Ring III

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Highway 50
Kantatie 50 (Finnish) Stamväg 50 (Swedish)
Ring III Kehä III Ring III
Route information
Part of E18
Length	46 km (29 mi)
Existed	1962–1972–present
Location
Country	Finland
Major cities	Kirkkonummi, Espoo, Vantaa, and Helsinki
Highway system
Highways in Finland

Kehä III ("ring three", National road 50; or

Work on Kehä III started in 1962, on the base of an existing road. The construction was finished in 1972, initially with only one lane per direction. Most parts of the road have since been expanded to at least two lanes per direction, although the westernmost end is still one-lane per direction in places.

The most recent construction work has been extensive renovation on its busiest stretch in Vantaa, where several interchanges have been built or improved, and lanes added. Industrial development along the road has introduced higher volumes of heavy traffic.

The European route E18 is routed through Kehä III, bypassing central Helsinki.

Kehä III is often informally or jokingly considered the outer border of the Helsinki area, because most of the urban development of the capital region is inside the ring. The road itself doesn't follow any legal border and rural and urban landscapes can be found on both sides of it.

The new zone system for fares in the HSL area mostly follows the borders of Kehä III.

History

The beginning was constructed between 1962 and 1965 from Bemböle to Länsisalmi and the continuation to Jorvas was completed in 1968. Originally, each road was two lanes wide. The amount of traffic grew considerably over time and as a result the original intersections with Helsinki's exit roads became dangerous. Therefore, all intersections with the city exits had been rebuilt as merging loops by the beginning of the 1970s. The road has undergone almost continual modification and widening throughout its existence as traffic has increased in the region.

In the mid-1970s, the road between

When the road was originally built, it was simply called the "Ring road", but the planning of the other two major roads caused confusion. Therefore, it was called Kehä III from the 1970s onward.

See also

• Kehä I
• Kehä II
• Vihdintie
• Tuusulanväylä

References

External links

Media related to Kehä III at Wikimedia Commons