) and that costs a bit.


----------



## Timon91

At least you can get there. It's actually insane that they buid a tunnel over there. Norway just has too much money.

@Rebasepoiss: do you have an iPhone?


----------



## Dan

Ahh, during July! Oops! In that case it is indeed pretty much just animals you have to watch out for.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Timon91 said:


> @Rebasepoiss: do you have an iPhone?


Naah, I'm not rich enough to spend € 650 on a telephone that can't even send a contact by SMS...  I just don't understand why it's a must have for so many people.


----------



## ElviS77

Timon91 said:


> At least you can get there. It's actually insane that they buid a tunnel over there. Norway just has too much money.
> 
> @Rebasepoiss: do you have an iPhone?


Well, you see we're very good at building massive prestige projects like the 100+ million Magerøy tunnel on the E69 (which shouldn't be a E route at all...) to the North Cape. However, when it comes to the regular roads, we're not as good. We're pretty bad, actually...


----------



## Timon91

^^We've also had this in the Netherlands. About 10 years ago, when there was still plenty of money, they decided to build a big aquaduct under the river Gein, for the railway line Amsterdam-Utrecht (from 2 to 4 tracks). Costs: 55 million euros. They did it for some environmental issue. This is the result of NIMBY's.
To give you an idea of the river Gein:










Yes, just a small ditch hno:

And this is the aquaduct:








The old two railway tracks are also visible.


----------



## jpeter

Can somebody post me a picture from Speed Limits in Finland? Thanks


----------



## Wover

Speed limits are variable. In the summer, most roads are 80 or 100; in winter the roads are 60 or 80. City centres are 50, but most of them have a 40 kph speed limit.

Some pictures of (bilangual) signs:


----------



## RipleyLV

OMG, Corvette!


----------



## Dan

Not too long ago the new motorway east of Helsinki was completed, so Turku-Helsinki E18 is now 100% motorway. By 2015 the E18 will also be 100% motorway all the way to the Russian border.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The northernmost motorway in the world:

Route 29 near Tornio:


----------



## scurt/2

Any pics of the new section of Turku-Helsinki motorway?


----------



## Aphelion

Palance said:


> Something very interesting I saw was on road 4 (E75) Southbound, about 90 before Rovaniemi. This stretch looked like a temprary/abandoned airstrip.
> 
> Can anyone tell me what this is, since I haven't found anything about it.


It might very well be a former airstrip/road airbase. Sweden has quite a few, and I think Finland might too.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They are called a "varalaskupaikka", and there are quite a few of them in Finland, Wikipedia has a list:
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentokoneiden_varalaskupaikka

This one on Valtatie 4 is the Joutsa emergency landing strip. Apparently they still do exercises with them.


----------



## Kevlargeist

IceCheese said:


> I don't get it. *Both* white and yellow center stipes?:?



The dashed yellow line means that a no-passing zone is soon about to begin. It concerns you and your vehicle when there's no center line or no-passing-line on its rights side. Thus in this picture it concerns the opposite direction of travel.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> They are called a "varalaskupaikka", and there are quite a few of them in Finland, Wikipedia has a list:
> http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentokoneiden_varalaskupaikka
> 
> This one on Valtatie 4 is the Joutsa emergency landing strip. Apparently they still do exercises with them.


The "emergency landing strip" is official newspeak only. In plain English, they are temporary military airbases.










The roads are closed for several days during the exercises.

The normal roads have been used for emergency landing a few times. It was only three weeks ago, when a Cessna faced an engine failure, and the pilot made a successful landing on the motorway 7/E18 about 30 kilometers to east of Helsinki:


----------



## spacetweek

RV said:


> *Kehä III Vanhakartano-Airpoirt and Road 4-Road 7/E18*
> Upgrading of Ring III in Vantaa to a 3+3-laned urban motorway. Construction is expected to be started this or next year.


RV, I cannot find Vanhakartano anywhere on the map. Did you spell this wrongly?


----------



## Palance

http://maps.google.nl/maps?q=Vanhak...2.469397,5.509644&sspn=3.460231,6.888428&z=15


----------



## metasmurf

I found this stretch of road close to Nokia outside Tampere. Is it 2+2 or? Kinda hard to know by the road markings. A very unusual concept that I've never seen before.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=61.481648,23.539529&spn=0.007059,0.027874&z=16&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=61.481648,23.539529&panoid=YvunSipMsCxsJC64Mhfd9Q&cbp=12,232.87,,0,0


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ That looks really dangerous.


----------



## MattiG

metasmurf said:


> I found this stretch of road close to Nokia outside Tampere. Is it 2+2 or? Kinda hard to know by the road markings. A very unusual concept that I've never seen before.
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?ll=61.481648,23.539529&spn=0.007059,0.027874&z=16&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=61.481648,23.539529&panoid=YvunSipMsCxsJC64Mhfd9Q&cbp=12,232.87,,0,0


It is a 2+2 street having islands at most of the crossings. No big risk to get lost.


----------



## Grisent

MattiG said:


> It is a 2+2 street having islands at most of the crossings. No big risk to get lost.


Indeed, that seems to be a city street, with 50 km/h and 60 km/h speed limits.

On the contrary — I'm pretty impressed with Tampere's road network. The vt 3 / vt 12 interchange nearby is a pretty good one; would be nice to have even one of these in Estonia... And there's even a four-level stack interchange where vt 3 / vt 9 split: http://maps.google.com/?ll=61.46182...LDVNQBktBU7idmRRi9F1dQ&cbp=12,17.86,,0,0&z=15

I was just today wondering about one specific issue; maybe somebody can help me. In a case where two roads numbers are multiplexed along a significant distance (as is the case with vt 3 / vt 9 between exits 32 and 40, for a total of thirty kilometres), how are kilometer posts set up? The road does not have two sets of kilometre posts concurrently running, does it?


----------



## MattiG

Grisent said:


> I was just today wondering about one specific issue; maybe somebody can help me. In a case where two roads numbers are multiplexed along a significant distance (as is the case with vt 3 / vt 9 between exits 32 and 40, for a total of thirty kilometres), how are kilometer posts set up? The road does not have two sets of kilometre posts concurrently running, does it?


The Finnish road administration decided to ramp down the concept of kilometer posts in 1980's. A few roads only have those still remaining. In case of multiplexes, the posts did usually follow the road having the lowest number.

The posts were replaced by distance sings. Usually, there is a separate sign for each destination:


----------



## MattiG

*Pictures from motorway 1/E18
*

The road 1 connects cities of Helsinki and Turku. The distance is 165 kilometers of which 157 kilometres is motorway. The road is signposted as E18, too, between Helsinki Ring III and Turku.

The first section of the motorway was built between years 1956 and 1962 at the Helsinki end. The last section between Lohja and Muurla was complete in 2009. Thus, it took 53 years to renew this road between the major cities.

From the construction point of view, almost the whole road was build onto a challeging terrain: The road runs east-west, and there are dozens of north-south rock ridges to cross, with clay-filled valleys in between. Building roads in Finland is expensive due to the arctic conditions: The roads must stand the annual temperature variations of 80 degrees centigrade and the pressure of the moving ice. The Lohja-Muurla section building cost exceeded the average cost significantly. That is why the political decision making took decades.










The first section in 1960's before the number of cars rocketed










The road was extended in years 1965-1971 to Lohjanharju, 44 km west of Helsinki. It was drawn without tunnels and major cuts between hills and lakes, making it rather windy.










The Helsinki end is an urban motorway currently being partly upgraded to 3+3 lanes.










Because of the cost reasons and running in a sentivive environment, the Lohja-Muurla section was built into as narrow corridor as possible. There is only a few metres gap between the shoulder and the rock.










In many areas, there are massive noise barriers made of concrete walls or excess material. This wall is made of stones in metal net boxes.










A 'green bridge' allowing animals to cross the road. Long sections of the road is protected against elks by a fence.










There are a number of automatic weather stations to show the temperature of the air and and the road surface. This information is vital on cold days, as the road may be extremely slippery if the road temperature is close to zero.










The remote controlled signs may tell other stories than the temperature, too. Here the signs warns about the road marking work taking place.










There are eight twin-tube tunnels between Lohja and Salo. Some of those are located very close to each other.










Descending into the Hajala valley










The E18 branches before reaching Turku. The southern branch leads to the port of Turku, and the northern one to the port of Naantali.


----------



## Norsko

which of the two last photos shows the most frequent use of exit signage in Finland?


----------



## MattiG

Norsko said:


> which of the two last photos shows the most frequent use of exit signage in Finland?


The sign officially called 'Type A on Motorways' is usually in use when main roads meet or if there are many destinations to show. The sign 'Type B on Motorways' is in use elsewhere, and it is more common. On non-motorways the signs are slightly different, but this same rule of thumb applies.










Type A on Motorways










Type B on Motorways


----------



## Norsko

Thanks!


----------



## Grisent

A very nice report, thanks!

Do you happen to know if the whole road has been built on a new alignment, or are there any stretches that have been upgraded from an ordinary road?

The emergency lane on this picture looks kind of... different. Is it still a hard sholder, or might that be gravel?



MattiG said:


>


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I assume it's paved, it looks that way in Denmark too.


----------



## Fargo Wolf

Could be chip seal type paving.


----------



## MattiG

Grisent said:


> A very nice report, thanks!
> 
> Do you happen to know if the whole road has been built on a new alignment, or are there any stretches that have been upgraded from an ordinary road?
> 
> The emergency lane on this picture looks kind of... different. Is it still a hard sholder, or might that be gravel?


The whole road was built on a new alignment, and the old road was downgraded to the regional road 110. Most sections of the new and the old road run in parallel rather close to each other (within two kilometres):










_Motorway (green) and the old road (blue)_

My historical sources do not give any hint to the question of shoulders. I do not believe they were gravel but some less expensive material than asphalt.

Anyway, the shoulders were built more lightweight than the structure under the lanes. That became a problem in 1980's when there was a need to convert the eastbound shoulder to a bus lane close to Helsinki. In order to avoid excess load, it was allowed to drive on the bus lanes only during the morning rush hours.

Nowadays, the same place looks pretty different: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stens...id=OMYV_8Ui-YkA9cfEDlvSTg&cbp=12,98.65,,0,3.2


----------



## Grisent

^^ Thank you very much!


----------



## RV

YIT and Destia will build E-18 Koskenkylä-Kotka. The works will start this autumn. The builders of Hamina by-pass will be decided in few weeks, and the works should also be started this autumn.

A new project that will start also this year or in the first months of 2012 is *Road 12 Tampere coastal by-pass*. It consists on removing the actual coastal by-pass that has traffic lights on it with a 3+3-laned tunnel with 2 interchanges.


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

RV said:


> YIT and Destia will build E-18 Koskenkylä-Kotka. *The works will start this autumn*. The builders of Hamina by-pass will be decided in few weeks, and the *works should also be started this autumn*.


Thanks for the good news!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

What's the Tampere Coastal Bypass? Tampere is over 100 kilometers from the sea.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> What's the Tampere Coastal Bypass? Tampere is over 100 kilometers from the sea.


Tampere downtown is situated on a narrow piece of land between two big lakes. The lakeside road 12 is a bottleneck, and there is a plan to replace it by a tunnel.


----------



## MattiG

MattiG said:


> Tampere downtown is situated on a narrow piece of land between two big lakes. The lakeside road 12 is a bottleneck, and there is a plan to replace it by a tunnel.


The tunnel will consist of two tubes, and there will be 2 lanes plus an emergency lane in both directions. There will be junctions at both ends, thus eliminating all the current traffic lights.










The black circle shows the position of the third junction, which may be built in the future. Tunnel stubs will be built at the first stage to enable the future expansion without a major disturbance to the traffic.

The deepest point of the tunnel will be 29 metres below the lake level. The steepest climb will be about 3%.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> YIT and Destia will build E-18 Koskenkylä-Kotka. The works will start this autumn.


The following will be built:

- The second carriageway Koskenkylä-Loviisa, 17 km
- New motorway Loviisa-Kotka, 36 km
- Improving existing motorway in Kotka, 10 km
- 7 new junctions, 3 existing ones to be improved
- 76 bridges
- 19 km roads for pedestrians and bicycles
- 37 km noise barriers
- Twin-tube tunnel 500 metres


----------



## void0

Any plans for Hamina-Vaalima?
At Russian side they are going to build 6 lines motorway till St. Petersburg in a few years. Then it would take 1.5 hours from Helsinki-border and 1.5 border-St. Petersburg, the whole way could take just 3.5 hours


----------



## RV

Hamina-Vaalimaa will be started in 2013 or 2014, I presume.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> Hamina-Vaalimaa will be started in 2013 or 2014, I presume.


This is unlikely to happen. The detailed planning is incomplete, and there is an open appeal case at the Market Court. The authorities say that most probably the works can start no earlier than 2015.


----------



## RV

Atleast accurate planning of the section is starting in spring of 2012.


----------



## Ctbarn1

Loving the pics of all the Motorways/Expressways around Helsinki. A lot of people say Madrid has the best Motorway network for a city in Europe, but i think for its size, Helsinki cant be far behind. You compare it to London, city of 7 million, with a wider area of some 12 million people, and yet London has no real expressway network instead completely reliant on the Underground and suburban rail system which is at breaking point.


----------



## RV

Ctbarn1 said:


> Loving the pics of all the Motorways/Expressways around Helsinki. A lot of people say Madrid has the best Motorway network for a city in Europe, but i think for its size, Helsinki cant be far behind. You compare it to London, city of 7 million, with a wider area of some 12 million people, and yet London has no real expressway network instead completely reliant on the Underground and suburban rail system which is at breaking point.


This is not true, most of the roads are very outdated.


----------



## Ctbarn1

Shot down lol


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> This is not true, most of the roads are very outdated.


No, they are not.

The main road network is based on six radial motorways and two semicircle rings (#1 and 3) connecting them. (There is the Ring 2, too, but it is incomplete, and it is not planned be a semicircle.)










Legend: Green: Motorway, red: non-motorway, blue: motorway under construction.

The oldest sections from 1960's have been almost completely modernized during the last 20 years. For example, no junction on the oldest leg of the road 1 is in its original shape, and four new junctions have been built. Most of the road 51 has been rebuilt to add new junctions and bus ramps and to reduce weaving. The other four roads were built according modern standards.

There is, of course, congestion during the rush hours, as on all downtown-bound motorways in the world. 

What is rather a new phenomena, is the congestion on the outbound direction during the afternoon rush hours, especially in the west. That is an implication from the change in the metropolitan demographics: The families with children tend to move further away from the downtown, and the population in the area is constantly increasing.

Currently, the motorway part of the road 51 is being extended by 10 kilometres, and there are ongoing work to add third lanes between the rings 1 and 2 on the road 1.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Another common trend is that jobs tend to be less concentrated in downtown, with more traffic in suburban areas. This trend has been set in the United States and Canada, where the busiest freeways are all far from downtown.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

You pretty much have to consider Vantaa and Espoo as parts of Helsinki.


----------



## kanterberg

ChrisZwolle said:


> Another common trend is that jobs tend to be less concentrated in downtown, with more traffic in suburban areas. This trend has been set in the United States and Canada, where the busiest freeways are all far from downtown.


One could easily argue that bad city planning is the main reason for that trend. Then again, if a city takes away parking spaces, increase parking fees and turn central streets into pedestrian zones, they really shouldn't be too surprised when people decide to go shopping at a mall in the suburb instead...


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Another common trend is that jobs tend to be less concentrated in downtown, with more traffic in suburban areas. This trend has been set in the United States and Canada, where the busiest freeways are all far from downtown.


Agree. The same applies in the Helsinki area where a lot of jobs are concentrated close to the ring roads. On many radial roads, the heaviest loaded sections are those located between the rings:










_AADT on certain roads in the Helsinki region. Figures from year 2010_


----------



## RV

Most of the radial motorways are 2x2-laned supporting AADT of 50 000 - 80 000, and Kehä I and III are partly 2x2-laned with traffic lights! Isn't that outdated?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Traffic volumes on the ring roads are high enough to warrant grade-separation, especially because the 30.000+ traffic volumes occur on the entire route, not just some spots. 60.000 vehicles on 2x2 isn't a very big problem. 

Kehä I already has 2x3 lanes on the 80.000+ section. The Valtatie 3 / Kehä I cloverleaf is outdated though. It should have some direct fly-overs or turbines, or have at least a full collector/distributor setup for merging traffic.

I must say the Helsinki metropolitan motorway network is pretty much complete, only the downtown area lacks high-standard routes, but this is a perpetual problem for cities located on islands or peninsulas. Truck traffic from the ferries are another problem I suppose.


----------



## Nexis

Is it true ALAND only has 1 traffic light on the entire island?


----------



## Wover

That's not that rare. Mariehamm isn't that big a city and why would you need it anywhere else?

I'm quite sure that the entire area north of Rovaniemi in Finland will also be traffic light free...


----------



## Satyricon84

Satyricon84 said:


> Roads on Åland islands


From the finnish thread


----------



## Satyricon84

Satyricon84 said:


> Åland


too...


----------



## riiga

I think this thread can be merged with the Finnish one. No need for a dedicated thread for an island. Then we could just as well have "Expressways on Gotland" (there are none ) or "Expressways on Bornholm".

If this thread happens to remain, please change the topic to "[ÅLAND] Expressways in Åland • Åländska vägar • Pikateillä Ahvenanmaalla" at least.


----------



## Satyricon84

...and put the real oval of Aland in the brackets [AX]


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm in favor of merging it with the Finnish thread as well. Åland has no expressways and threads about these mini islands or countries tend to die out soon if nobody maintains it.


----------



## eusimcity4

I agree too


----------



## SeanT

:lol::lol:Expressway on the island of Bornholm, ja that would be the happening of the year in DK.:nuts::nuts:


riiga said:


> I think this thread can be merged with the Finnish one. No need for a dedicated thread for an island. Then we could just as well have "Expressways on Gotland" (there are none ) or "Expressways on Bornholm".
> 
> If this thread happens to remain, please change the topic to "[ÅLAND] Expressways in Åland • Åländska vägar • Pikateillä Ahvenanmaalla" at least.


----------



## MattiG

riiga said:


> I think this thread can be merged with the Finnish one. No need for a dedicated thread for an island. Then we could just as well have "Expressways on Gotland" (there are none ) or "Expressways on Bornholm".


Åland is not one island, but an autonomous province consisting of 6757 islands of which 60 are populated ones. The map shows the extent of the Finnish territorial waters in purple dashed line, and the internal border between Åland and the Finnish mainland in black one.


----------



## OulaL

Wover said:


> I'm quite sure that the entire area north of Rovaniemi in Finland will also be traffic light free...


There are traffic lights at least in Kemijärvi and Sodankylä.


----------



## eusimcity4

Its possible Aland might not have any traffic lights because most 4-way intersections are roundabouts


----------



## eusimcity4

Beginning of Aland route 3












































































































































































End of Aland Route 3


----------



## MattiG

Nexis said:


> Is it true ALAND only has 1 traffic light on the entire island?


Not it is not. There are traffic lights in at least two places in the heart of the city of Mariehamn...

It is good to know that the population of the whole province of Åland is 28000 only, and the capital Mariehamn is an insignificant town of 11000 inhabitants. As the traffic volumes are low, heavy arrangements are not needed. Many of the Finnish towns of the same size have no traffic lights at all.


----------



## metasmurf

How come the road markings look Swedish instead of Finish?


----------



## MattiG

metasmurf said:


> How come the road markings look Swedish instead of Finish?


Åland is an autonomous area having their own road administration. They can use any marking scheme they want.


----------



## riiga

It seems to me that they haven't really decided on which system to use...

Approaching a roundabout from one direction and from another.


----------



## MattiG

riiga said:


> It seems to me that they haven't really decided on which system to use...
> 
> Approaching a roundabout from one direction and from another.


They have rather a new legislation about road signs and markings, from year 2005. The road sign act does not specify fonts and positions of graphical elements and other similar stuff, but the guidance is given at the lower administration level. The pre-2005 signs are valid (with some exceptions) until the end of their lifecycle. The new system has adopted elements both from mainland Finland and Sweden.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Kehä III Helsinki*

Some aerial photos of Ring 3 in Helsinki.



A)Pakkalan eritasoliittymä kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


B) Ansatien kevyen liikenteen alkulku kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


D) Voutilanpuiston alikulkukäytävä kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E) Katriinantie kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


F) Vantaankosken eristasoliittymä kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


H) Vantaankosken eritasoliittymä pohjois-eteläsuunnasta kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


I) Myllymäen eritasoliittymä kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


L) Martinkylän eritasoliittymä kesäkuu 2012 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Some aerial photos of Ring 3 in Helsinki.


Those photos present the recently completed work to upgrade the road. Your post is missing one the most crucial element, the Kalliosola exit #41 on E18:










This exit replaced three traffic lights, which were severe bottlenecks, with those ones killing the Vantaankoski junction #39A of E18 and 3/E12. 

The Vantaankoski junction was totally rebuilt to a free-flow one. Because of space constraints the westbound ramps of the exit #39B were removed, and the route between the Ring 3 and the road 130 (ex 3) was restored by building a new road to the new Myllymäki exit #38.


----------



## Dakkus

Timon91 said:


> Finnish seems very difficult to me. Very different language structure. Isn't it quite similar to Hungarian and Estonian?


Finnish is similar to Estonian as Dutch is to German.
Finnish is similar to Hungarian as Dutch is to Russian.

Now you're going to say that Dutch and Russian have nothing to do with each other. But yes, they do. They both are in the indo-european language family and it is a terrible lot easier for a Dutch person to learn Russian than to learn Finnish. The reason for that is that Dutch is far more similar with Russian than with Finnish.
And just like you can recognize similarities between English and Russian (such as the existence of prepositions such as "to" and "from", which sound completely different in Russian but serve the same purpose), you can also recognize similarities between Finnish and Hungarian.
Whereas "house" in Finnish is "talo" and "in a house" is "talossa", in Hungarian those are "ház" and "házben". Although the endings -ssa and -ben sound completely different, the concept is the same in both. And of course this is just one example among many possible.


----------



## MattiG

Dakkus said:


> Finnish is similar to Estonian as Dutch is to German.
> Finnish is similar to Hungarian as Dutch is to Russian.
> 
> Now you're going to say that Dutch and Russian have nothing to do with each other. But yes, they do. They both are in the indo-european language family and it is a terrible lot easier for a Dutch person to learn Russian than to learn Finnish. The reason for that is that Dutch is far more similar with Russian than with Finnish.
> And just like you can recognize similarities between English and Russian (such as the existence of prepositions such as "to" and "from", which sound completely different in Russian but serve the same purpose), you can also recognize similarities between Finnish and Hungarian.
> Whereas "house" in Finnish is "talo" and "in a house" is "talossa", in Hungarian those are "ház" and "házben". Although the endings -ssa and -ben sound completely different, the concept is the same in both. And of course this is just one example among many possible.


Finnish and Hungarian both belong to the Fenno-Ugric family of languages. They were separated pretty early, much earlier than say Finnish and Estonian. The structure of the language still is similar but there are not much common in the vocabulary. Yes, and both love long words.


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> Those photos present the recently completed work to upgrade the road. Your post is missing one the most crucial element, the Kalliosola exit #41 on E18:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This exit replaced three traffic lights, which were severe bottlenecks, with those ones killing the Vantaankoski junction #39A of E18 and 3/E12.
> 
> The Vantaankoski junction was totally rebuilt to a free-flow one. Because of space constraints the westbound ramps of the exit #39B were removed, and the route between the Ring 3 and the road 130 (ex 3) was restored by building a new road to the new Myllymäki exit #38.


The improvement was just partial, a Phase 1 - Works on this section will continue hopefully soon as Vantaa city demanded when loaning to the state money to quit traffic lights from the section, which still is a serious bottleneck because of the lack of the projected third lanes. Vantaankoski junction with Road 3 was also rebuilt just partially.


----------



## RV

http://aulis.sange.fi/~otso/stuff/smith-polvinen/ *Some extremely interesting stuff*

Extracts from the proposed Smith-Polvinen-plan (1968), the Helsinki motorway network by 2000. The network planned here is extremely huge and heavy, and a vast majority of the routes were never built.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

What is the font name of Finnish road signs?


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> What is the font name of Finnish road signs?


No name.

It is not any known font, which is a slight problem nowadays. The shape of each individual character is documented in the official drawings.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> The improvement was just partial, a Phase 1 - Works on this section will continue hopefully soon as Vantaa city demanded when loaning to the state money to quit traffic lights from the section, which still is a serious bottleneck because of the lack of the projected third lanes. Vantaankoski junction with Road 3 was also rebuilt just partially.


The upgrade of the Ring 3 was split in to two phases in order to resolve the most burning issues quickly. The phase 1 is now completed, and the traffic seems to flow rather fluently.

The phase 2 will have much wider scope than the phase 1, and the final scope and the schedule are still open. It will not bring much new to the newly completed strecth: The north-to-east loop ramp at the Vantaankoski junction will be replaced by a half direct one, some lane arrangements will be done between that junction and the next one to the south, and third lanes will be added. Because of the good results from the phase 1, I would not be very surprised if those additional improvements were postponed to the unknown future.

Postponing those might have adverse effects in the future, because the Vantaankoski junction will receive a lot of new load from the Marja-Vantaa area to be built nearby: Homes for 30,000 people, shopping malls, and the key commuting hub at the new ring railway line connecting the current nothern and northwestern lines.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I tried to draw a map of Helsinki in inkscape. Unfortunately there are not any good base maps available on Wikimedia Commons, so I had to trace the coastline from Google Maps from scratch.

Current network:









Planned 1960s network:








Thick red line = motorway
Thin red line = expressway


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> I tried to draw a map of Helsinki in inkscape. Unfortunately there are not any good base maps available on Wikimedia Commons, so I had to trace the coastline from Google Maps from scratch.
> 
> Current network:
> 
> 
> Planned 1960s network:


Yes and no.

The Smith-Polvinen report from the year 1968 provided with four transportation scenarios, including road, rail and bus traffic. The scenario C, which was the most heavyweight one, was the consultant's proposal, and it created much noise. Quite few people realize that it included a proposal for an extensive rail network, too.

The current setup in the Helsinki region is rather similar to what Smith and Polvinen proposed in their scenario A.

Smith and Polvinen have been incorrectly criticized on their willingness to make the heart of Helsinki to a motorway junction. City of Helsinki ordered the work, and the aim was to create several futuristic scenarios on top of various principles. The mission was to assess which kind of a road network would be needed in which scenario.

What is interesting, the traffic growth forecast until 2000 done by Smith and Polvinen turned much more accurate one than the one done ten years later with better data. Currently, there long term network plan is updated every fourth year, and this work is a direct continuum to the S ad P methodology.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

City centers are not as dominant as they were in the 1950s and 1960s. Helsinki is highly dispersed, which is also reflected in the traffic volumes. Not a single route towards the city center exceeds 40.000 vehicles per day. In most European cities, only 10 - 20% of the urban area employment is in the city center. Hence, they don't need large motorway networks in the city center. While rail transport is still very much based on focal points like city centers, road transport is not, it's much more dispersed.


----------



## RV

Helsinki city's own plans for a central expressway network from 1970, that would be very useful still today with some accurate enviromental planning, but impossible in this country nowadays:

Red: Never built, cancelled
Blue: Built
Green: Will be built
Pink: Will possibly be built
Black: Demolished










The central east-west route is the same as that of the cancelled Central Tunnel (what a stupidity!).

The western coastal expressway would be still extremely useful and uncongesting, and also easy to build because of the lack of buildings on it's route - though expensive because of the many needed bridges.

The Lahti and Porvoo motorways were actually built outside of the city center according to Smith-Polvinen plans, while Road 51, Road 1, Road 45 and Road 170 were already motorways by 1968.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> City centers are not as dominant as they were in the 1950s and 1960s. Helsinki is highly dispersed, which is also reflected in the traffic volumes. Not a single route towards the city center exceeds 40.000 vehicles per day. In most European cities, only 10 - 20% of the urban area employment is in the city center. Hence, they don't need large motorway networks in the city center. While rail transport is still very much based on focal points like city centers, road transport is not, it's much more dispersed.


Well, I would not consider the AADT per road as an absolute figure a feasible metric of the dispersion, without knowing the total population and the number of roads in question.

A better indication for the decentralisation process is the fact that the number of vehicles daily entering and leaving the Helsinki inner city has been unchanged for the last 40 years even if the population in the metropolitan area has increased by 40% from about 760,000 to 1,050,000 since 1970.

The city of Helsinki has grown only 22%, from 483,000 to 589,000. Most of the growth has taken place in the remaining metropolitan area: in the towns of Espoo and Vantaa (and in the microtown of Kauniainen).

Especially families with kids tend to escape the high housing cost to the next outer ring of eight municipalities (Kirkkonummi, Vihti, Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Kerava, Sipoo, Järvenpää, Hyvinkää), and still to commute to the metropolitan area. This area plus the metropolitan area is nowadays defined as a LUA (Large Urban Area) in the Eurostat terminology. The total population of the LUA is 1,324,000. Thus, the city of Helsinki nowadays represents only 44% of the population of the Helsinki Larger Urban Area.

Big fraction of the jobs are nowadays located close to the ring roads, and along the radial roads between the rings. This has created a lot of traffic on the ring roads, and their traffic volumes seem to be ever increasing. Despite this, the local politicians decided to spend 1000+ million euros to extend the radial metro system in Helsinki to the west in order to replace the extremely well working bus system.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

A nice aerial photo of the Tampere-south motorway interchange.










When did this configuration open? The valtatie 3 already opened in 1968, but valtatie 9 (to the right) didn't open until 1994 and the Tampere bypass (left) wasn't doubled to 2x2 until 2008.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> A nice aerial photo of the Tampere-south motorway interchange.
> 
> When did this configuration open? The valtatie 3 already opened in 1968, but valtatie 9 (to the right) didn't open until 1994 and the Tampere bypass (left) wasn't doubled to 2x2 until 2008.


That stacked version opened in 1994 as a part of the Tampere East Bypass project.

The picture is obsolete. The next exit to the south has been upgraded to a full exit and the ramps of those two exits are now interconnected.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I was wondering about the use of E-roads in daily Finnish speech.

Finland is the only Scandinavian country to have a national numbering system with routes that run concurrent with E-roads.

Which are preferred by the population and media? Is it common to say E12 Helsinki - Tampere or do they use the valtatie 3 number?


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> I was wondering about the use of E-roads in daily Finnish speech.
> 
> Finland is the only Scandinavian country to have a national numbering system with routes that run concurrent with E-roads.
> 
> Which are preferred by the population and media? Is it common to say E12 Helsinki - Tampere or do they use the valtatie 3 number?


Virtually nobody talks about E numbers. The exception might be the E18 from Turku to Vaalimaa spanning on several national roads when the E road itself is discussed: "The E18 should meet the motorway standards by 2015". But the road from Helsinki to Turku is always referred to as road 1, not as road E18.

The roads 1-10 are usually referred to by the spoken language expression "ykköstie", "kakkostie", "kolmostie", "nelostie", "viitostie", "kuutostie", "seiskatie", "kasitie", "ysitie" ja "kymppitie" ("1-road, 2-road, etc") or by their unofficial name Porintie (road to Pori), Lahdentie (road to Lahti), equivalent to say Bremener Strasse.


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## ChrisZwolle

Some nice photos of Vt4 in Lahti.





































All photos by Liikennevirasto (Finnish transport authority)


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## ChrisZwolle

The new Vt7 motorway (E18) from Koskenkylä to Kotka:










By Liikennevirasto


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

Reconstruction of the *road № **51* from Helsinki in the south-west to the Raasepori. Its length is not great - only 75 km:








Source.

Construction is carried out with multiple switching and changes in traffic patterns in areas of reconstruction:

_Interchange road №51 and local road №11277._

Panorama East (from Helsinki) approach to a interchange:


Reconstruction (expandable up to 2 +2) of the eastern approach to the interchange:


On the neighboring participation, at a distance of just tens of meters from each other, can coexist rocky ground and swamps:


And swamp full - with pools in which, despite the proximity of the motorway, continue to haunt swans:


In such places, the pile hammer and tie them in a concrete slab rastverkom the entire width of the roadway:




The terrain in the area of ​​reconstruction is very "inhabited" - space is limited at the conventions are widely used "ring":

_Junction "southern" exits road №51 to the local road №11277 is designed as a "Rings" _


_A view of the junction from the south._

Closer to Helsinki, is already "inside" RING III (ring road around Greater Helsinki), completed the construction of the tunnel:

_Time to go from the road number 51 to the RING III to the east (towards St. Petersburg)._

Finns call the tunnel: "Green Bridge". Intended for animal migration, as well as places of feeding elk in winter and summer are on opposite sides of the road(Source of information). 

Tunnel, or rather two adjacent tunnel - one for each of the roadway, constructed "open-":


Long tunnel of 60 meters, total construction width of 30 meters, the height of the asphalt "in the light" of 7 meters. Will be laid on top of a dirt forest road lined with trees and shrubs.

_View from the western side of the tunnel, to the east - in the direction to Helsinki._

Bonus - exhibiting tunnel formwork, photo from May 24, 2011:

Finnträskin vihersilta (lataa painokelpoiset kuvat klikkaamalla hiiren oikeaa näppäintä) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Thank you, all pictures "clickable" - can be viewed in higher resolution with precise reference to the locality.
_August 25, 2012_


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## RV

It's neccessary to say that the reconstruction covers only the section from Espoo to Kirkkonummi (some 10 Kms), and it will be a motorway to Siuntio in a very far future.


