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North America
editBoston
editCalgary
editCalgary, Alberta opened the northern half of its beltway named Stoney Trail in November of 2009. This expressway connects the Trans-Canada Highway near Calgary's western limits and follows a north easterly path where it crosses just south of the Deerfoot Trail and the Queen Elizabeth II Highway junction. Continuing eastward, Stoney Trail bypasses the Calgary International Airport and turns southward interfacing once again with the Trans-Canada Highway near Calgary's eastern boundary. Stoney Trail terminates at Alberta Highway 1A but plans call for the soon construction of the south-east leg to Alberta Highway 22X. The Province and City have had difficulty planning the south west section of this ring road as it will almost certainly have to pass through territory owned and administered by the Tsuu Tina First Nation.
Charlotte
editCharlotte, North Carolina has two freeway loops, Interstate 277 and Interstate 485, and one city-designated ring route, Charlotte Route 4. The two Interstate loops are signed with Inner/outer directions.
Dallas
editDallas has several loops: Loop 12, the LBJ Freeway, the George Bush Turnpike, and Belt Line Road
Edmonton
editAnthony Henday Drive circles Edmonton, with completion planned by 2015. This will be the first of Edmonton's three proposed ring roads. An inner ring road will consist of Yellowhead Trail, Whitemud Drive and Wayne Gretzky Drive. A third, outer outer ring road is under planning with construction planned in approximately 30 years.
Guadalajara
editGuadalajara has an incomplete beltway, known as Periférico Manuel Gómez Morín, which began as a single-lane bypass road that was later widened to three lanes. It starts at the exit highway to Zapotlanejo, circles the city on the northeast, north, east and south, then ends southeast at the highway that reaches out to Chapala. Urban sprawl in the gap has made it infeasible to close the ring.
Hampton Roads
edit- The Hampton Roads Beltway runs through the seven largest cities of Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia. The Beltway carries Interstate 64 for much of its distance as well as Interstate 664 on its western side. The southern portion of the Beltway, carrying the eastern terminus of I-64, is signed in a rather confusing manner: I-64 West actually runs east (and vice versa) because this stretch of road is a fishhook.
The Beltway is also notable for featuring two bridge-tunnel structures: the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, connecting Norfolk and Hampton; and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, connecting Suffolk and Newport News. Together with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (situated farther east and not part of the Beltway), Hampton Roads is home to the only three bridge-tunnel structures in the United States.
Houston
editHouston has three loops and a proposed fourth and fifth: the small loop around downtown, the inner Interstate 610, intermediate Beltway 8, the outer Grand Parkway with currently only one section completed. Further construction is temporarily halted because of controversies of the SH99 passing through some neighborhoods and groups protesting the extensive environmental and quality of life damage to the region. There are also plans for a Prairie Parkway even further out.
Indianapolis
editIndianapolis has one loop, Interstate 465. This beltway is nearly rectangular in shape. Many of the area's most prominent routes are signed along the beltway instead of going through the city.
Memphis
editMemphis has one completed freeway loop, I-240, and one under construction, I-269. In addition, Memphis has a parkway system forming an inner beltway around the downtown area – the South Parkway, East Parkway, and North Parkway – which was built in the early 20th century.
Mexico City
editMexico City has the Anillo Periférico, a complete freeway loop with a double-decker road in some sections, the latter of which gained major media attention when Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador began the project, which was completed in 2006. A second freeway loop, a toll road known as Libramiento Arco Norte forms a new loop around the city, parts of which are still under construction.
Minneapolis/Saint Paul
editMinneapolis and Saint Paul have one beltway signed as two different interstates bisected by Interstate 94, the northern portion being Interstate 694 and the southern half Interstate 494.
Phoenix
editPhoenix has four freeway loops: Loop 101, Loop 202, and Loop 303 around the suburbs, along with Interstate 10 and Interstate 17 forming an inner loop around Downtown Phoenix.
Pittsburgh
editPittsburgh, Pennsylvania has a series of color-coded ring roads known as the Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System.
