Österleden (''the East Route'') was a planned

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 ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The road was intended to run on the east side of the

Stockholm City Centre Stockholm City Centre (, , ) is in Stockholm Municipality, also known as the City of Stockholm, part of the Stockholm urban area in Sweden. Since 2007, Stockholm City Centre has been organized into four (sometimes translated as "boroughs"): K ...

and link the

Norra länken Norra länken (''The northern link'') is a motorway in Stockholm, Sweden, between the port of Värtahamnen and Karlberg, where it connects to Essingeleden. The road is part of the European route E20 and the incomplete Stockholm Ring Road. ...

and

Södra länken Södra länken (), designated as national road 75 (), is a motorway in Sweden connecting Essingeleden ( E4, E20), Stockholm with Värmdöleden (county road 222), Nacka. Södra länken is in length, of which is in tunnels. This makes it the ...

motorways to create a completed

Stockholm ring road The Stockholm Ring Road () is a half-completed Beltway, ring road around central Stockholm, Sweden. There have been many plans over the years of a ring road around central Stockholm, but all of them have been cancelled at some point. , three qu ...

. As of 2007 the road project had undergone a

feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

, and was awaiting feedback from the

County Administrative Board A county administrative board () is a Swedish Government Agency in each of the counties of Sweden, led by a vice-regal governor () appointed by the government for a term of six years. The lists of gubernatorial officeholders, in most cases, stret ...

of Stockholm. In January 2008

Kristina Axén Olin Anna ''Kristina'' Axén Olin (née Axén'';'' born 21 October 1962) is a Swedish Moderate politician and a member of the Riksdag, she is currently serving as a member and the Second Cice-Speaker of the Education Committee. She currently takes ...

, the

Mayor of Stockholm This is a list of municipal commissioners for finance of Stockholm (). In English, the title is often translated as Mayor of Stockholm.cf. :sv:Stockholms författningsreform 1940 The office of municipal commissioner for finance was set up in 19 ...

, said that the political majority in

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

was in favour of constructing the road, but according to the plan with the

Swedish Road Administration The National Road Administration () was a government agency in Sweden. Its primary responsibility was to organise building and maintenance of the road network in Sweden. Its headquarters were located in Borlänge. History The agency was founded i ...

, the construction start would not occur until 2020 and completion in 2030. In 2018, the Österleden plan was discontinued, as it is no longer included in the national plan. A further report from the

Swedish Transport Administration The Swedish Transport Administration () is a government agency in Sweden, controlled by the Riksdag and the Government of Sweden. It is responsible for long-term infrastructure planning for transport: road, rail, shipping and aviation. It owns, c ...

stated that show that the Eastern connection would not contribute to meeting the environmental goals or the goal of increased public transport usage in Stockholm. Its construction would mean that none of Stockholm's goals of reduced climate impact, improved air quality or improved living environment would be possible to achieve.

History

Plans on a road connection using a bridge east of the city centre were part of the early regional plans, and city general plans in 1928 and 1960. A motorway in a tunnel east of the city centre was one of the road projects of the Dennis Agreement from 1992, a political agreement for road construction in the Stockholm area. Österleden was to be the eastern part of a ring road around central Stockholm. The planning of the road was cancelled in 1997 when the agreement was broken.

Studied alignments

The feasibility study contains three suggested alignments of the road: *Alternative C **New tunnel beneath the

west of Southern

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

**Estimated cost: 12–15

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

SEK *Alternative D **New tunnel with approximately the same alignment as in the early 1990s plans, beneath Saltsjön and Djurgården **Estimated cost: 9–12 billion SEK *Alternative F **New tunnel between

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mi ...

and

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

**Estimated cost: 10–15 billion SEK

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterleden, Stockholm Cancelled highway projects Proposed roads in Sweden Transport in Stockholm Cancelled projects in Sweden Unbuilt buildings and structures in Sweden