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## MattiG

RV said:


> It's neccessary to say that the reconstruction covers only the section from Espoo to Kirkkonummi (some 10 Kms), and it will be a motorway to Siuntio in a very far future.


The cost of the reconstruction is rather high due to some special issues:

1) A new bridge was built between the existing two bridges over the Espoonlahti bay. The old highway bridge (140 metres long, 2.2 million kg in weigth) was pushed 1.4 metres to the north in order to make space for the new bridge.

(The southertmost bridge from year 1937 is protected as a memorial. It was that time a very modern bridge, and between 1944 and 1956 it was located at the border of Finland and the Porkkala area acquired by the Soviet Union.)

2) In the Jorvas valley, the soil is soft clay and the solid bedrock is about 20 metres underground. The road structure built of concrete rests on several hundred concrete poles thus being more or less a bridge.


----------



## void0

Any explanation why this sign








is almost never used in Finland?


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

void0 said:


> Any explanation why this sign
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is almost never used in Finland?


In my opinion, it is used very often ...


----------



## MattiG

void0 said:


> Any explanation why this sign
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is almost never used in Finland?


It is used on all the main roads to emphasize their status. In most cases, it is overhead, as the give way signs or the traffic rules show the priority order. If the speed limit at the crossing is 40 km/h or above, it is mandatory to set up give way signs (or warning signs about a non-priority arrangement where the right-hand rule applies).

The system is rather different from the one seen in Sweden and Germany, for instance, but it works rather well.

BTW, the sign has a side-effect: In non-urban areas, it implies a parking prohibition on the carriageway.


----------



## void0

Give way signs are often used, but if you are at the main road you don't see it and may think this is a crossroad of equal roads


----------



## MattiG

void0 said:


> Give way signs are often used, but if you are at the main road you don't see it and may think this is a crossroad of equal roads


No you do not. If the speed limit is 40 or higher, and you do not have the yield sign, the crossing road should have one. The roads are equal only if there is a warning sign indicating that.

Those coming from private roads, minor roads, parking places, service areas, home zones etc must yield by a rule, as well as those entering a motorway.


----------



## MattiG

*Route 51*

Doing some experimenting on driving videos (junction charts).


----------



## lpioe

^^ Really nice job! Must have been a lot of work.
Did you find the signs and junctions somewhere or did you all do by yourself?


----------



## RV

Luckily those bus lanes will be normal lanes after the subway is completed - it's so disgusting to see at rush hours a whole almost empty lane and two lanes filled with cars.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> Luckily those bus lanes will be normal lanes after the subway is completed - it's so disgusting to see at rush hours a whole almost empty lane and two lanes filled with cars.


As the bottleneck at the end of the motorway remains, the result will be slightly shorter queues on three lanes.

BTW, there is no final decision on converting the bus lanes to normal ones. As the coming subway significantly increases the travel times compared to the current bus system, there might be a transition period to run the subway system and and the bus system in parallel.


----------



## MattiG

lpioe said:


> Did you find the signs and junctions somewhere or did you all do by yourself?


The junction charts are based on my earlier vector drawing project, so this time not a big job. (Needed to rotate them by 180 degrees and to drop some elements to keep them simple.)

Another option would have been to use the open road vector data nowadays available to the public by the National Land Survey of Finland. The ready-rendered maps need a cleanup to show only the essential roads, and that would quite an effort. An alternative approach is to do the rendering using Oziexplorer for example (as it can read ESRI shape files), but that would need some post-processing, too, to show the bridges. I postponed this approach to the indefinite future.

I made the direction signs. I have a few generic powerpoint charts to build on: A default junction, a urban motorway junction, a junction for a main road, a partial junction only for entrance, etc. The signs on the video are not exactly what can be seen on the road, but simplistic ones to avoid cluttering (and to keep them rectangular to avoid the need to play with the chroma keys). The warning signs were downloaded from the official site of the transport agency.


----------



## MattiG

*Oversize Transport Hits a Gantry*

Early today, an oversize transport hit a gantry on the Ring 1 of Helsinki, and caused major delays to the westbound traffic. It is unclear why this vehicle was on the Ring 1, becase the road does not belong to the network of special transport routes.










(Source: Iltasanomat)


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## g.spinoza

Aren't there clearance overhead signs?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This gantry is high enough not to warrant some kind of special clearance warning. This transport looks at least a meter taller than regular trucks.


----------



## MattiG

g.spinoza said:


> Aren't there clearance overhead signs?


The maximum height of vehicles is 4.20 metres. The higher ones are special transports needing a permission from the road admin. The permission is based on route planning over official special transport routes, and it may contain a lot of terms and conditions related to weights, allowed hours, and traffic guidance.

All gantries and other obstacles with the clearance under 4.40 metres are to be signed.


----------



## g.spinoza

MattiG said:


> The maximum height of vehicles is 4.20 metres. The higher ones are special transports needing a permission from the road admin. The permission is based on route planning over official special transport routes, and it may contain a lot of terms and conditions related to weights, allowed hours, and traffic guidance.


So someone at road admin screwed up bad.


----------



## MattiG

g.spinoza said:


> So someone at road admin screwed up bad.


I do not think so. Most probably the transportation company have decided to skip the step to apply for a permission. 

Accidents related to low bridges are not uncommon in Finland. Most of them are results from a careless route selection.














































There is a number official transport routes having no gantries and low-clearance bridges. The Ring 1 definitely is not a part of this network due to a zillion of gantries, and being the busiest road in the country.


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## MattiG

*Truck fell down from ramp*

Today afternoon, a truck crashed into a bridge railing at the junction of routes 3/E12 and 9/E63 south of Tampere: https://maps.google.fi/maps?q=lakal...43,0.038581&hnear=Lakalaiva,+Tampere&t=m&z=16

The truck was climbing to the 3rd level of the 4-level half-stack junction, went through the bridge railing, fell down several metres, and bursted into flames. The driver managed to escape the vehicle before the fire, and got minor injuries only.

The east-to-south ramp is expected to open no early than tomorrow morning.









(Helsingin Sanomat)









(Ilta-Sanomat)









(Aamulehti)


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## OulaL

*Joensuu bypass*

Joensuu bypass on the roads 6/9/23 is being upgraded into a motorway. After completion, it will be the easternmost motorway of the continental EU.

This 25-km-stretch won't be connected with any other motorway, though.

The completion of the project is expected in 2014, but the first sign portals are already there:

http://www.karjalainen.fi/fi/uutise...nsuun-kehatielta-ohjataan-pian-myos-venajalle

Sortavala has returned as a signposted destination in Joensuu. It disappeared after the World War II, as the Soviet Union annexed Sortavala (among some 12 % of the Finnish territory) and the main road connecting Joensuu and southern Finland was rerouted via Lappeenranta.

Despite the new sign, the part of the road 9 leading to the Russian border is not affected by this project. Although it was reclassified as a highway just a few years ago, this was merely an administrative action; no remarkable road construction or upgrading took place on that stretch.


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## ChrisZwolle

Interesting project. It's visible on Google Earth imagery.


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> I was wondering about that, because even in the Netherlands this time of the year doesn't yield much useful sunshine for highway photography.


On a very cloudy day, it is hard to say if it is the sunrise, the noon or the sunset. On a bright day no problem for photography, and really no problem when there is snow.

The morning and evening twilight is rather long in December in the north. Today, their duration is about 55 minutes in Helsinki:

0805 Civil twilight begins (Sun 6 degrees below horizon)
0901 Sunrise
1210 True noon (Sun altitude 8 degrees)
1519 Sunset
1614 End of civil twilight

To compare the same data in Amsterdam:

0751 Civil twilight begins (Sun 6 degrees below horizon)
0831 Sunrise
1230 True noon (Sun altitude 16 degrees)
1630 Sunset
1710 End of civil twilight


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## Дмитрий Кудряшо

OulaL said:


> Thanks for pics, Dmitrij!


Please!



OulaL said:


> Just a grammatical OT note: the actual name for this place is "Husula"; "Husulan" is the genitive case, here "The tunnel _of Husula_".


Corrected.
I would be grateful for your comments and corrections (and grammar and terminology), English is not my mother tongue (not to mention Finnish) - I translate with Google.Translate.


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## MattiG

*Road 51 Kivenlahti-Kirkkonummi opens at 2+2*

The works to upgrade the most congested approach to Helsinki to a motorway started in 2010. The existing motorway will be extended 10 km to west. The works are planned to complete in late 2013, but the lanes were planned to open by Christmas this year. The heavy snowstorm last week caused some of the remaining work to be postponed, and the whole section was opened 2+2 a week go, a few weeks ahead of the schedule. There will be temporary line closures due to the works, and the road does not yet carry the motorway status.

Three new exits were built, and the exit to the Ring III was slightly upgraded.










The east end of the upgraded section. Tall noise barriers.










Descent to the Jorvas valley. The valley is deep mud, and the road is built like a bridge: Concrete superstructure supported by hundreds of poles of 15-20 metres tall.










Noise barrier wall at the west end.










Lane closure due to installing the middle barrier.










Misplaced sign. The figures are in error by 3 kilometres.










The diamond shaped ramps are all connected to the secondary road via a roundabout. This is quite an effective way to prevent wrong way driving.










The route over roads 25-51-50/E18-7/E18 is popular trade route from the port of Hanko to Russia. That is why St Petersburg is visible on a few signs.










The eastbound ramp of exit 16 towards Helsinki. A massive rock cutting.










Lateral roads have been built for local access and for non-motorway traffic.


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## Дмитрий Кудряшо

_November 25, 2012_
It's here.

Construction of the bridge over the Kymi and discharge channel hydroelectric Ahvenkoski. A view of the west:


Markkinamäki larger:


Temporary bridge built for the construction of a permanent bridge right direction (from Helsinki to Vaalimaa).
A view of the west, in the direction of Helsinki:




Concreted bridge spans the left direction (from Helsinki to Vaalimaa).
A view of the west, in the direction of Helsinki:


After the bridge will begin tunnel Markkinamäki (east portal).
A view of the west, in the direction of Helsinki:


Formwork pillars bridge:


Construction of a bridge over the mainstream Kymijoki.
View to the east, in the direction of Vaalimaa:




To the east of Kymijoki:
View to the east, in the direction of Vaalimaa:


Bonus: panorama hydroelectric Ahvenkoski.
View from the bridge on the highway 7 north:


These (and other) photos in higher resolution can be found in the album:
Реконструкция Е 18, Ahvenkoski.

P.S. If you see inaccuracies, typos and errors - do not hesitate, please let me know.


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## kosimodo

You better watch out

Map over 'moose' accidents in Finland

http://files.snstatic.fi/IS/2012/11/hirvikolarit/index.html


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## MattiG

kosimodo said:


> You better watch out
> 
> Map over 'moose' accidents in Finland
> 
> http://files.snstatic.fi/IS/2012/11/hirvikolarit/index.html


That map shows the statistics over the years 2007-2011, and covers accidents related to mooses and deer. About 30% of the annual 4000 accidents are moose-related (dangerous, 3-5 fatalities annually, 100+ injuries) and the remaining ones deer-related (less dangerous, usually no fatalities, 20+ injuries).

The accident density is highest in the southwest because the deer population and traffic density is highest there.

(If you zoom the map and click the red dots: 'Peuraonnettomuus' = deer accicent, 'Hirvionnettomuus' = moose accident)

As you can see, the animal fences protecting most motorways are rather effective in preventing the collisions from happening.


----------



## OulaL

Slightly offtopic, but...



MattiG said:


>


In some bilingual areas, such as Ireland and the gaelic-speaking part of the UK, the languages are clearly distinguished from each other by fonts or colors. There's a point that can be seen here.

Kirkkonummi is a bilingual municipality and almost all places there have a Finnish and a Swedish name, as seen from the rest of the photos. Coincidentally, here are three places with only one name each. Hirsala, Långvik and Jorvas are three separate destinations, but could a visitor tell from this sign? As seen from Heikkilä/Hindersby, the names don't need to look alike. To a visitor, Långvik could as well be the Swedish name for Hirsala. Or if a person isn't familiar with the letter "å" or Finnish and Swedish languages in general, Långvik could also be the Finnish name for Jorvas.


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## Wover

Sorry for "ignoring" that rather interesting remark (don't have an opinion about it), but I have a question: Somewhere I heard/read that Finland has some heated roads and when I was driving from Vaasa to Oulu to Rovaniemi I noticed that there was absolutely 0 snow on the road the closer you get to Rovaniemi as opposed to regular cleared road before and around Oulu.


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## MattiG

OulaL said:


> Slightly offtopic, but...
> 
> In some bilingual areas, such as Ireland and the gaelic-speaking part of the UK, the languages are clearly distinguished from each other by fonts or colors. There's a point that can be seen here.
> 
> Kirkkonummi is a bilingual municipality and almost all places there have a Finnish and a Swedish name, as seen from the rest of the photos. Coincidentally, here are three places with only one name each. Hirsala, Långvik and Jorvas are three separate destinations, but could a visitor tell from this sign? As seen from Heikkilä/Hindersby, the names don't need to look alike. To a visitor, Långvik could as well be the Swedish name for Hirsala. Or if a person isn't familiar with the letter "å" or Finnish and Swedish languages in general, Långvik could also be the Finnish name for Jorvas.


This ambiguity is (partially) handled by spacing. Here is an example of an advance direction sign displaying four destinations, two bilingual and two unilingual ones. Note the different spacing between the destinations, and the language versions:










At the exit sign, each of the destinations is shown in a separate field:










Of course, there still is a ambiguity if the advance sign displays two names. The spacing rule still applies, and it is quite easy to learn to distinguish if the names refer to one ot two destinations.


----------



## MattiG

Wover said:


> Sorry for "ignoring" that rather interesting remark (don't have an opinion about it), but I have a question: Somewhere I heard/read that Finland has some heated roads and when I was driving from Vaasa to Oulu to Rovaniemi I noticed that there was absolutely 0 snow on the road the closer you get to Rovaniemi as opposed to regular cleared road before and around Oulu.


There are a really small number of heated streets and pavements in the cities. No heated roads, as far as I know.

The busiest main roads are kept free of show and ice by salting. Typically, salt is added just before the snowfall in order to prevent the snow from cumulating. Of course, if the weather conditions are challenging, the roads cannot be kept clean.

The roads are divided into six categories (Is, I, Ib, TIb, II, and III) in terms of the winter maintenance. The guidelines with pictures are shown on the page http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/f/kunnossapito/talviolosuhteet/teiden_talvihoitoluokat (in Finnish only). The classification of the main road network is visible on the page http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/portal/page/portal/AE151C5876242FC8E040B40A1A015B13

The pictures of the newly-opened road 51 were taken at a snowfall. That is why the road surface was not clean even if the road belongs to the Is class.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Finnish motorway turns 50 years today. On December 16, 1962, the first motorway of Finland opened to traffic, linking Helsinki with Espoo (Valtatie 1). It was 14 kilometers long.

I'm sure MattiG can tell us more about it


----------



## geogregor

Дмитрий Кудряшо;98079941 said:


> Formwork pillars bridge:


I like the wooden forms they use in Finland. But I wonder if it is really cost effective. On one hand they have of course plenty of wood available but production of such forms must be more labor intensive than when using modern ready forms. Wages in Finland are high so how does it make sense financially?


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## RV

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Finnish motorway turns 50 years today. On December 16, 1962, the first motorway of Finland opened to traffic, linking Helsinki with Espoo (Valtatie 1). It was 14 kilometers long.
> 
> I'm sure MattiG can tell us more about it



Actually, the first motorway-like road, then called "Eastern motorway" was opened earlier; it's the actual Road 170, and carried the National roads 6 and 7 before the opening of Porvoo motorway in 1972. 

Kulosaari bridge was completed in 1957 and the whole route until what we know now as Itäkeskus as 2x3-laned in 1962. I wish MattiG could tell more of this, because information is rarely available


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## MattiG

RV said:


> Actually, the first motorway-like road, then called "Eastern motorway" was opened earlier; it's the actual Road 170, and carried the National roads 6 and 7 before the opening of Porvoo motorway in 1972.
> 
> Kulosaari bridge was completed in 1957 and the whole route until what we know now as Itäkeskus as 2x3-laned in 1962. I wish MattiG could tell more of this, because information is rarely available


Well...

We have to very careful on the terminology now.

Yes, there were a road with the official name Itäinen Moottoritie, to be translated as "Eastern Motorway", as RV tells. However, in that time, there was no official definition of the term "motorway". Thus, the "Motorway" was the name of that road only, and it did not refer to any official road class.

The road class "motorway", and the respective traffic rules, were added into the Finnish legislation effective Jan 1st, 1965. 

By 1965, Itäinen Moottoritie was a rather short 2+2 road (about 2.5 kilometres extending to the east end of the island of Kulosaari). There were plans to extend it to the east by upgrading the existing 1+1 road, but those plans became true later. In 1967, the road was renamed to Itäväylä (about "Eastern Artery"). That was done because the name was misleading, and all seven main radial roads into Helsinki got the suffix "väylä".

The road does not meet the motorway standards, and it never achieved an official status of a motorway, despite of its name.

The initial alignment of the roads 6/7 was made via Viikki (blue line):










After the Kulosaari new bridge and the Itäinen Moottoritie were complete, they became the new route (red). Later, the the plans to extend that road to the east as a motorway we canceled. Instead, the motorway got a new alignment somewhat more north (green). In the 1970's the number 6 was dropped, and the road 6 now branches from the road 7 in Koskenkylä about 70 east of Helsinki. The old highway got the number 170.


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Finnish motorway turns 50 years today. On December 16, 1962, the first motorway of Finland opened to traffic, linking Helsinki with Espoo (Valtatie 1). It was 14 kilometers long.
> 
> I'm sure MattiG can tell us more about it.


Sure. The history of that road construction exercise is rather well documented.

The construction took six years. Initially, the much of work was done as an unemployment support without proper machinery. During the project, the World Bank was successful to convince Finland that the main purpose of building roads is to get the roads complete, not to employ people. 

The road was planned according to the American standards, which was a completely new approach. Several young engineers were sent to the US to learn road design, and the result was ultramodern at that time.

The new road 1 between the cities of Helsinki and Turku was completed in 1941. In 1944, the road 51 from Helsinki to Hanko was cut because the Soviet Union acquired the Porkkala area, and main replacement road was the road 1. In the same time, the big shift from the agricultural Finland to the industrialized Finland begun. Helsinki begun expanding, and road 1 was rather severely congested. Those were the main reasons to begin constructing the first real motorway. (Even if the Soviet Union returned the Porkkala area prematurely in 1956, the road modernization focus remained elsewhere, and the new modern road 51 was completed no earlier than in 1970's.)

The initial stretch from Helsinki to Gumböle in Espoo was mostly a rural 2+2 motorway with three exits (the current exits 40, 43, and 45). None of those exits currently are in their original shape, and three new exits have been built later. Today, the stretch is more like an urban motorway with high exit density, bus lanes, and being congested.

The motorway was later extended in the both ends of the road 1, and the final gap of 51 kilometres was closed no earlier than in 2009.


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## MattiG

geogregor said:


> I like the wooden forms they use in Finland. But I wonder if it is really cost effective. On one hand they have of course plenty of wood available but production of such forms must be more labor intensive than when using modern ready forms. Wages in Finland are high so how does it make sense financially?


They are rather cost-effective. Every bridge is unique, and not much added-value would result from making the forms in a more industrialized manner. The form creation is a very visible task at the bridge construction, but it represents rather a small part of the total cost.


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## ChrisZwolle

*E18 Koskenkylä - Kotka*

Construction of the new motorway.


Ahvenkosken eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Ahvenkosken sillat 25.10.12 (2) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


C) Koskenkylä–Loviisa 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Heinlahden eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Heinlahden eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 (2) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Loviisan itäinen eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Loviisan itäinen liittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Loviisan läntinen eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 (2) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Markkinamäentunnelin länsipää 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Pyhtään eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Siltakylän eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Sutelan eritasoliittymä 25.10.12 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## RV

MattiG said:


> Well...
> 
> We have to very careful on the terminology now.
> 
> Yes, there were a road with the official name Itäinen Moottoritie, to be translated as "Eastern Motorway", as RV tells. However, in that time, there was no official definition of the term "motorway". Thus, the "Motorway" was the name of that road only, and it did not refer to any official road class.
> 
> The road class "motorway", and the respective traffic rules, were added into the Finnish legislation effective Jan 1st, 1965.
> 
> By 1965, Itäinen Moottoritie was a rather short 2+2 road (about 2.5 kilometres extending to the east end of the island of Kulosaari). There were plans to extend it to the east by upgrading the existing 1+1 road, but those plans became true later. In 1967, the road was renamed to Itäväylä (about "Eastern Artery"). That was done because the name was misleading, and all seven main radial roads into Helsinki got the suffix "väylä".
> 
> The road does not meet the motorway standards, and it never achieved an official status of a motorway, despite of its name.
> 
> The initial alignment of the roads 6/7 was made via Viikki (blue line):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After the Kulosaari new bridge and the Itäinen Moottoritie were complete, they became the new route (red). Later, the the plans to extend that road to the east as a motorway we canceled. Instead, the motorway got a new alignment somewhat more north (green). In the 1970's the number 6 was dropped, and the road 6 now branches from the road 7 in Koskenkylä about 70 east of Helsinki. The old highway got the number 170.


Do you happen to know when did Viikki interchange opened? It seems like it was a motorway planned towards northeast, because the interchange is really massive for its actual traffic volumes, though in the future a Viikki-Kehä I-tunnel will be constructed.


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## MattiG

RV said:


> Do you happen to know when did Viikki interchange opened? It seems like it was a motorway planned towards northeast, because the interchange is really massive for its actual traffic volumes, though in the future a Viikki-Kehä I-tunnel will be constructed.


The decision to begin to plan the upgrade NE from Herttoniemi was made in 1967. I think that interchange was complete rather soon after that, in the early 1970's. I have to dig into my heap of old maps to look if I can find some more accurate data. The left exits of that interchange are among those reasons the road does not meet the Finnish motorway qualifications.


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## MattiG

MattiG said:


> The decision to begin to plan the upgrade NE from Herttoniemi was made in 1967. I think that interchange was complete rather soon after that, in the early 1970's. I have to dig into my heap of old maps to look if I can find some more accurate data. The left exits of that interchange are among those reasons the road does not meet the Finnish motorway qualifications.


After reading a few Annual Reports of City of Helsinki from 1968-1972, it seems to me that the decision to build the Viikintie junction was made somewhat earlier. The report from 1968 tells that the work begun in 1966, and all the nine bridges were complete in 1968. Thus, the junction most probably was completed in late 1968 or in 1969.

According to those Pickwick Papers, the junction planned at the intersection of Itäväylä and the coming Ring I was postponed until 1974 or 1975 due to financial reasons. The junction still does not exist. It is again in a planning phase, and the plans have faced heavy criticism. 










The planning for the new alignment of the motorway to the east was ongoing in the same time. The planning authority was not City of Helsinki, but the then state Road Agency. Traces about the detail planning phase are visible in the annual reports from 1970 and 1971. The state and the city were negotiating certain cost elements and action points.

The road map 1:200000 (GT 3) from the year 1976 shows that the new motorway was open up to east of the Hangelby exit (currently #57). The map from 1980 shows the road being a motorway up to the Harabacka exit #60 west of Porvoo, and as a 1+1 road up to the Rita exit #62 east of Porvoo. The map from 1984 shows the motorway being complete up to Rita.

The map from 1980 shows interesting information:










At that time the state Road Agency introduced the motorway numbering concept: The newly built motorways did not get numbered as main roads 4/5 and 6/7, but M4 and M7. The M7 was printed on the map, but the northbound motorway to become M4 still carries the temporary number 990. The old lousy 1+1 roads retained their numbers.

That concept did not fly a long time. In the map from 1977 it does not exist, and the map from 1984 does not show it any more. In the 1984, the current numbering scheme (with the exception of E roads) was in place: the motorways carry the numbers 4 and 7, and the old roads numbers 140 and 170 respectively.


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## ChrisZwolle

*E18 Kotka*

Construction of E18 between Koskenkylä and Kotka.



Ahvenkosken sillat huhtikuu 2013 (2) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Ahvenkosken sillat huhtikuu 2013 (3) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Ahvenkosken sillat huhtikuu 2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## ChrisZwolle

*E18 Koskenkylä - Kotka*

New aerials of the E18 construction.

Loviisa interchange

G) Loviisan itäinen eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Kymi River Bridge.

K) Ahvenkosken sillat 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Ahvenkoski interchange.

L) Ahvenkosken eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Pyhtää interchange

N) Pyhtään eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Siltakylä interchange

P) Siltakylän eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Heinlahti interchange

Q) Heinlahden eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Sutela interchange twinning

R) Sutelan eritasoliittymä 13.6.2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## RV

Well those are at least 2 months old according to trees.


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## ChrisZwolle

6 days according to the description. But I see what you mean, they look like April or May.


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## RV

Strange, because all has been green since early May up to Lapland  I think it's just their release date. And there certainly wasn't snow on May 21st ^^^ we had +28 back then.


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## Дмитрий Кудряшо

In the descriptions of the photos error: not shooting month June - photos were taken on May 6. This can be seen through the trees and confirmed exif to the file.
Photos from May 10, 2013:


IMGP0177-0185 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP0175 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP0213 by kudrdima, on Flickr

More pictures in high resolution in the album Реконструкция Е 18, Ahvenkoski.

Map of shooting here.


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> 6 days according to the description. But I see what you mean, they look like April or May.


The EXIF data shows that the photos have been taken on May 6th. June 13th is the date of upload.

The nature currently is all-green, nothing like in the pictures.


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## ChrisZwolle

*Kantatie 51*

New motorway Kantatie 51 near Kirkkonummi, southwest of Helsinki. It opened in November 2012.


Meluesteitä Tolsan eritasoliittymästä kuvattuna kesäkuu 2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kantatie 51 Jorvaksen eritasoliittymästä kuvattuna kesäkuu 2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Finntrsäkin vihersillalla kesäkuussa 2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Jorvaksen eritasoliittymä kesäkuussa 2013 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> New motorway Kantatie 51 near Kirkkonummi, southwest of Helsinki. It opened in November 2012.


The road was opened in 2+2 mode last November, but the finalization work is still ongoing: Railings, noise barriers, animal fences, and gardening. That is why the road is not yet a motorway.

The west half is almost complete, and the speed limit was raised from 80 to 100 the day before yesterday. The east half except the Espoonlahti brigdes will be raised to 100 in August. The road will be complete in autumn, and then it will be given a status of a motorway.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Upgrade of Kehä III (Ring 3) in eastern Helsinki. For some reason the schematics are in Swedish.


Kehä III:n parantaminen, 2. vaihe Lähdenväylä-Porvoonväylä SV by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

Upgrade of the Airport Access Road (Seututie 135)

Kehä III:n parantaminen, 2. vaihe Lentoasemantien alueen urakka SV by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

locations and planning:

Kehä III: parantaminen, 2. vaihe yleiskartta SV by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## kubam4a1

It is always nice to see a development project in a congested urban area. 

Trunk urban road systems that are not being developed despite traffic increases end up eventually as a crap systems, there are so many examples both in Scandinavia, and in Western Europe, and in Poland...


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> For some reason the schematics are in Swedish.


Some projects, especially those ones impacting bilingual areas, are presented in both Finnish and Swedish on the web pages. You have picked the Swedish charts.


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## OulaL

So one after another, the at-grade left-turns at the 7/50 interchange get eliminated. Sweet.

Is the west-to-north turn removed completely? There's no ramp for that traffic on the map. 

It might make sense to remove that turn and reroute the little amount of traffic there might be through local roads, and so allow the Ring III itself be completely free of traffic lights.

(EDIT: the map is not properly orientated, what I'm referring to as west-to-north looks more like south-to-west on that map...)


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> So one after another, the at-grade left-turns at the 7/50 interchange get eliminated. Sweet.
> 
> Is the west-to-north turn removed completely? There's no ramp for that traffic on the map.
> 
> It might make sense to remove that turn and reroute the little amount of traffic there might be through local roads, and so allow the Ring III itself be completely free of traffic lights.
> 
> (EDIT: the map is not properly orientated, what I'm referring to as west-to-north looks more like south-to-west on that map...)


Those small-scale maps are incomplete. The W-N ramp will remain in its current shape. Even the left turn to the Ring 3 as a level crossing remains.


----------



## MattiG

MattiG said:


> Those small-scale maps are incomplete. The W-N ramp will remain in its current shape. Even the left turn to the Ring 3 as a level crossing remains.


The planning charts are located at the end of the page http://www.vantaa.fi/fi/kadut_ja_liikenne/prime101_fi/prime101_fi.aspx as PDF files.


----------



## OulaL

MattiG said:


> The planning charts are located at the end of the page http://www.vantaa.fi/fi/kadut_ja_liikenne/prime101_fi/prime101_fi.aspx as PDF files.


Thanks.

I wonder how much traffic there will be using that left turn. The only reasonable place to go to is Länsimäki junction (Västerkulla on Chris' Swedish maps) and for those streets new access ramps (at the Fazer bridge) are built anyway. If one is taking Ring III anywhere west of that, then one doesn't turn to road 7 in the first place but stays on road 4 until Ring III.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I wonder how much traffic there will be using that left turn. The only reasonable place to go to is Länsimäki junction (Västerkulla on Chris' Swedish maps) and for those streets new access ramps (at the Fazer bridge) are built anyway. If one is taking Ring III anywhere west of that, then one doesn't turn to road 7 in the first place but stays on road 4 until Ring III.


I am quite sure the ramp will carry a lot of traffic after the new waste-to-energy power plant nearby is complete next year. The natural route from the south and southeast Helsinki goes via that ramp.

Anyway, it is best to build full-access junctions and let the users to decide.


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

_June 29, 2013_
Reconstruction of the road Vt -7 (E 18 to the west of Kotka) motorway is under way.
As you know, in some parts of the second carriageway is being completed, but much rebuilt.
After the construction of the new road, trying to keep parts of the old road to go down and change the status symbol: Vt 7 -> 170. To restore connectivity stored stations at the intersection with the new motorway being built new roads.

_To the west of Ahvenkoski:_




In part, the old sections 7 Vt are subject to reclamation.
_ Closed old carriageway road Vt -7 (E 18) - is being dismantled power fencing:_ 


_ Closed oldest part of the road Vt -7 (E 18) immediately recultivated: _


_ Before the reconstruction ... _


_ ... and during reconstruction: _


_ The thickness of the pavement the old site is not great: _


_ Construction of an interchange on the 87 km - the intersection with the remaining old road: _






_ At the road base, and do not forget about networking: _



_ Road trough literally cut down in granite: _
.

It is a place for OSM:

















P.S. More photos in high resolution can be found in the album:
Реконструкция Е 18. Location map photos.

P.P.S. I apologize for my English - translated by Google


----------



## RV

http://www.codewit.com/europe/9720-russia-ahead-on-onega-freeway

This is something really interesting! It will obligate Finland to finally upgrade Road 6/12 Hollola-Lahti-Kouvola and Koskenkylä-Kouvola + Imatra-Parikkala to motorway standards - construction on stretch Taavetti-Lappeenranta is already starting, and Lappeenranta-Imatra has been completed


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> I am quite sure the ramp will carry a lot of traffic after the new waste-to-energy power plant nearby is complete next year. The natural route from the south and southeast Helsinki goes via that ramp.
> 
> Anyway, it is best to build full-access junctions and let the users to decide.


It's really stupid to leave the at-level-junction...


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> It's really stupid to leave the at-level-junction...


Money talks. Always.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> http://www.codewit.com/europe/9720-russia-ahead-on-onega-freeway
> 
> This is something really interesting! It will obligate Finland to finally upgrade Road 6/12 Hollola-Lahti-Kouvola and Koskenkylä-Kouvola + Imatra-Parikkala to motorway standards - construction on stretch Taavetti-Lappeenranta is already starting, and Lappeenranta-Imatra has been completed


Obligate? How? By whom?


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> Obligate? How? By whom?


Increasing traffic, the fact that Russians have a so fancy road just outside the border where the Finnish stretch is crappy, a flow of tourists and goods... ?


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> Money talks. Always.


After all, the at-level junction is completely unneeded - why just not eliminate it? The cost wouldn't rise at all! Of course that will be done with Östersundom plans by 2040 then or something, so as will the Länsimäki at-level-intersection be eliminated.

It's also interesting how we will still after the third stage of Ring III have two sections with too low capacity: E18(1)-Vanhakartano and Tikkurila-E75(4). I believe atleast the last, short one, with mostly third lanes already will be included in these third phase plans. 

And of course the hugest shame of all, the long section of Ring III between Espoon Keskus-Road 51, a country-road with 1+1 lanes (AADT 25 000, busiest 1+1 in Finland), and increasing by 2025 to 22 000 - 70 000 with just an upgrading plan to 2+2 between 2020 and 2035. I think it will be accelerated though.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> After all, the at-level junction is completely unneeded - why just not eliminate it? The cost wouldn't rise at all!


You might want to elaborate this a little bit?


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> You might want to elaborate this a little bit?


If you need to get from Center to Kehä III west ----> take Lahti motorway.


----------



## OulaL

RV said:


> If you need to get from Center to Kehä III west ----> take Lahti motorway.


The only reasonable place to go, using higway 7 to Ring III west, would be the Länsimäki interchange.

Of course one can take highway 4 to Ring III even when going there. According to Google maps, it's only 1 km longer but 1 min _faster_.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> If you need to get from Center to Kehä III west ----> take Lahti motorway.