Raleigh
editRaleigh, North Carolina has one completed beltway, known as the Capital Beltline or Interstate 440, which pioneered the Inner/outer directional system. The system, however, is being phased out to prevent confusion with the city's second beltway, known as the "Outer Loop" or Interstate 540, which is under construction.
Washington, D.C.
editWashington D.C.'s beltway (Interstate 495) is called the Capital Beltway and is the source of the phrase "inside the Beltway".
Winnipeg
editWinnipeg's Perimeter Highway (PTH 100 and 101) was Canada's first major beltway around a major city. It was built in the late 1960's early 70's due to the cancellation of freeways to be built in the city. It is known as the By-Pass or simply The Perimeter to the locals. The southern portion forms part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Europe
editAmsterdam
edit![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Amsterdam_outline_S-roads_-_S100.svg/150px-Amsterdam_outline_S-roads_-_S100.svg.png)
Amsterdam has the A10 which circles Amsterdam through its outer boroughs. It connects to the A1, A2, A4 and A8 motorways. The local S100 serves as the ring around central Amsterdam, and the southernmost section of the A9 connects the southern suburbs such as Osdorp, Amstelveen and Amsterdam Zuidoost.
Antwerp
editAthens
editBerlin
editBerlin is surrounded by Bundesautobahn 10 as its outer ring which mostly runs in the state of Brandenburg. It is approximately 196 kilometres (122 mi) in length which makes it the longest beltway in Europe. An inner ring was planned, but only half was completed (Bundesautobahn 100).
Brussels
editDublin
editThe Hague
editThe Hague is circled by four ring roads:
- The "Ring" is the main beltway, roughly 34 km long; It is also called the "International ring".
- Around the city centre, there is the "CentrumRING", roughly 11 km long.
- The historical downtown is circled by the P-route, a ring road that passes all the main parking spaces in The Hague-downtown. It is roughly 5 km long.
- The whole agglomeration of the Hague is partly circled by "Randweg Haaglanden". It is made up of the motorways A20, A12 & N11 & is 65 km long.
Helsinki
editHelsinki has three ring roads, though because of the city's coastal location, all are partial rings. The innermost road is Ring I (Finnish Kehä I), numbered as Regional Highway 101. The intermediate road is Ring II (partly completed, other portions under study). The outermost road is Ring III, numbered as Highway 50 (and, for most of its length, also designated and signed as European route E18).
Lisbon
editLisbon has the Circular Regional Interior de Lisboa and the Circular Regional Exterior de Lisboa. Neither forms a complete loop.
London
editLondon has the London Inner Ring Road (which circles Central London), the North and South Circulars, at a greater distance from the centre (roughly at the Zone 3/4 boundary), and the larger M25 orbital motorway (which encircles Greater London).
Madrid
edit![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Madrid_beltways.svg/150px-Madrid_beltways.svg.png)
Madrid, Spain is served by three beltways:
- M-30, which at a mean distance of 5.17 kilometres (3.21 mi) to the Puerta del Sol has been overtaken by the city in most of its 32.5 kilometres (20.2 mi) length.
- M-40, which borders Madrid at a mean distance of 10.07 kilometres (6.26 mi), with connections to the southern metropolitan towns and projects westwards to reach Pozuelo de Alarcón for a total length of 63.5 kilometres (39.5 mi).
- M-50, which was planned as a full ring but is not "closed" as of 2008, though projects by the Autonomous Community of Madrid to connect both ends through a tunnel are being aired. It is 85 kilometres (53 mi) long and services mainly the metropolitan area at a mean distance of 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi).
Also, the half-loop M-45 runs between the M-40 and the M-50 at the east, where the two beltways are more separated; and there are plans to build a fourth full loop, the M-60, 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.
Manchester
editManchester, England has two beltways:
- The M60 Orbital Motorway runs 35 miles (56 km) and was created between 1960-2006 by the amalgamation and renumbering of several existing motorways (M62, M63 and M66) and some new build to create an entirely circular route around the city of Manchester and seven neighbouring Metropolitan Boroughs. In 2004, it briefly held the record for the UK's busiest stretch of road (when a part of the M25 was undergoing roadworks); the northern sector of M60 carried an average of 181,000 vehicles per day between junctions 16 and 17.
