Highways in Finland

Map of highways in Finland. Class I in red, Class II in yellow.

Highways in Finland, or Main roads, comprise the highest categories of roads in Finland:

• Main roads Class I – Finnish : valtatiet; Swedish : riksvägar – numbered 1–39, between major cities
• Main roads Class II – Finnish : kantatiet; Swedish : stamvägar – numbered 40–99, between regional centers

Network map

Interactive map of highways of Finland

Overview

Highways numbered from 1 to 7 radiate from the capital Helsinki (Highways 2, 5 and 6 diverge from 1, 4 and 7, respectively), while highways 8 to 10 radiate from Turku on the south-western coast of Finland. Highways 11 and 12 originate in Tampere. The rest of the highways start from other major cities.

Sections of highways between major cities have often been upgraded to motorways, for example between Helsinki and Tampere. Since Finland is a large and sparsely populated country, there is no reason to upgrade all highways to motorways.

The motorway network totals 926 kilometres (575 mi). In addition to that, there are 124 kilometres (77 mi) of motortrafficways, which are reserved only for motor traffic. ^[1]

List of current highways

Class I main roads

Map of Finnish motorways

Valtatie 1 near Halikko

Large highway junction in Tampere

• Valtatie 1: Helsinki − Nummela − Salo − Turku

Helsinki − Turku

• Valtatie 2: Palojärvi (Vihti) − Forssa − Huittinen − Pori

Vihti (1 km)

• Valtatie 3: Helsinki − Hämeenlinna − Tampere − Parkano − Jalasjärvi − Vaasa

Vantaa − Tampere - Ylöjärvi

Helsingby (Korsholm) − Vaasa

• Valtatie 4: Helsinki − Lahti − Heinola − Jyväskylä − Oulu − Rovaniemi − Utsjoki

Helsinki − Heinola

Vaajakoski − Jyväskylä − Vehniä (Laukaa)

Liminka − Oulu – Haukipudas

Marostenmäki (Simo) − Kemi − Keminmaa (20,9 km)

• Valtatie 5: Heinola − Mikkeli − Kuopio − Kajaani − Kuusamo − Kemijärvi − Sodankylä

Lusi, Heinola (3 km)

Vehmasmäki − Kuopio

Kuopio − Siilinjärvi

• Valtatie 6: Koskenkylä (Loviisa) − Kouvola − Lappeenranta − Joensuu − Kajaani

Mansikkala − Kaukopää (Imatra)

Reijola − Käpykangas (Joensuu) (10,8 km)

• Valtatie 7: Helsinki − Porvoo − Kotka − Vaalimaa (Virolahti)

Helsinki − Kotka − Vaalimaa ^[2]

• Valtatie 8: Turku − Pori − Vaasa − Nykarleby − Kokkola − Liminka

Turku − Nousiainen

Korsholm − Vaasa (shared with valtatie 3)

• Valtatie 9: Turku − Loimaa − Tampere − Jyväskylä − Kuopio − Joensuu − Tohmajärvi

Turku − Lieto

Viiala − Tampere

Kuopio − Siilinjärvi (part of Valtatie 5)

Ylämylly (Liperi) − Reijola (Joensuu) (21 km)

• Valtatie 10: Turku − Forssa − Hämeenlinna − Tuulos
• Valtatie 11: Nokia − Pori
• Valtatie 12: Rauma − Huittinen − Tampere − Lahti − Kouvola

Tampere − Nokia

• Valtatie 13: Nuijamaa − Lappeenranta − Mikkeli − Jyväskylä − Kyyjärvi − Kokkola
• Valtatie 14: Juva − Savonlinna − Punkaharju − Parikkala
• Valtatie 15: Kotka − Kouvola − Mikkeli
• Valtatie 16: Ylistaro − Lapua − Kyyjärvi
• Valtatie 18: Jyväskylä − Petäjävesi − Ähtäri − Alavus − Seinäjoki − Ylistaro − Laihia − Vaasa
• Valtatie 19: Jalasjärvi − Seinäjoki − Nykarleby
• Valtatie 20: Oulu − Pudasjärvi − Taivalkoski − Kuusamo
• Valtatie 21: Tornio − Pello − Muonio − Kilpisjärvi
• Valtatie 22: Oulu − Utajärvi − Kontiomäki
• Valtatie 23: Pori − Kankaanpää − Jyväskylä − Varkaus − Joensuu
• Valtatie 24: Lahti − Padasjoki − Jämsä
• Valtatie 25: Hanko − Lohja − Hyvinkää − Mäntsälä

Lohjanharju − Lohja (part of Valtatie 1)

• Valtatie 26: Hamina − Luumäki
• Valtatie 27: Kalajoki − Ylivieska − Haapajärvi − Iisalmi
• Valtatie 28: Kokkola − Nivala − Mainua
• Valtatie 29: Tornio − Keminmaa

Tornio − Keminmaa (World's northernmost motorway)

Class II main roads

• Kantatie 40 (Turku Ring Road): Naantali − Piikkiö
• Kantatie 41: Aura − Huittinen
• Kantatie 43: Uusikaupunki − Harjavalta
• Kantatie 44: Kiikka − Kauhajoki
• Kantatie 45: Helsinki − Hyvinkää

Käpylä − Hyrylä

• Kantatie 46: Jokela − Heinola
• Kantatie 50 (Ring III): Jorvas – Salmenkallio
• Kantatie 51: Helsinki – Karis
• Kantatie 52: Tammisaari – Jokioinen
• Kantatie 53: Tuulos – Padasjoki
• Kantatie 54: Hollola – Tammela
• Kantatie 55: Porvoo – Mäntsälä
• Kantatie 56: Jämsä – Mänttä
• Kantatie 57: Hämeenlinna – Pälkäne
• Kantatie 58: Kangasala – Kärsämäki; longest main road in Finland
• Kantatie 62: Mikkeli – Imatra