But why? 

You are suggesting closing an existing ramp because the main traffic flow will get a new ramp without any impact to the existing one. No sense at all.

As said, the ramp in question will be the main access route the new waste-to-energy power plant from the south and southeast areas of Helsinki. No sense to close it. The level crossing will not create much harm, because the traffic volumes at the Ring III south of the road 7/E18 are pretty low.


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> But why?
> 
> You are suggesting closing an existing ramp because the main traffic flow will get a new ramp without any impact to the existing one. No sense at all.
> 
> As said, the ramp in question will be the main access route the new waste-to-energy power plant from the south and southeast areas of Helsinki. No sense to close it. The level crossing will not create much harm, because the traffic volumes at the Ring III south of the road 7/E18 are pretty low.


I'm suggesting this traffic to use Länsimäki route (new interchange on Road 7), or to build a full ramp without stopping traffic going towards Vuosaari harbor.


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

Construction of bypass Hamina:








_04 августа 2013 г._
Eastern adjoining the existing road Vt 7 (from Vaalimaa, in the scheme -  green patch ).

_The movement is planned to open in 2014:_

IMGP4158 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_Every 2 years (view to the west - in the direction of Hamina):
*21.11.2011*
*04.08.2013*_ 


_To remove the top layer beneath the stone:_

IMGP4192 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_ - one big rock:_

IMGP4160 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_In addition to explosives did not take it - well prepared for laying explosives through the red "funnel":_

IMGP4161 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_View of the west - in the direction of Vaalimaa:_

IMGP4178 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_Up the "loosening" explosion - pebbles comparable with a car:_

IMGP4189 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_Panorama of adjacency being built to bypass the existing road:_

IMGP4179-4187 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP4174 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP4175-4177 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP4164-4171 by kudrdima, on Flickr



IMGP4163 by kudrdima, on Flickr

P.S. More photos in high resolution can be found in the album: 
Reconstruction of the E 18 (Vt 7), bypassing the Hamina.
Location map photos.


----------



## RV

And that would be immediately continued towards the border in 2014/2015


----------



## MattiG

*Truck crashes at railings of a motorway bridge at 7/E18*

On Saturday Aug 17th noon there was an accicent on motorway section of the road 7/E18 in Porvoo, on valley bridge at the exit 63. A truck abruptly moved to the left lane, sevely damaging a passenger car overtaking the truck. The truck collided at the railguard of the brigde, and ended up being hanging supported by the railguards. The trailer dropped down 
from the bridge and crashed on the road 11863 about 20 metres below the motorway. No person injuries occurred. The accident might be caused by falling in the sleep.




























The location seen from the road 11863: https://maps.google.fi/maps?q=Ilola...=DMu8AJiEc0asjfg7e98K6w&cbp=12,344.05,,0,2.36


----------



## RV

Could anybody explain me, what the heck is the logic of this type of junctions? I mean, one of the roads could be free-flow, so why traffic lights and left-turns on both??










(The junction shown is Road 120 and Ring 1 in 1988, it's been improved since then).


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

*Construction of bypass Hamina*

Construction of bypass Hamina::








_August 6, 2013_
West adjoining the existing motorway Vt 7 (from Kotka, in the scheme - the left side of  red area).

_Panorama detour beginning of Hamina (Hamina) from Helsinki (where the section of the highway is now pumped from Kotka, Hamina up).
View of the east - in the direction of Russia: _

IMGP4747-4750 by kudrdima, on Flickr


IMGP4746 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_ In the reconstruction of the site blew up an overpass over the highway (visible in the upper half of the image), but built a new one (visible in the lower half of the image) - on a future motorway route: _

+-IMGP4745 by kudrdima, on Flickr

_Undermining the overpass May 14, 2013:_

Räjäytys_DSC_4292 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr

_ In the present highway near the present site of Hamina is additionally installed soundproof barriers (view from the west - in the direction of Kotka, Helsinki). _
*November 21, 2011:*

IMGP8420 by kudrdima, on Flickr

*August 6, 2013:*

IMGP4758 by kudrdima, on Flickr

P.S. More photos in high resolution can be found in the album: 
Reconstruction of the E 18 (Vt 7), bypassing the Hamina.
Location map photos.


----------



## OulaL

RV said:


> Could anybody explain me, what the heck is the logic of this type of junctions? I mean, one of the roads could be free-flow, so why traffic lights and left-turns on both??


At least that one has been improved...

The interchange of 3 and 65 in Ylöjärvi also has left-turns from all directions. The east-to-south and west-to-north directions also have illegal traffic lights: arrowhead traffic lights for left turns, but no traffic lights at all for the other lanes. Like this:

https://maps.google.fi/?ll=61.55427...=_xDPqR90zWM2d2BkJkHWSg&cbp=12,84.11,,0,-5.16

And this intersection is only a few years old in its current form...


----------



## Grotlaufen

One question: Shouldn't the title of this thread be added with the Swedish title "*Motorvägar i Finland*"? It is a bilingual country, and I'm certain that some people are surprised to see some road signs such as those from the capital Helsinki/Helsingfors to be in two languages.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> The interchange of 3 and 65 in Ylöjärvi also has left-turns from all directions.


Ah, the double TOTSO at the end of the Tampere ring road.

Anyway, the main turning flows are S-W, W-S, N-E, and E-N. All of those are free from left turns. The points of conflict on the N-S level do not make harm to the main flows. The E-W road is controlled by several traffic lights. Thus, this interchange is not a single bottleneck to the E-W and W-E flows.

Quite clever planning, I think. Except for the illegal traffic light setup.


----------



## MattiG

Grotlaufen said:


> One question: Shouldn't the title of this thread be added with the Swedish title "*Motorvägar i Finland*"? It is a bilingual country, and I'm certain that some people are surprised to see some road signs such as those from the capital Helsinki/Helsingfors to be in two languages.


I would vote no. Most of the country is monolingual as you can see on the map:










Blue - Monolingual Finnish
Red - Bilingual, Finnish majority
Green - Bilingual, Swedish majority
Yellow - Monolingual Swedish


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> Could anybody explain me, what the heck is the logic of this type of junctions? I mean, one of the roads could be free-flow, so why traffic lights and left-turns on both??
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (The junction shown is Road 120 and Ring 1 in 1988, it's been improved since then).


You need to know the history in order to understand. 

The original design dates back to late 1970's. The N-S road was recently downgraded from the primary road 2 to the regional road 120 (after the new alignment Palojärvi-Olkkala got opened). Closing the Kannelmäki-Leppävaara gap of the Ring 1 received a heavy resistance, as the traffic volume estimates were moderately low. For these reasons, both roads were built as *streets*. Both of the roads were full of left-turns and traffic lights, as the streets typically are. Thus, nothing special in this interchange.

As we know, the estimates turned false, and the traffic volumes exploded. The Ring 1 turned to be the busiest road in the country, and several expensive action points have been taken to make it a urban motorway-like road without level crossings.

The original design is not bad if you take a closer look. Every ramp end is a right-turn only. Thus, in all of the four crossings, the traffic flow at the opposite side of the merging point (the "top of the bar of the T") is free from conflicts. Therefore, at each of the four through-traffic directions, there was only one traffic light.

The interchange is located in a valley of a small river. The clay-based embankment of the eastern approach was badly undermined in the late 1980's, and it was rebuilt. At the same time, the interchange was upgraded to a parclo A4 by adding direct ramps in the directions N-W and S-E. That change removed the left turns from the Ring 1. Because there is no such thing as a free lunch, the road 120 suffered from this change: There are two traffic lights in both thru-traffic directions, thus decreasing the overall throughput.


----------



## Kevlargeist

Grotlaufen said:


> One question: Shouldn't the title of this thread be added with the Swedish title "*Motorvägar i Finland*"? It is a bilingual country, and I'm certain that some people are surprised to see some road signs such as those from the capital Helsinki/Helsingfors to be in two languages.



That would be logical, considering all the other bilingual countries have bilingual thread titles.


----------



## OulaL

Ok, thanks for correction.


----------



## MattiG

MattiG said:


> The current road works do not close the gap of 5 km non-motorway class road between the Espoo/Vantaa city limit and the road 3/E12. There are 3 substandard junctions (or to be exact, 2 junctions and 2 half-junctions) having bad slip roads and pedestrians crossing the slip roads. In addition, there are a few non-separated bus stops.
> 
> The plans to upgrade that section are in place, but the schedule is open.
> 
> https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Peti...noid=xM_ANUgx80jyKOPxwpXlVg&cbp=12,77.21,,0,0
> 
> https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Peti...oid=KYjC3abMP7KM2BmAJoVFWQ&cbp=12,118.14,,0,0


Funny. Next day I wrote this post, the local newspaper told that the plans for replacing one of the junctions with a new one have been killed. Instead, the existing junction will enjoy a minor face lift.


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## RV

Never should anyone listen to such people's views, who don't have a clue about traffic planning. The important thing is that we will get the 3+3 lanes (hopefully not stupid bus lanes...) Which junction has been quitted?  So the whole section is still planned as 3+3-4+4?


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## MattiG

RV said:


> Never should anyone listen to such people's views, who don't have a clue about traffic planning. The important thing is that we will get the 3+3 lanes (hopefully not stupid bus lanes...) Which junction has been quitted?  So the whole section is still planned as 3+3-4+4?


The earlier plan was to build a new diamond-shaped junction about 500 m to the east of the current one.

The section to the west of the road 120 will be 2+2, and the east section 3+3.


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## RV

There is also a serious problem on Kehä III, the section between Espoon Keskus and Road 51 with 1+1 lanes and AADT 12 000 - 24 000. In 2030 forecasted up to 60 000!


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## ChrisZwolle

Reconstructing 12 kilometers of the Vt. 8 north of Turku begins next week. It will be reconstructed into a motorway. The project runs from Raisio to Nousiainen. The € 102.5 million project will be completed in late 2016. (ping MichiH)


----------



## OulaL

As far as I have understood this project doesn't include the interchange between 8 and 40 (Turku bypass). Pity. 

Right east of road 8, road 40 begins as a good motorway-like road (though not officially a motorway) all the way to its interchange with road 10. It is becoming even more important now as the Turku harbour access road is completed (and all traffic from Turku harbour to, say, Helsinki is now signposted via 8 and 40).

The interchange of 8 (a future motorway) and 40 (the end-point of a nearly-motorway) is not really satisfying, including at-grade left turns and direct access to local streets through the same traffic lights...


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## RV

The upgrade of the Turku by-pass-interchange including a construction of a three-level roundabout interchange and a tunnel under Raisio city center + widening towards Naantali is planned, for 2030...

Also, this Road 8 project isn't going to be constructed up to Nousiainen in the near future, but just to Masku... Traffic levels justify motorway to Mynämäki and Rauma-Eurajoki + near Pori, but this will not propably happen in the near future. Actually the traffic of E63 between Turku and Pori including it's traffical importance justifies a whole motorway between the two cities.

Btw, Finland spens according to Nykypäivä *twice* less than Sweden on roads...


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## Ingenioren

You mean half? It's almost double in population tough.


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## RV

twice less = half. There is a very long, sad tradition of spending very few money on infrastructure.


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## ChrisZwolle

Several European countries have reached a point where road funding is only sufficient for maintenance, not actual projects which need new funding sources.


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## Nils de Gothia

Still, I admire those countries which care a lot about maintenance. Like the nordic countries. There, no matter which route you have to drive, you can be quite sure that the road will be in a good shape. Other countries, like the Czech Republic, have no clue of what preventive maintenance is. The know construction, urgent repair need, acute maintenace and reconstruction. Building new roads without being able to maintain them makes no sense.


----------



## RV

Nils de Gothia said:


> Still, I admire those countries which care a lot about maintenance. Like the nordic countries. There, no matter which route you have to drive, you can be quite sure that the road will be in a good shape. Other countries, like the Czech Republic, have no clue of what preventive maintenance is. The know construction, urgent repair need, acute maintenace and reconstruction. Building new roads without being able to maintain them makes no sense.


But instead you have 1+1 with trucks and intersections with every houseyard on E-roads. It's not so expensive to, for example, built a second carriageway near the other one.

Also, I just don't understand why we have hundreds of millions for nonsense projects but not a couple for putting a third lane on Helsinki's actually honestly congested radials for example with even less cost quitting the hard shoulder...


----------



## Nils de Gothia

It´s always better to spend more than less on roads. But keeping the roads in good shape is far a bigger priority than building new roads. EVERYBODY is entitled to good infrastructure. Considering the scarce resources, it´s not good for society that money is spent on luxury projects and letting the already built sections decay, not mentioning the need of road improvement in regions outside of politically prioritized corridors. Of course you should always use your money in a wise way. Newbuilt 2+1 road sections is a good example. It´s a good solution for making old wide sections of countryside roads safe. But building new ones is crap, 2+2 wouldn´t cost that much in excess considering the long-term benefits.


----------



## RV

Helsinki infrastructure plan of 1960. Eventhought none of the roads went through populated areas at all except areas that consisted back then on small 1-2-story wooden houses, the most important roads were never built - so didn't the 109 station metro network nor the Porvoo railway. Why? A mystery...


----------



## RV

Now they are considering building the future Lahti southern by-pass partly 1+1-laned... Just can't understand why to build crap to save like two millions?...


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> RV might be referring to images like this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is contained in a long-term prestudy spanning until 2040 compiled by the regional road agency and the local municipalities, both not being a part of the money-owning decision making pipeline. There are no further plans to upgrade this road section.
> 
> The black figures reflect the current AADT. The highest figure 20700 (not 26000 as RV tells) applies to sections within the city limits if Jyväskylä where there already is a motorway or a 2+2 road. Across the whole section in question, the AADT varies from 5700 to 16200 (not from 10000 to 26000). The percentages show the share of the heavy vehicles. The red figures show the projected AADT in the year 2040.
> 
> That prestudy does not suggest constructing a motorway across the whole section. Instead, it suggest taking a three-wave development action to build a motorway until Muurame (the green double line), a 2+2 road until Korpilahti (the red double line), and a 2+1 road for the rest. Two short 2+1 sections already exist.
> 
> The prestudy introduces a totally new concept of a "mini interchange" to separate the local traffic:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The road section was built in 1950's and it is part of an important east-west transport corridor. However, it lost a lot of its importance in mid-1990's, when the main north-south corridor 4/E75 was moved to the east side of the lake Päijänne. The section is far from reaching the country-wide TOP20 list of traffic investments (roads, railways, waterways) receiving the most money and priority.


Well the whole section to the road 24 has an AADT over 10 000, so it should be built whole the way 2+2! Also, these figures will be much higher when this project will be constructed in 2065 or so.


----------



## scrapermaniac1

The heck is this? Why is hundreds of millions wasted into these road project when the money could be allocated to more reasonable projects like for example the ring railway, subway extension and new studies about the feasability of turning the utterly USELESS Helsinki region motorways into boulevards??


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## RV

Useless motorways for 50 000-100 000 daily cars? You Greens are crazy. Studies were done, and it concluded that travel time would triplicate. The only support for these studies is found in the center in the city, with no motorways around there, so a bit strange to let such people decide. There is very heavy racism against people living not in the center overall going on.


----------



## RV

Finns, who decide about roads in Finland are mainly from Helsinki, and they are very extremely against all what concerns cars except taxes. The percent of vote of Greens in Helsinki is over 20 and green-communist Left Alliance over 10. That is the reason that projects that were 10 years ago planned to be ready by now are on hold or even cancelled - and that is decided only by 100 000 persons living outside of motorways in Helsinki city center out of 5 400 000 persons.


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## Max Mar

Hello, I have a question: 2 weeks ago, I was issued a day fine of 120 € for speeding on E4 in a rural area limited to 100 km/h, with 30 days to pay it; since I'm a foreigner and the officer has written incorrectly my last name and address on the ticket, and the vehicle isn't on my own name (he didn't checked the vehicle papers) but the number plate is on it; *would I be annoyed if I do not pay?*


----------



## MattiG

Max Mar said:


> Hello, I have a question: 2 weeks ago, I was issued a day fine of 120 € for speeding on E4 in a rural area limited to 100 km/h, with 30 days to pay it; since I'm a foreigner and the officer has written incorrectly my last name and address on the ticket, and the vehicle isn't on my own name (he didn't checked the vehicle papers) but the number plate is on it; *would I be annoyed if I do not pay?*


So, you come here to make trouble and now you would like to make more trouble by just ignoring your ticket. Well, well...

There are gaps in the procedures to collect the fines from abroad, but a collector agency still might catch the owner of the car. The cost and effort of the hassle may well exceed the sum of the fine.

BTW, there are no rural sections on the 1000 meters long E4 in Finland.


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## ChrisZwolle

How fast do you have to drive over the limit to get a € 120 fine? 100 km/h on a rural road (assuming it's not a motorway) is a decent speed limit.


----------



## Max Mar

MattiG said:


> So, you come here to make trouble and now you would like to make more trouble by just ignoring your ticket. Well, well...
> 
> There are gaps in the procedures to collect the fines from abroad, but a collector agency still might catch the owner of the car. The cost and effort of the hassle may well exceed the sum of the fine.
> 
> BTW, there are no rural sections on the 1000 meters long E4 in Finland.


1. Actually, driving more than 1000 km in an almost empty 2-lane international highway is, IMHO, anything but making trouble of any kind, even if not always respecting posted speed limit, most of them being by the way ridiculous.

2. Please, answer to my question.

3. yeah, but E4 is only 800 meter long in Finland. Therefore, it was V 4 .


----------



## Max Mar

ChrisZwolle said:


> How fast do you have to drive over the limit to get a € 120 fine? 100 km/h on a rural road (assuming it's not a motorway) is a decent speed limit.


133 km/h. Precising, it was a very long straight 10 m wide stretch with almost no traffic, except for the police patrol.

I would had drive according to the rule, if Finland wasn't so big country with one of the most mediocre motorway network in all first world countries.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

^^Dude GTFO please.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Only €120 for 33km/h over the limit? That's more than reasonable.


----------



## MattiG

Rebasepoiss said:


> Only €120 for 33km/h over the limit? That's more than reasonable.


Lucky guy, did not hit a moose and the police did not confiscate the driving license.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

If I read the Finnish Wikipedia on Speed Limits correctly, Finland did experiment with 120 km/h speed limits on rural roads in the 1970s.


----------



## John Maynard

MattiG said:


> Lucky guy, did not hit a moose


:lol: even them deserted the road.



MattiG said:


> and the police did not confiscate the driving license.


I believe that's not possible, since there is an international treaty or smth. that stipulates foreigners can't have their driver's license confiscated in another country than residence?


----------



## John Maynard

Going back to the point: Please answer question .


----------



## RV

You're right, Finland has a crappy motorway network with plenty of multiple hundred Km sections of roads with 1+1 lanes and very low standards with AADT over 8000-20000, and summer peaks are horrible especially in Road 5 Heinola-Mikkeli. Also we have plenty of roads with AADT 50 000-100 000 in Helsinki area with just 2+2 lanes, traffic lights and no close upgrading projects. For example, Kehä I eastern sections has just at-level intersections and 2+2 lanes with ADT above 70 000 at points. They were building a really cool 1 Km-long bridge in Itäkeskus, but of course city council voted no because of some NIMBYs complaining.


----------



## MattiG

John Maynard said:


> I believe that's not possible, since there is an international treaty or smth. that stipulates foreigners can't have their driver's license confiscated in another country than residence?


Of course, it is possible. The ban from driving is in effect immedately. The driving licence will be returned upon exit the country, on request. Of course, handling the request, and mailing the licence to the border station may take a a few days... And the ban continues even if the licence is returned. Not a wise move to attempt a re-entry while the ban is in effect.


----------



## MattiG

John Maynard said:


> Going back to the point: Please answer question .


It has been answered. There may be or may not be harm from ignoring the ticket.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

John Maynard said:


> Going back to the point: Please answer question .


----------



## Kanadzie

Why everyone beating up the poor guy?

Is it reasonable to contest ticket and ask for plea bargain from prosecutor?

I would be tempted to ignore, but how far away do you live from Suomi is big question.


----------



## Max Mar

John Maynard said:


> Going back to the point: Please answer question .


^^ Thank you for make it clear.


----------



## Max Mar

Kanadzie said:


> Why everyone beating up the poor guy?
> 
> Is it reasonable to contest ticket and ask for plea bargain from prosecutor?
> 
> I would be tempted to ignore, but how far away do you live from Suomi is big question.


I live in France.


----------



## Ingenioren

Ofcourse you have to pay or the gendarme will jail you


----------



## John Maynard

I've found this for Swiss/residents in Switzerland:
http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/fedpol/en/home/dokumentation/haeufig_gestelltefragen/uebertretungen_vonstrassenverkehrsvorschriften/bussen.faq_0.html#a_faq_0

Basically, CH has only the possibility to enforce traffic fines for France, and partially for Germany; so if you were to be caught in Finland with Swiss residency, there is nothing they can do if you don't pay it, unless you are planning to come back there or reside also in FIN.
Assuming you are not the owner of the vehicle and your name has been falsely reported, I guess you can ignore it - but I'm not sure how it is for France - of course, by taking off the moral aspect of it.


----------



## OulaL

Having seen Via Baltica just a few weeks ago, it's pretty good. There are some road works on the Polish side and especially the Warsaw bypass, though.


----------



## PovilD

As for the future, Via Baltica should become the best and fastest road to Finland from main European agglomerations. By 2020s there will be motorway connection between Warsaw and Kaunas. By late 2030s it will be extended to Riga. There is also 2+1 planned in Estonia between Tallinn and Parnu. It would be good that Latvians would built something like Saulkrasti bypass untill the border to Estonia, but 2+1 with cable barrier.


----------



## OulaL

PovilD said:


> As for the future, Via Baltica should become the best and fastest road to Finland from main European agglomerations. By 2020s there will be motorway connection between Warsaw and Kaunas. By late 2030s it will be extended to Riga. There is also 2+1 planned in Estonia between Tallinn and Parnu. It would be good that Latvians would built something like Saulkrasti bypass untill the border to Estonia, but 2+1 with cable barrier.


Wouldn't it be nice? However, I'm rather sceptical when discussing projects in such distant future and in this area. 

We should keep in mind that most part of the traffic is local, and local traffic arises from local population. The population density in Baltic republics, let alone Finland, is really far from Central Europe, even Poland. Tallinn, Riga and Kaunas are cities worth mentioning, but they are still far from each other and between them it's still mostly countryside, the only cities exceeding 10000 people in between being Pärnu and Panevezys.


----------



## PovilD

Talking about motorways north of Kaunas, then yes, if population keeps decreasing after 2020s (but there are forecasts that will stop decrease due the increasing GDP), AADT will stay the same or start to decrease and there will be no need to built motorway between Kaunas and Riga (where AADT is 6000 in most of the lenght), only just some stretches near Panevezys, Riga (where current AADT 9000<)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Highway 5 in Kuopio has been upgraded. It was completed sometime September.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Valtatie 6/9 in Joensuu was completed 19 August 2014. It is the easternmost motorway in the EU (excluding Cyprus).


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Highway 5 in Kuopio has been upgraded. It was completed sometime September.


That leg has an interesting history:

The lake is rather wide here. Prior to 1902, there was a ferry connection of four kilometers. 

The causeway was built for the railway, which was opened in 1902.

The car transport service in the trains was available from 1921 to 1932.

The first road was opened in 1932. The bridge at the south end was opening one, and shared by the road and the railway.

A 2+2 road was opened in mid-1965's. Three new opening bridges were built (two for the road, the third one for the railway). This left a gap to the coming motorway because of the lack of a parallel road.

The bridges of 1965 turned a bottleneck, because they had to be opened 300-400 times during the sailing season (May to September). In addition, they gradually turned unreliable.

The recently completed works were a major upgrade: The waterway moved further north, and a new fixed road bridges were built. Their vertical clearance is 12 meters. The new railway bridge is opening one, and remotely controlled. The old opening bridges were converted to fixed ones. A new parallel road was build, thus allowing to close the motorway gap.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Seututie 135*

Reconstruction of the Ring 3 / Seututie 135 interchange in Vantaa (near Helsinki Airport).


Lentoasemantie syyskuu 2014 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Lentoasemantie syyskuu 2014 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


----------



## MattiG

*1/E18 Tunnel Tube Closure*

The road 1/E18 from Helsinki to Turku runs on somewhat challenging ground. There is a 43-km section having seven tunnels, arranged in three clusters (3+2+2). In case of maintenance, one tunnel tube is closed, and the traffic is diverted to another tube. This dashcam video shows how it happens.


----------



## keber

That sort of unprotected traffic contra flow wouldn't work here in the south.


----------



## MattiG

*Winter Speed Limits Are Back Again*

During the next week, the winter speed limits will be in effect in the whole country. Most 100 km/h sections will be 80 km/h ones until late March or early April. The speed limits on motorways will be dropped from 120 to 100.

The main road in the North having a log AADT figure will retain their speed limit of 100, as well as the best roads in the South.

In addition, some problematic 80 km/h sections will be 70 m/h ones.


----------



## void0

ChrisZwolle said:


> Some aerial photos of the new E18 / Vt. 7 around Hamina.


Continuation of this road at Russian side should be upgraded to motorway standards by 2018 from Finnish border to St.Petersburg. This is also the year when new motorway Moscow-St.Petesburg should be finished. So basically, you can get from Helsinki to Moscow using just motorways in 2018


----------



## PovilD

void0 said:


> Continuation of this road at Russian side should be upgraded to motorway standards by 2018 from Finnish border to St.Petersburg. This is also the year when new motorway Moscow-St.Petesburg should be finished. So basically, you can get from Helsinki to Moscow using just motorways in 2018


Are there also plans to upgrade the road to motorway from Moscow to Belarus border?


----------



## void0

PovilD said:


> Are there also plans to upgrade the road to motorway from Moscow to Belarus border?


M-1 is the top priority road and already been partially upgraded, should be completed by 2018. http://www.russianhighways.ru/for_drivers/m-1/


----------



## PovilD

void0 said:


> M-1 is the top priority road and already been partially upgraded, should be completed by 2018. http://www.russianhighways.ru/for_drivers/m-1/


I see that the road will get Ib category and that’s mean that the road wouldn't get this sign in most of the stretch? 

I just wanted to know if the road to Minsk will be the same like the road to Saint Petersburg and Helsinki 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe..._sign.svg/160px-5.1_Russian_road_sign.svg.png


----------



## NordikNerd

*Esbo is the safest biggest City to drive in.*

An assessment of the accident statistics for 17 European countries from 2009 to 2012 by DEKRA Accident Research shows that a total of 462 towns and cities with over 50,000 inhabitants achieved a total of zero at least once in this period. These cities make up more than 40% of all the cities of that size in the countries examined. 16 cities recorded no traffic fatalities throughout the entire period from 2009 to 2012, one of the in Norway, 6 in Germany and 9 in the United Kingdom.

Of the cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, a total of 88 (or 23,7% of all those cities) have succeeded in making “Vision Zero” happen in at least one year. Among them are even cities with a number of inhabitants over 200,000 (Espoo / Finland: 259,000; Aachen / Germany: 260,000; Nottingham / England: 289,000).

http://www.dekra.com/en/press_relea...Display_WAR_ArticleDisplay_articleID=45113654


----------



## MattiG

NordikNerd said:


> An assessment of the accident statistics for 17 European countries from 2009 to 2012 by DEKRA Accident Research shows that a total of 462 towns and cities with over 50,000 inhabitants achieved a total of zero at least once in this period. These cities make up more than 40% of all the cities of that size in the countries examined. 16 cities recorded no traffic fatalities throughout the entire period from 2009 to 2012, one of the in Norway, 6 in Germany and 9 in the United Kingdom.
> 
> Of the cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, a total of 88 (or 23,7% of all those cities) have succeeded in making “Vision Zero” happen in at least one year. Among them are even cities with a number of inhabitants over 200,000 (Espoo / Finland: 259,000; Aachen / Germany: 260,000; Nottingham / England: 289,000).
> 
> http://www.dekra.com/en/press_relea...Display_WAR_ArticleDisplay_articleID=45113654


These analysis are somewhat problematic, because the semantics of the term "city" varies a lot by country. For instance, Berlin is one municipality while the Greater Paris is a conglomeration of 1000+ municipalities.

Espoo is the western part of the Greater Helsinki area, something like what Asker and Bærum together are to Oslo. Espoo does not have an inner city but it consists of several clusters of suburbs. That is why the figures are not directly comparable to those of Helsinki.

The same note applies to Villeurbanne, which is an integral part of the Lyon metropolitan area.


----------



## NordikNerd

MattiG said:


> These analysis are somewhat problematic, because the semantics of the term "city" varies a lot by country. For instance, Berlin is one municipality while the Greater Paris is a conglomeration of 1000+ municipalities.
> 
> Espoo is the western part of the Greater Helsinki area, something like what Asker and Bærum together are to Oslo. Espoo does not have an inner city but it consists of several clusters of suburbs. That is why the figures are not directly comparable to those of Helsinki.


Well, maybe Espoo will lose ranking due to the chaotic snowy weather that is going on right now.









Trucks stuck in Espoo.


----------



## MattiG

NordikNerd said:


> Well, maybe Espoo will lose ranking due to the chaotic snowy weather that is going on right now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trucks stuck in Espoo.


No, it does not. There were 10+ trucks stuck on the 3% uphill at Ring 1 of Helsinki. Most of them from Poland. No person injuries. The word "chaotic" is pressspeak. The conditions were somewhat challenging but far from being a chaos.

I have hard feelings towards those ones coming to the North with unsuitable vehicles. And that is not enough: They drive side by side, thus killing the whole road. I'd send them to Antarctica to count penguins.

I was there... Stuck in the queue for more than half an hour. The police diverted the passenger car traffic out of the Ring via a footpath to the streets.

Here we go:


----------



## RV

> Here we go:


This is also because of the stupid traffic lights on the busiest road in the country, which will be removed by... 2080?


----------



## bigic

To remove the traffic lights, they should make the intersection a grade-separated one. 

Послато са ZTE Blade Q Mini уз помоћ Тапатока


----------



## OulaL

bigic said:


> To remove the traffic lights, they should make the intersection a grade-separated one.


Obviously.


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> These analysis are somewhat problematic, because the semantics of the term "city" varies a lot by country. For instance, Berlin is one municipality while the Greater Paris is a conglomeration of 1000+ municipalities.
> 
> Espoo is the western part of the Greater Helsinki area, something like what Asker and Bærum together are to Oslo. Espoo does not have an inner city but it consists of several clusters of suburbs. That is why the figures are not directly comparable to those of Helsinki.
> 
> The same note applies to Villeurbanne, which is an integral part of the Lyon metropolitan area.


Yeah, what is considered as the de facto "center" of Espoo, Tapiola, is located just about 3-4 Kms from the heart of Helsinki.


----------



## MattiG

RV said:


> Yeah, what is considered as the de facto "center" of Espoo, Tapiola, is located just about 3-4 Kms from the heart of Helsinki.


It was, earlier. Nowadays the population, services and traffic are more distributed to the other clusters, and the importance of Tapiola has collapsed. Today, it is a huge building site trying to restore its importance.

The center of Tapiola is located 8 kilometers west of the center of Helsinki.


----------



## RV

MattiG said:


> It was, earlier. Nowadays the population, services and traffic are more distributed to the other clusters, and the importance of Tapiola has collapsed. Today, it is a huge building site trying to restore its importance.
> 
> The center of Tapiola is located 8 kilometers west of the center of Helsinki.


I ment Ruoholahti, it IS part of the Helsinki city center


----------



## void0

MattiG said:


> It was, earlier. Nowadays the population, services and traffic are more distributed to the other clusters, and the importance of Tapiola has collapsed. Today, it is a huge building site trying to restore its importance.


Indeed. Matinkylä something like 10 years ago was not so attractive place as it is now, Espoon Keskus, geographical centre of Espoo might increase its importance in the future, southern districts of Espoo will be even more attractive due to lansimetro


----------



## RV

Hamina by-pass (E18/7, 13Km) seems to be opening. So 63 Kms of new motorway this year + plenty of road projects starting next year that would be classified f.e. in Sweden as motorways


----------



## MichiH

RV said:


> Hamina by-pass (E18/7, 13Km) seems to be opening.


If I got it right, the westernmost section (OSM; ~2km) will be opened "in November", the entire bypass in early 2015, see press release.

Does anyone know when exactly the 2km section has been opened / will be opened?


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> If I got it right, the westernmost section (OSM; ~2km) will be opened "in November", the entire bypass in early 2015, see press release.
> 
> Does anyone know when exactly the 2km section has been opened / will be opened?


The west section (6 km, not 2 km) is under finalization. Some diversion routes are still in place. The east section is promised to be opened by Christmas. No exact dates given.


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

What country has the best pavement on the motorways:Sweden,Finland or Norway ?


----------



## void0

Autoputevi kao hobi said:


> What country has the best pavement on the motorways:Sweden,Finland or Norway ?


I am not sure if Norway has any significant number of motorways


----------



## devo

We do. More than 500 km, mostly on E 18 and E 6. There is a roughness index statistic somewhere, Norway hasn't done to well on it in the past.


----------



## RV

devo said:


> We do. More than 500 km, mostly on E 18 and E 6. There is a roughness index statistic somewhere, Norway hasn't done to well on it in the past.


Northern Norway's grumpy narrow roads and the sign "SUOMI - FINLAND" and a significantly wider road suddenly with fresh painted road markings, shining signs and black new asphalt. Quite a contrast. In the middle of nowhere in Northern Lapland! So I would say we have in Finland.


