Africa
Egypt
Ghana
Morocco
Nigeria
South Africa
Below is a list of ring roads from around the world.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2022) |
In Hong Kong, a circular motorway, Route 9, as known as New Territories Circular Road, circles the New Territories and connects all the towns to the north of New Kowloon.
Most of Turkish metropolitans have beltways with motorway standard.
Australian Coast or nearby – Highway 1, ring road surrounds all of Australia
Athens is encircled by the system of Attiki Odos motorway with three main avenues, forming a Π around the Athens Basin. To the northern side, the main section (number 6) connecting Elefsina shipyards-industrial zone with the Athens International Airport in Spata and counts about 50 km. To the western side, Aigaleo Avenue, encircling Mount Aigaleo and to the eastern side, the Hymettus Ring. As supplementary avenues there are also NATO Avenue, running across the Elefsina Basin next to Mount Aigaleo, Katehaki Avenue, connecting NE (Papagou) and SE (Ilioupoli) suburbs of Athens aligned with Mount Hymettus and finally Varis-Koropiou Avenue, connecting the vicinity of Athens International Airport and the SE coast of Athens, near the suburb of Voula, in the back side of Mount Hymettus. To the south side (coast), Poseidonos Avenue (Or "Paraliaki (Παραλιακή): Greek for "Coastal (Road)") runs from Piraeus (Faliro Interchange) to Voula, aligned with the coast, until it meets Varis-Koropiou and then it continues to the countryside Sounio Avenue, towards Sounio and Lavrio.
The quality of the encircling system varies from motorway of high standards and fully computerised control and service (northern section of Attiki Odos) to more simple two-lanes avenue, like Aigaleo Avenue. Most of the system, maybe except the mountainous parts (Aigaleo, Katehaki and Hymettus Ring), is a high-speed traffic system of roads. Usually the most speedy traffic is noticed on the coastal Poseidonos Avenue, thus making it need increased attention.
All ring roads listed are not arranged from previously existing roads.
Dublin has three generations of partial ring roads. Due to its location on the sea, there is no complete ring road as yet. with the combined South Circular Road and North Circular Road forming the oldest, and inner pair dating from the 19th century.
The M50 motorway forms the middle, most complete and most heavily trafficked (85k-90k cars/day) ring road with an eventual plan to form a complete ring via an undersea tunnel or bridge.
The Outer Ring Road forms the newest partial ring, running along the west of the cities outer suburbs. Eventual plans are to link it to sections of the R121 road which provides a similar service in the north west of the city, with land being reserved for this.
In addition, Dublin City Council has signed two "orbital routes" consisting of existing roads, but following these requires turning at many junctions.
The Hague is circled by four ring roads:
, national road class around Bucharest, currently upgrading to expressway standard;
, currently under construction, estimated completion – end of 2011Moscow, Russia has three beltways:
Moscow Central Ring Road is a planned road which will consist of parts of Moscow Small Ring and Moscow Big Ring. Planned length is about 442 kilometres (275 mi), it will be opened in 2015.
Inside the Moscow city limits there are three ring roads: the central Boulevard Ring, which is generally two lanes each way with narrow tree-lined parks between the carriage ways; the Garden Ring, which has at least four lanes each way and no gardens; and the Third Ring Road, which was constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000s and combined existing roads and new highways. A fourth ring, between the Third Ring and the MKAD, is planned.
Madrid, Spain is served by three beltways:
Also, the half-loop M45 runs between the M40 and the M50 at the east, where the two beltways are more separated; and there are plans to build a fourth full loop, the M60, which would be over 120 kilometres (75 mi) long and encompass the whole metropolitan area of Madrid. This proliferation of orbital motorways is partially due to the traditional high radiality of the Spanish highway network, which routed most cross-country traffic through Madrid.
Other Spanish beltways include:
Kyiv has 3 beltways:
Kharkiv has one of oldest ring roads in Ukraine. It was built in 1960–1970s. The road has been maintained in preparation for UEFA Euro 2012.
Other cities that have ring roads include:
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These ring roads are all unfinished except for I-240/I-40 serving Asheville, I-840/I-85/I-73 serving Greensboro, I-440/I-40 serving Raleigh, I-485 and I-277/I-77 and Charlotte Route 4.
