The Boulevard périphérique de Caen is a

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

circling the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

city of

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. It is the

route nationale A ''route nationale'', or simply ''nationale'', is a class of trunk road in France. They are important roads of national significance which cross broad portions of the French territory, in contrast to departmental or communal roads which serve mo ...

814. Traveling speed on the road is limited to 90 km/h (55 mph) between the Exit 13 and 8, with a brief portion near the Exit 1 as well as the Viaduc de Calix limited to 70 km/h (45 mph) and 110 km/h (70 mph) elsewhere. It is a 4-lane hard-shouldered road that was finished on 30 September 1997. The total length of the périphérique de Caen is . Notable features include the Viaduc de Calix which spans the

River Orne The Orne () is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It is long. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. Its main tributaries are the Odon and the Rouvre. Geo ...

and

Canal de Caen à la Mer Canal de Caen à la Mer (; , also called the "Caen Canal") is a short canal in the department (préfecture) of Calvados, France, connecting the Port of Caen, in the city of Caen, downstream to the town of Ouistreham and the English Channel. ...

History

The idea of creating an urban bypass boulevard dates back to 1931 with the ''Dauger'' urbanization plan. The plan was a question of improving traffic by organizing peripheral traffic by means of a boulevard connecting radial roads, so as to form a radioconcentric network. It was revived in the early 1970s with the urban development of the city. The ring road was opened in stages: * 13 December 1975: opening of the eastern ring road between the Route de Falaise and the Route de la Délivrande. * 19 May 1976: opening of the northern ring road between Route de la Délivrande and Boulevard Weygand (now Boulevard Jean Moulin) * 31 July 1976: extension of the northern ring road between Boulevard Weygand (now Boulevard Jean Moulin) and Chemin Vert * 28 August 1976: junction between the ring road and the N13 (2,500 metres) * 13 September 1978:

Déclaration d'utilité publique A ''déclaration d'utilité publique'' (), or declaration of public utility, is a formal recognition in French law that a proposed project has public benefits. The declaration must be obtained for many large construction projects in France or its ol ...

for the section between the roads of Cherbourg ( N13) and Brittany ( N175) * 30 September 1997: opening of the last section between Fleury-sur-Orne and Bretteville-sur-Odon As of 26 April 2015, the ring road is no longer lit at night except on the Viaduc de Calix and the Bessin and Porte de Paris interchanges.

Further work

Northern part

In order to relieve congestion in the northern ring road, a third lane was planned between the Viaduc de Calix and Le Chemin-Vert. Work began in March 2017 with preliminary tree felling work along the relevant section. Work on the Hamelin ramp began on 15 April 2021 with improvements on the D60. The construction of the ramp itself was carried out in the second half of 2021; it was commissioned on 27 July 2022.

List of junctions

{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, Department !scope=col, Location !scope=col, km !scope=col, mi !scope=col, Junction !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - , rowspan="16",

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

, rowspan="2", Mondeville , 0.0 , 0.0 , - 1 Porte de Paris ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

, Mondeville and Giberville , , - , 1.4 , 0.9 , - 2 Presqu'île-Rives de l'Orne , Mondeville,

Colombelles Colombelles () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is located on the Canal de Caen à la Mer. Population The population of this sleepy little village mushroomed after August Thyssen bo ...

Caen station Caen, ''Gare de l'Ouest'' or ''Gare Calvados'', is the main and now only station serving the city of Caen, Normandy, France. The station stands on the main line from Paris to Cherbourg and although it mainly is an intercity station many regional ...

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Hérouville-Saint-Clair Hérouville-Saint-Clair () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Caen, and lies adjacent to it in a northeasterly direction, along the west side of the Canal de ...

, 2.9 , 1.8 , - 3 Porte d'Angleterre ,

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders t ...

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Douvres-la-Délivrande Douvres-la-Délivrande () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The name was simply Douvres until 1961, when it was expanded to refer to the basilica Notre-Dame de la Délivrande ("Our Lady of D ...

Épron Épron () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 526 Communes of France, communes of the Calvados (d ...

, Caen (campus 1, Calvaire Saint-Pierre) , , - , 6.2 , 3.9 , 6 Vallée des Jardins ,

Saint-Contest Saint-Contest () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. History Excavations at the Clos de Bitot site in 1984 uncovered four Gaulish kilns and evidence of domestic animal use, particularly dogs. ...

, Caen (Vallée des Jardins, La Folie Couvrechef - Mémorial) , , - , 8.0 , 5.0 , - 7 Chemin Vert ,

Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also * Ardenne Abbey *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 526 Commun ...

, Caen (Chemin vert, La Maladrerie) , , - , rowspan="1", Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe , 9.9 , 6.2 , - 8 Porte de Bessin ,

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

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Bretteville-sur-Odon Bretteville-sur-Odon (, literally ''Bretteville on Odon'') is a commune in the department of Calvados in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It lies on the river Odon, about west of Caen. Population Twin towns * Woodbury, Devo ...

, 13.2 , 8.2 , - 9 Porte de Bretagne ,

Vire-Normandie Vire Normandie () is a commune in the Calvados department and Normandy region of north-western France. It was established on 1 January 2016 as a result of the merger of the former communes of Vire (seat of the new municipality), Coulonces, Ma ...

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

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Éterville Éterville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 526 Communes of France, communes of the Calvados ...

, 14.6 , 9.1 , - 10 Éterville , Louvigny, Caen (la Prairie) , , - , rowspan="3", Ifs , 18.1 , 11.2 , 11 Suisse Normande , Flers,

Fleury-sur-Orne Fleury-sur-Orne (, literally ''Fleury on Orne'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is part of the Communauté urbaine Caen la Mer and of the agglomeration of Caen.Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

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Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...

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Notes

Ring roads in France Caen Transport in Normandy {{France-road-stub