----------



## MichiH

MattiG said:


> The west section (6 km, not 2 km) is under finalization. Some diversion routes are still in place. The east section is promised to be opened by Christmas. No exact dates given.


This western section (here? > click <) should be opened now? Late November/Early December? The rest by Christmas?


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> This western section (here? > click <) should be opened now? Late November/Early December? The rest by Christmas?


 Right. No dates given.


----------



## MichiH

^^ Has the western part of the Hamina bypass opened meanwhile?


----------



## RV

Few Kms of expressway in Vaasa on Road 8/E8 has opened. I can't freakin' understand why a road with dual carriageways, grade-separated junctions, high speed limit and frontal roads on a main route can't be designed officially a motorway in Finland (While in Sweden for example a narrow 2+2-road with some one-meter-high spikes as central barriers are motorways)!! Same happens with Kehä III, Seinäjoki by-pass, Iisalmi by-pass, Varkaus by-pass, (Taavetti)Lappeenranta-Imatra, Kehä II... "2+2-roads with grade-separated intersections, wtf!).


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ Sounds like Estonia :lol:


----------



## RV

Rebasepoiss said:


> ^^ Sounds like Estonia :lol:


Except our roads have not U-turns nor exits to forest farms etc.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ Neither do newly built dual carriageways in Estonia, yet they aren't signed as motorways.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Kehä III / Airport Road interchange on 4 December.


KehäIII-parannushankkeen 2. vaihe by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


KehäIII-parannushankkeen 2. vaihe by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## ChrisZwolle

The Kehä III / Vt. 7 interchange in Helsinki.


KehäIII parannushankkeen 2. vaihe by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


KehäIII parannushankkeen 2. vaihe by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hamina bypass opens to traffic tomorrow

http://news.cision.com/fi/liikennev...iikenteelle-keskiviikkona-17-12-2014,c9696750


----------



## RHPLUS

Finnish motorways are beautifully designed.
I admire the architecture of Finland for years.
In Poland, it spents a lot of money for ugly road infrastructure. I was very worried.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Is there any particular reason why Finland uses "non-standard" narrow crash barriers like these here?


----------



## MattiG

Rebasepoiss said:


> Is there any particular reason why Finland uses "non-standard" narrow crash barriers like these here?


Which property does make these non-standard ones?


----------



## RV

RHPLUS said:


> Finnish motorways are beautifully designed.
> I admire the architecture of Finland for years.
> In Poland, it spents a lot of money for ugly road infrastructure. I was very worried.


Only if we had the network we need...


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## ChrisZwolle

The Hamina bypass is open to traffic!










If I calculated correctly, 53 kilometers of new motorway opened to traffic in 2014, the highest amount since 1992.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

MattiG said:


> Which property does make these non-standard ones?


I put the non-standard in quotes because they obviously are up to standard, they are just narrower than elsewhere in Europe. I was wondering if there's a particular reason for that.


----------



## MattiG

Rebasepoiss said:


> I put the non-standard in quotes because they obviously are up to standard, they are just narrower than elsewhere in Europe. I was wondering if there's a particular reason for that.


Narrower? Those rails?


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

RHPLUS said:


> Finnish motorways are beautifully designed.
> I admire the architecture of Finland for years.
> In Poland, it spents a lot of money for ugly road infrastructure. I was very worried.


I don't know why you think that Poland is making bad looking motorways.In my opinion they are one of the nicest in Europe.
Flat and safe with little number of curves.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

MattiG said:


> Narrower? Those rails?


Yes, the guard rail is narrower. Compare this Finnish guard rail with the ones used in Estonia and France, for example.


----------



## MattiG

Rebasepoiss said:


> Yes, the guard rail is narrower. Compare this Finnish guard rail with the ones used in Estonia and France, for example.


I cannot see difference between the Estonian and Finnish structures.

There is a rather new set of European standards, called EN 1317 family. The design of barriers is always a trade-off: They must be rigid enough to prevent a vehicle from running out of the road, and non-rigid enough to prevent personal injuries from happening. In the arctic areas, the characteristics related to snow and ploughing are important, too.

The default rail in Finland is Containment Class N2 Impact Severity Class A. At challenging sections, H1/A or H2/B classes may be used. On bridges, the default rail is H2/B. These choices vary by country. Typically, the higher containment classes are in use in countries having high traffic volumes, and a high share of heavy vehicles.

The family of standards is pretty new. Comparing old structures to new ones may be like comparing apples to oranges.


----------



## MattiG

*Reindeer*

A reindeer herd blocking the highway somewhere in the North. Warning about offensive language.


----------



## RV

Plans for Lahti southern by-pass (area home for 200 000 people) have been downgraded. A great deal of it will be mostly 1+1-laned regular road instead of initially planned full motorway. Interchange with the main street of Lahti has also been cutted. Also the interchange around the main industrial area of Lahti is in danger. And this for 20 or so millions out of 250! Year or two, and people will complain about truck-accidents and ADT! Typical Finnish shit-roadplanning. Just to save a few millions, to spend more in a few years...

Discussing this and re-planning will cost this project another four years. Maybe by then they will again understand the need of a full-lenght expressway. That would mean another four years...


----------



## OulaL

RV said:


> Plans for Lahti southern by-pass (area home for 200 000 people) have been downgraded. A great deal of it will be mostly 1+1-laned regular road instead of initially planned full motorway. Interchange with the main street of Lahti has also been cutted. Also the interchange around the main industrial area of Lahti is in danger. And this for 20 or so millions out of 250! Year or two, and people will complain about truck-accidents and ADT! Typical Finnish shit-roadplanning. Just to save a few millions, to spend more in a few years...


What's the point? The bypass would mostly serve the traffic flows west-to-east and west-to-north. The existing west-to-east road through the city is 2+2 already. It has traffic lights, though. Still I wonder how many would change that to a longer 1+1...

Besides, there already is a regular road passing the city in the south, namely 296. Want to save some money? Rename it, put some new signposts, and woosh! like magic, you've got a bypass, no construction needed. It's only 2 km extra.


----------



## RV

OulaL said:


> What's the point? The bypass would mostly serve the traffic flows west-to-east and west-to-north. The existing west-to-east road through the city is 2+2 already. It has traffic lights, though. Still I wonder how many would change that to a longer 1+1...
> 
> Besides, there already is a regular road passing the city in the south, namely 296. Want to save some money? Rename it, put some new signposts, and woosh! like magic, you've got a bypass, no construction needed. It's only 2 km extra.


That road is 1+1. There are going to be a traffic of 13 000 A(A)DT on that 1+1-section. Such b-shit. It's about the main east-west corridor in the country besides E18 and supports a lot of trucks. And just to save a couple millions and then note that (like in Tampere) capacity is too low but it will be expanded in 2150 or something. If you do something, do it properly at once or leave it. Anyways this is going to cost years for this project that was ready for the 2015-2019 budget.


----------



## Corvinus

Just a li'l OT: which is the northernmost airport in Finland with connections from major European cities and where one can rent a car to drive to Nordkapp in Norway?
Or, asked in another way, which is the "best"/most recommended route by car from Finland to the Nordkapp?


----------



## OulaL

RV said:


> That road is 1+1. There are going to be a traffic of 13 000 A(A)DT on that 1+1-section. Such b-shit. It's about the main east-west corridor in the country besides E18 and supports a lot of trucks.


I know. Tried irony and failed.


----------



## OulaL

Corvinus said:


> Just a li'l OT: which is the northernmost airport in Finland with connections from major European cities and where one can rent a car to drive to Nordkapp in Norway?


If by connections you mean direct flights, then it's
- on high season Rovaniemi, check details from your airline
- year around, if Stockholm, London-Stansted and Bremen are major enough, Tampere
- otherwise Helsinki

However, if a plane change in Helsinki is ok, then it's Ivalo.

Also note that "high season" in Rovaniemi means usually winter, and winter really isn't a recommended time to visit Nordkapp. The final part of the road may simply be closed entirely. Of course you can fly to Rovaniemi in summer as well if you change plane in Helsinki.



Corvinus said:


> Or, asked in another way, which is the "best"/most recommended route by car from Finland to the Nordkapp?


Depends on where you start, but mostly you must choose between east and west. (Or make a round-trip, one route to go and the other to return, and see more Finnish Lapland on your way.) On the eastern route take either 4 or 5 up to Sodankylä (4 is faster but much more boring). From Sodankylä go on 4 to Ivalo (unless you flew there in the first place) and further on to Kaamanen, then 92 to the Norwegian border and further on (still 92) to Kárášjohka, then E6 and E69.

On the western route leave 4 in Kemi, take 29 to Tornio, then 21 to Muonio and futher on to Palojoensuu, then 93 to the Norwegian border and further on (still 93) to Alta, then E6 and E69.


----------



## Corvinus

Thank you for the detailed information. 

What language is "Kárašjohka" in? Neither Finnish nor Norwegian have the "š" letter?!
In Norwegian, apparently, it's Karasjok.

Of course I would go in the summer, I would want to see the midnight sun.


----------



## MattiG

Corvinus said:


> Thank you for the detailed information.
> 
> What language is "Kárašjohka" in? Neither Finnish nor Norwegian have the "š" letter?!
> In Norwegian, apparently, it's Karasjok.
> 
> Of course I would go in the summer, I would want to see the midnight sun.


It is the Sami language, the Northern Sami variant to be precise. The signs showing names in Sami are common in the Northern Finland and Norway. The written form may vary across the variants.


----------



## MattiG

*7/E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa*

The last remaining section of the bad E18 in Finland will be upgraded to a motorway. The Finnish Transport Agency announced yesterday that they have reached a procurement decision regarding to building the 32 km section from Hamina to Vaalimaa at the Finnish-Russian border. The road will be built in the PPP mode, and the service provider takes the responsibility for maintenance for about 20 years.










The project page in English: http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/projects/planning_phase/e18_hamina_vaalimaa

The construction is planned to begin in August 2015, and to be complete by the end of 2018.

The high-level plans can be found at:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


----------



## MattiG

*Mail Delivery Vehicles to Measure Road Condition*

The gravel roads may be in a bad condition after the winter. Weight restrictions may be introduced. The Finnish Road Agendy and Finland Post are running a pilot project to measure the road condition. The mail delivery vehicles are equipped with sensors measuring the softness and unevenness of the road. The results are visible on a public website with colour coding:


----------



## RV

Still can't understand why bypasses of cities of big importance are built so freaking far from actual population centers! I'm a supporter of the "American way" of building freeways - I mean, look at Salo (55 000 pop.) or Hamina or Porvoo (Helsinki satellite city, pop. 50 000 and AADT's of 20 000 on old little streets). This way leaves a good piece of traffic on old outdated horse tracks and does not serve at all the cities. The same does the lack of interchanges around bigger cities.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

^^ It all depends on what the purpose of the bypass is. If the bypass is meant to divert long-distance traffic away from the towns then it doesn't have to be very close.

The "American" way of building motorways doesn't exist anymore in the Western world. Quite the opposite, inner-city motorways are either torn down or taken underground.

It wouldn't be possible to build the E18 around Porvoo closer to the town centre without demolishing a huge number of houses and tearing apart a neighbourhood.


----------



## RV

Rebasepoiss said:


> ^^ It all depends on what the purpose of the bypass is. If the bypass is meant to divert long-distance traffic away from the towns then it doesn't have to be very close.
> 
> The "American" way of building motorways doesn't exist anymore in the Western world. Quite the opposite, inner-city motorways are either torn down or taken underground.
> 
> It wouldn't be possible to build the E18 around Porvoo closer to the town centre without demolishing a huge number of houses and tearing apart a neighbourhood.


Actually it could excellently had been built in the 70's along with major suburbs following road 1543, thus also serving Tolkkinen harbour and Kilpilahti oil combinate. The purpose of motorways is still also quitting traffic from congested tiny old roads, and this did not happen neither in Porvoo, Salo or Hamina.


----------



## Alexander Kanavin

RV's obsession with building motorways everywhere is looking increasingly bizarre. This is where cities are actually headed nowadays:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...ities-outgrew-the-automobile?CMP=share_btn_fb

"Cities around the world are coming to the same conclusion: they’d be better off with far fewer cars."

Helsinki is unfortunately totally lagging behind here. Still thinking that building extra car lanes on highways will help with congestion in the long term.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You'll see two different kind of realities. Dense urban centers with a significantly different demographic than the national average, where car travel is fairly low, and the suburbs / small cities where car travel is the norm.

The share of driving is high across Europe (the modal share is mostly in the 80 - 90% range) and car travel is increasing, though maybe not as fast as before 2000 due to slower population growth and economic stagnation in some regions. In Finland, road traffic is increasing as well.


----------



## RV

Alexander Kanavin said:


> RV's obsession with building motorways everywhere is looking increasingly bizarre. This is where cities are actually headed nowadays:
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...ities-outgrew-the-automobile?CMP=share_btn_fb
> 
> "Cities around the world are coming to the same conclusion: they’d be better off with far fewer cars."
> 
> Helsinki is unfortunately totally lagging behind here. Still thinking that building extra car lanes on highways will help with congestion in the long term.


Helsinki traffic planning has been dominated by crazy Greens since the 70's, and lanes are constantly being removed! And that is sh*t and does not solve anything; it though moves business out of the centers.

My point is, that building a new road but leaving 20 000 cars a day on an 1+1-laned street is not human-friendly.


----------



## Alexander Kanavin

RV said:


> Helsinki traffic planning has been dominated by crazy Greens since the 70's, and lanes are constantly being removed!


Where are the lanes constantly removed in Helsinki? Examples please.



> And that is sh*t and does not solve anything; it though moves business out of the centers.


Where's your evidence for a) businesses moving out of centers; b) the cause for that process being increasing difficulty of getting personal cars into city centers, and not something else (e.g. increasing office rents, falling profits)?



> My point is, that building a new road but leaving 20 000 cars a day on an 1+1-laned street is not human-friendly.


No it's not, so let's find ways to reduce the amount of cars and better ways to share them.


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## RV

Alexander Kanavin said:


> Where are the lanes constantly removed in Helsinki? Examples please.


Main street (Mannerheim street) and Esplanades with big congestion problems nowadays (3+3/4+4 to 2+2 in 2000), Runeberg street converting from 3-laned artery (one direction, because it was so near Mannerheimintie) and Autotalo square (4 lanes/directions) converted into 1+1/1bus+1+1+1bus-streets, Hämeentie (AADT 30 000) and Mannerheimintie (up to 50 000) second lanes converting into bus lanes, Hakaniemi square reduced from 4+4 to 2+2 (1+1+1+1), Amanda square "remodeling", crazy "boulevard"-projects (though toughly luckily rejected from the State)...




> Where's your evidence for a) businesses moving out of centers; b) the cause for that process being increasing difficulty of getting personal cars into city centers, and not something else (e.g. increasing office rents, falling profits)?


I know businessmen and hard workers driving 50 Km each morning to Helsinki to work. They don't like lights and rushes that much; then, adding a few lanes doesn't cost shit. I though support strongly public traffic via metro; Stockholm is my model. They don't live there according to Green fantasies but by realities and build equally both networks better.




> No it's not, so let's find ways to reduce the amount of cars and better ways to share them.


Why? The car is the key to modernity - the capacity to move from home to home easily without waiting trams in -30C. If you hate so much cars, I dunno what u doing here in the motorway forum.


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## Alexander Kanavin

RV said:


> Why? The car is the key to modernity - the capacity to move from home to home easily without waiting trams in -30C. If you hate so much cars, I dunno what u doing here in the motorway forum.


Because I (and many other Helsinki residents) like to live in a city that is pedestrian and cyclist-friendly - those are my two favourite ways to get around. I want expensive street parking for private cars (undergournd parking on the other hand should be dirt cheap), wider sidewalks, more cycling lanes and more streets closed to personal car traffic, and I vote according to what I want. For example, Hämeentie should be closed to private cars altogether between Hakaniemi and Kurvi, because it's a very unpleasant street that no one likes to be on; cars can easily move to Sörnaisten rantatie instead, which has a lot of lanes and is far away from any residential areas. Waiting for a tram/bus is never an issue for me in any weather; they have a schedule and they come on time.

I need a car maybe twice a year when I have to carry a large piece of furniture from IKEA, and I have two car rentals 100 and 300 meters from my apartment for that. When smart, automatic car rental services become widespread, I'll just check from my smartphone where is the nearest available car when I need one, and go take it. Similar to Autolib providing electric cars in Paris.

If you dislike all of the above, then move to Helsinki so you can vote in car-friendly politicians. Until then, let Helsinki residents decide how they want the city to develop. Fair enough?


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## RV

I live in Helsinki and all who doesn't live in the center and exclusively in its "hippie" eastern part, just to say, supports better roads, and better rail in the form of a metro network. And that's 4/5 of Helsinki inhabitants, so our opinions should be noted.

Upgrade Sörnäisten Rantatie to an expressway (which is perfectly possible since the reservations allow to do even that without demolishing anything) and Hämeentie indeed could be converted into a rail/pedestrian ethnic street, a "little-every part of the world". Build the Central Tunnel, and whole Mannerheimintie could be converted into a gorgeous pedestrian area. The problem is, that Green nor Leftist politicians rarely (never) accept compromises for people who think differently or have different needs than them.


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## MattiG

*From a highway to a lousy forest road*

Finland implement the first road classification scheme in 1938. With a few exceptions, all the "highways" were windy gravel roads. The whole road network was rebuilt between about 1945 and 1975. The old roads were taken into another use, or were abandoned, or they just disappeared.

Here we have a short footage about an abandoned section of the former road 3 between Hämeenlinna an Tampere. The road dates back to the medieval ages, and it was designated to the road 3 in 1938. The new alignment of the road 3 was complete in 1964, and the historical road was downgraded to a rural road. It was abandoned in 1970 when the new road, currently highway 57, was complete.

A number of road fragments still exist as local or private roads. This fragment is used for forestry purposes and it is barely passable by passenger cars. The road is much narrower than earlier, because the forest has taken over much of the road in 45 years.


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## Дмитрий Кудряшо

MattiG said:


> ...
> Here we have a short footage about an abandoned section of the former road 3 between Hämeenlinna an Tampere. The road dates back to the medieval ages, and it was designated to the road 3 in 1938. The new alignment of the road 3 was complete in 1964, and the historical road was downgraded to a rural road. It was abandoned in 1970 when the new road, currently highway 57, was complete...


Thank you!
Historic kilometer marks remain there?

Analogous these:

IMGP2776 by  Dmitriy Kudryashov , on Flickr


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## MattiG

Дмитрий Кудряшо;124293199 said:


> Thank you!
> Historic kilometer marks remain there?
> 
> Analogous these:
> 
> IMGP2776 by  Dmitriy Kudryashov , on Flickr


No, the kilometer stones have been removed.


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## MattiG

*Permanent Weight Restriction to Jännevirta Bridge*

The Jännevirta bridge on the road 9 between Kuopio and Joensuu was built in 1951. For years, it has been a bottleneck: It is narrow, and its opening machinery has turned unreliable. The bridge is opened 400-500 times during the summer season.

The load bearing capacity of the arch part of the bridge was increased in 1990 by adding four longitudinal steel tension bars. 

One of these bars broke down a few weeks ago due to corrosion. Now, it has been repaired. In order to keep the bridge in use until the new bridge is complete no earlier than 2018, a permanent speed limit of 40 km/h and weight limit of 65 tons have been introduced as of today. No short alternative route for the heaviest vehicles is in place.

https://www.google.fi/maps/@62.9713...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s_gwacJmVNaXWF2XzJuTuyA!2e0


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## ChrisZwolle

*E18*

*Service agreement signed for E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway*

Today, the Finnish Transport Agency and Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy have signed a nearly 20-year service agreement to build the Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway on a public-private partnership basis. The agreement includes planning, construction, funding and maintenance of the motorway. The total value of the agreement is 378 million euros. Thanks to the public-private partnership model, the motorway can be completed at a lower cost and sooner than planned: the Finnish Transport Agency will be able to save over 150 million euros in reduced service charges over a period of 20 years. The road will open to traffic in spring 2018, one year ahead of schedule. Road construction commences in June. The main contractor is YIT Construction Ltd.​
Full press release: http://www.epressi.com/tiedotteet/l...-signed-for-e18-hamina-vaalimaa-motorway.html


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## crazy-driver

378 million euros is it the total price of the Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway construction?


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## ChrisZwolle

I've seen much higher quotes before, in the € 600 million range. Although € 378 million / 32 km = € 11.8 million per kilometer, which is not uncommon for rural motorway construction, but seems low if it includes a 20-year PPP contract.


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## MichiH

crazy-driver said:


> 378 million euros is it the total price of the Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway construction?


No, construction and maintenance for 20 years.


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## MattiG

MichiH said:


> No, construction and maintenance for 20 years.


 The contract includes detailed planning, construction, maintenance for 20 years, and financing operations.


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## Rebasepoiss

It would be interesting to see what the construction alone would cost.


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## crazy-driver

MattiG said:


> The contract includes detailed planning, construction, maintenance for 20 years, and financing operations.


That's cheap


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## OulaL

A bridge crossing road 5 collapsed in Mikkeli on Monday.

The bridge was meant to be demolished anyway, but it didn't go the way it was planned, due to a demolition planning mistake.

The video shows it more clearly than a thousand words: http://www.iltalehti.fi/iltvuutiset/201506150150508_v0.shtml

Also note some drivers driving under the collapsed bridge, avoiding a 10 min detour :bash:


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## italystf

MattiG said:


> The contract includes detailed planning, construction, maintenance for 20 years, and financing operations.


Any cost estimation for a 20 years period is certainly very approximate, and will need to be adjusted due to inflation.


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## MattiG

italystf said:


> Any cost estimation for a 20 years period is certainly very approximate, and will need to be adjusted due to inflation.


The contract fee is a different thing from the total cost. The fee may be fixed. In that case, the cost risk is covered by financial instruments.


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## ChrisZwolle

Construction on Kehä I (Ring 1) in eastern Helsinki.


15112_03 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

*Midnight Moon*

The full moon over the road 12.


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## ChrisZwolle

*Ring 3, Helsinki*

Some aerial photos of Kehä III (Ring 3) around Helsinki, mostly of the eastern part, plus the Airport road (seututie 135, last few photos).


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe vt4-vt7 ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe vt4-vt7 ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe vt4-vt7 ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe vt4-vt7 ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe vt4-vt7 ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe Lentoasemantien alue ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe Lentoasemantien alue ilmakuvat 5/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## RV

The third lanes between E75 and E18 on Ring III/E18 have been partially opened as well^


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## Ronald34

Hyvää Päivää!:cheers:

Nimeni on Ronald!

Olen Itävallasta


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## RV

Ronald34 said:


> Hyvää Päivää!:cheers:
> 
> Nimeni on Ronald!
> 
> Olen Itävallasta


Well your beer drinking amount at least will drop here if u want food..... hno:


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## Ronald34

I don't understand what you meanhno:


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## MattiG

*On the Road*

On the Road 130 Hämeenlinna-Helsinki today.


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## RV

^Old Highway 3.


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## MattiG

RV said:


> ^Old Highway 3.


Except for the image #4, the camera is located at the point where the roads 3 and 130 run in parallel pretty close to each other. The truck in the image #2 is driving on the road 3 about 200 meters apart.

https://www.google.fi/maps/@60.5377...4!1sVYfcO-oFnc0K0zCoRimt6A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


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## Mirror's Edge

I've almost crashed into several Finnish drivers this summer, mostly cause they drive very cautiously(slow) on the off/on ramps in Malmö/Lund area, specially in the cloverlefs. Please don't break soo much!


How is driving culture in Finland vs Sweden?
And is this layout used in Finland?









Outer ring road and Trelleborg highway.


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## MattiG

Mirror's Edge said:


> I've almost crashed into several Finnish drivers this summer, mostly cause they drive very cautiously(slow) on the off/on ramps in Malmö/Lund area, specially in the cloverlefs. Please don't break soo much!
> 
> 
> How is driving culture in Finland vs Sweden?
> And is this layout used in Finland?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Outer ring road and Trelleborg highway.


Well...

After driving quite a lot in Sweden, I would say that currently there is not much difference. Earlier, the difference was bigger, but the gap has been closing for several reasons:

- Sweden has dropped most of the 1+1 roads with wide shoulders, and converted them to 2+1 ones. Some people said that the earlier type made traffic flexible. My opinion is that is was pure anarchy. Anyway, the road types are now pretty similar in both countries.

- Swedes have adopted bad habits during the last few decades: tailgating, mad overspeeding, and returning too quickly to the right lane after taking over. (In my observation, the Swedish driving culture collapsed during 1988-1989 when the 90 km/h speed limit was in effect in all motorways. People learned that the non-disciplined driving does not lead immediately to the hell. After restoring the speed limits, the earlier law-abiding culture did not resume.)

- Finns have learned how to drive on the congested roads, and to merge in the zipper method (except in the Northern areas).

There are exactly two cloverleaf-type of junctions in Finland. In addition, there are half a dozen of cloverleaf-turbine hybrids. Driving at cloverleaves typically need a low speed because of the short weaving zone and tight loop ramps. 

It not a typical habit in Finland to pump the brake pedal before entering the exit lane. However, the Swedish style of making motorways without exit lanes might be confusing to the foreigners, and therefore prone to unexpected behavior.

https://www.google.fi/maps/@55.5260...73W8r-bU3KuLfuuQ4Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

People tend to be extra careful when they leave their comfort zone. The traffic density in the southern provinces of Sweden is higher than in most Finnish highways. Much of the traffic concentrates in the southern areas of Finland. Those ones living in the remote provinces in Finland leaving for their first trip to southern Sweden, are definitely out of their comfort zone for several days. Please understand them, and be patient!


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## MattiG

*21/E8 Skibotn-Tornio*

The E8 is a 1400-kilometer route between Turku in the southwest Finland and Tromsø in the northwest Norway. The 500-kilometer section in the north runs from coast to coast: from Tornio at the north end of Gulf of Bothnia to Skibotn at Lyngenfjorden of the Arctic Sea.

Starting from Norway, the road climbs to the water divider in 35 kilometers, close to the Finland-Norway-Sweden tripoint. The Finnish-Norwegian border lies close to the village of Kilpisjärvi, which is one of most distant villages in Finland; population about 100. The Lake Kilpisjärvi, altitude 473, is rather big: 37 sqkm, and the west one third of the lake is situated in Sweden.

From Kilpisjärvi, after climbing the altitude on 566 meters, the road begins its slow descent of 440 kilometers back to the sea level. 

The road follows the rivers which are the border of Finland and Sweden. There is the northernmost village of Sweden at the border about 10 kilometers south of Kilpisjärvi: Keinovuopio, population 6. The village has a road access from Finland only. 

This footage covers the 155 kilometer section Skibotn-Palojoensuu of this road across arctic areas:


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## OulaL

I've wondered for some time, why is Kilpisjärvi chosen as a control destination on E8. Sure, it's the end of Finland on this side, but besides that there isn't really much, even the population is around 100. There isn't even a single road fork towards anywhere beyond the village itself. (Also there isn't any sign on the Finnish side pointing towards Tromsø or anything; after arriving to Kilpisjärvi from south there simply aren't any destinations shown anymore, the road just goes on for some km, until crossing to Norway after which Tromsø is shown.)

A more reasonable choice would be Muonio, which is the first municipal centre en route, with also a road fork towards Rovaniemi. If not simply Tornio.

For comparison: E75 has Ivalo as a control destination all the way from Vardø; E10, E12 and E14 have destinations all across the Scandinavian peninsula, namely Luleå, Umeå and Sundsvall respectively.


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## MattiG

OulaL said:


> I've wondered for some time, why is Kilpisjärvi chosen as a control destination on E8. Sure, it's the end of Finland on this side, but besides that there isn't really much, even the population is around 100. There isn't even a single road fork towards anywhere beyond the village itself. (Also there isn't any sign on the Finnish side pointing towards Tromsø or anything; after arriving to Kilpisjärvi from south there simply aren't any destinations shown anymore, the road just goes on for some km, until crossing to Norway after which Tromsø is shown.)
> 
> A more reasonable choice would be Muonio, which is the first municipal centre en route, with also a road fork towards Rovaniemi. If not simply Tornio.
> 
> For comparison: E75 has Ivalo as a control destination all the way from Vardø; E10, E12 and E14 have destinations all across the Scandinavian peninsula, namely Luleå, Umeå and Sundsvall respectively.


There is Kilpishalli: The most important food shop for those ones living in the northern Norway.


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## NordikNerd

*Road tolls in Helsinki*

The Motorists of Helsinki will pay more than 300 euros a year for tolls

If the roadtoll in Helsinki will be introduced, it will hurts the motorist's wallet with an average of 340 euros a year, according to the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL ).

The design of the payment system is not yet decided, but the HSL report has a review of five different models. 

The zone in the port-area has a model of alternative fees which vary depending on where the motorist travels. Inner city driving would cost 80 cents. During peak times prices would double.
The HSL report says that the toll system will save 10% of innercity travel time.

Meanwhile, car emissions will be reduced by 5%. Fees would be charged for about 40 % of drivers in the morning rush hours.
The tolls collected will generate 80 million euros. However, the HSL estimates that the future toll system wouldn't be completely unproblematic. One problem may arise from the fact that the payments affect different regions in very different ways.


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## MattiG

NordikNerd said:


> The Motorists of Helsinki will pay more than 300 euros a year for tolls


Well...

First of all. Nothing is decided. HSL has sent its proposal to the public, rather unexpectedly.

HSL is a similar organization to SL in Stockholm: It arranges the public transport, but the rolling stock is operated by contractors. Planning for financing is beyond its scope.

The basic setup in the Helsinki region is rather similar to Stockholm where the subsidies are about 50% of the total income. In the city of Helsinki, the rate is about 50% and 40% in the region.

The difference of the proposal is huge: The proposed area of Helsinki toll ring is about 30 times the current size of the toll ring of Stockholm. The "congestion charge" would be extended to areas where no congestion has ever been seen.

No analysis for the hidden demand has been shown. Thus, there is no evidence that this proposed new tax would have any major positive impact to the behavior of people.

The motivation behind the proposal is money: The current basis of the financing of the public transport is about to collapse: As the tickets are heavily subsidized, any growth will create more cost than income. The municipalities are against increasing the subsidy rates. Beginning of this yeas, the ticket prices increased by about 5% while the inflation is virtually zero. The price tag increase for year 2017 is about 12%.

Nobody believes that the new tax would be 300+ euro only. I am quite sure that after five years, it would raise to at least 800 euros.


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## RV

While Stockholm puts lots of money in regional traffic, and both subway system and motorways, HSL is controlled by radical Greens who are (if to believe HSL diverse plans and speeches) a city where everything but cyclism, walking and trams and everyone's traffic needs except for those living in the city center is totally neglected, with now 4 municipalities and the Finnish State widely protesting but as we say here, to ears not listening.

The result of this is that Helsinki city center located on an isolated sharp cape will become a sleeping-area with all services losing major quantities of money moving to Kehä III. This is planned along with motorway-destruction. If even inner-city-traffic will cost, well that's just crazy. Now their are building a bridge with 200 millions e just for cyclists and trams to Laajasalo, with the population of the suburb rising double but express tunnel from the Eastern Access Expressway to the existing Laajasalo Expressway being de facto cancelled and both of the mentioned expressways with reduced capacity and downgraded to streets. Eastern Expressway has 40 000-60 000 ADT. With constant car jams (traffic lights every 50 meters because of all overpasses being removed) mean a huge ammount of pollution. This areas don't even belong to the city center, and the firstly mentioned road is a major artery connecting the center with Itäkeskus. Local population is not asked. Sad. Communism didn't use to be a major force in Helsinki... If we even had decent subway system, but no, only small trams stopping every 500 ms are planned.

The motivation of all this is the odd car-nazism that has reigned in Helsinki since the last 10 years. Hope it will stop... I mean, this Green guys with long hair and beard and giant glasses controlling whole city planning organs are just comical, but their actions are frightening.


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## RV

Btw, Kehä III wrom 1130 to 1/E18 is 25 000 ADT and soon predicted even up to 50 000, and from 51 to 1130 10 000-18 000. For the first section there are quite advanced plans for the 2020's, and I believe the second half will also be included.

More urgent is though the upgrading to 2x3 Espoo border-Airport (should had started this year, we'll see), and the upgrade from 1/E18 to the border (these ridiculous borders play an important role in road planning even in Finland...)


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## ChrisZwolle

€ 300 per year is only about € 0.65 per one-way commute trip (less if you calculate other types of trips). I don't think this will have any notable traffic-reducing effect, especially because there apparently won't be an option to avoid it by taking alternate routes. 

With congestion charges you usually see a traffic reducing trend in the first few months or year, but the situation returns to normalcy after people finding out that taking other routes, other timetables or public transport isn't worth the hassle. With smaller congestion charge zones you can see a diversion of traffic around the tolled area, which may lead to more traveled kilometers as people avoid the tolled zone (like in London). With a very large tolled zone, such as apparently proposed in Helsinki, or the canceled mileage tax in the Netherlands the effect is less because you can't avoid it.

They wanted to introduce a congestion charge in Copenhagen, but it was canceled / postponed after concluding that there wasn't that much congestion to warrant a congestion charge. Based on travel time index Copenhagen didn't even had the worst congestion in Denmark (Aarhus was first). 

The price-elasticity of driving is often overestimated. Driving is a basic need for most to get to where they want to go in a quick and efficient manner. Most people are already using public transport if it is a viable option. However for the majority of car trips, the travel time difference with public transport is just too big for it to be a reasonable alternative. In fact, availability and the cost of parking is often a bigger motivation to use public transport than travel time.


