Finland | Area code 358 | Common abbreviation FIN | Last updated 8-3-2008 |
| Road class | Syntax explanation | Administrative subordination | Sub classes | Zones | System | Remarks |
| European road | E[0-9]<2-3> | Europe | See Europe |
| Main road 1st class (Valtatie) | (Vt)[0-9]<1-2> | national | | | spider-web | 1-28 |
| Main road 2nd class (Kantatie) | (Kt)[0-9]<2> | national | | | some clustering | 40-93 |
| Other numbered road (Maantie) | (Mt)[0-9]<3-4> | national | 3-d (seututie) | Determined by first digit of Maantie numbers and second digit of local road numbers | some clustering | |
| 4-d (yhdystie) |
| Local road (Paikallistie) | (Pt1[0-9]<4>) | national |
| Ring road | Keh�/Ring I<1-3> | Helsinki | | | sequential |
| The �land Islands have their own separate road numbering system, with numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4,
and some 2- and 3-digit numbers. |
General description:
Numbers 1-7 radiate in clockwise order from Helsinki, 8-10 from Turku and 11-12 from Tampere. Originally, roads 13-15 radiated from Viipuri (now Vyborg in Russia).
Zones for 3- to 5-digit numbers generally increase in northbound direction. 4-d numbers are often dervied from 3-d numbers by adding a digit at the end.
For example, 5511, 5512, 5513, 5514, 5516 and 5517 are all near 551.
When a new road with a one digit number x is built, the old road gets number 100+10x. For example, route 3 is replaced by 130. This system is only used in the south.
When a small section of new motorway or motor-traffic road is not yet part of a main route, it temporarily gets a 4-digit number. This is not signposted. An example is 1186, which will become part of route 1/E18.
Exit numbers were introduced in 2002 on Vt 1, 3, 4 and 7.
40, 50 and the former 60 are ring roads/bypasses near Turku, Helsinki and Tampere, respectively. They all have E numbers. Since 60 also had other national numbers along its entire length, it was removed around 2000.
For a route list see Route list.
There are ring roads around Helsinki, with roman numerals. There are only three, of which one is under construction and they all coincide entirely with a road with a national number. Since they are all in the area where Finnish is the main language but there is a large Swedish minority, numbers appear as Keh�/Ring I etc.
Ring numbers increase away from Helsinki. |
| Ring | Same as | Remarks |
| Keh�/Ring I | Mt101 | Dual carriageway, partly with motorway characteristics |
| Keh�/Ring II | Mt102 | Dual/single carriageway with motorway characteristics between Mt110 |
| Keh�/Ring III | Kt50 | Partly E18 |
| Road signs: Indirect references to road numbers appear in a dashed rectangle (as in Iceland and sometimes in Germany), see the first sign below. |
| Road/destination type | Background | Text | Road numbers (not related to road/destination type) |
| Class | Shape | Background | Text |
| Motorways and motor-traffic roads | Green | White | Vt | Rectangle | Red | White |
| Kt | Rectangle | Yellow | Black |
| Other roads | Blue | White | Mt 3-d | Rectangle | White | Black |
| Local destinations | White | Black | Mt 4-d | Rectangle | Blue | White |
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| Language: Not taking into account the far north, where Lap languages are spoken, there are four different kinds of areas: |
| Languages | Signs |
| Finnish is the main language | Finnish only |
| Finnish is the main language but there is a large Swedish speaking minority | Finnish on top, Swedish below |
| Swedish is the main language but there is a large Finnish speaking minority | Swedish on top, Finnish below |
| Swedish is the main language | Swedish only |
| Helsinki is in the second category, see the first picture above. Most of the country is Finnish speaking only, and Swedish areas are all near the coast. |
History:
The road numbering system was created in 1933 and signposted in 1938. (Source: Touko Perko: The History of Roads in Finland, vol II)
The new system of E roads was introduced in June 1992. At the same time, many main roads (Vt/Kt) were also renumbered.
The most important change is the rerouting of Vt4 between Lahti and Jyv�skyl� via Heinola and the former Kt59. The old route to J�ms� was changed to Vt24.
Previously, the highest Vt number was 23.
Numbers 1-7 were originally all signposted all the way from Helsinki. Nowadays only routes 1, 3, 4 and 7 start in Helsinki. 2 is signposted only from the junction where it branches off 1. 5 is indicated on 4 northbound in a dashed rectangle from Lahti onwards (about 40 km before it branches off 4), and 6 is only signposted from Koskenkyl�.
In the 1990's, many 3-d numbers have been downgraded by adding a zero at the end. For example, 874 became 8740. Some roads
have been upgraded (e.g. 9703 became 970 and 909 became 89).
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Sources and links: various maps and atlases, personal experience
Official sites:
- Finnish National Road Administration
- Travel and traffic information
- National Land Survey of Finland
Other links:
- Genimap
- Travel and traffic information
Other pages within this site:
- Road sign colours
- Europe
- Route list
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