Vuoksenniska (part of Valtatie 8)

• Kantatie 63: Kauhava – Ylivieska
• Kantatie 65: Tampere – Virrat
• Kantatie 66: Orivesi – Lapua
• Kantatie 67: Kaskinen – Seinäjoki
• Kantatie 68: Virrat – Pietarsaari
• Kantatie 69: Äänekoski (Hirvaskangas) – Suonenjoki
• Kantatie 71: Kerimäki – Kitee
• Kantatie 72: Mikkeli – Pieksämäki – Suonenjoki
• Kantatie 73: Kontiolahti – Lieksa – Nurmes
• Kantatie 74: Joensuu – Ilomantsi
• Kantatie 75: Siilinjärvi – Nurmes – Kuhmo
• Kantatie 76: Sotkamo – Kuhmo
• Kantatie 77: Siilinjärvi – Viitasaari – Kyyjärvi
• Kantatie 78: Paltamo – Pudasjärvi – Rovaniemi
• Kantatie 79: Rovaniemi – Kittila – Muonio
• Kantatie 80: Sodankylä – Kittilä – Kolari
• Kantatie 81: Rovaniemi – Posio – Kuusamo
• Kantatie 82: Vikajärvi – Kemijärvi – Salla
• Kantatie 83: Sinettä – Pello
• Kantatie 86: Eskola – Ylivieska – Liminka
• Kantatie 87: Iisalmi – Nurmes
• Kantatie 88: Raahe – Pulkkila – Iisalmi
• Kantatie 89: Paltamo – Russian border in Vartius
• Kantatie 91: Ivalo – Russian border in Raja-Jooseppi
• Kantatie 92: Karigasniemi – Kaamanen – Norwegian border in Näätämö
• Kantatie 93: Palojoensuu – Hetta – Norwegian border near Kivilompolo
• Kantatie 98: Aavasaksa – Swedish border; shortest main road in Finland

Former highway alignments

The former routes of the following highways differ significantly from the current ones, or have been completely abolished.

Class I roads

• Valtatie 2: Nummi − Somero − Loimaa − Huittinen
• Valtatie 3 ^[a] : Klaukkala − Loppi − Janakkala − Hämeenlinna − Pälkäne − Tampere
• Valtatie 4: Helsinki − Hyvinkää − Lahti − Padasjoki − Jyväskylä − Ivalo − Kaamanen − Karigasniemi
• Valtatie 6: Imatra − Sortavala; abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Valtatie 7: Vaalimaa − Viipuri (now Vyborg); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Valtatie 9: Aura − Huittinen − Tampere − Kangasala − Orivesi
• Valtatie 13: Lappee − Viipuri (now Vyborg); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Valtatie 14: Parikkala − Viipuri (now Vyborg); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Valtatie 15: Viipuri (now Vyborg) − Rajajoki (now Sestra); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Valtatie 17: Kuopio − Joensuu, merged into Valtatie 9 in 2010 ^[3]
• Valtatie 18: Sortavala − Kajaani
• Valtatie 19: Iisalmi − Pulkkila; became Kantatie 88 in 1996

Class II roads

• Kantatie 42: Rauma − Huittinen; became a portion of Valtatie 12 in 1996
• Kantatie 59: Lusi – Kanavuori; became a portion of Valtatie 4 in 1996
• Kantatie 60: Ylöjärvi – Alasjärvi; was main road 45 before 1996, became portions of Valtatie 3 and Valtatie 9 in 2011
• Kantatie 61: Viipuri (now Vyborg) – Lahdenpohja; abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Kantatie 62: Viipuri (now Vyborg) – Metsäpirtti (now Zaporozhskoye); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Kantatie 63: Viipuri (now Vyborg) – Kyyrölä (now Krasnoselskoye) – Kivennava – Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Kantatie 64: Viipuri (now Vyborg) – Kolvisto – Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk); abandoned after WWII when Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
• Kantatie 64: Ylistaro – Seinäjoki – Jalasjärvi; became portions of national highways 3 and 19 in 1996
• Kantatie 70: Joensuu – Varkaus; became a portion of Valtatie 23 at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s
• Kantatie 70: Onkamo – Niirala; formerly a portion of Valtatie 18 (later road 490), became a portion of Valkatie 9 in 2010
• Kantatie 85: Kokkola – Kajaani; redesignated as Valtatie 28 in 1996

Rings

Ring I (Kehä I) in Pukinmäki, a northern district of Helsinki

• Ring I
• Ring II
• Ring III
• Tampere Ring Road
• Turku Ring Road

Highways in Åland

• Åland Highway 1
• Åland Highway 2
• Åland Highway 3
• Åland Highway 4

See also

• Roads in Finland
• Road signs in Finland

Notes

1. The current road section between Klaukkala and Loppi is now known as regional road 132.

References

1. Finnish Road Statistics 2010. Statistics from the Finnish Transport Agency 6/2011 (ISSN-L 1798-811X). Helsinki: Finnish Transport Agency (FTA). 2011. pp. 23, 49. ISBN   978-952-255-699-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
2. "Suomen pisin moottoritie on vihdoin valmis – rakentaminen kesti 62 vuotta".
3. "Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö - Valtatie 9 ulottuu jatkossa läpi Suomen". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2012-05-02.

External links

• Finnish Transport Agency
• Finnish Road Administration Archived 2011-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
• Finnish Road Association ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
• Introduction to Roads in Finland by Matti Grönroos