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> € 300 per year is only about € 0.65 per one-way commute trip (less if you calculate other types of trips). I don't think this will have any notable traffic-reducing effect, especially because there apparently won't be an option to avoid it by taking alternate routes.


True. The public transport in the Helsinki area is rather radial-oriented, even if the number of cross-city routes have been improved last years. That makes many routes just non-attractive for public transport use. The key selection criteria is time, not money.

The commuting time to my office is some 20-25 minutes from my parking lot to the parking hall. The same trip takes at least 50 minutes on a bus-train or bus-bus-connection, typically 55-65 minutes. There are areas in the metropolitan area beyond 90 minutes of travel time to the location of my office (which, BTW, is rather easily to be accessed by several bus lines and main roads). If the same trip can be made in 90 minutes by public transport and by car in 30 minutes, the choice is quite evident.


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## RV

The problem of Helsinki Region's traffic planning is that it is planned by people who only move from one neighborhood of the city center to another and return - of course for them trams and bicycles are ok.

But the alliance that especially the National Coalition Party (supposedly a pro-car center-right force) has made like licking their ass, very oddly, with the Greens, gives us the fact that these people think that everybody are superhumans that will move by bicycle 30 Kms to Helsinki to their work, and that's an utopia. The result is that all companies and industry, even services will move from the bicycle-paradise to Kehä I and Kehä III, already congested routes, where people can reach them easily, because this coalition led by the Greens despite not being the leading force in Helsinki but yes in the Traffic Department, unique in the whole world I believe, is opposed even against a subway system - now they want to build trams leading to the Airport! A year ago the Department before being "taken" wanted a subway there. The worst is that the tram is not a "High-speed-tram" like the ones in smaller cities in Europe, but one with pedestrian and automobile crossings at-level every 100 meters, so it would take more than an hour or like two hours to get to the center. Luckily they had the time to build the subway-train-ring-system to the Airport, because Greens are a minor force in all of the municipalites surrounding Helsinki, and that was a project lobbed by Vantaa.

Meanwhile, any highway project is blocked unanimously by NCP and Greens (most lately, the Central Tunnel and a bridge from the extremely congested Western Harbor to the Western Access Motorway), and they plan to reduce the capacity of every road leading to Helsinki to 2x2 (1 lane being only for buses) and capacity adding on main roads, with costs of just max 20 millions and needed urgently, are moved to 2040 although they have been needed since the 90's. A Green delegation should look at the map of Amsterdam; yes, it has their idyllic car-free center; which is surrounded by a huge network of wide motorways. It seems like their only aspiration is blocking automobile traffic - a main central street will be closed entirely next year. So basically, HSL thinks that the solution for traffic problems created mainly because no single reparation has been made on main routes built in 1957-1973 about has been made, is just bicycles and small 30's technique trams in a region of 1,5 millions people of population!


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## RV

And Btw, no single announce of new road projects for the whole estimated duration of the government (four years) has been made, even that private companies have made a proposition of creating a "bank" for infrastructure problems. Government's attitude is stupid, thus last very deep recession huge investments on infrastructure were maid for the surpass of unemployment and because infrastructure pays itself back.


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## Nikolaj

ChrisZwolle said:


> They wanted to introduce a congestion charge in Copenhagen, but it was canceled / postponed after concluding that there wasn't that much congestion to warrant a congestion charge. Based on travel time index Copenhagen didn't even had the worst congestion in Denmark (Aarhus was first).


It wasn't the level/amount of congestion that was the reason for cancelling (and it is cancelled not postponed) the congestion charge ("Betalingsringen") in Copenhagen. It was proposed by the former red-green government, and primarily initiated and promoted by the green'ish SF - junior partner in the government. But the proposal became highly unpopular, especially in municipalities around Copenhagen, governed by Social Democratic mayors (the largest party in the then governmant), as they saw traffic models predicting that the overall level of congestion would only be slightly reduced , but causing very negative effect on those municipalities and their citizens. (high cost for commuters and people driving extra km in order to avoid being tolled).

The issue of congestion charges in Danish cities is completely dead, and no one wants to bring it up again. It has never been an issue in other cities than Copenhagen. There is however still a debate on a shift from the current system of registration tax to a general road user charge, but most politicians are very reluctant to bring it up because of the "Betalingsring" case, and continues to high-light that Denmarks should not be a first mover on this issue.


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## ChrisZwolle

Congestion charges are just an extra burden on households, and it ties some of the regional GDP up in taxes instead of into the economy. It results in less discretionary income. Congestion is just used as an excuse to introduce yet another tax on motorists. 

In very large urban areas (population 3+ million) with severe spatial constraints variable tolling can be an option to manage congestion. It's not feasible to entirely eliminate congestion with expansion projects, nor can tolling eliminate all congestion, but it could be managed better as a last-resort option. However, politicians often seems to think that increasing the tax burden is the first and best option... Especially with those tax zones you cannot reasonably avoid like in Göteborg or this proposal in Helsinki. 

Everybody complains about congestion, but I think most motorists rather accept some degree of congestion instead of paying a lot of taxes while experiencing only minimal improvements in traffic flow.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Kehä III (Ring 3) / Lentoasemantie (Airport Road) interchange in Helsinki. It was recently reconstructed from a partial cloverleaf to a free-flow interchange for the main traffic flows.

The photos were taken in November 2015.


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe Lentoasemantien alue ilmakuvat 11/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe Lentoasemantien alue ilmakuvat 11/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kehä III:n parannushanke, 2.vaihe Lentoasemantien alue ilmakuvat 11/2015 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Everybody complains about congestion, but I think most motorists rather accept some degree of congestion instead of paying a lot of taxes while experiencing only minimal improvements in traffic flow.


Helsinki is not severely congested. It ranks #65 among 103 European cities in the TomTom Congestion Index of 2014. 

The inner city, of course, is problematic one, because it is surrounded by the sea in the west, south and east. An interesting fact is that the number vehicles entering the inner city has been rather flat since the beginning of the 1970's. But despite of bus lanes, traffic light priorities, etc, the average speed of the public transportation has decreased a lot. Thus, there is something severely rotten in the traffic planning.

The most congested spots are the radial main roads, and the Ring 1. Of course, there are intersections were the demand exceeds the capacity, too, because the city is funnel-shaped. Still, the rush hours are rather short: the duration of the main peaks typically are less than one hour. 

The metropolitan area is growing, as the people move from provinces to the Helsinki area. The implication is interesting: The radial motorways tend to be congested during the afternoon rush hours in the outbound direction.


----------



## MattiG

*Motorway 1/E18 closed because of robbery attempt*

Today morning at 0840, a gang of 5-6 persons attempted a robbery of an armored van of the company G4S on the motorway 1/E18 in Suomusjärvi. According to police, it seems that the robbery failed. The robbers shooted with machine guns and threatened the driver with a bomb. One of the cars was burnt to halt the traffic. At least some of the robbers spoke Finnish.

The bomb group of the police is there to clear the case. The eastbound lanes bound for Helsinki are closed until further notice.










(http://www.iltasanomat.fi)

Not a usual case here.


----------



## Blackraven

MattiG said:


> Today morning at 0840, a gang of 5-6 persons attempted a robbery of an armored van of the company G4S on the motorway 1/E18 in Suomusjärvi. According to police, it seems that the robbery failed. The robbers shooted with machine guns and threatened the driver with a bomb. One of the cars was burnt to halt the traffic. At least some of the robbers spoke Finnish.
> 
> The bomb group of the police is there to clear the case. The eastbound lanes bound for Helsinki are closed until further notice.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (http://www.iltasanomat.fi)
> 
> Not a usual case here.


Hehe I hope those robbers failed and that they learned their lesson

Don't mess with G4S 










With presence in more than 125 countries and territories, G4S is the leading private security organization in the world. Criminals shouldn't underestimate G4S


----------



## MattiG

Blackraven said:


> Hehe I hope those robbers failed and that they learned their lesson
> 
> Don't mess with G4S
> 
> With presence in more than 125 countries and territories, G4S is the leading private security organization in the world. Criminals shouldn't underestimate G4S


According to unconfirmed information, the robbers managed to open the doors of the van but failed to get access to the money compartment. 

Some interesting facts have been make public:

- The place https://goo.gl/maps/nBK1XrJa9r62 was carefully selected: The escape route led to the backyard of a large service area nearby. The next cars were waiting behind a barrier separating the service area from the local roads leading to the old road 1/E18. It took a few minutes to the police to get through the barrier. 

- One of the abandoned cars was rented by an older lady of 60+ in a fur last week. 

- There is a weather camera visible to internet a few hundred meters from the place of the event. It got damaged just before the event. 

- No traces about shooting with machine guns have been found. Handguns have been used. 

There has been a lot of speculation around the case. Someone speculates this was not a real attempt but an action to get more understanding about the security measures. Perhaps some of the robbers shooted photos about the interior of the van.


----------



## RV

Hope that in April, when new projects will come public, the (for now) final upgrade of Kehä III will be on the list as it should (3+3-4+4 and upgrading junctions between the Airport Expressway and Road 120, which is quite a long section).

http://urbanmill.org/2016/01/15/keh...edotustilaisuus-tiistaina-19-1-klo-18-gtklla/

Kehä I upgrading (and the constructions of two towers of 32 and 36 stories) started at it's end in Tapiola/Keilaniemi (Espoo) with 220 meters of tunnel and 2 new interchanges - they don't apply Green politics  Though 2 month old, nobody seem to have posted this here.

Later in 2018 they will start constructing the second part of the tunnel will be started in somewhere 2018, as also the new interchange with the main access to Tapiola (Kalevalantie) and two more towers of 36 (?) and 42 stories. By 2020-2022 they plan to built a tunnel under Otaniemi and build the final 2 interchanges that miss between Tapiola and Leppävaara, thus replacing the traffic lights and making Kehä I nearly fully expressway-standard (Eastern Helsinki is still waiting, but Myllypuro and Kontula interchanges are planned to be started by 2018 or so). 

At the top of the old alignment over the tunnels a 2x2-layout boulevard and a lot of housing will be built (Espoo). Kehä I's layout in Espoo is and will be 3x3, so it will be in eastern Helsinki. 

Then it takes just built the very expensive Itäkeskus interchange at Kehä I's end in eastern Helsinki and upgrade to 3x3 the very congested section between Road 45 and Road E18/E75/4/5/6/7. There are not official plans for this, but it will be inevitable with ADT near 100 000 at some sections on a 2x2 layout. 

In the future (Helsinki's "future" is loooooong :/ ) the section between Road E12/3 and 45 will be upgraded to 4x4 fully. 

By the way, the new section of Kehä III between Airport Expressway/135 and 45 makes it the widest expressway/motorway section in Finland (if not counting those with parallel ramps) being 5+4.


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## MattiG

RV said:


> Hope that in April, when new projects will come public...(clipped)


Still, the only agreed projects are the ongoing upgrades on the Ring 1: The tunneling at the west end, and the third lanes between Leppävaara and Konala (road 120). The latter one includes some minor adjustments to the northbound ramps of the junction at 3/E12.

The blog entries with maps (sorry guys, a nice opportunity to learn Finnish):

http://teilla.blogspot.fi/2016/02/samppanjasapeli.html

http://teilla.blogspot.fi/2015/12/ramppeja-ja-vuoristorataa.html


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## ChrisZwolle

A new high bridge at Jännevirta on Highway 9 (east of Kuopio).


jannevirta_timelapse_29032017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> A new high bridge at Jännevirta on Highway 9


That long-awaited new bridge removes a severe bottleneck from the road and waterway network. The road crosses the Saimaa inland deep-water waterway network of 770 kilometers. As the vertical clearance of the current bridge is 1.4 meters only from the highwater, it is opened about 500 times during the summer boating season.

The current bridge dates back to 1951, and it has exceeded its lifetime. Two years ago, two support structures collapsed. They were repaired, but lower speed and weight limits were introduced.

The width of the waterway at the bridge is 11.8 meters only, thus making the operations extremely challenging:



















The new bridge will be compatible to Saimax class vessels with its vertical clearance of 24.5 meters. The main span will be 120 meters, and the width of the waterway at the maximum vertical clearance will be about 70 meters. The total length of the new bridge will be 577 meters.


----------



## RV

Helsinki's new mayor Jan Vapaavuori considers it awkward that the city's center hasn't got a proper tunnel network for main directions and the 2005 Red-Green-buried Central Tunnel (3+3 expwy under the center) is still not built. 

Now Greens lost all their vicemayor-posts and the old axis of National Coalition and SDP will take at last power again. According to the mayor that includes major infrastructural investments, such as the newly included metro to Vuosaari harbor and to Jakomäki-Hakunila, the tunnel network and the tunnels connecting Road 100 to 1, 4/E75 (upgrading to 4+4 on that one) and Hermanni harbor road, and that tunnel will lead to another leading to the central one, which means an expressway network thru downtown in the nearby years, hopefully.

The mayor stated that there are no "boulevards", or noisy streets which Greens wanted to convert motorways into with help from now not elected green-NClists, if a proper motorway does not run underneath it. Hurray!


----------



## OulaL

I believe when I see.


----------



## tayano

RV said:


> Helsinki's new mayor Jan Vapaavuori considers it awkward that the city's center hasn't got a proper tunnel network for main directions and the 2005 Red-Green-buried Central Tunnel (3+3 expwy under the center) is still not built.
> 
> Now Greens lost all their vicemayor-posts and the old axis of National Coalition and SDP will take at last power again. According to the mayor that includes major infrastructural investments, such as the newly included metro to Vuosaari harbor and to Jakomäki-Hakunila, the tunnel network and the tunnels connecting Road 100 to 1, 4/E75 (upgrading to 4+4 on that one) and Hermanni harbor road, and that tunnel will lead to another leading to the central one, which means an expressway network thru downtown in the nearby years, hopefully.
> 
> The mayor stated that there are no "boulevards", or noisy streets which Greens wanted to convert motorways into with help from now not elected green-NClists, if a proper motorway does not run underneath it. Hurray!


This piece of "information" is useless without a source. Please refer to it.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

124 meter long steel beams have been assembled at the site of the bridge at Jännevirta (Highway 9).


jannevirta_teraslohkot_19042017 (9) by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## Alexander Kanavin

tayano said:


> This piece of "information" is useless without a source. Please refer to it.


This looks like another of RV's delusional motorway fantasies that we regularly get in this thread. The following link has the actual election results in Helsinki - Greens gained 1.7%, SDP lost 3%. Why would the city suddenly start building a tunnel network for cars? Beats me.

https://vaalit.yle.fi/results/kv2017/electorate/1/municipality/91


----------



## Alexander Kanavin

RV said:


> Now Greens lost all their vicemayor-posts and the old axis of National Coalition and SDP will take at last power again.


Do you intentionally mislead people, or are you simply living in alternative reality?










http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/new_helsinki_city_council_shaping_up_in_record_time/9578023


----------



## Kanadzie

^^ just curious but... why would such graphic be produced in English?


----------



## MattiG

Kanadzie said:


> ^^ just curious but... why would such graphic be produced in English?


In civilized countries, this kind of information is often made public in other languages than the official ones, too, if the potential audience is non-minor.


----------



## Innsertnamehere

English is known widely in many European countries - most of the educated population in Western Europe is fluent in English - which means these graphics are easy to create as the people making them are likely fluent. The advantage of making them is as stated above, much easier for international interests to understand.

From personal experience it is very easy to get by in western / Northern Europe knowing only English. Almost everybody has at least a basic understanding of English, and a large enough proportion knows it that you seem to rarely have issues.


----------



## Alexander Kanavin

Wholly offtopic, but...

Finnish is one of the hardest languages to learn due to its distinctive, wholly unusual grammar and vocabulary, only maybe Chinese is harder. And it isn't helped by the fact that Finns are good at English, they don't like hearing bad Finnish, and will switch to English immediately if you try.

So English has become a sort of de facto second language in Finland. It makes sense to produce important information in English, because you generally do want immigrants and various other foreigners to be aware of local matters, or even better, actively participate in them.


----------



## MattiG

Alexander Kanavin said:


> Wholly offtopic, but...
> 
> Finnish is one of the hardest languages to learn due to its distinctive, wholly unusual grammar and vocabulary, only maybe Chinese is harder. And it isn't helped by the fact that Finns are good at English, they don't like hearing bad Finnish, and will switch to English immediately if you try.


There are various opinions on the difficulty to learn Finnish. Yes, the typical opinions are "impossible" and "extremely difficult". However, some people say that the grammar is complex but systematic. Perhaps those people having a linguistics background learn new languages more easily.

The whole concept (grammar, vocabulary, sex-neutrality, conjugation and postpositions instead of prepositions, vowel-intensity, no articles, pretty long words, etc) is different from the big languages. Despite its complexity, the grammar lacks quite important things like the future tense.

The conjugation might be a nightmare to the foreigners. For example, the plural may be expressed in some words by adding a single "e" or "i" somewhere in the middle of the word: "ovi" (door), "oven" (genitive single), "ovien" (genitive plural) or "risti" (cross), "ristin" (genitive single), "ristien" (genitive plural).

The "official" dictionary lists 49 different conjugation schemes for nominals (nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns) and 26 ones for verbs. In addition, many words have a second conjugation dimension, something what is called Stufenwechsel in German, the gradation. There are 13 schemes of those. For example, the word "jalka" (leg, foot) has the conjugation scheme 9D (9 as the primary scheme and D for the gradation):

jalka-jalan-jalkaa-jalkaan (four selected cases, single)
jalat-jalkojen(,jalkain)-jalkoja-jalkoihin (plural)

The Harry Potter index tells something about how the language is written: A 600-page Harry Potter book in English may be 800 pages in Finnish when the layouts are similar.


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## MattiG

*Hybrid Ferry on Parainen-Nauvo Route*

A new ferry will begin her traffic on the Parainen-Neuvo route in June. The route on the road 180 is the busiest ferry route in Finland, and heavily loaded especially during the weekends.

https://www.google.fi/maps/@60.2222...4!1sb5-CCCneR_MPrv5DXEEIpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The ferry is a diesel-electric hybrid one. It is expected to run 98% of the driving time on electricity. The crossing time is 9 minutes and the charging time is 6 minutes while loading and unloading.

The ferry was built in Gdynia, Poland, and it was towed to Finland last week.


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## Warsaw spectator

MattiG said:


> The ferry is a diesel-electric hybrid one. It is expected to run 98% of the driving time on electricity. The crossing time is 9 minutes and the charging time is 6 minutes while loading and unloading.


What's the diesel engine for then? Can't it goes 100% electric like a Norwegian one?


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## MattiG

Warsaw spectator said:


> What's the diesel engine for then? Can't it goes 100% electric like a Norwegian one?


As the text tells, an extra boost may be needed in challenging ice conditions.

Of course, an option to sail on diesel provides with an extra flexibility in case a need to move the ferry elsewhere.


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## MattiG

*370 Special Transport Departures*

A new wind power park is under construction close to the town of Kristiinankaupunki at the Finnish west coast. A total of 34 power stations will be installed by the summer 2018. 

The parts will be transported about 150 kilometers from the port of Vaasa. About 370 special transports are needed to carry the parts. The longest ones will be about 65 meters in length. The trip from the port to the power park takes about three hours, mostly on the backbone road 8/E8.


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E

Interesting developments. 

Probably should not stick my nose into this, but both the ferry service above and the windmills are placed in the few remaining enclaves with Swedish speaking majority, or what? Is the norm in Finland still to use the Finnish names in English?


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## OulaL

54°26′S 3°24′E;140387656 said:


> Interesting developments.
> 
> Probably should not stick my nose into this, but both the ferry service above and the windmills are placed in the few remaining enclaves with Swedish speaking majority, or what? Is the norm in Finland still to use the Finnish names in English?


Yes, they are, and no, it's not the norm.

Since neither Kristinestad nor Pargas has an established name in the English language, the names used in the local majority language should be used when referring to those in a conversation in English.


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## MattiG

OulaL said:


> Yes, they are, and no, it's not the norm.
> 
> Since neither Kristinestad nor Pargas has an established name in the English language, the names used in the local majority language should be used when referring to those in a conversation in English.


I do not believe there is such a norm. It would lead to a confusion in many cases. In this particular case, the question around the local language politics is fully irrelevant.

Vaasa, BTW, is not Swedish majority.


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## ookke

VT 12/Highway 12 & mt 167, Construction between; spring 2017-2021









Info about the project in finnish:
http://www.liikennevirasto.fi/vt12letke#.WUJyhzdLe00

Location:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/60.9559/25.6296

mt 167
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhu4Ef-jNcg&feature=youtu.be

VT 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1QgtALGuB8

btw: How can I adjust the size of the images?


----------



## MichiH

ookke said:


> VT 12/Highway 12 & mt 167, Construction between; spring 2017-2021
> 
> Info about the project in finnish:
> http://www.liikennevirasto.fi/vt12letke#.WUJyhzdLe00
> 
> Location:
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/60.9559/25.6296
> 
> mt 167
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhu4Ef-jNcg&feature=youtu.be
> 
> VT 12
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1QgtALGuB8
> 
> btw: How can I adjust the size of the images?


Thanks!

If I got it right, only about 6km b/n Mt296 and Vt4 will have motorway/expressway standard (2 carriageways with each 2 lanes, grade-separted interchanges et cetera). It should be this section:

*Vt12:* Okeroinen – Kujala (Vt4) 6km (Spring 2017 to 2021) – project – map

MT167 will have at-grade intersections and Vt4 does already have motorway standard.

Correct?


----------



## MichiH

MichiH said:


> MattiG said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are two separate projects (the 4/13 junction, and the section to the north of it). *They are in a planning state* targeting to reach the readiness to start the construction in late 2016.
> 
> 
> 
> If I got it right, it should be like this:
> 
> *Vt4:* Mämmenkyla – Myllyntaus ~7.5km (Late 2016 to ?) – project – map
> *Vt4:* Myllyntaus – Rannankylä ~4km (Late 2016 to ?) – project – map
> 
> Is there any estimated completion date / construction period?
> 
> _RV_ has reported that "Äänekoski by-pass is under costruction with 4 Kms of express(motor)way. Part of the future upgrade [...] to full motorway standards." Sounds like a part of the section is already u/c?!?! The section length of the section with the Vt13 interchange has 4km but the project page indicates a construction begin in fall 2016. What's u/c? :dunno:
Click to expand...




MattiG said:


> It is not yet under construction. The old Kotakennäänsalmi bridge on 4/E75 was under extensive repair in 2013 but that was a separate project.
> 
> The basic reason to the upgrade is the new bio product mill under construction in Äänekoski. It will ramp up during the second half of 2017. The road upgrades will not be complete earlier than 2019.


If I get the project pages right, both future Vt4 motorway/expressway sections are not yet under construction, are they? Is there any estimated start date?


----------



## MichiH

MichiH said:


> If I get the project pages right, both future Vt4 motorway/expressway sections are not yet under construction, are they? Is there any estimated start date?


Unfortunately no response, so I had to went there... :cheers: 

The southern ~4km section is u/c and quite advanced for just about half a year of construction. There is even a layer of asphalt at the south end. The construction site begins about 1km south of Vt13 junction.


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## MattiG

MichiH said:


> Unfortunately no response, so I had to went there... :cheers:
> 
> The southern ~4km section is u/c and quite advanced for just about half a year of construction. There is even a layer of asphalt at the south end. The construction site begins about 1km south of Vt13 junction.


This is how the upgrade works are usually organized. The contractor loses money for every hour for a closed lane. Therefore, the new sections are built first, at least to be passable. The traffic will the diverted to them, and the works on the old sections do not make major harm to the traffic flow.

That financial model has been in place some 10-15 years, and the experiences are positive. For example, there is currently a massive construction site at the west end of the Ring 1 of Helsinki. Despite of the works and diversion routes, the traffic flows almost as usual.


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## ChrisZwolle

*E18*

Liikennevirasto just released a large set with 275 aerial photos of E18 Hamina - Vaalimaa.

Full album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/liikennevirasto/albums/72157686067521676

The Vaalimaa border crossing truck queue area.

E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa ilmakuvat kevät 2017 by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Liikennevirasto just released a large set with 275 aerial photos of E18 Hamina - Vaalimaa.
> 
> The Vaalimaa border crossing truck queue area.


The queuing and parking area was built because of huge queues of trucks. The longest queue seen was 65 kilometers in length. The queue area moved the trucks from the shoulders to a more managed area. The reason for queues is the slow and random processing time of the customs office at the Russian side.

There are 410 slots for the outbound trucks (going to Russia) and 51 for the inbound ones.


----------



## MichiH

MattiG said:


> RV said:
> 
> 
> 
> Road 6 will be upgraded to motorway Luumäki-Lappeenranta since next year as I've heard. Luumäki-Lappeenranta was luckily decided not to be revised to just a crappy 2+1-segment nearly a year ago after a scandal.
> 
> 
> 
> There will definitely be no motorway between Luumäki and Lappeenranta. The plans are based on "a narrow 2+2 road with a middle barrier". It means the lane width of 3.50 metres and narrow hard shoulders, and a total width of 19.00 meters. No 120 speed limit.
> 
> There is no final decision on how the road will be look like. There is a preliminary consensus to allocate 76 million euros to the construction in the future. However, this is 15 per cent less than the cost estimate based on the plans. Therefore, some downgrading actions will most probably be taken.
> 
> As the current economical climate is volatile, anything may happen. I would not be very surprised if the project were postponed for several years.
Click to expand...

There's a map linked on the project page. It seems to me that no at-grade interchange will remain.

The first 9km section was opened on 23rd November 2016, see press release. I drove there in early July and - minimum this segment - has motorway standard (2x2 with median and access-controlled). The two remaing segments (upgrade of existing road and new alignment on Jurvala bypass) are announced to be opened in fall 2017.

*Vt6:* Jurvala-East – west of Selkäharju (Vt13) 9km (October 2015 to Fall 2017) – project – map
*Vt6:* Luumäki (Vt26) – Jurvala-East 17km (October 2015 to 23rd November 2016) – project – map


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> There's a map linked on the project page. It seems to me that no at-grade interchange will remain.
> 
> The first 9km section was opened on 23rd November 2016, see press release. I drove there in early July and - minimum this segment - has motorway standard (2x2 with median and access-controlled). The two remaing segments (upgrade of existing road and new alignment on Jurvala bypass) are announced to be opened in fall 2017.


Everything you want to know about the project is contained at https://www.eurakka.net/fi/projekti...la_taavetti-lappeenranta_luumaki_lappeenranta - in Finnish, of course. A good opportunity to begin learning this exotic language.

The section 2T is about general maps, and 3T about detailed maps. The section 12T might be of interest, too. It is the signage plan.

The question of whether it is a motorway or not is more about politics than technology. The Green party was present in the past cabinet to agree the project. It was easier for them to agree on "make an upgrade to a 4-lane road" than on "build 25 kilometers of motorway". Anyway, the narrow lanes and shoulder do not qualify with the Finnish standards on rural motorways. Because the road will be fully grade-separated and prohibited to all slow traffic, the only real difference will be the speed limit, which shall be 100 km/h.


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> Unfortunately no response, so I had to went there... :cheers:
> 
> The southern ~4km section is u/c and quite advanced for just about half a year of construction. There is even a layer of asphalt at the south end. The construction site begins about 1km south of Vt13 junction.


I was there a week ago while returning from the north.

As discussed earlier, there two separate but interconnected projects:

1) The southern one to upgrade the intersection of the roads 4/E75 and 13 at Huutomäki, and upgrade the existing 4/E75 to a 2+2 road

2) The northern one to upgrade the 4/E75 because of the new bio production mill under construction in Äänekoski. That includes building a new bridge over the lake Kuhnamo to replace the existing bridge at Kotakennäänsalmi.

The project 1) is ongoing and the project 2) is about to start within a few months.

My dashcam has collected footage of several thousands kilometers of roads in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg during this summer. This 5-minute video covers the project 1).


----------



## MattiG

*A Truck Hits a Gantry*

The eastbound Ring 3 of Helsinki is currently closed because a truck hit a gantry which collapsed. The incident is expected to create major harm, because this Monday morning is quite busy as many people are returning to the work after their holidays.










The westbound lanes are stuck, too, because people are watching.










The authorities expect that the flights might be delayed, too: The road is a major access route to the Helsinki Airport, and the flight staff may get stuck in their cars. The traffic maps do not show the case that severe.


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## ChrisZwolle

*Valtatie 5, Mikkeli*

Main road 5 in Mikkeli


Aseman eritasoliittymä by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Pitkäjärven eritasoliittymä by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Urpolan kaari, Urpis by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


Kaihun eritasoliittymä by Liikennevirasto, on Flickr


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Main road 5 in Mikkeli


Planning to make a test drive tomorrow. This is the second major upgrade of road 5 in Mikkeli. 

The road 5 was one of the very first roads to upgrade to then modern standards after the WWII. Since that, those standards have turned obsolete, and the road gradually developed to one of the lousiest main roads in the country.

During the last 25 years, the road has been upgraded piece by piece by widening, removing curves and hills, and building 2+1 sections. The motorway nowadays extends 150 kilometers from Helsinki. After this project, there still are about 70 kilometers of old sections on the 390-kilometers leg Helsinki-Kuopio, mainly between Mikkeli an Kuopio. The upgrade project between Mikkeli and Juva (24 km of 2+2 and 2+1 road) is about to start this year.


----------



## OulaL

I'd like 4-618-13-9 as an alternative between Helsinki and Kuopio.

The road quality isn't anyhow better, but it is shorter and the traffic volumes are lower, and in many cases it also saves time. Marginally, but anyway.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> I'd like 4-618-13-9 as an alternative between Helsinki and Kuopio.
> 
> The road quality isn't anyhow better, but it is shorter and the traffic volumes are lower, and in many cases it also saves time. Marginally, but anyway.


The 9/E63 section Jämsä-Jyväskylä-Kuopio is lousy. 

Earlier, the planning concept was: Roads consist of straight parts connected by curves. In 1960's it was turned upside down: Roads consist of curves connected by straight sections. The road 5 Jyväskylä-Kuopio was one of the first implementation of this new concept, and the planners exaggerated a little bit. Therefore, we have now 115 kilometers of quite modern main road having hardly any places to overtake. Fortunately, one of the best roadside cafés in Finland, Tiinan Tupa, lies at the halfway.


----------



## OulaL

MattiG said:


> The 9/E63 section Jämsä-Jyväskylä-Kuopio is lousy.


It is, but beyond Jyväskylä the traffic is not that bad.



MattiG said:


> The road 5 Jyväskylä-Kuopio


You may like to correct this.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> It is, but beyond Jyväskylä the traffic is not that bad.


One truck is enough to make the experience bad if it cannot be overtaken.

The AADT on 9/23 east of Jyväskylä are higher than on 4 south of Jyväskylä. After the branch on 9 and 23, the traffic calms down substantially.

BTW, the attractiveness of the regional road 618 as a shortcut may have decreased since the upgrage of the 4/E75 Toivakka-Vaajakoski to a 2+1 road in a new alignment. A better choice might be to drive via the roudabout at the east end of the six-fold multiplex of roads 4, 9, 13, 23, E63, and E75.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

MattiG said:


> Earlier, the planning concept was: Roads consist of straight parts connected by curves. In 1960's it was turned upside down: Roads consist of curves connected by straight sections. The road 5 Jyväskylä-Kuopio was one of the first implementation of this new concept, and the planners exaggerated a little bit. Therefore, we have now 115 kilometers of quite modern main road having hardly any places to overtake.


It seems to me that Germany used this design concept as well for two-lane roads that are of relatively high standard (_Kraftfahrstraße_). Long curves and dense brush immediately off the edge of the road, making it almost impossible to pass other vehicles safely because the sight lines are too short. 

The Netherlands hasn't used this concept but banned passing on almost any two-lane road since the early 2000s.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> It seems to me that Germany used this design concept as well for two-lane roads that are of relatively high standard (_Kraftfahrstraße_). Long curves and dense brush immediately off the edge of the road, making it almost impossible to pass other vehicles safely because the sight lines are too short.
> 
> The Netherlands hasn't used this concept but banned passing on almost any two-lane road since the early 2000s.


Finland is *very *different from Germany and the Netherlands because of much lower population density. If you drive 100 km without entering a town or a village, it would be nice to be able to overtake when needed. Anything like that just won't happen in D or NL.

The road 9/E63 Jyväskylä-Kuopio is exceptional. Most other roads of the same age or younger have much better geometry to allow overtaking.


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## Kanadzie

^^ how do the Finnish drivers react to that situation? Any Polish-style "passing on three"?


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## MattiG

*Quiet Friday*

There is a political strike in Finland today, and most of the public transport in Helsinki is canceled. The newspapers predicted a chaos. As usual, they are not very good on predicting. People seem to work at home, or they have taken a day off. Thus, the chaos is canceled, too.

The traffic map of Helsinki as of at 1700 hours today displays much more green than during a usual afternoon peak. The green color extends into the inner city, and it is exceptional.


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## OulaL

I made a video featuring the entire highway 24, Jämsä to Lahti, at 10x speed.

This used to be a part of highway 4 until 1993, when 4 was rerouted via Heinola.


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## ChrisZwolle

If I read this correctly:

_Huomenna ei moottoritie ole enää tyhjä.
Ystävänpäivänä 14.2. klo 12 avataan uusi moottoritie liikenteelle Kattilaisista Virojoen eritasoliittymään.

Tervetuloa tutustumaan uuteen ja uljaaseen motariin!
Venla / YIT_

The E18 / valtatie 7 motorway opens to traffic tomorrow from Kattilainen to Virolahti?


