Finnish national road 3 ( fi, Valtatie 3 or '; sv, Riksväg 3) is a
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
between
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and
Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), via
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
and
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
. The road is long and it is part of the
European route E12
European route E12 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Mo i Rana, Norway, transverses Sweden and ends in Helsinki, Finland, with a ferry line between Sweden and Finland. The part within Finland is Finnish n ...
. of the highway is
motorway
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 i ...
, connecting Helsinki to Tampere. North of Tampere, the road is mostly two-lane road, with a share of
2+1 road
2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and usually separated with a steel cable barrier. The second lane allows faster-moving t ...
. The busiest point on Highway 3 is in Helsinki, north of the
Ring I
Ring I (pronounced "ring one", fi, Kehä I, sv, Ring I) is the busiest road in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and ru ...
junction, where the average traffic volume is about 90,000 vehicles per day.
Back in the late 1950s before the current freeway, the
Finnish regional road 132
Finnish regional road 132 ( fi, Seututie 132, sv, Regionalväg 132), or Loppi Road ( fi, Lopentie, sv, Loppisvägen) is the road between Highway 3 ( E12) and Highway 54, which starts at the southern end from the border of Vantaa and Nurmijärv ...
(Mt 132) was the former main road to Hämeenlinna and Tampere via
Loppi
Loppi (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the city of Hämeenlinna. Loppi was founded ...
and
Janakkala
Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of th ...
.
Route
![Freeway 3 towards Tampere](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Freeway_3_towards_Tampere.JPG)
The route of the road is:
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
–
Vantaa
Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...
–
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...
–
Hyvinkää
Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...
–
Riihimäki
Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...
–
Janakkala
Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of th ...
–
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
–
Hattula
Hattula is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper regions of Finland, region and until 2010 it was located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surr ...
–
Kalvola –
Valkeakoski
Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
wh ...
–
Akaa
Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with ...
–
Valkeakoski
Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
wh ...
(again) –
Lempäälä
Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
Th ...
–
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
–
Pirkkala
Pirkkala (; sv, Birkala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located some south-west from Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , which makes ...
–
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
–
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
(again) –
Ylöjärvi
Ylöjärvi () is a town and a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region, northwest of Tampere and north of the capital city Helsinki in Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
...
–
Hämeenkyrö
Hämeenkyrö (; sv, Tavastkyro) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, and is located from Tampere. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
The ne ...
–
Ikaalinen
Ikaalinen (; sv, Ikalis) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, located northwest of Tampere. The town has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
.
The munici ...
–
Parkano
Parkano is a town and municipality in Finland.
It is located north of Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region. The population of Parkano is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is .
The munici ...
–
Jalasjärvi
Jalasjärvi is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged to the town of Kurikka on 1 January 2016.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Jalasjärvi was (30 Jun ...
–
Kurikka –
Ilmajoki
Ilmajoki (; sv, Ilmola) is a municipality of Finland. Ilmajoki is a town and municipality situated in Finland's South Ostrobothnia region, founded in 1865. Ilmajoki has a population of 12,165 (28. February 2017)and covers an area of 579.79 ...
–
Isokyrö
Isokyrö (; sv, Storkyro) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, from Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
In the name of th ...
–
Laihia
Laihia ( sv, Laihela) is a municipality of Finland, founded in 1576 through a separation from Isokyrö and Korsholm.
It is located in the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. Th ...
–
Korsholm
Korsholm (; fi, Mustasaari) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscap ...
–
Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), .
Highway 3 starts in Helsinki at the end of the
Mannerheimintie
Mannerheimintie ( sv, Mannerheimvägen), named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is the main street and boulevard of Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu ( sv, Henriksgatan), after Ro ...
street. Between the
Kivihaka
Kivihaka (Finnish), Stenhagen (Swedish) is a neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden ...
and
Ring III
Kehä III (''"ring three"'', ''National road 50''; or fi, Kehä III or ; or ) is an important highway in Southern Finland. It is the outermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region, and the first one to be built. It lies across the fou ...
, Highway 3 is a high-quality four-lane highway, all connections of which are interchanges (except the motorway). The entire section between Ring III and the town of
Ylöjärvi
Ylöjärvi () is a town and a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region, northwest of Tampere and north of the capital city Helsinki in Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
...
is a four-lane motorway. At 180 kilometers long, it is the longest motorway in Finland. In the
Greater Helsinki
Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...
, the road is also called ''Hämeenlinnanväylä'', sometimes in colloquial language also ''Tampereenväylä''. The former name of the road is ''Nurmijärventie'', referring to the municipality of
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...
along the way. The traffic volumes on the highway are quite high all the way. For example, in the case of
Riihimäki
Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...
, the volume of road traffic is about 30,000 vehicles per day.
Highway 3 runs right next to the city center at
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
. This throughway is the first section of the road and the third section of the Finnish motorway, which was completed in 1964. Today, the road runs for about 200 meters in a tunnel, when the in Hämeenlinna was completed in 2014 on the pavement. Attention has also been paid to the aesthetics of the highway environment. Some of the bridges at Highway 3 can be considered almost works of art and the rock cuts have been illuminated. Ekku Peltomäki's light art work ''Lux Tavastia'' is next to
Akaa
Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with ...
's Terisjärvi.
To the south of
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
city center, Highway 3 turns onto Tampere's
western ring road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal ...
, which is also a motorway. The western ring road was completed as a two-lane road, partly as a
two-lane expressway
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 ris ...
in 1985. The motorway ends slightly west of the center of Ylöjärvi, and the highway turns from the ring road at the Elovainio interchange to the road between Tampere and
Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), . Between Ylöjärvi and Vaasa, Highway 3 is a standard Finnish two-lane highway, the quality of which varies. Some of the major interfaces have been upgraded to intermodal interfaces. In addition, there is an 11-kilometer-long motorway between
Korsholm
Korsholm (; fi, Mustasaari) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscap ...
's Helsingby and Vaasa. The road ends in the center of Vaasa.
Teillä ja turuilla: Vaasa
(in Finnish)
See also
* Highways in Finland
Highways in Finland, or Main roads, comprise the highest categories of roads in Finland:
* Main roads Class I – fi, valtatiet; sv, riksvägar – numbered 1–39, between major cities
* Main roads Class II – fi, kantatiet; sv, stamvä ...
* Lopentie
Finnish regional road 132 ( fi, Seututie 132, sv, Regionalväg 132), or Loppi Road ( fi, Lopentie, sv, Loppisvägen) is the road between Highway 3 ( E12) and Highway 54, which starts at the southern end from the border of Vantaa and Nurmijärv ...
* Åland Islands Highway 3
Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
References
External links
Matti Grönroos – Valtatie 3
Roads in Finland
Transport in Tampere
{{Finland-transport-stub