Põhimaantee 1 (ofcl. abbr. T1) is a 212-kilometre-long west-east national main road in Estonia. The road is part of the

European route E20 European route E20 is a part of the United Nations International E-road network. It runs roughly west–east through Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia. Its length is but it is not continuous; at three points, a ...

. The highway starts in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. From there the main cities passed are

Maardu Maardu (german: Maart) is a town and a municipality in Harju County, Estonia. It is part of Tallinn metropolitan area. The town covers an area of 22.76 km² and has a population of 16,170 (as of 1 January 2021). The Port of Muuga, ...

, Rakvere,

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve is a city and municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petrochemical products ...

Jõhvi Jõhvi is a town in northeastern Estonia, and the administrative centre of the Ida-Viru County. The town is also an administrative centre of Jõhvi Parish. It is situated about 50 km west of the Estonia–Russia international border. ...

and

Sillamäe Sillamäe (Estonian for 'Bridge Hill'; also known by the Germanised names of ''Sillamäggi'' or ''Sillamägi'') is a town in Ida-Viru County in the northern part of Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. It has a population of ...

. The highway ends in

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

on Friendship Bridge, with a border crossing to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

over the

Narva river The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interme ...

. The road forms a major transport west-south transport route between Russia and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In 2020, the highest traffic volumes were around Tallinn, with the

AADT Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...

there being around 33,000. These are the highest figures in Estonia. The figures rise again around

, hovering around 8,000. The road is a dual carriageway for 86.6 kilometres. The main part is between Tallinn and

Haljala Haljala is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Lääne-Viru County, in northern Estonia. It's located about 10 km northwest of the town of Rakvere, by the Tallinn–Narva (Tallinn–Saint Petersburg) road (part of E20). Haljala is the admin ...

(till km 89.9) being the longest in Estonia. The remainder can be found between Kohtla-Järve and Jõhvi (km 156.0-163.2). There are plans to expand the entire highway to dual carriageway by sometime after 2030. Currently, sections in cities are being made free-flowing, with two intersections in

being made grade separated in 2016 and 2021. Also, U-turns on the road are being demolished to improve safety and upgrade the road standards.

Route description

The T1 ( Estonian: põhimaantee 1) is a major west–east highway in Estonia connecting the capital of the country, Tallinn, to the Virumaa region, where the highway follows a route parallel to the northern Estonian coast. The T1 is a part of the

.http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/conventn/ECE-TRANS-SC1-384e.pdf The route bypasses most cities – the only cities which the road goes through are Tallinn and Narva. The highway begins in Tallinn from Viru Square and runs through the city for 10.7 kilometres. In the city, it intersects with the T2 in Ülemiste and the T11 on the city border, at Väo. After this, the Pirita river (and Tallinn city limits) are crossed. For 3.3 kilometres, the road is a 3+3 dual carriageway. Here, the road interchanges with the T11 and Saha-Loo road. The road turns into a 3+3 dual carriageway after one lane is lost at the T1/T94 interchange. The road continues in a straight, eastwards direction for the remainder of the dual carriageway section. Notable interchanges are with the T13, T85 and T24. The road turns into a regular 1+1 road after intersecting with T23 at

. For 72.5 kilometres, the road is a 1+1 highway. The road passes the first bigger town, Rakvere and near it intersects with the T5. Other notable intersections are with the T117 to Sonda and the T34 leading into

Kiviõli Kiviõli (russian: Кивиыли) is an industrial town in Ida-Viru County, Estonia. The settlement was founded in 1922 and became a town in 1946. The main industry is oil shale mining, which gives the town its name (literally "stone oil"). ...

. At

, the road is again a dual carriageway, staying like this for 11.8 kilometres. The road interchanges with the T93 on two occasions. At

, a trumpet interchange leads to the T3. Shortly after this, the road turns into a 1+1 road, staying this way for the rest of the route. The road bypasses

, a major port town. Shortly after this, the road intersects with the T91 leading to Narva-Jõesuu. Finally, the road reaches Narva and follows the path of Tallinna maantee. The road crosses the

and ends at the Estonian-Russian border. Currently there are 11 speed cameras on the T1, between kilometres 127 and 202.

Road length of lane

References

External links

{{Highways in Estonia N1

Route description

Road length of lane

See also

References

External links