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## MichiH

^^ Yep, about 20km will open tomorrow, the remaining segment will be opened on 1st March.



MichiH said:


> *Vt7:* Kattilainen – Vaalimaan 27km (June 2015 to Spring 2018) – project – map


https://www.epressi.com/tiedotteet/...e-kattilaisten-ja-virojoen-valilla-14.2..html


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## OulaL

Road 384, connecting the present and future 7, is itself not designed for highway volume traffic, but now it becomes one for a couple of weeks.

Let's hope people take this with care.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> Road 384, connecting the present and future 7, is itself not designed for highway volume traffic, but now it becomes one for a couple of weeks.
> 
> Let's hope people take this with care.


The motorway project includes upgrading (rebuilding} that leg of the regional road 384 to an almost-main-road class. That leg was opened in December 2017. No worry, I believe.


----------



## MattiG

*Metro type road maps*

I have done some experimenting on creating a metro type road map over the main roads of Finland. A traditional London Transport type of metro map follows the "45 degree paradigm": Turns are 45 or 90 degrees only, and the heading of all straight lines is a multiply of 45 degrees.

There are two main issues: 1) Lack of proper non-professional (reasonably priced) software. 2) Very uneven distribution of polulation and road density. 

The scale on the maps varies a lot, especially in the N-S direction (population hot spots in the South). Therefore, the map is pretty distorted, and the shape of the country is barely recognizable.

The maps shows all the primary roads (red), secondary roads (blue), and a few regional ones (amber).










*Link to the Full-resolution PDF map*


----------



## OulaL

MattiG said:


> Therefore, the map is pretty distorted, and the shape of the country is barely recognizable.


Well, that is often the case with tube maps as well, if that was what was in your mind to begin with...

Such distortion is practically inherent in the very purpose of maps like this.


----------



## OulaL

How do you choose between single and multiple lines? For instance, from Jyväskylä to Vaajakoski there are four lines (apparently one line for each of 4, 9, 13 and 23), but between Karhula and Rantahaka only one (for both 7 and 15).

Also, on what grounds have you made "stations" of certain location and not of others? The endpoint of 86 is nowhere at all; "Nokia" and "Myllypuro" are different "stations" though only 1 km apart; "Virrat" on the other hand is a single "station" despite containing a long section shared by 23 and 66.

Other than that, nice work.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> How do you choose between single and multiple lines? For instance, from Jyväskylä to Vaajakoski there are four lines (apparently one line for each of 4, 9, 13 and 23), but between Karhula and Rantahaka only one (for both 7 and 15).
> 
> Also, on what grounds have you made "stations" of certain location and not of others? The endpoint of 86 is nowhere at all; "Nokia" and "Myllypuro" are different "stations" though only 1 km apart; "Virrat" on the other hand is a single "station" despite containing a long section shared by 23 and 66.
> 
> Other than that, nice work.


There was no deep thinking involved in the release 1, but learning by doing instead. 

The basic idea was to experiment on what is the minimum number of symbols to make the chart. The work is based on seven symbols only: Four variations of nodes, a 45-degree curve, a 90-degree curve and a straight connector. Annotations not counted. The drawing application (Powerpoint!) does not enforce the 45-degree paradigm for connectors when moving nodes. That is why each elbow link consists of one or several curves connected with lines. Moving a node distorts a link, but the easy corrective action is to move the elbows.

Like any other cartography, there is a trade-off between details and simplicity. I decided to draw the Tampere-Nokia area in detail because of motorways crossing at noble junctions. Otherway round, the topology in Virrat is quite simple, even if the actual intersections are kilometers apart.

As you point out, there are a few crossings like 8/86 without a node. That place, like 58/77, is in the middle of nothing, and I decided not a put a node without a name. The two other cases 18/19 in Seinäjoki and 13/58 close to Karstula are for the sake of simplicity.

What comes to multiplexes, only the "interesting" ones are shown. In addition to 7/15 in Kotka, a few others are omitted, too: 6/9 Joensuu-Onkamo, 5/22 Kajaani-Kontiomäki, 20/78 Pudasjärvi, 4/77 Viitasaari, 9/23 Joensuu-Viinijärvi, 8/28 Kokkola, 3/23 Parkano, 6/62 Imatra, and 5/28 Kajaani. Most of these decisions are based on the aim to reduce nodes.

(The multiplex to the east of Jyväskylä is the most interesting one: It is a multiplex of six routes: The national roads 4, 9, 13, and 23 as well as the European routes E63 and E75.)


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> ^^ Yep, about 20km will open tomorrow, the remaining segment will be opened on 1st March.
> 
> https://www.epressi.com/tiedotteet/...e-kattilaisten-ja-virojoen-valilla-14.2..html


There is some conflicting information available about the opening of the last remaining leg. The alternatives are


March 1st
Early March
In March

Anyway, passing an important milestone is close. After the road opens, there is a continuous motorway or an almost-motorway for the whole 340 km stretch of E18 in Finland: From Turku at the west coast to Vaalimaa at the Russian border.

Finland committed at the Essen Summit of the European Union in December 1994 to build the E18 to the motorway class by the end of 2015. A 2+ year delay is quite minimal within the context of the EU.

The first section of this east-west corridor was built to a motorway in 1956-1962. (This Helsinki west approach at road 1 is not any more part of the E18, because the E18 is nowadays routed over the Ring 3 of Helsinki.) Since that, there has been about 15 projects to gradually build the radial roads 1 and 7 to motorways. In addition, there has been number of upgrades to the Ring 3 since it was opened in mid-1960's. Initially, it was a rural 1+1 road. Now it is a full-scale motorway (except a 5-km leg at the midway), and some of the junctions have been rebuilt several times.


----------



## OulaL

Road 40 (Turku ring road) is also not a motorway. The section between highways 1 and 10 is not even close, it is 1+1 with some at-level intersections.

Even though highway 1 leads to close to Turku centre as a motorway, E18 does not. It bypasses Turku using the ring road to Raisio, where it splits in two branches: one to Turku harbour (using a section of highway 8, a motorway of its own) and one to Naantali harbour (continuing along with road 40).


----------



## OulaL

Anyway, highway 7, Helsinki to Vaalimaa, is now Finland's longest motorway at 179 km, beating the previous record (highway 3, Vantaa to Ylöjärvi) by 1 km.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> Road 40 (Turku ring road) is also not a motorway. The section between highways 1 and 10 is not even close, it is 1+1 with some at-level intersections.
> 
> Even though highway 1 leads to close to Turku centre as a motorway, E18 does not. It bypasses Turku using the ring road to Raisio, where it splits in two branches: one to Turku harbour (using a section of highway 8, a motorway of its own) and one to Naantali harbour (continuing along with road 40).


The question is about how to signpost the local access route to the harbors to avoid disturbance in the city areas. The AGR agreement does not go into that detail but takes a more general approach. The AGR agreement declares the route in Finland: "Turku/Naantali-Helsinki-Vaalimaa". There is now a motorway route (or at least a 2+2 road) from the city limits of Turku to Vaalimaa (not until to actual border but 3 km away). The signposting leads to the Ring 3 thus bypassing Helsinki. Yes, it runs for 2 km within the city limits at the northern edge of Helsinki, I know. I believe the EU accepts the completeness of the project.

Sweden has quite a practical method to handle the local routes: Several branches may have an E road classification with a sub-id, and not all of them are signposted. If Turku were in Sweden, the road Kirismäki-Turku City might be E18, Kirismäki-Naantali E18.02 and the spur to Turku Harbor E18.04, and the two latter ones only signposted as E18.

BTW, there will be some upgrades on the Turku bypass east section, but it will remain as an 1+1 road probably at least for the next ten years.


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## italystf

Is there enough traffic to justify a motorway between Finland and Russia?
I though traffic was very scarce because of the burocratical hassles involved in travelling from/to Russia with a private vehicle.


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## ChrisZwolle

According to the traffic map, there are some 5,000 vehicles per day between Hamina and Vaalima with 3,000 crossing the border daily.

https://extranet.liikennevirasto.fi/webgis-sovellukset/webgis/template.html?config=liikenne


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## Дмитрий Кудряшо

italystf said:


> Is there enough traffic to justify a motorway between Finland and Russia?...


"Do not throw stones at me", but in Russia motorists and cyclists - each in its own way, very pleased with the discovery of this site.


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## italystf

ChrisZwolle said:


> According to the traffic map, there are some 5,000 vehicles per day between Hamina and Vaalima with 3,000 crossing the border daily.
> 
> https://extranet.liikennevirasto.fi/webgis-sovellukset/webgis/template.html?config=liikenne


In most countries they only build super-two highways with such traffic volumes. In Italy I believe that only the westernmost section of A5 (access to Mont Blanc tunnel) has a so small traffic volume.


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## MattiG

italystf said:


> In most countries they only build super-two highways with such traffic volumes. In Italy I believe that only the westernmost section of A5 (access to Mont Blanc tunnel) has a so small traffic volume.


It is not only about AADT but traffic safety. The old road is quite narrow and outdated, and the share of the heavy vehicles is high. The motorway is a part of a bigger package including a large truck parking and service area at the border. The new structures allows to remove the 40 kilometers long truck queueing area at the shoulders of the old road.










In addition, the completion of the motorway probably moves some fraction of the traffic of the lousy road 26 to the road 387.

The AADT as an indicator may give a misleading image on the area: The unpredictable legislation in Russia, and the ineffective Russian border operations have lead to huge variation of volumes: Sometimes the routes to the border stations are virtually empty, and sometimes crowded. That is why the infrastructure must be dimensioned biased more to peaks rather than the average.


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## OulaL

Not many years ago, the Turku and Naantali branches of E18 were actually split in Piikkiö, in the junction of 1 and 40, and the route to Turku harbour was through the centre – so that time there was really E18 as a motorway all the way to Turku.



MattiG said:


> The signposting leads to the Ring 3 thus bypassing Helsinki. Yes, it runs for 2 km within the city limits at the northern edge of Helsinki, I know.


Also E18 runs for additional 6 km within Helsinki along with 7 :lol:

But speaking of Ring III, I'm still waiting for improvements in Petikko/Varisto area. Maybe the whole section could be redesignated as a motorway.


----------



## Wover

I know a similar situation here in Estonia where Google Maps sends through traffic to the trunk road; the main road actually doesn't get that much through traffic because of that...

https://www.google.com/maps/@58.343...4!1sK4-cIbKHq_S_pVgjEGht4A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


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## MichiH

MattiG said:


> It is true that the Google Maps routing engine fails at this location. It routes the SW to NW traffic of the trunk road over the ramps. However, it is not the first time in the history when a navigator makes such a mistake. TomTom has improved a lot, but Google Maps still makes pretty interesting choices.


My last GPS and my current GPS have the same bug behavior. Different brands.


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## ChrisZwolle

The more access people have to smart devices, the dumber their actions get...


----------



## seunei

Does anyone know current configuration of Kuopiontie/Pieksämäentie intersection in Mikkeli? All popular maps are out of date. There is a section of Kuopiontie highway under construction. I want to update OpenStreetMap.


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## MattiG

seunei said:


> Does anyone know current configuration of Kuopiontie/Pieksämäentie intersection in Mikkeli? All popular maps are out of date. There is a section of Kuopiontie highway under construction. I want to update OpenStreetMap.


Yes. It is gone. 

The interchange of the roads 5 and 72 will be replaced by a new dogbone junction about 1.5 km to the east. Its ramps are already in place, and the temporary N-S route runs over it.

The current temporary routes are shown at: http://www.epressi.com/media/userfi...c-88ki_kiertotieja-cc-88rjestely_29102019.pdf

(Blue: routes in use, yellow: pedestrians and cyclists, light green: new roads.)

Whatever you now update at the OSM might be obsolete next week.


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## MichiH

https://vayla.fi/-/vt-4-oulu-kemi-kello-rainanpera-avautuu-moottoritieksi

It's reported that a 8km motorway section north of Oulu will be opened on Thursday. But the very same press release also states that the motorway will be completed by fall 2020 and the whole project will be completed by fall 2021. Can anyone tell me what I got wrong? When will the motorway be opened 2x2 - now or next year?

It's the first project of my u/c new motorway + expressway list:



MichiH said:


> *Vt4:* south of Asemakylä – north of Kello 8km (May 2017 to 2021) – project – map
> *Vt12:* Okeroinen – Kujala (Vt4) 6km (Spring 2017 to 2021) – project – map
> *Kt40:* Pukkilan – Kirismäen (Vt1) 3km (March 2019 to 2021) – project – map


Is the list complete or have construction works for additional sections began this year?



MichiH said:


> The contract was signed on 20th March, construction works will begin in early May 2019. The new motorway should be opened in late 2022, remaining works will be completed in 2023.
> 
> https://www.destia.fi/uutishuone/ti...uksen-kirri-tikkakoski-toteutusvaiheesta.html


Have the construction works for Vt4 Kirri-Tikkakoski been started in May?


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> https://vayla.fi/-/vt-4-oulu-kemi-kello-rainanpera-avautuu-moottoritieksi
> 
> It's reported that a 8km motorway section north of Oulu will be opened on Thursday. But the very same press release also states that the motorway will be completed by fall 2020 and the whole project will be completed by fall 2021. Can anyone tell me what I got wrong? When will the motorway be opened 2x2 - now or next year?


The Kello-Räinänperä section will consist of a motorway section of 8 km (south part) and a 2+1 section of 9 km (north part). The motorway section will be opened to traffic this week. That 17 km section is one part of the upgrade project of the Oulu motorway, and the entire project is to be complete in 2021. 

Most of the exits 6-13 will be upgraded by adding ramps and bus lanes, and a new exit 4b was built.

Opening the motorway section to traffic does not equal to the motorway being ready. A lot of gardening and other finalization still to be done. No gardening works in winter on those latitudes.

The original deadline for the upgrade works at the Oulu city area was end of 2019. However, the bridges over the Oulu River were found in much worse condition than expected. They are being demolished and replaced one by one, and that causes a delay of almost two years.









_East bridge being demolished. The deck removed but the support structures still in place_


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> Have the construction works for Vt4 Kirri-Tikkakoski been started in May?


Yes.

Like most such projects, they have a Facebook page. A good opportunity to learn Finnish: https://www.facebook.com/vt4kirritikkakoski/


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> https://vayla.fi/-/vt-4-oulu-kemi-kello-rainanpera-avautuu-moottoritieksi
> 
> Is the list complete or have construction works for additional sections began this year?


The Vt12 Lahti south bypass is expected to open to traffic by the end of 2020, and to be finalized in 2021. The road will get the final surface in 2023.

The Kt40 project has received a bigger budget, and the entire 1+1 section between the roads 1 and 10 (8 km) will be upgraded to a 2+2 road with grade separation. The project is expected to be complete in 2023. The road 40 between the roads 1 and 110 (3.5 km) has recently been downgraded to a connecting road 2271.

The interchange of the roads 1 and 40 will be rebuilt, because is a TOTSO for the E18 and a more fluent traffic flow is to be enabled. The original plans are being revised (rerouting some ramps). The detailed proposal is available at https://www.suunnitelma.info/E18_Turun_kehatien_parantaminen/3T-7_A_Suunnitelmakartta.pdf


----------



## MichiH

MattiG said:


> The Kt40 project has received a bigger budget, and the entire 1+1 section between the roads 1 and 10 (8 km) will be upgraded to a 2+2 road with grade separation. The project is expected to be complete in 2023.


The project site indicates that the section u/c will be completed by 2021 and works for the second section should be done from summer 2020 to 2023.



MattiG said:


> The road 40 between the roads 1 and 110 (3.5 km) has recently been downgraded to a connecting road 2271.


OSM and GM still indicate it being road 40. Do you have an source indicating when the change should come into force? Or an official document indicating that it's no longer dedicated as road 40?

The most reliable source I know is also still indicating the (old) status: https://www.mattigronroos.fi/w/index.php/Kantatie_40


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> Or an official document indicating that it's no longer dedicated as road 40?


You do not trust my eyes?


----------



## MichiH

^^ I don't trust journalists  you didn't write that you had seen it on site. Fine


----------



## MattiG

MichiH said:


> ^^ I don't trust journalists  you didn't write that you had seen it on site. Fine


To clarify things:

There is one project: upgrading the Turku bypass Kausela-Kirismäki, i.e. between the roads 10 and 1. It currently is lousy 1+1 road build mainly in 1960s. It was for a long time a candidate for the Turku approach of the road 1/E18. However, the motorway was built elsewhere and this part of the Turku bypass was left to wait for future upgrades. The current routing brings excessive amounts of heavy traffic bound for the port of Turku through the inner city. That is why the ring road is to be made more attractive.

In the Finnish bureaucracy, the "General Plan" responds mainly to the question "why" and "where", and it is preliminary response to the question "what". The "Road Plan" is the final document to respond to the question "what". Neither of those do give a response to "when" and "how". There is only one Road Plan for the entire project.

The response to "when" comes from the national parliament. It was in 2016 when the project was granted about one third of the needed money. It had to be split into two phases (with a heavy criticism). The Road Plan was approved in August 2018, and the works begun in 2019 after the selection of the contractor was complete. Typically, the contractor takes the responsibility for the detailed planning, thus responding to the "how" question.

There was a parliament election in April 2019, and the new cabinet quite surprisingly granted money enough to complete project in September 2019. The phase 1 and 2 will be separate contracts, but they will overlap. For example, the Road Plan of the Kirismäki Junction of roads 1 and 40 will be made better than it was possible earlier. 

Even if there is not yet a contractor for the phase 2, preliminary works are ongoing in the entire 10 km project area.

What comes to timing when a road classification change comes into effect, there is no exact date for that. From the admin point of view, the important moment is when someone updates the national road register accordingly. After that, the change will propagate to the Digiroad information system, then to the annually published road number maps, navigators, etc. The deployment to the road signs may take time, or it may happen overnight. Or something else. (For example, when a chain of regional roads were upgraded to the road 58, the gradual deployment took about three years because of a bad condition of some sections.)

What comes to the https://tiet.mattigronroos.fi website, it is said in an explicit way that it would be impossible and unreasonable to guarantee the information to be always up-to-date and fully correct. However, the road blog raised the issue already in the early October: https://teilla.blogspot.com/2019/10/downgrade.html

The number 2271 is visible at least when approaching the Kirismäki junction from NW.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Is the Vt. 4 upgrade north of Oulu the only motorway to open in 2019 in Finland?


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is the Vt. 4 upgrade north of Oulu the only motorway to open in 2019 in Finland?


In addition to that, the westernmost 1.3 kilometers of the Helsinki Ring 1 was designated to a motorway. The massive upgrade project is still in progress, but the thru lanes got opened in July. 

I believe that after the radial motorways from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi, Turku, Tampere, Heinola and Vaalimaa got completed, the main motorway network is complete. The existing motorways may be extended slightly but the main bias will be removing bottlenecks by upgrading current 1+1 roads to 2+1 or 2+2 ones.


----------



## Uppsala

MattiG said:


> In addition to that, the westernmost 1.3 kilometers of the Helsinki Ring 1 was designated to a motorway. The massive upgrade project is still in progress, but the thru lanes got opened in July.
> 
> I believe that after the radial motorways from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi, Turku, Tampere, Heinola and Vaalimaa got completed, the main motorway network is complete. The existing motorways may be extended slightly but the main bias will be removing bottlenecks by upgrading current 1+1 roads to 2+1 or 2+2 ones.




So they have no plans to build further so it goes to Jyväskylä?

The most important should be from Turku via Helsinki to Vaalimaa and RUS-border. This has important international traffic. Now it is only up to the Russians to build from FIN-border to Saint Petersburg.


----------



## MattiG

Uppsala said:


> So they have no plans to build further so it goes to Jyväskylä?


The works are ongoing to extend the motorway from Jyväskylä up to Vehniä and planning for closing the final gap between Vehniä and Äänekoski are ongoing. The road plan for the Vaajakoski bypass is being prepared, too. 



> The most important should be from Turku via Helsinki to Vaalimaa and RUS-border. This has important international traffic. Now it is only up to the Russians to build from FIN-border to Saint Petersburg.


That project is complete. The Helsinki Ring 3 is not designated as a motorway, but with an exception of a few kilometers, it technically is motorway class.


----------



## tbo_147

MattiG said:


> To clarify things:
> 
> There is one project: upgrading the Turku bypass Kausela-Kirismäki, i.e. between the roads 10 and 1. It currently is lousy 1+1 road build mainly in 1960s. It was for a long time a candidate for the Turku approach of the road 1/E18. However, the motorway was built elsewhere and this part of the Turku bypass was left to wait for future upgrades. The current routing brings excessive amounts of heavy traffic bound for the port of Turku through the inner city. That is why the ring road is to be made more attractive.
> 
> In the Finnish bureaucracy, the "General Plan" responds mainly to the question "why" and "where", and it is preliminary response to the question "what". The "Road Plan" is the final document to respond to the question "what". Neither of those do give a response to "when" and "how". There is only one Road Plan for the entire project.
> 
> The response to "when" comes from the national parliament. It was in 2016 when the project was granted about one third of the needed money. It had to be split into two phases (with a heavy criticism). The Road Plan was approved in August 2018, and the works begun in 2019 after the selection of the contractor was complete. Typically, the contractor takes the responsibility for the detailed planning, thus responding to the "how" question.
> 
> There was a parliament election in April 2019, and the new cabinet quite surprisingly granted money enough to complete project in September 2019. The phase 1 and 2 will be separate contracts, but they will overlap. For example, the Road Plan of the Kirismäki Junction of roads 1 and 40 will be made better than it was possible earlier.
> 
> Even if there is not yet a contractor for the phase 2, preliminary works are ongoing in the entire 10 km project area.
> 
> What comes to timing when a road classification change comes into effect, there is no exact date for that. From the admin point of view, the important moment is when someone updates the national road register accordingly. After that, the change will propagate to the Digiroad information system, then to the annually published road number maps, navigators, etc. The deployment to the road signs may take time, or it may happen overnight. Or something else. (For example, when a chain of regional roads were upgraded to the road 58, the gradual deployment took about three years because of a bad condition of some sections.)
> 
> What comes to the https://tiet.mattigronroos.fi website, it is said in an explicit way that it would be impossible and unreasonable to guarantee the information to be always up-to-date and fully correct. However, the road blog raised the issue already in the early October: https://teilla.blogspot.com/2019/10/downgrade.html
> 
> The number 2271 is visible at least when approaching the Kirismäki junction from NW.


It was absolute madness not to expand kt 40 between vt 10-1 to 2+2 road when the motorway section of vt 1 was built in 90's. Now it's much more expensive to to upgrade the current interchange of vt 1 & kt 40 than it would've been to build it properly at first place. Unfortunately that's not the only example of poor planning. Similar example is vt 1 & Kehä III interchange in Espoo. The bypass of Espoo centre in Kehä III was first only 1+1 but only few years later it was upgraded to 2+2 road and the interchange of vt 1 & Kehä III had to be build twice because of that stupidity. Imagine how much money would've been saved if Kehä III had been build to 2+2 road at the first place and the interchange like it is nowadays. :bash::bash::bash::bash:


----------



## weatherc

MattiG said:


> The current routing brings excessive amounts of heavy traffic bound for the port of Turku through the inner city. That is why the ring road is to be made more attractive.


Not anymore. The traffic to the port of Turku have been routed from Kirismäki via 40 via Raisio and 8/E8 for at least a year now. There are a heavy-traffic ban in Turku city nowdays.


----------



## Corvinus

Åland: my photos of road no. 1 "Hammarlandsvägen", from somewhere around Öra peninsula to the outskirts of Mariehamn. Summer 2019.


1.











2.











3. 











4. 











5. This must be the bridge from Öra peninsula, part of Eckerö in the west, to Åland's main island











6.











7. 











8.











9.











10.











11.











12. Approaching Mariehamn, the provincial capital











13.


----------



## MattiG

weatherc said:


> Not anymore. The traffic to the port of Turku have been routed from Kirismäki via 40 via Raisio and 8/E8 for at least a year now. There are a heavy-traffic ban in Turku city nowdays.


The case is not that simple.

The E18 signs have routed the traffic to the ring road since 2014. But the signs are green and white paint only, and they alone do not make the ring road a more attractive choice.

The local politicians in Turku are somewhat funny. First they built a new road to carry the traffic to the port from the newly-built motorway 1, and 15 years later they put driving bans on that.

The ban is not for all heavy traffic but it bans vehicles longer than 15 meters. Introducing bans without making attractive choices seldom is the winning strategy.

The intensity to make rerouting at the area is exhausting. In 2014, the E63 was set to a primary route to the port, and the route was made through residential areas. In 2016, the roads were again rerouted, this time over Raisio on the then 8/E8 route. Something is still missing: At least TomTom and Google Maps are not aware on those changes. The authoritative source, the National Road Register seems to be confused, too.

The changes are not very attractive either: The 2014 route is about five kilometers longer than the short route. The 2016 route again adds kilometers, making a 10-km detour.









_The E18 versions to the Port of Turku. The branch to the Port of Naantali not shown._


----------



## OulaL

There was a short period of time near the new millennium when the current dual carriage road towards Helsinki had its endpoint in Kupittaa (the junction with road 10); from there the traffic followed the river to the harbour. However, as the harbour is on the other side of the river, there was a chicane-like turn (90 degrees from one riverside street to the bridge and another 90 degrees to the opposite riverside street).


----------



## weatherc

MattiG said:


> The case is not that simple.
> 
> Something is still missing: At least TomTom and Google Maps are not aware on those changes.


I agree on thats its not that simple (been living in Turku/near Turku for 35 years). 

Google is just so last season...For example, the new part of 52 around Salo, its STILL routed by color trought Salo city (the number 52 have finally been moved to the new road). But, its not just Google's fault. The road-admin "forgot" to add the references towards 1/E18 on the signs when arrive to Salo from the Raasepori-direction, they appears on the signs inside city of Salo...


----------



## Дмитрий Кудряшо

Uppsala said:


> ... Now it is only up to the Russians to build from FIN-border to Saint Petersburg.


Build, but not fast.
Exactly a year ago, on December 6, 2018, the reconstruction of the 47 km section was completed. - 65km. (from the border of St. Petersburg to the village of Ogony):








Оrigin.


----------



## MattiG

weatherc said:


> I agree on thats its not that simple (been living in Turku/near Turku for 35 years).
> 
> Google is just so last season...For example, the new part of 52 around Salo, its STILL routed by color trought Salo city (the number 52 have finally been moved to the new road). But, its not just Google's fault. The road-admin "forgot" to add the references towards 1/E18 on the signs when arrive to Salo from the Raasepori-direction, they appears on the signs inside city of Salo...


I do not know where the Google Maps gets it information. Anyway, the authoritative source in Finland is the Digiroad database, and its information is fully correct in this case. 

I have a dashcam footage on the 52 Salo east bypass dating back to June 2017, in he direction south-north. The signage seems to be correct. At the branch of the old and new roads, the new direction displays the destinations Turku and Helsinki. The signage to the 1/E18 begin at the point where the 52 and 110 meet, east of the city. Quite a standard way to sign.

Thus, the reason for Google Maps lagging behind is elsewhere.


----------



## MattiG

Finland is planning to isolate the Uusimaa region containing the Helsinki metropolitan area. The isolation is planned to be effective as of today, after getting the approval by the parliament. The area extends about 250 kilometers in the east-west direction and 60 km in the north-south direction. The population is about 1.6 million, slightly less than one third of the national population.










The action is done in order to protect other regions from the Covid-19 spreading. There has a been a lot of discussion on whether such an operation would be effective and reasonable. The police had said they will set up 30..40 checkpoints. There are about 200 driveable roads across the border plus numerous forest paths plus numerous small lakes. All good transport will be free to cross the border, and those persons having a good reason to do so. The residents of the region will be allowed to return to their homes. Nobody knows how strict the rules will really be. Initially they will be strict, according to the authorities.


----------



## Ingenioren

Is there only contagion within the capital region?


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## MattiG

Ingenioren said:


> Is there only contagion within the capital region?


No. About two thirds of the known cases are in the Uusimaa region, which got isolated last night. No information about the distribution between the capital area and the rest of the province. 

The arrangements at the Helsinki international airport seem to have failed this far. The incoming travellers have been out of control and guidance. This might be one of the reasons behind the peak.


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## ChrisZwolle

No news about Finnish roads for almost half a year?


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## tbo_147

ChrisZwolle said:


> No news about Finnish roads for almost half a year?


No because there hasn't been any major road construction project finished for half a year, all the major construction projects are still in progress


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## MattiG

tbo_147 said:


> No because there hasn't been any major road construction project finished for half a year, all the major construction projects are still in progress


True. The Lahti south bypass is approaching its completion by the end of 2020. There is a video available:





 

BTW, the video was shot in the late January. No snow at all in the southern Finland.


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## MattiG

*Planning for road to Norway*

The watershed-crossing footpath from Hetta of Enontekiö in Finland to Bossekop of Alta in Norway via Kautokeino was a traditional trade route known for centuries back, about 200 kilometers. The road on the Finnish side was build between 1961 and 1963. Its length is 37 kilometers. The border station in Kivilompolo is about at the midway of Hetta and Kautokeino. 

The road lies mainly in unpopulated areas. The road alignment was under planning in 1956, and the people had to walk and use a bicycle to reach the border. They lived in tents and they improvised an outdoor kitchen. 









_Surveyors planning for an international road_

Initially, the road became a regional road 958 until 1996 when it was upgraded to 93. Since 2017 it has been a part of the E45 road.


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## ChrisZwolle

Apparently a new road sign catalogue will be introduced on 1 June 2020.









Kaikki merkit






vayla.fi





A comparison:











F14: Erkanemisviitta by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> Apparently a new road sign catalogue will be introduced on 1 June 2020.


The new Road Traffic Act will be in effect as of June 1st. It does not have dramatic changes, because Finland is a member to the Vienna Conventions, and the legislation is meant to be compatible. The current legislation is pretty fragmented, and the new one is a result of a massive consolidation. Thus evolution, not revolution. As the status of new legislation is a law, any changes to the traffic signs, for instance, will be subject to an approval of the parliament. I am not fully confident that this is a wise direction.

There will be some change, such as:

Many pictograms of traffic signs will be simplified.
Arrowheads will get a new shape.
A number of new signs are introduced (e.g. minimum speed, yield to bicycles, name of a river or another water, ring road, town center, lane guidance in direction signs, etc)
Yellow middle "no bypassing" line replaced by a white one.
Prohibition to bicycles does not any more apply to mopeds, mopeds will have an own pictogram
Yellow background for end-of-something signs replaces the current white one.
New warning for deer signs (in addition to the current moose and reindeer warning)
New sign for a mandatory zipper merge
Parking allowed on the left hand side of the street.
Possible to allow two-way bicycle traffic on a one-way street
New speed limits for vans and light trailers
Confirmed some de facto rules, like mandatory blinking on exiting roundabout
Some motorway rules (no U-turn, no backing) apply implicitely to expressways, too
Most violations to rules are not any more crimes but they are subject an administrative penalty ("traffic mistake fee"). Expected to streamline the procedures for trivial cases.
Mandatory winter tires November-March (now December-February). No explicit dates for studded tires like now (confirms the de facto rule)
Obligation to predict the behaviour of others in traffic. Nobody know what this actually means.
The change is not as dramatic as in 1982 when the current law came into effect. Then, quite old-fashioned rules were changed to be aligned with those agreed by the Vienna Conventions.

There will be a last-minute update package to retrofit those changes which were introduced after the Act itself was approved in 2018, like the new dimensions and constraints for the HCT (High Capacity Transport) vehicles (those monsters of max 34.5 meters in length).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

An interchange is being constructed at Laajalahti as part of Ring 1 (Kehä I).

Project site: Kehä I Laajalahti

Location: OpenStreetMap

Construction started in October 2019 and is scheduled for completion in late 2021. I believe this means that the controlled-access segment of Ring 1 will be extended some 2.5 km south until the Kalevalantie intersection.

@MichiH this might be interesting for your list.


140520 Uuden Kehä I linjauksen pohjanrakennus by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


140520 Kehä I louhinta, Kurkijoentien risteyssilta ja Raide-Jokerin Räisälänsilta by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> An interchange is being constructed at Laajalahti as part of Ring 1 (Kehä I).


It is not about building an interchange only.

There are three main sub-projects:

Building the Ring 1/Turvesuontie interchange (Laajalahti South)
Building the west-east new tramline of 25 kilometers
Removing the Ring 1/Kurkijoentie intersection and replace it by a bridge (with no access to the Ring 1)
The tram line crosses the Ring 1 at Laajalahti. Its construction has now a pretty widespread impact in many areas in the region. The traffic is planned to begin in June 2024.

The interchange is being built to remove a bottleneck of the Ring 1.

There is nowadays a level intersection at Laajalahti North on top a quite steep hill (ascent about 4%). The traffic lights make an year-around bottleneck. During the winter time, the uphill is difficult to trucks, especially if they need to stop at the lights. The Finnish truckers seem to survive quite easily, but the Polish ones are in a big trouble after getting two grams of snow. The coming bridge lies on the existing level, and the elevation of the Ring 1 will be decreased by several meters. The ascent after the works are complete will be about 2.5% only.










The red line shows the route of the tram line. The diamond-type interchange will be at the place marked by a ring. The Ring 1 is pushed about 30-40 meters to the east at the interchange. The removed traffic light intersection is at the cross.