- The Manchester Inner Ring Road runs around the city centres of Manchester and Salford. Unlike the M60 Orbital Motorway it consist mostly of several major roads and only one section of motorway, Mancunian Way.
Milan
editMoscow
editMoscow, Russia has three beltways:
- MKAD — Moscow Ring Road, which follows city borders, is approximately 109 kilometres (68 mi)
- Moscow Small Ring — road A107, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) off MKAD, length is about 320 kilometres (200 mi)
- Moscow Big Ring — road A108, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) off MKAD, length is about 550 kilometres (340 mi)
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, 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.
Padua
editTangenziale also know as GRAP (Grande Raccordo Anulare di Padova)
Paris
editParis has the Boulevard Périphérique as its innermost ring. The next ring outwards, the A86 autoroute known as Le Superpériphérique, is expected to be completed in 2010. Highway A104, known as La Francilienne for circling the region of Ile-de-France, is a third, longer ring road.
Rome
editRotterdam
editThere are several motorways which run to/from Rotterdam. The following four are part of its 'Ring' (ring road): A20 (Ring North): Hoek van Holland — Rotterdam — GoudaA16 ,(Ring East): Rotterdam — Breda (- Belgium) ,A15 (Ring South): Europoort — Rotterdam — NijmegenA4 ,(Ring West).
Asia
editBangalore
editThe city of Bangalore has an Outer Ring Road. A Peripheral Ring Road is under construction. An elevated core ring road is proposed.
Beijing
editThe modern civic scheme of Beijing, China, is based on a number of ring roads, consecutively numbered from 2nd to the projected 7th. The innermost 2nd Ring Road was built on the site previously occupied by the moat of the Beijing city walls.
Chennai
editChennai city has two ring roads: Inner Ring Road and Chennai Bypass. An Outer Ring Road and an elevated beltway system are under construction.
Jakarta
editThe capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, has 2 sections of road circling the city:
- JORR: Jakarta Outer Ring Road (id= Jalan Tol Lingkar Luar Jakarta)
- Jakarta Inner Ring Road (id= Jalan Tol Dalam Kota Jakarta). Some sections in the north are elevated roads.
Hong Kong
edit![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/HK_Route9_map.svg/150px-HK_Route9_map.svg.png)
A circular motorway, Route 9, circles the New Territories and connects all the suburbs north of the urban areas together.
Hyderabad (India)
editThe city of Hyderabad has an Inner Ring road. An outer ring road is under construction.
Kabul
editA long circular beltway connects the Afghan capital Kabul with the large Afghan cities of Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.
Kuala Lumpur
editMalaysia's capital has three ring roads: MRR2, Middle Ring Road 1, and Inner Ring Road.
New Delhi
editIndia's capital has two ring roads running around it.
Seoul
editRoute 100, the Seoul Ring Expressway, encircles the city and is complete. An outer beltway, Route 400, is under construction 60 km south of the city.
Shanghai
editThe Chinese city of Shanghai gained its first ring road in the inter-war years in the form of the Zhongshan Road, a partial ring that enclosed the existing urban area, which was primarily made up of foreign concessions.
In the 1990s, an Inner Ring Road was constructed, mainly consisting of elevated roadways built on top of the Zhongshan Road, but which eventually made a complete circle around the urban core. A Middle Ring Road and an Outer Ring Road (the A20 Expressway) were later added.
Oceania
editChristchurch
editChristchurch has a ring road circling the inner suburbs of the city mainly consisting of State Highways 73, 74 and 74A. It is identifiable by a black R on a white pentagonal sign
Melbourne
editThe Metropolitan Ring Road, Melbourne circles the city in the outer suburbs.
Sydney
editSydney has the Sydney Orbital Network, a 110-kilometre (68 mi) ring consisting of several motorways.
Africa
editJohannesburg
editThe Johannesburg Ring Road encircles the city of Johannesburg. It consists of three freeways (N1, N3, N12).
Durban
editDurban's Outer Ring Road runs up and down the coast, funnelling traffic away from the CBD through the expanse of the Durban Metro Area.
Other
editPlans for ring roads around Cape Town and Pretoria are in the pipeline.