Other Freeway loops
Nonfreeway loops
A ring road is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducing traffic volumes in the urban centre, such as by offering an alternate route around the city for drivers who do not need to stop in the city core. Ring roads can also serve to connect suburbs to each other, allowing efficient travel between them.
A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the same major road.
A dual carriageway (BrE) or a divided highway (AmE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, etc., rather than dual carriageways.
The Capital Beltway is a 64-mile (103 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with US federal government and politics. The highway is signed as Interstate 495 (I-495) for its entire length, and its southern and eastern half runs concurrently with I-95.
The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region of the same name in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States. It crosses the harbor of Hampton Roads at two locations on large four-laned bridge-tunnel facilities: the eastern half carries Interstate 64 and uses the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the western half carries Interstate 664 and uses the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. The beltway has the clockwise direction signed as the Inner Loop, and the counter-clockwise direction signed as the Outer Loop. The entire beltway, including the bridge-tunnels, is owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Interstate 695 (I-695) is a 51.46-mile-long (82.82 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway that is a full beltway extending around Baltimore, Maryland, United States. I-695 is officially designated the McKeldin Beltway but is colloquially referred to as either the Baltimore Beltway or 695. The route is an auxiliary route of I-95, intersecting that route southwest of Baltimore near Arbutus and northeast of the city near White Marsh. It also intersects other major roads radiating from the Baltimore area, including I-97 near Glen Burnie, the Baltimore–Washington Parkway near Linthicum, I-70 near Woodlawn, I-795 near Pikesville, and I-83 in the Timonium area. The 19.37-mile (31.17 km) portion of the Baltimore Beltway between I-95 northeast of Baltimore and I-97 south of Baltimore is officially Maryland Route 695 (MD 695) and is not part of the Interstate Highway System but is signed as I-695. This section of the route includes the Francis Scott Key Bridge that crosses over the Patapsco River. The bridge and its approaches are maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) while the remainder of the Baltimore Beltway is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA).
Interstate 540 (I-540) and North Carolina Highway 540 (NC 540) are part of a partially completed beltway around the city of Raleigh in the US state of North Carolina, forming the Raleigh Outer Loop. When complete, the route will completely encircle the city, meeting its parent route of I-40 in two locations.
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms include throughway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
The Moscow Automobile Ring Road, or MKAD (МКАД), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border of Moscow with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits. It was completed in 1962. The speed limit is 100 km/h.
A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. The term super two is often used by roadgeeks for this type of road, but traffic engineers use that term for a high-quality surface road. Most of these roads are not tolled.
Inner–outer directions are labels that identify the direction of travel on opposing lanes of traffic on certain ring roads or beltways. They can be used to sign individual routes that encircle a city or metropolitan area, where east–west and north–south orientations cannot be applied uniformly. The labels are also used in select double track rail systems that form a loop, indicating the direction of travel of each line.
An unused highway is a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed, but went unused or was later closed. An unused roadway or ramp may often be referred to as an abandoned road, ghost road, highway to nowhere, stub ramp, ghost ramp, ski jump, stub street, stub-out, or simply stub.
The Tangenziale di Mestre, or Autostrada A57, was opened to traffic on 3 September 1972 in northern Italy.
This article describes the highway systems available in selected countries.
Highway revolts have occurred in cities and regions across the United States. In many cities, there remain unused highways, abruptly terminating freeway alignments, and short stretches of freeway in the middle of nowhere, all of which are evidence of larger projects which were never completed. In some instances, freeway revolts have led to the eventual removal or relocation of freeways that had been built.
The Wendell H. Ford Expressway, also known as the Owensboro Bypass, is a major partial beltway that runs around the outer parts of the city of Owensboro, Kentucky. With a length of 13.057 miles (21.013 km), the expressway includes parts of U.S. Route 60 (US 60) and US 231.
The Otoyol is the national network of controlled-access highways in Turkey. The term Otoyol translates to motorway while the literal meaning is auto-route. The Otoyol was first opened in 1973.
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