The area is somewhat challenging: Everything happens at one of the busiest road in Finland. The working space is narrow, because there are homes on the other side of the road, and the coastal area at the east side is protected almost up to the road. In addition, there is an underground 110 kV power grid cable parallel to the road at the seaside.


----------



## tbo_147

Will be interesting to see how long it takes before Kehä I is completely free from traffic lights.


----------



## jpv

My first message, I registered in 2013 though, but hey guys - what is the requirement (vehicles/day) for a 1+1 road to be upgraded to a 2+2 highway or to a motorway? I mean, in Tampere area, some of the main routes out of the city have over 20 000 vehicles on a 1+1 road(!). It is quite a lot for that kind of road. Then there are long stretches of continuous over 10 000 vehicles per day with 1+1 of not so great quality roads to all the way up to Hämeenkyrö in the upper Western direction and Orivesi in the upper Eastern direction. Kangasala direction down to Yli-Marttila has over 14 000 vehicles per day with a widened 1+1 road. Etc etc. in Tampere area - normal day!

The Tampere area has a population of around 400 000, and has around total 43 km of motorways. Well, looking at other cities, for example; Kuopio area, which has a population of just 120 000, the area has 50 km of motorways. Don't really know what's happened, but this is far from fair. Maybe it's that it has always been in the government that Helsinki and Turku representatives disliked the progress of Tampere area, and the more "country side" Finland didn't also want to deliver any funds to the "South" (which they seem to include Tampere) as well. This is some f*ed up politics that leads and has lead to many transportation deaths in the Tampere area, which is the second largest area in Finland by population (Tampereen kaupunkiseutu).


----------



## tbo_147

jpv said:


> My first message, I registered in 2013 though, but hey guys - what is the requirement (vehicles/day) for a 1+1 road to be upgraded to a 2+2 highway or to a motorway? I mean, in Tampere area, some of the main routes out of the city have over 20 000 vehicles on a 1+1 road(!). It is quite a lot for that kind of road. Then there are long stretches of continuous over 10 000 vehicles per day with 1+1 of not so great quality roads to all the way up to Hämeenkyrö in the upper Western direction and Orivesi in the upper Eastern direction. Kangasala direction down to Yli-Marttila has over 14 000 vehicles per day with a widened 1+1 road. Etc etc. in Tampere area - normal day!
> 
> The Tampere area has a population of around 400 000, and has around total 43 km of motorways. Well, looking at other cities, for example; Kuopio area, which has a population of just 120 000, the area has 50 km of motorways. Don't really know what's happened, but this is far from fair. Maybe it's that it has always been in the government that Helsinki and Turku representatives disliked the progress of Tampere area, and the more "country side" Finland didn't also want to deliver any funds to the "South" (which they seem to include Tampere) as well. This is some f*ed up politics that leads and has lead to many transportation deaths in the Tampere area, which is the second largest area in Finland by population (Tampereen kaupunkiseutu).
> 
> View attachment 140481


Any road with 10 000+ AADT should be always 2+2 road


----------



## MattiG

tbo_147 said:


> Will be interesting to see how long it takes before Kehä I is completely free from traffic lights.


It is all about local politics, thus 120% unpredictable.

There are 2.5 traffic light intersections remaining between the endpoints: Tapiola/Otaniemi North in Espoo, as well as Kontula and Myllypuro in Helsinki. The Kontula intersection is counted 0.5, because it is free-flow in the eastbound direction. The plans are ready in Espoo, but they are waiting for the decisions of the City ff Espoo to agree on the local town plan. The Myllypuro and Kontula intersections are not major bottlenecks, as the AADT is lower at the end parts of the ring (48,000 vs 102,000).

The east end in Helsinki is the problematic spot. There is no (more) too much space to make a decent interchance. The bigger obstacle, however, is the greenish-biased politics in Helsinki. Every meter of tunnel or ramp is seen as evil.


----------



## PovilD

It looks like "0 1" but with horizontally aligned zero 

I guess this the first country that will use specific symbol for bypass?

It could make sense not to double same route if 101 runs completely as Helsinki Bypass, but I wonder how it will be depicted on mapping services like OSM or Google Maps.


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> I'm wondering, do they use this sign on the Helsinki ring roads?
> 
> Kehä I being O1 instead of road 101?
> 
> 
> F33: Ring road number by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


The sign has been available since the June 1st 2020, and it has not been deployed widely. The only place I have seen in it is at the crossing of 1130 and the Ring 3 in Kauklahti. The signage of a nearby crossing was renewed last summer.

The new policies of signage is being prepared, and the 101 signs on the Ring 1 will replaced. The same will be applied, I believe, on the 50 (Ring 3). The Ring 3 is signed ad E18, too. Therefore, the signs will be somewhat different from the Ring 1. The eastbound/westbound concept will be ramped down, too, on the Ring3, and it will be based on the city names. This was, BTW, the initial setup on the 1960's.

I do not believe that all the signs would be changed overnight. The new ones will be deployed when the old ones turn into a bed condition.


----------



## PovilD

PovilD said:


> I guess this the first country that will use specific symbol for bypass?


Ok, I remember there was bypass pictogram in Prague Bypass (if I not mix with something else), but I guess it's the first time when distinct symbol will be used for a road number (pictogram instead of letter).


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> I guess this the first country that will use specific symbol for bypass?


It is a standard procedure to mark ring roads with a similar symbol in Denmark. 










It is not "O" nor zero. The Finnish symbol is flattened to avoid such an ambiguity.


----------



## PovilD

MattiG said:


> It is a standard procedure to mark ring roads with a similar symbol in Denmark.
> 
> View attachment 917609
> 
> 
> It is not "O" nor zero. The Finnish symbol is flattened to avoid such an ambiguity.


Ok. I looked at your new standard signs, and I can say it is influenced by good practices from Norway and Denmark with lane marking and some pictograms. The main difference from everyone else is that you have chosen relatively distinct arrow design.

OSM depicts Danish rings as it with letter "O". Personally, I wouldn't thought that is not letter "O".
It would be interesting how it will be applied for Finnish "Kehä" (plural is probably "Kehät"? ) roads.


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> Ok. I looked at your new standard signs, and I can say it is influenced by good practices from Norway and Denmark with lane marking and some pictograms. The main difference from everyone else is that you have chosen relatively distinct arrow design.
> 
> OSM depicts Danish rings as it with letter "O". Personally, I wouldn't thought that is not letter "O".
> It would be interesting how it will be applied for Finnish "Kehä" (plural is probably "Kehät"? ) roads.


The entire signage system has been fine-tuned. The arrows are much bigger that earlier, and the layout of signs is more spacious (wider margins between the text and the border). The cell-based layout of the Type B signs (currently Type F2) is removed. The new style is quite unique.

The westbound Ring 3 will probably be signed as *ᴑ*3/E18 Turku (*ᴑ*3 Hanko at the west end). It has been rumored than the current eastbound control city Kotka would be replaced by St Petersburg, but I have not seen black on white about this. In the old scheme, the E18 was an exception to the basic rule that the national number precedes the E number. In the new one, such an exception has been removed.

On the Ring 1, even the current signage shows the names of nearby suburbs in addition to the "itään/länteen" ("east/west").










This is because the ring is mainly north-south at the west side of Helsinki, and the azimuth of "to the West" is close to being east close to the west end of the road. I do not except major changes to be made. Perhaps names Itäkeskus and Tapiola (the commercial centers close to the end of the roads) will be preferred, but this is speculation only.

It will take some time to the new style signs to be deployed widely. For instance, the Lahti southern bypass opened a few weeks ago, shows the old style signs.


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## Norsko

PovilD said:


> It looks like "0 1" but with horizontally aligned zero
> 
> I guess this the first country that will use specific symbol for bypass?
> 
> It could make sense not to double same route if 101 runs completely as Helsinki Bypass, but I wonder how it will be depicted on mapping services like OSM or Google Maps.


Norway has been using these signs for 20 - 30 years. They are shown as roadnumber implemented on the directional signage or sometimes by itself beneath the yellow priority road sign.


----------



## Norsko

Borrowed this from Wikipedia/ Yosh3000 :


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## Norsko

Shot this in my town just now 🤣 (Sorry for off topic!)


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## Penn's Woods

PovilD said:


> It looks like "0 1" but with horizontally aligned zero
> 
> I guess this the first country that will use specific symbol for bypass?
> 
> It could make sense not to double same route if 101 runs completely as Helsinki Bypass, but I wonder how it will be depicted on mapping services like OSM or Google Maps.


France has these, although I didn’t know until I searched for one just now that they’re starting to appear -with- route numbers like this. I’m familiar with signs that have the symbol with the word “rocade.”


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## MattiG

Another new sign, which has raised some public discussion, consists of circles:










No, it does not lead to a shooting range, but to the city center. It will gradually replace text signs to "KESKUSTA", because those are somewhat difficult for the foreigners to understand.


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## ChrisZwolle

This symbol has seen some reasonably widespread usage in Europe. Various countries use it.

The problem with Finnish for foreign drivers is the lack of similarity to many other languages in Europe. I wouldn't guess that 'keskusta' would mean city center. As opposed to Zentrum, Centrum, Centro, Centre, Sentrum or even центр.


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## PovilD

This symbol is used in Vilnius, Lithuania near the "Centras" sign, but is not used elsewhere. Probably the only place I saw in The Baltics where this symbol is used.
Estonia could get most of advantage from this sign. I found it useless that they indicate "kesklinn" all the time, even when you are outside of urban zone of town. By using the centre symbol, I think signs would look more practical and in a way, more modern-looking. I guess there are chances that Estonia will implement this symbol too since they probably aware what is happening in neighboring countries.
Latvian and Lithuanian use "centrs" and "centras" respectively, probably not much different than general "Centrum", "Zentrum", etc.

As far I know the way this sign will be used in Finland resembles me Italian variant where "Center" text signage is (usually) not used, but only town name+centre symbol.


ChrisZwolle said:


> I wouldn't guess that 'keskusta' would mean city center. As opposed to Zentrum, Centrum, Centro, Centre, Sentrum or even *центр*.


Those who don't know Cyrrilic would have bad time anyway  Those who know at least the alphabet, this would be no problem even without knowing the language  I think is way easier to learn Cyrrilic than any language that uses the alphabet  I knew around half of Cyrrilic since I was a toddler, although I knew only Russian loanwords that we use, most notably "davai" ("good bye" or "c'mon") and "molodets" ("well done")


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## Penn's Woods

ChrisZwolle said:


> This symbol has seen some reasonably widespread usage in Europe. Various countries use it.
> 
> The problem with Finnish for foreign drivers is the lack of similarity to many other languages in Europe. I wouldn't guess that 'keskusta' would mean city center. As opposed to Zentrum, Centrum, Centro, Centre, Sentrum or even центр.


I guessed it meant city center, because I’ve seen something like it elsewhere in Europe (perhaps only in photos), although I can’t put my finger on where, or visualize the exact sign.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Here's an example from Spain:

SC-20 Santiago de Compostela 03 by European Roads, on Flickr


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Netherlands also uses the double center line to reduce head-on collisions. They are only hatched green if the speed limit is 100 km/h (which indicate an expressway).
> 
> 
> N727 Anthony Fokkerweg Lelystad 45 by European Roads, on Flickr





Ingenioren said:


> Had them in Norway for a while too, but they are now gone.


No, they have been replaced many places by rails or road expansion, but fairly widely spaced double lines, 15-60 cm appart depending on the width of the road, are still the norm for new rural national highways < 6000 AADT where passing is not allowed. There should also be a rumble strip of between 55 and 100 cm width, regardless of the road marking.


----------



## Ingenioren

Yeah i meant the ones were passing was allowed


----------



## OulaL

The Danish "O" is a ring but it can also be understood as the letter O for omfartsvej, "bypass road".

Similarily, "O" would also mean ohitustie in Finnish or omfartsväg in Swedish, but traditionally the use of those words is inferior to kehä and ring, and most people probably wouldn't understand the symbol as such. As kehä and ring don't begin with the same letter and nobody wants a language war, it was just made an oval, despite the fact that no ring road in anywhere in Finland actually makes a complete loop.


----------



## MattiG

OulaL said:


> The Danish "O" is a ring but it can also be understood as the letter O for omfartsvej, "bypass road".


The symbol differs from both the letter "O" and the number "0". In addition, it is shown slightly larger than the number font is. Therefore, it is easy to draw a conlusion that is intended to be a symbol instead of a letter or a number.

In a written text, and in contexts where it is difficult to use pictograms, the letter "O" goes well, of course.


----------



## tbo_147

【4K】Driving the New Lahti Southern Bypass Route - YouTube 

Video from the new Lahti bypass, unfortunately only the section between mt 296 - vt 4 not the entire road


----------



## Corvinus

^^ Tunnel is very generous, with a continuing hard shoulder. Good for traffic safety and also for avoiding backups inside tunnel if broken-down vehicle can entirely move out of the two lanes.

Very often there is no running hard shoulder inside motorway tunnels, even in wealthy countries like Switzerland. You don't want a broken down truck in the morning rush hour blocking one of the lanes, but I've already run into that once.


----------



## 54°26′S 3°24′E

On the other hand, there was no curb on either side.


----------



## MattiG

54°26′S 3°24′E said:


> On the other hand, there was no curb on either side.


I believe that there is an about zero number of curb-equipped road tunnels in Finland.

The 930-meter Liipola tunnel is a 2.5-tube one. There is a narrow service and escape tube between the main tubes. The main tubes have escape doors every 150 meters. The shoulders are enough for the casual pedestrian traffic. The tunnels are under automatic surveillance, and rescue people will be there in few minutes if something goes wrong.


----------



## 54°26′S 3°24′E

I see. I agree, if there is actually a third tube for emergencies there is not much need for a curb, also because the tunnel profile is almost rectangular.


----------



## MattiG

54°26′S 3°24′E said:


> I see. I agree, if there is actually a third tube for emergencies there is not much need for a curb, also because the tunnel profile is almost rectangular.


The tunnel safety philosophy in Finland is based on a quick response (in addition to avoiding tunnels). Traditionally, the induction loops and video pattern recognition are used as technologies. Both have their pros and cons, and both are needed. The new tunnels in Lahti have radards in place, too. Radars are not sensitive to the weather conditions like the cameras are. A similar radar-based system was installed in the Rennfast tunnels in Norway.

The targets is that the tunnel or a lane can be closed within 20 seconds after an incident. Of course, a closure does not resque those ones already in the tunnel, but it prevents from more people accumulating. The idea is that the incident recognition systems can detect fire, stopped vehicles, very slowly moving vehicles, vehicles moving to wrong direction, loose objects, and pedestrians.

It has been said that the new tunnels contain technology as much as a paper mill. Whether this is true or not, the system maintenance is costly. Tunnels are closed frequenly for a regular maintenance and resque rehearsals. The lifecycle of the electronic systems is limited.


----------



## MattiG

There is snow even in the south Finland now, and the temperatures are low.

I compiled a short cruising video using the recent footage from the dashcam:






Better to watch on the HD resolution. The compression of Youtube is quite violent for the lower resolutions, especially when there are much details like trees.


----------



## MattiG

*Ice Roads and Winter Ferries*

The 9.4 kilometer long ice road from the mainland to the island of Hailuoto was opened a few days ago. The ice is at least 40 centimeters thick, and it carries vehicles up to 3500 kg. Buses and trucks use the ferry, which runs a reduced traffic.

The typical lifetime of that ice road is six-eight weeks, but the annual variations are big. During the last winter, it was not opened at all. It is the only public ice road on the Finnish seaside. In addition, there are two ones on the lakes.

The rules are:

Speed limit 50 km/h (to avoid excessive vibration and cracks)
Minimum distance beween vehicles 50 meters (to avoid excessive point loads)
No overtaking (both)
There are several one-way lanes some tens of meters apart. The road is under permanent monitoring, and the lanes are swapped if some of them turns in a bad condition.










Most of the other public ferries (about 40) run year-around. The exception is the Räisälä ferry in the north on the road 9452. There is a ice road across the lake with the maximum weight of 17 tons. For heavier vehicles, there is a reasonable alternative route available.

This one runs across the strait of Barösund in the archipelago of the Gulf of Finland, about 65 km west of Helsinki:



















Keeping the ferry route open during harsh winters is a challenge on the northern latitudes. Currently, there is an ongoing test to use an air-water propulsion system to keep the ice away. It is a Finnish invention from 1960's, and it was in use in most icebreakers until more effective power transmissions systems were developed. (Valter Kostilainen, the inventor, was nominated to the professor of shipbuilding in the Helsinki University of Technology in 1968, and he held that position until his retirement in 1991.) Pressured air is blown into water to make bubbles around the ferry. This keeps the ice slabs moving, and reduces the friction between the ice and the hull.


----------



## MattiG

*Snowing, Crashes*

Several severe crashes have occurred today on the main roads of the South Finland. It has been snowing heavily, the roads are extremely slippery, and the visibility is limited.

At 09:30, six vehicles collided in Sairakkala on the road 12: A bus, two military trucks, a truck with a trailer and two passenger cars. The bus was leaving the stop, the military vehicles hit it, and the truck hit one of the militari vehicles. The passenger cars tried to avoid the crash but they hit each other.



















At 11:20, a passenger car joined the road 3/E12 at the exit 7 in Vantaa, and spinned immediately. A truck with a trailer tried to avoid a crash, but drove out of the road. Two other passenger cars were involved, too. The truck driver has severe injuries.










At 13:35, tens of vehicles crashed on the motorway 1 in Espoo. The cause is still unknown. The police reports about several injuries.


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## MattiG

MattiG said:


> At 13:35, tens of vehicles crashed on the motorway 1 in Espoo. The cause is still unknown. The police reports about several injuries.
> 
> View attachment 1186735


The final vehicle count was 88: 49 on eastbound lanes and 39 on westbound ones. 

Initially, there was a small crash only. One other driver slowed down quickly, and was hit by an ambulance. An approaching truck with a trailer tried to not smash the victims, but it hit the middle railing and fell on both carriageways: the front part on the westbound lanes and the rear part on the easbound ones. Then the case began escalating.


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## ChrisZwolle

*Hailuoto Causeway*

An 8.4 kilometer long causeway is planned to the island of Hailuoto in the Gulf of Bothnia, west of the city of Oulu. 









Hailuoto Causeway - Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency







vayla.fi





The cost estimate is € 96 million. It was planned as a PPP but they decided to fund it from the government budget in December 2020. It will replace a ferry that requires € 6 million of operating cost annually.











Hailuoto_havainnekuva_01 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Hailuoto_kuvakaappaus_16 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Hailuoto_kuvakaappaus_11 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Hailuoto_kuvakaappaus_07 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Oulunsalo_lauttaranta_aerial0006 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Oulunsalo_Hailuoto_39 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


Oulunsalo_Hailuoto_33 by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


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## ookke




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## jpv

Two people died again in Tampere area in accidents during Easter. The daily AADTs for these sections where the accidents happened are 21 000 and 15 000, can you believe these are still 1+1 roads?

According to statistics, on average, one person dies every year on this death line. Tampere - Orivesi, especially on the Tampere end.

I have contacted every representative from Pirkanmaa to end this, and our Prime Minister who is from Tampere. The situation is absolutely crazy, for decades there have been on average a person per year, to die on this 30 km stretch, since the road is just too small for major traffic.


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## jpv

*Highway of Hell *in densely populated southern Finland - every blue point represents one serious accident with injuries, while black points represent accidents where people died - just during 2009 - 2018.


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## jpv

Tampere area has been neglected for a very long time, in proportion to its size and growth. The only motorways in the second largest urban area of Finland, an area of 400,000 are the ring road, Nokia motorway and Helsinki motorway. Really needed motorway directions of at least 2+2 highways counting from the ring road are Orivesi (35 km), Hämeenkyrö (30 km) and Kangasala (13 km). I'm not posting these posts for fun - we are getting really desperate here in the area.


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## Ringtail1402

jpv said:


> Tampere area has been neglected for a very long time, in proportion to its size and growth. The only motorways in the second largest urban area of Finland, an area of 400,000 are the ring road, Nokia motorway and Helsinki motorway. Really needed motorway directions of at least 2+2 highways counting from the ring road are Orivesi (35 km), Hämeenkyrö (30 km) and Kangasala (13 km). I'm not posting these posts for fun - we are getting really desperate here in the area.


There is in fact a project for rebuilding the 13 km section of Vt 9, where the fatal crash took place, into a 2+2 road of mostly motorway status (Vt 9 Alasjärvi-Käpykangas). It's not moving very fast but apparently the design phase should be finished this spring. Hopefully the crash will at least speed up the financing. Otherwise a pair of passing lanes is already being built closer to Orivesi (Vt 9 Yliskylä-Oritupa) and another already exists also closer to Orivesi.

But yes, as someone who recently moved to Tampere (after having lived in Vaasa and Espoo) I can confirm Tampere-Orivesi is one of the most overloaded roads in the country. Vt 12 to Kangasala is at least quite a short section, and Vt 3 to Hämeenkyrö is 1) not especially long either 2) has some passing lanes (if poor ones) 3) has Hämeenkyrö bypass already being built and next project (Vt 3 Hanhijärvi-Rokkakoski) in the pipeline, after which only some 10 km of 1+1 road would remain between Ylöjärvi and Hämeenkyrö.


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## Vepe21

Phase 3 of improvements on Kehä/Ring III (Road 50) has begun. This will still leave some not-so-optimal ramps to Kehä III between Road 120 and Highway 3.










In Askisto, they will upgrade the current connections to the Ring III from Askisto and Hämeenkylä and build a road to the north of Kehä III to connect the two. Here's Google Maps link showing the current situation. As you can see, there's currently no connection eastwards from or westwards to Askisto and vice versa for Hämeenkylä. They will also rebuild the two bridges on road 120 crossing Kehä III, which will massively improve the connection there. Currently it's a bit sketchy, IMO. 











Between Highway 3 and 45 they will add third lanes to cover the full distance. This section is very busy, currently 76 000 cars per day and it is estimated to increase up to 89 000 by 2030.


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## MattiG

*Green Bridges*

The Finnish Road Infrastructure Agency has made a follow-up research on how animals are using the wildlife passages over motorways, green bridges. The reseach is based on trail cameras places on seven bridges for 12 months. All the bridges are quite wide, having both a narrow dirt road and a green area, and there is a narrow sand zone for observations. Mooses seem to prefer the green area but deer are using the road part too.

Most animals cross the bridges during the twilight time before the sunrise and after the sunset. The spring and autum are the most popular seasons.

On one of the bridges over the route 7/E18, there were 73 observations about wild boars. That animal is gradually spreading to the southeast Finland from Russia. It is not part of the original fauna of Finland.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Laajalahti Interchange project of Ring 1 in Espoo appears to have been completed recently. This photo was taken on 9 June. I wasn't able to locate a report or press release about the opening. 

This used to be a traffic light intersection.


090621 K1 itään Sakkolan akk by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Laajalahti Interchange project of Ring 1 in Espoo appears to have been completed recently. This photo was taken on 9 June. I wasn't able to locate a report or press release about the opening.
> 
> This used to be a traffic light intersection.
> 
> 
> 090621 K1 itään Sakkolan akk by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


The project is not complete yet. There are some finalizations still to be done, and all bicycle routes are not yet open.

The project is much more than replacing a traffic light intersection with an interchange. Two intersections were removed, a bridge for the coming light rail was built and the elevation of Ring 1 was lowered by up to seven meters. About 1.5 kilometers of the roads was totally rebuilt. The south section of the road was pushed a few meters west to make space for the light rail.

The northbound uphill grade is now about 2.5% (earlier up to 5%), and there are no traffic lights at the bottom on the hill any more. Thus, smaller numbers of stuck Polish truckers expected to be seen in the coming winters.


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## MattiG

Testing videos on the Vimeo platform. Google is changing the terms of Youtube to allow them to use any footage for monetization and to put ads on any videos. In addition, Youtube compresses the footage in a pretty violent way, and it attracts copyright trolls.

That is why our roads will separate. I am right now removing all my professional videos from Youtube by the end of this month. The new dashcam videos will be published on Vimeo. What will happen to the existing videos, is to be seen. It depends on how aggressively Youtube will deploy the new terms.

This is a test on how to display Vimeo-hosted videos at SCC. It is a footage over the entire length of 160 of the road 15 from the inland city of Mikkeli to the coastal city of Kotka. It was shot last November, and weather varied from sunshine to snowing.






The next step is to buy a new dashcam with a decent camera quality. This Lamax thing says to record Full HD footage. In pixels, yes, but not in image information. The image is blurred if it contains too much information, like trees, and the degree of oversharpening is terrible.


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## MattiG

*Car Wash on a Ferry*

It was a sunny but a windy day yesterday. The hot days have been left behind in the north Finland, and the temperature was about +20°C. I was crossing the sea on the Oulunsalo-Hailuoto ferry. The full capacity of the ferry was in use, and my position was at the first row at the bow. The car deck is open, and the headwind waves made big splashes. The water on those seas is almost free of salt. Thus no problem. Instead, I received a free car wash.


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## weatherc

Such ferry-car wash are more intresting when its -5 to -10 C degrees outside 
As result, the car is completely covered by cm-thick ice. Been there, done that in the Turku Archipelago


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## MattiG

weatherc said:


> Such ferry-car wash are more intresting when its -5 to -10 C degrees outside
> As result, the car is completely covered by cm-thick ice. Been there, done that in the Turku Archipelago


True. That ferry is quite big because of the summer season. In the winter time, there seldom is a need to place cars very close to the bow. Therefore, the ice is usually not an issue. Keeping the heater on during the last 10 minutes helps.


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## Cookiefabric

While browsing around Turku in Openstreetmaps, I noticed some roadworks. Does anybody have some pictures/movie clips/information about this project (Road 40) ?


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## MattiG

*Moose*

Reindeers are not the only animals on the roads in Lapland. A moose can be seen, too. This one crossed the 4/E75 close to Mieraslompolo, Utsjoki in Finland. Fortunately, it was daylight and there was a good distance to slow down.


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## PovilD

That is really fortunate: road is straight, animal is well seen from far away. In other circumstances, you have to be really quick to react sometimes. Sometimes you are just unlucky.


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E

Normally moose is moving at dusk or dawn, when they are much harder to spot. They sometimes seem to panic when seeing headlights, making them stay in the road longer than needed, expecially during winter when snow-banks are making it harder to get out. They also often hide behind shrubs or landscape features, before jumping into the road. Hence, clearing the side landscape is an important safety measure for northern roads.



MattiG said:


> *Car Wash on a Ferry*
> 
> It was a sunny but a windy day yesterday. The hot days have been left behind in the north Finland, and the temperature was about +20°C. I was crossing the sea on the Oulunsalo-Hailuoto ferry. The full capacity of the ferry was in use, and my position was at the first row at the bow. The car deck is open, and the headwind waves made big splashes. The water on those seas is almost free of salt. Thus no problem. Instead, I received a free car wash.


LOL, maybe they should consider bow visors for the next ferry generation.


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## ChrisZwolle

Speed cameras on the upgraded Ring 1:


110821 K1 länteen Kurkijoentieltä by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


110821 K1 itään Turvesuontieltä by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


110821 K1 itään Kurkijoentieltä by Väylävirasto, on Flickr


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## MattiG

A new road movie trilogy is online!

It is about the roads 25 and 55, which together make something unofficially called as the Ring five of Helsinki. The west end is in Hanko, which is an important seaport and the southernmost town in Finland. At the east end, there is Porvoo, which is the second oldest town in Finland after Turku, dating back to the 14th century. (Yes, Ulvila is older than Porvoo, but it lost its status as a medieval town for centuries ago.)










Most of the road dates back to the 1960's and 1970's. Earlier, there was not such a connection, before the then road 53 (now) was extended gradually from Lohja to Hyvinkää and then to Mäntsälä. Nobody seems to know why the road class and number change in Mäntsälä. Perhaps it is just about history.

The road runs on the pretty flat coastal area, and no mountain scenes are to be expected. The highest point, 120 meters above the sea level, is located to the southwest of Hyvinkää.

Because of the port, the share of the heavy traffic is rather high, more than 20 per cent on the Hanko Peninsula.


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## MattiG

Cookiefabric said:


> While browsing around Turku in Openstreetmaps, I noticed some roadworks. Does anybody have some pictures/movie clips/information about this project (Road 40) ?


You can find quite a massive official media library at E18 Turun kehätie, Kausela–Kirismäki

The road 40 Turku bypass is being upgraded between Kirismäki (Road 1) and Kausela (Road 10). The work will be done in two phases. The first phase is quite close to be complete, and the second one is in its early steps.

The following photos are snapshots from the dashcam footage as of yesterday. Thus, quite recent:









New traffic sign standard 2020. New and bigger arrows, and less restrictive layout rules. The road 40 has been downgraded to 2271 between the roads 1 and 110 (old 1).









Driving from the road 1 from Helsinki to the 40. Level 3 ramps visible.









The 1/40 junction is a modified dogbone with direct ramps in the directions Helsinki to the bypass and vice versa. No left-merging ramps.


















Construction has started at the the phase 2 section.









Number of diversions in place.









Eastbound bypass lane climbing from the Aura River valley removed









Upgrading the bridges at the 10/40 junction. It is a standard operating procedure to perform such works inside a tent. That makes it possible to work effectively during the winter, too.


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## riiga

Wow, those new arrows on the directional signage are ugly and feel quite out-of-place with the rest of the stuff imho.


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## weatherc

Winter arrived on visit to the north (Tornio-Oulu)


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## Rebasepoiss

MattiG said:


> A new road movie trilogy is online!
> 
> It is about the roads 25 and 55, which together make something unofficially called as the Ring five of Helsinki. The west end is in Hanko, which is an important seaport and the southernmost town in Finland. At the east end, there is Porvoo, which is the second oldest town in Finland after Turku, dating back to the 14th century. (Yes, Ulvila is older than Porvoo, but it lost its status as a medieval town for centuries ago.)
> 
> View attachment 2020577
> 
> 
> Most of the road dates back to the 1960's and 1970's. Earlier, there was not such a connection, before the then road 53 (now) was extended gradually from Lohja to Hyvinkää and then to Mäntsälä. Nobody seems to know why the road class and number change in Mäntsälä. Perhaps it is just about history.
> 
> The road runs on the pretty flat coastal area, and no mountain scenes are to be expected. The highest point, 120 meters above the sea level, is located to the southwest of Hyvinkää.
> 
> Because of the port, the share of the heavy traffic is rather high, more than 20 per cent on the Hanko Peninsula.


Would this full route actually make sense at any time? 

By the way, I'm so used to seeing yellow central divider lines in Finland that it seems odd now that they're white


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## MattiG

Rebasepoiss said:


> Would this full route actually make sense at any time?


There has been some trend to merge shorter routes into a single-numbered longer ones. This sudden change has no visible reason, especially because the lower class road (55) is of higher standard than many sections of the higher one (25). Of course, that is not the default route between those cities.

There are three other such cases (10/53 in Tuulos, 24/56 in Jämsä and 27/87 in Iisalmi), but at those ones, the secondary road is substantially lower technical class than the primary one.

There is history behind the 25/55 case, I believe. Earlier, the 55 run Porvoo-Mäntsälä-Hämeenlinna, but the Mäntsälä-Hämeenlinna section was downgraded in 1971 due to being substandard. Initially, the 51 was the road Helsinki-Hanko, and the 53 branched from it in Virkkala and ending to the 1. The 51 had to been diverted north of the Porkkala area which Finland "rented" to the Soviet Union between 1944-1956. In the mid-1960's, a new 51 was to be built, and the existing numbering on the diversion was removed, again because of substandard quality and because of nearby alternatives. At this step, the entire road from Hanko to the 1 was renamed to 53. Because of there were no reasonable routes from the Central Finland to the port of Hanko, the 53 got extended to the 3 in Hyvinkää in 1968, and finally to the 4 in Mäntsälä 1979. So, there was secondary main roads 53 and 55 vis-à-vis in Mäntsälä for 17 years. In 1996, a major re-classification took place, and the 53 was promoted a primary main road 25. At the same time, it would have been possible to promote the 55, too, but that did not happen. The reasons are unknown to the current staff of the road authorities, too.

This is the map from 1952 showing quite a different network around Helsinki from what it is nowadays:












> By the way, I'm so used to seeing yellow central divider lines in Finland that it seems odd now that they're white


The system was changed in June 2020 when the new Road Traffic Act came into effect. Now, there are mixed coloring visible on many places. The transition period is 36 months. Thus, in 2023 there should not be yellow divider lines visible any more.


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## MattiG

riiga said:


> Wow, those new arrows on the directional signage are ugly and feel quite out-of-place with the rest of the stuff imho.


Yes, they make a clear separation from following the Swedish standards. Still, in my opinion, this is not enough to justify calling them ugly.

There was a quite a long project to renew all traffic sign drawings. One of the key changes is that arrows are now substantially larger than earlier in most traffic signs in order to increase their visibility. In addition, they all (with the exception of motorway exit number) share the same open-headed layout. This makes the set of traffic signs much more uniform than earlier.

All sign drawings and dimensioning rules (about 950 pages for traffic signs) are published at









Liikenteenohjauslaitteiden värit, rakenne ja mitoitus | Traficom


Tieliikennelain mukaiset määräykset liikenteenohjauslaitteiden väreistä, rakenteesta ja mitoituksesta.




www.traficom.fi





The documents are in Finnish only, but they are full of images. The directional signs (category F) are shown in the Appendix 7 ("Liite 7"), the direct URL https://www.traficom.fi/sites/default/files/media/file/Liite_7_Tieliikennelain_merkkiryhmän_F_liikennemerkkien_mitoitus_1 6 2021.pdf


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## Ringtail1402

The new Baltic cruiseferry on the Vaasa-Umeå (Sweden) line, Aurora Botnia, started operation on 28.8.2021. I had an opportunity to travel on it two weeks later. Here seen at the Umeå (more properly, Holmsund) harbor.









Vaasa-Umeå connection passes through the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia, the strait of Kvarken (Merenkurkku in Finnish). The ferry has existed since 1948, but has a rather troubled history. The original company, Vaasanlaivat, got bought out by Silja Line in 1993, but in 1999 tax-free sales within EU were forbidden, and Silja shut down the line in 2000 as unprofitable. (Tax-free sales now exist only on ferries stopping at Åland, which has a special status within EU.) In 2001-2012 the connection was serviced by RG Line, a company of Rabbe Grönblom, a Finnish enterpreneur more famous as the founder of the countrywide Kotipizza fast food chain. RG Line eventually also went bankrupt however. The current incarnation of the ferry has been operated by NLC Ferry/Kvarken Link since 2013, under Wasaline brand; this is a company in joint 50/50 ownership of Vaasa and Umeå municipalities.

Wasaline ferry is apparently operationally profitable and saw passenger and freight numbers steadily growing pre-corona, but the actual ship they had, Wasa Express, was quite old, didn't fit the conditions of this line very well, and was always meant to be a temporary solution. The new ship cost 120 million euro, I'm not exactly sure how this kind of money can be recouped. As far as I understood at least some EU financing was involved. Nonetheless its construction started on Rauma shipyards (also in Finland) in 2019, and the launch was planned for 1.5.2021, but in the end got delayed several times. The name, Aurora Botnia, was chosen in a naming contest. This was the first ever ferry actually built specifically for Vaasa-Umeå line, as opposed to being bought from elsewhere.

The new ferry is 150 m long (bigger than Wasa Express but considerably smaller than Stockholm and Tallinn ferries, which are generally 170-220 m long), takes 800 passengers, has 1500 meters of car decks, and 68 cabins. The crossing only takes 3.5 hours (one hour faster than it used to be on Wasa Express), thus cabins are barely even needed; Wasa Express had way too many cabins for this kind of short line. Aurora Botnia is being marketed as "the most environmentally friendly passenger vessel on earth", no less.









View from Vaasa harbor. New terminal arrangements are apparently still under construction both in Vaasa and Umeå. Note also E12 sign on the stern; the ferry link is part of the European Route E12 (Helsinki -- Mo i Rana, Norway).

Currently the usage degree appears very low. Only one truck and about 20-25 cars and caravans loaded together with me, although there were also quite a few carless passengers and the ferry didn't feel especially deserted. It should be noted that Sweden currently has no corona-related entry restrictions from Finland (or other Nordics), and Finland can be freely entered from EU/EEA with a valid vaccination certificate. Turku-Stockholm ferry on which I travelled two weeks afterwards was really packed. Hopefully Vaasa-Umeå line also recovers.









Perhaps due to the new ferry launch Vaasa now signposts Umeå (Uumaja in Finnish) throughout the center; normally international ferry destinations are never signposted anywhere at all in Finland. Vaasa even goes as far as mentioning E4, the main road of Sweden; this is going a bit overboard, it takes some 15 km of driving to get from the ferry harbor on the Umeå side to E4 itself.


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E

I remember a time when there was also a Sundsvall - Vasa ferry, but looking at the map, it was probably faster to drive to Umeå from Sundsvall than taking that direct ferry.


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## Ringtail1402

54°26′S 3°24′E said:


> I remember a time when there was also a Sundsvall - Vasa ferry, but looking at the map, it was probably faster to drive to Umeå from Sundsvall than taking that direct ferry.


Yes, there used to be quite a few ferry lines on the Gulf of Bothnia, e. g. also Pietarsaari/Jakobstad-Skellefteå, shut down in 1998 also because of the end of tax-free sales. It's still a bit of a wonder to me how Vaasa-Umeå even survives. It is usually considerably more expensive than Turku-Stockholm, and for long distance trips between Finland and Sweden/Norway it usually makes more sense to go either via Turku-Stockholm or by land via Tornio.


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## MattiG

Ringtail1402 said:


> Yes, there used to be quite a few ferry lines on the Gulf of Bothnia, e. g. also Pietarsaari/Jakobstad-Skellefteå, shut down in 1998 also because of the end of tax-free sales. It's still a bit of a wonder to me how Vaasa-Umeå even survives. It is usually considerably more expensive than Turku-Stockholm, and for long distance trips between Finland and Sweden/Norway it usually makes more sense to go either via Turku-Stockholm or by land via Tornio.


The shipping company Kvarken Link is owned by the cities of Vaasa and Umeå. So, taxpayers' money is involved. The company receives national subsidies, too, like other shipping companies.

There are attractions close to Vaasa, and the route is quite popular with families. There are a lot of Swedish travelers in the summertime. Vaasa is the second biggest town in the region, and because of Swedish is widely spoken, the services are easily accessible in both Finnish and Swedish.

This is the map I have shown to justify why the Vaasa-Umeå line cannot be extremely popular as a trade route. Most of the import-export-transit of Finland takes place via the south coast ports. It is even questionable if it is an attractive route to the central Norway: The distance from Trondheim to the ports of Stockholm is 150 kilometers only longer than to the port of Holmsund in Umeå.


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## Ringtail1402

MattiG said:


> This is the map I have shown to justify why the Vaasa-Umeå line cannot be extremely popular as a trade route. Most of the import-export-transit of Finland takes place via the south coast ports. It is even questionable if it is an attractive route to the central Norway: The distance from Trondheim to the ports of Stockholm is 150 kilometers only longer than to the port of Holmsund in Umeå.


True. Moreover, I lived in Vaasa for 1.5 years myself but still never used the ferry all that time because the schedule was just too inconvenient for a weekend/holiday trip to Sweden (for a trip to the mountains farther on by E12 for example).


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## tbo_147

MattiG said:


> Sure. There will never be a zero number of bottlenecks. Still, better to eat an elephant one bite on a time.


Yeah but in this case Jyväskylä-Ääneskoski 2+2 would solve most of problems for traffic heading towards north from Jyväskylä as AADT figures decrease massively after Ääneskoski, up to vt 13 interchange AADT is about 10 000+ but after passing Ääneskoski the AADT is only half of the amount of traffic before vt 13 interchange


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## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> TomTom is a Dutch company. I listen to a business news station from time to time. Their analisys is that TomTom will disappear into irrelevance, almost nobody buys a separate GPS device when they have it on their phone for free (or have an in-car GPS system). TomTom has shifted to data collection, their shares have dropped dramatically since 2007 (losing about 90%), though it remains stable at a low level.


It is not free but payable @18 EUR/year.

Nobody is any more making money from separate navigation devices. Instead, there is a big contest to win footprint at the car navigation business. So far, a built-in navigator is more convenient than a phone-hosted one coupled over Android Auto or Apple Carplay. If the car makers are able to provide with build-in navigators at low cost of ownership, equipped with a reasonable routing engine and user interface, and OTA-delivered regular updates, they might be the winners. Otherwise it will be Google, even if the current offering is second-class. The past track record of the car makers is not very promising.

TomTom is currently selling their products to car manufacturers. Typically, there are three separate components: The map data, the user interface, and the routing engine.

I have been a customer to TomTom more than 15+ year, and I am regularly surprised on the way they run the business. New generations are most often delivered immature, and with less functionality than previous one. The company has been quite arrogant to admit the weaknesses (=incorrect routing) in their products, and I am not very surprised on their problems to survive.


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## MattiG

tbo_147 said:


> Yeah but in this case Jyväskylä-Ääneskoski 2+2 would solve most of problems for traffic heading towards north from Jyväskylä as AADT figures decrease massively after Ääneskoski, up to vt 13 interchange AADT is about 10 000+ but after passing Ääneskoski the AADT is only half of the amount of traffic before vt 13 interchange


Of course, it would. But you cannot expect that almost 50 km of 2+2 road or motorway would be built in one step. It simply does not happen.

Anyway, the stretch opened yesterday carries the most load. The AADT to the south of Tikkakoski is 25% more than north of Vehniä.


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## tbo_147

MattiG said:


> Of course, it would. But you cannot expect that almost 50 km of 2+2 road or motorway would be built in one step. It simply does not happen.
> 
> Anyway, the stretch opened yesterday carries the most load. The AADT to the south of Tikkakoski is 25% more than north of Vehniä.


For me the problem is there hasn't been even made financing decision about Vehniä-Ääneskoski section. If there were a financial decision made about that section that bottleneck wouldn't be there too long. And there's always risk of project not getting financial backing years later and that might mean the bottleneck is there for hell lot of time. When Lusi-Vaajakoski got upgraded with passing lanes etc. in 2007-2011, Hartola-Joutsa section wasn't repaired at all and it's only now completed to the standard of rest of Lusi-Vaajakoski section. So that's why I'd prefer road construction projects to be like entire section between two towns/cities would be completed within single project to not to leave bottlenecks with non-upgraded sections. For example Lappeenranta-Imatra was upgraded into 2+2 within few years (alright there were short 2+2 sections already) so it's not impossible to complete 40-50 km sections within short period of time.


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## Cookiefabric

Already complaining that around 10k AADT it's getting busy on 2x1?
That's here (NL) only a reason to use extra paint (prohibited to take over) and leave the road as it is.


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## MattiG

Cookiefabric said:


> Already complaining that around 10k AADT it's getting busy on 2x1?
> That's here (NL) only a reason to use extra paint (prohibited to take over) and leave the road as it is.


It is not about AADT only. The road section dates back to early 1950's, and it is narrow and its profile is outdated. The pre-Covid-19 AADT was 13000+, and the share of heavy vehicles is about 12%. The road is the main backbone route in the country, and the section in question is pretty accident-prone.

However, the gap between the 2+2 sections is now less than 9 kilometers only, and the gap is the least lousy part of the road. The upgrade is in the pipeline.

BTW, the third worst road accident in the Finnish post-war history happened in 1974 on the road section, which was replaced by the newly opened motorway. A Dutch tourist bus collided with a truck. The accident caused 12 fatalities, all Dutch citizens, and 18 injured.


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## OulaL

(deleted)


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## MattiG

*50+ Shades of Grey*

During the winter time when snow and ice covers everything, the landscape is often almost black and white, with zillions shades of grey. Traffic signs might be the only colored things visible.



















The sunset at the afternoon might make the worls colorful. Today, the temperature dropped quickly from -8 degrees Celsius to -15, causing a pretty thick fog close to the ground.










There are even less colors in the fog, except red.


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## MattiG

*Fireman Killed at Ice Road Rescue*

A machine to maintain the 9 km ice road between Oulunsalo and Hailuoto on the road 816 fell through the ice this morning. The driver of the machine got rescued, but one of the firemen at the accident site lost his life. What exactly happened is still unknown. An official investigation will take place. The ice road is closed until its safety has been secured. 40 cm is the minimum thickness of the ice to open to road, but there may be cracks.

Accidents on the official ice roads are very rare. This ice road and the ferry connection will be replaced by a causeway and two bridges in a few years. The works can begin as soon as the administrative court gives the go signal.


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## MattiG

*Three-Minute Cruise*

The Skåldö ferry in the southern archipelago on the road 1002 is quite silent during the winter time. There are departures every 20 minutes, and the crossing takes three minutes. During the summertime, the situation is very different. The number of vehicles increases tenfold, and there are queues at both ends. In such cases, the ferry sails non-stop. The current ferry load capacity is 90 tons, and it can take about 27 passenger cars. In the near future, the ferry will be replaced by a bigger one, with the capacity of 150 tons.

There are longer-term plans to build a bridge to replace ferries. As the waterway is a highway for pleasure boats, the minimum vertical clearance would be 18 meters.


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## MattiG

*Bridges over Troubled Waters*

There are several hundreds kilometers of commercial inland waterways in the eastern Finland. That transport network has an access to the sea through the Saimaa Canal. The canal was initially built in the 19th century, and its elevation difference is 76 meters.










The Saimax Class vessels have a maximum height of 24.50 meters. Quite many notable road bridges have been built over the waterways.









_Puumala bridge on the road 62_








_Leppävirta bridge on the road 534_

The current political climate is putting a lot of uncertainty to these waterways: When the borders were redrawn after the WWII, half of the Saimaa Canal was left on the Soviet side. In 1960's, the countries agreed on restoring and opening the canal, and the traffic volumes have been growing constantly. The canal was opened last week after the winter. However, it is most likely that most shipping companies will avoid the Russian waters, and the traffic volumes are expected to collapse for this season.

There is a lot of industry-related traffic in the area. The factories are switching their transport to roads and railways. The ports of Helsinki, Kotka, and Hamina at the southern seaside might see an increase in their traffic volumes.


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## MattiG

Traveling in the Swedish-speaking areas in the west coast. There must be some hidden wisdom behind this. The sign translated: "ROAD".


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## MattiG

*Bridges on Route 3*

A big fraction of the 168,000 lakes in Finland belong to five main river and lake systems extending several hundreds of kilometers into the inland. The systems have numerous branches, and the need for high number of bridges is inevitable. The Route 3/E12 from Helsinki at the south coast to Vaasa at the west coast (and E12 to Mo i Rana in Norway) crosses the Kokemäenjoki river and lake system several times in the Tampere region in the SW Finland.











The first generation route from 1938 was a rural road following the medieval path from Hämeenlinna to Tampere via Pälkäne. It crosses the Hauho branch in Laitikkala on a wooden bridge still existing:










The Vanaja branch was crossed on the Mierola bridge. It replaced an old wooden bridge in 1918:











The earlier generations were routed via the center of Tampere. They crossed the Tammerkoski Rapids on the iconic Hämeensilta bridge dating back to 1929. The bridge was renovated a few years ago:










The road between Hämeenlinna and Pälkäne was windy and hilly. The second generation of the Route 3 was build via Valkeakoski. The most problematic area was in Sääksmäki south of Valkeakoski where the lake on the Vanaja branch is about 1600 meters wide. One of the six notable suspension bridges of the 1960's and a causeway were complete in 1963. (The old route was not abandoned: It was rebuilt in 1960's and 1970's and is it currently designated Route 57.) The span width of the bridge is 220 meters:










The first section of the Tampere bypass was built in 1970'. The main branch was crossed in Rajasalmi west of Tampere. During the construction, one of the spans, still floating, got loose in a storm, and travelled seven kilometers untit hit a land. No major damages. The bypass was later upgraded to motorway, and there are three parallel bridges across Rajasalmi:










As the second generation got severely congested less than in two decades, the third generation Route 3 was built to a motorway between Helsinki and Tampere. It crosses the Vanaja branch in Konho north of Toijala:










The Routes 3/E12 and 9/E63 make a multiplex south of Tampere, and they branch right after the Konho bridge. Note the lamps to illuminate the bridge structures.










Like in Rajasalmi, the motorway bridge system is actually two separate bridges. The lamps stand on the west bridge.


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## PovilD

MattiG said:


> Traveling in the Swedish-speaking areas in the west coast. There must be some hidden wisdom behind this. The sign translated: "ROAD".
> 
> View attachment 3397928


What probably divides Western Europe and Eastern Europe (pre-1990s Iron Curtain/USSR borders)

East European would never put more signs than is needed, rather no signs when is needed  (or just mess up the signs entirely)
Western European would put signs indicating for too obvious


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## MattiG

*Rain*

The inland city of Tampere received some water last night.



















(Photos: Aamulehti)


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## MattiG

*Asphalt Attacks Car Timing Belts*

Premature breakdown of car timing belts (not timing chains) has been a problem in the Oulu region for a long time. The reason has been searched for 10+ years. Now the mystery is solved. Ferrochrome slag produced by the Tornio steel factory has been used as stone material for the asphalt in the region. The material makes asphalt more durable. The particles of ferrochrome dust coming off the asphalt surface are small, hard and sharp. They wear gears mechanically 25 times more efficiently than other dust. The timing belt gets overloaded and at some point its teeth come off.

No actions yet. Thinking in progress. Projected price tag to repave the roads in question is about 20 million euro.


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## MattiG

*Road 5 Mikkeli-Juva*

The new section Mikkeli-Juva on the road 5 got completed in July. The road opened to the traffic in late 2021, but the final tarmac layers were laid during the summer 2022. The new road is a 2+2 almost-motorway. The new 37 kilometer road extends the 6 km 2+2 section built earlier, thus making 43 kilometers of continuous 2+2 road. The west half was built in a new alignment. The east half shares the alignment with the old road. The old road was renumbered to 4500.

The old road was one the lousiest stretch on the main road network in Finland. It is because of the history. The route is the most important route between the east Finland and the south coast, and it its known since the medieval era. As the entire road network was unacceptable after the WWII, the road 5 was rebuilt among the most important ones in the 1950s as top priority, based on the standards from the 1930s. That is why it became old-fashioned quite early. It has been upgraded in steps. Currently, Helsinki-Heinola 140 km is motorway, and Heinola-Mikkeli 90 km has numerous 2+1 sections. The road north of Juva is a variable class: old sections, improved ones, and about 50 km of motorway around the city of Kuopio. Beyond Kuopio, the AADT figures gradually decrease, and major upgrades are unlikely in the next few decades.

Google imagery on the old road between Mikkeli and Juva:










Dashcam video: The entire 43 kilometers of 2+2 road in 10 minutes:


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## PovilD

Interesting signage for exits 32-34.
Inside EU, I only know Baltics and Bulgaria using km for localities on 2x2 junction exits.
There are few other countries, but they use them rarely, I think Italy and Belgium.

Junctions with km indicated for localities has sharp turns. Makes me interested why this design was chosen, while rest are regular diamonds. Very minor junctions?
Regular diamonds has ordinary exit signage with no km indicated for localities.


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> Interesting signage for exits 32-34.
> Inside EU, I only know Baltics and Bulgaria using km for localities on 2x2 junction exits.
> There are few other countries, but they use them rarely, I think Italy and Belgium.
> 
> Junctions with km indicated for localities has sharp turns. Makes me interested why this design was chosen, while rest are regular diamonds. Very minor junctions?
> Regular diamonds has ordinary exit signage with no km indicated for localities.


As written, the road is not a motorway but an almost-motorway. Those exits have been built to provide with an access to a highway with a minimal cost. There is pretty much agriculture in the proximity, and it was quite natural to build such exists. The thru traffic is guided to the highway to keep the lateral road for a local traffic only. 

This is the topology of the exit 32. The AADT of the road heading to the west is 60.










Similar structures are in place on the 2+1 road to the south of Mikkeli, and those ones have been found not problematic. Black sign background in this example, meaning a private road.










It is about politics, too. There are parties represented in the cabinet which think that motorways are evil. Thus, it is easier to decide on "improving a road" instead of "building a motorway", even if the bottom line looks pretty the same. This explains the blue signs, poor man's exits, and bus stops without a separate ramp. It is quite easy and cheap to take corrective actions later, if the political climate changes.


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## PovilD

Yes, it's clearly non-motorway.
Narrow median, even hard shoulders looks narrow from footage.
Speed limit 100 km/h

It's very interesting you have such junctions. These are cheap, but non problematic.

We have them on our Soviet motorways. What also interests, signage is also similar with direction arrow at the turn, not at the start of exit lane. AADT with those junctions is around 300. Few has up to 1000. I would add ministry decided no advance signs needed for some reason for junctions with roads up to around 1000 vehicles, except for higher class roads. It's unique system if you ask me, ok, it can be found in some other post-Soviet states like Belarus where minor junctions with sharp turns also has directions only at the turn.


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> Yes, it's clearly non-motorway.
> Narrow median, even hard shoulders looks narrow from footage.
> Speed limit 100 km/h


Nope. Most new motorways have been build using the same profile: 4/E8/E75 south of Oulu, 8/E8 north of Raisio, 5 south of Kuopio, 4/E8/E75 south of Kemi. Such a "narrow motorway" is quite much cheaper to build. Their speed limit is 100 km/h. Anyway, all motorways have the speed limit of at most 100 typically from late October to early April.









_4/E8/E75 South of Oulu_


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## PovilD

MattiG said:


> Nope. Most new motorways have been build using the same profile: 4/E8/E75 south of Oulu, 8/E8 north of Raisio, 5 south of Kuopio, 4/E8/E75 south of Kemi. Such a "narrow motorway" is quite much cheaper to build. Their speed limit is 100 km/h. Anyway, all motorways have the speed limit of at most 100 typically from late October to early April.
> 
> View attachment 3892116
> 
> _4/E8/E75 South of Oulu_


It seem Finland and Sweden both has this new standard. I kinda like it since you use less space, and it's well... cheaper. Finnish at least maintain hard shoulders. Swedish may be too narrow.

We also have our version built near Vilnius (A14 section), but it's closer to real motorway than your cheap motorway standard. Speed is higher 110 km/h.
Only thing that is different. Right ins and outs are built along with bus stops. Overall, standards are not Soviet anymore.

I wonder if these cheaper version of motorway or motorway-like road allow right ins and outs? Are there are any examples excluding rest stops?


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> It seem Finland and Sweden both has this new standard. I kinda like it since you use less space, and it's well... cheaper. Finnish at least maintain hard shoulders. Swedish may be too narrow.
> 
> We also have our version built near Vilnius (A14 section), but it's closer to real motorway than your cheap motorway standard. Speed is higher 110 km/h.
> Only thing that is different. Right ins and outs are built along with bus stops. Overall, standards are not Soviet anymore.
> 
> I wonder if these cheaper version of motorway or motorway-like road allow right ins and outs? Are there are any examples excluding rest stops?


It is not about the space but cost. There is no lack of space in the rural areas. The more north you go the higher is the road construction cost, because the structure must be rigid enough to resist the immense forces of the winter conditions. (The winter is not the issue but the spring is.) The cost of anything below the tarmac is quite directly proportional to the cross section area.

Regardless of the width of motorways, they all follow the motorway standards: proper deceleration and acceleration lanes, maximum curvature, no bus stops on the main carriageway, no left exits, etc. On other roads, anything may exist. However, the RIRO concept is seldom used in rural areas. 

It is good to understand that the road construction targets in sparsely populated areas differ from those ones in the crowded Central Europe. If you travel on a German B road, you might achieve an average speed of 40 km/h because of frequently entering villages and towns. On a standard Finnish 1+1 highway, it is quite normal to achieve 90-95 km/h in the summer time. Thus, the motorways are less about speed but more about capacity and road safety.


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## MattiG

*Kiehimäjoki Bridge*

The Road 22 from Oulu to Kajaani in the northern Finland crosses the Kiehimäjoki bridge in Paltamo. The Kiehimäjoki-Emäjoki river system is a branch of Oulujoki area, which is a substantial source of hydro power in Finland. The Kiehimäjoki-Emäjoki river system has five power plants of total 18 of the entire area.

The bridge dates back to 1968. Earlier, the cars used the shared road-railway bridge. The Langner Beam construction (an arch bridge where the arch is positioned above the deck) was quite popular especially in 1950s and 1960s in Finland. However, quite many of those bridges have been demolished because of too low load capacity and/or insufficient vertical clearance. This bridge was renovated in 2012, and is has no restrictions for standard vehicles. (The vertical clearance is 5.60 metres.)


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## MattiG

*The Yellow Season*

The year in Finland can be divided into several seasons by the dominating colors of the nature: White (Mid-December to Mid-March), grey (Mid-March to April, the nature is recovering), light green (May, the nature wakes up), deep green (June to August), yellow (September to October) and black (November to Mid-December, short days and darkness before the snow falls).

These dashcam videos were shot on October 3rd on the road 22. The day was mostly bright, and the yellow colors are strong. As you can see, the traffic volumes are low in the northern Finland even on the main routes.











The road 22 is a modern version of the ancient trade route following the Oulujoki river. It almost crosses the country close to the area where the country is narrowest, about 200 kilometers. The river brought much welfare to the region in the 17th to the 19th century: Finland exported much tar to the Great Britain and the Netherlands for their large fleets. The tar was made in the endless forests, and transported on the river to the city of Oulu. The peak year was 1864 when 83,000 tar barrels of 125 litres each were exported. Nowadays, the river is not a transport route any more, but it makes a lot of hydropower.


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## Cookiefabric

I'm aware that The Netherlands was a superpower (therefore in need of a hell of lot of stuff) in your given time frame, although I'm not aware having direct trade connections with Finland. 

Might also be possible that Danzig was "the in betwener". Danzig <> NL was a busy common route in the Dutch "Golden Age"


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## MattiG

Cookiefabric said:


> I'm aware that The Netherlands was a superpower (therefore in need of a hell of lot of stuff) in your given time frame, although I'm not aware having direct trade connections with Finland.
> 
> Might also be possible that Danzig was "the in betwener". Danzig <> NL was a busy common route in the Dutch "Golden Age"


Danzig was not very important trade port for Finland. Instead, Stockholm, Lübeck and Hamburg were quite common destinations. The trade was strictly regulated during the era on merchantilism, and rules changed quite often. The countries were repeatedly in a war, thus impacting the trade.

It is known that Dutch fluyt vessels sailed actively on the Baltic Sea from the 16th to 18th century, and they transported goods directly between the Dutch ports and the Swedish, Finnish, Russian and Baltic towns. The Dutch navy was there to protect the vessels. The Treaty of Malmö in 1512 opened the trade route to the Baltic Sea (with an obligation to pay duties to Denmark). However, the Union of Kalmar (Denmark and Sweden) broke apart in 1521, and the times were chaotic. The Treaty of Speyer in 1544 calmed down the situation. After that, more than 1000 Dutch vessels sailed through Öresund to the Baltic Sea annually.

In 2002, a wreck of a Dutch military vessel was found in the Gulf of Finland off the city of Porvoo. It was found that it had been lost in 1715. It is in an amazingly good shape, and the cannons have survived for three centuries:


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## jpv

Just some news from Tampere area, the second largest area in Finland. Hämeenkyrö bypass near Tampere area has been finished, it will be opened in three weeks. A local newspaper Aamulehti has tested it through. The improved highway carrying lots of heavy traffic now has 10 km of 2+2 road, 3 interchanges and 11 bridges. The highway has median barriers and lights. The price tag was 65 million euros. This now leaves only 15,3 km of 1+1 (of which some is 2+1) road to Tampere's suburb Ylöjärvi's 2+2 road. It is 34 km from Tampere to Hämeenkyrö in total.

Soon work will commence on the same road, close by at Rokkakoski-Hanhijärvi. This 2+2 road will further shorten the 1+1 road to Tampere, by 3,5 km. The cost estimate is around 8 million euros. As said, the rest of the road has continuous 1+2 sections, so the western side from Tampere northwards is covered quite well.

What everyone's worried about however, is the eastern side, from Tampere to Orivesi. There has been on average one traffic accident death per year on this stretch, mostly on Tampere end seen on the map below. However this section is now in the top basket of traffic agency, along with three other most important projects in the country. The project includes 14 km of 2+2 road between Alasjärvi and Käpykangas. It will be a 2+2 full motorway between Alasjärvi–Suinula, and 2+2 road with barrier between Suinula - Käpykangas. The cost estimate is 98 million euros.










After this project, we have the road nr. 12, which is already a widened expressway on Tampere end but still a 1+1 road. It will be upgraded to 2+2 road or to a full motorway for somewhat 15 kilometers, as pictured in a below map. The Tampere area has been and is growing 4000 inhabitants per year, and all the outbound roads (except motorway south to Helsinki) are from the early 70's. Quite much to catch up.










For those interested, Tampere area is also together currently planning and building the most modern light-rail system in Europe, of which first section has already been in use since 2021. The tram trains on this 1435 mm gauge system are made in Finland as well to ensure high quality.


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## MattiG

*Vowels*

Nice place names in Finland. Two names, one consonant in total. Yes, it is Ii, not a roman number.


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## Küüäi

MattiG said:


> *Vowels*
> 
> Nice place names in Finland. Two names, one consonant in total. Yes, it is Ii, not a roman number.
> 
> View attachment 4228827


Greetings to Finnish Ii from Estonian Aa!


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## PovilD

Shortest in Lithuania are of three letters. I can think instantly only about Ūta near A17/A10 junction in Panevėžys area


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## valtterip

Should probably mention it here as well that FINALLY Google has released street view photos from 2017 all the way up to 2021. Before you could only see photos from 2009 and 2011, rare cases of 2014 and some pedestrian streets from 2017. This means that you can finally travel and see new projects from the comfort of your home.

Entrance to the Rantaväylä tunnel that goes beneath Tampere inner city, completed in 2016 and is the longest road tunnel in Finland.


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## MattiG

PovilD said:


> Shortest in Lithuania are of three letters. I can think instantly only about Ūta near A17/A10 junction in Panevėžys area


This is compact, too. Extra width has been added to fit the number bar:










Long and short. And many letters I.










In some cases, the length of the Finnish and Swedish name are pretty different:


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## Corvinus

"ö" is not a frequently occurring vowel in Finnish words and names, is it?


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## PovilD

I was watching Today Youtube Lithuanian travel vlog video (name: Pravalturas), and Kemi 78/Ii 8 sign on green background road no. 4 was features on the one of the most recent videos 

(p.s. I almost didn't wrote DK4, since I used to either T4 of Estonia or DK4 of Poland in my instant neighborhood of countries).


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## MattiG

Corvinus said:


> "ö" is not a frequently occurring vowel in Finnish words and names, is it?


It is frequent but least frequent of vowels. A-Ä, O-Ö and U-Y are pairs. There is a linguistic feature called 'vowel harmony' prohibiting AOU appearing in the same word as ÄÖY. E and I are neutral ones and coexist with both groups. Thus HOLLOLA but KÄRKÖLÄ. ('LA' is a common ending in place names.) This rule applies to the components of compound words but not to compound word itself. For example, MÄNTYHARJU (consisting of words 'MÄNTY' and 'HARJU') is a valid name.

The most common vowels are A and I (representing more than 20 per cent of all letters). The front vowels ÄÖY are less common, and the Ö is the least one of them. I believe it is less frequent in place names than in the everyday language.


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## sbondorf

MattiG said:


> *Vowels*
> 
> Nice place names in Finland. Two names, one consonant in total. Yes, it is Ii, not a roman number.
> 
> View attachment 4228827


When you wrote “it is Ii”, at first I misread it and thought “Why, then, don’t they put YLI-LI” on the otherwise all-capitals Finnish sign? Because the Arial font on my screen make small l/L and capital i/I look the same …

Super confusing for a non native Finnish speaker. Not only because names may look like Roman numerals.


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## MattiG

sbondorf said:


> When you wrote “it is Ii”, at first I misread it and thought “Why, then, don’t they put YLE-LI” on the otherwise all-capitals Finnish sign? Because the Arial font on my screen make small l/L and capital i/I look the same …
> 
> Super confusing for a non native Finnish speaker. Not only because names may look like Roman numerals.


Earlier, the entrance signs of Ii on the 4/E75/E8 were written on mixed case to avoid confusion. However, they seem to have been replaced with standard ones.

I believe that there is not space for a big confusion while driving, because the name is appearing gradually in the signs like any other name:










BTW, the municipality of Ii is located at a province border. It looks funny when putting the shortest municipality name and the longest province name in the same sign:










Roman numerals are used to refer the ring roads of Helsinki only. The font is different for clarification:










However, that clarification was not enough for TomTom. For years, their text-to-speech engine insisted to turn to "Kehä Lii" or "Kehä Elaiai" or even something more exotic.

In most countries, there may be points of confusion. For example, visitors to Sweden may find difficult to find those numerous islands at the east side of the cities even if they are well signed:


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## ChrisZwolle

MattiG said:


> However, that clarification was not enough for TomTom. For years, their text-to-speech engine insisted to turn to "Kehä Lii" or "Kehä Elaiai" or even something more exotic.


I wonder if that was a motive for Spain to change their six radial routes from N-I to N-VI, to N-1 to N-6.


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## Tronni

MattiG said:


> In most countries, there may be points of confusion. For example, visitors to Sweden may find difficult to find those numerous islands at the east side of the cities even if they are well signed:
> 
> View attachment 4237687
> 
> 
> View attachment 4237690


Doesn't the ö in this case simply mean east? As in "eastern part of (city)"?


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## riiga

Tronni said:


> Doesn't the ö in this case simply mean east? As in "eastern part of (city)"?


Yes, Ö = Öst(ra), V = Väst(ra), N = Norr(a), S = Syd/Södra, C = Centrum


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## MattiG

Quite an interesting 3-axle passenger car model on the road 11 close to Häijää. Seen by Google Street View.


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## sbondorf

riiga said:


> Yes, Ö = Öst(ra), V = Väst(ra), N = Norr(a), S = Syd/Södra, C = Centrum


But then we have Norway and slightly different spelling. Is this the exit for Sarpsborg Syd or rather Sarpsborg Sentrum?


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## caydenkolsnes

sbondorf said:


> But then we have Norway and slightly different spelling. Is this the exit for Sarpsborg Syd or rather Sarpsborg Sentrum?
> View attachment 4258435


 Syd. Or "Sør" rather.


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## sbondorf

caydenkolsnes said:


> Syd. Or "Sør" rather.


And how would you know? Because “sentrum” would normally be spelled out?


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## caydenkolsnes

sbondorf said:


> And how would you know? Because “sentrum” would normally be spelled out?


Yes.
And also i live 5km from that junction.


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## MattiG

*32 Road Signs*

The Moottori magazine published a road map over Finland in 1939, right after the first numbered network was agreed. It contains an appendix showing all road signs. The list is pretty short compared to what is nowadays available, 32 signs only:


----------

