Stockholm ring road

Stockholm ring road ( _sv. Stockholms ringled) is a half-completed 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. As of 2007, about half of the ring road is now built.

History

The first plan to build a motorway ring road around central Stockholm arose in the 1950s. The recent ring road project in Stockholm has its origin in the Dennis Agreement ( _sv. "Dennisöverenskommelsen") from 1992, which was a political agreement to build new roads and improve public transport in and around Stockholm. As the agreement was eventually broken in 1997 due to criticism from environmental groups and the political parties left outside the agreement, the future of a complete ring road became uncertain.citation|last=Malmsten|first=Bo|last2=Persson|first2=Magnus|year=2000|title=Dennispaketet – låsningar och lösningar|isbn=91-86574-55-8|publisher=Regionplane- och trafikkontoret, Stockholms läns landsting|url=http://www.rtk.sll.se/publikationer/|accessdate=2007-08-11]

A possibility of a ring road being completed arose in the mid-2000s, as the construction of the northern section resumed during 2006 with preparatory work, the final appeals against construction were rejected on February 26, 2007 by the Supreme Administrative Court,cite press release|title=Klartecken för Norra länken|publisher=Swedish Road Administration|url=http://www.vagverket.se/templates/Pressrelease____19666.aspx|date=2007-02-26|accessdate=2007-08-11] and actual construction of the road resumed on May 11, 2007.cite web|title=Aktuellt om Norra länken: Spadtag för Norra länken|publisher=Swedish Road Administration|url=http://www.vv.se/templates/page3____9080.aspx|date=2007-05-11|accessdate=2007-08-11] A new feasibility study has been conducted on the eastern section, which is as of 2007 awaiting feedback from the County Administrative Board of Stockholm.cite web|title=Östlig förbindelse|publisher=Swedish Road Administration|url=http://www.vv.se/templates/page3____8467.aspx|date=2006-10-17|accessdate=2007-08-12]

Road sections

There are four distinct sections of the planned ring road around Stockholm, of which two are completed, one in construction, and one under consideration.

*Essingeleden, the western section — completion of various stages between 1966 and 1971.
*Södra länken, the southern section — short section opened 1973, inauguration of the completed road 2004
*Norra länken, the northern section — short section opened in 1991, construction of the rest halted in 1997, construction resumed 2006–2007,cite web|title=Om projektet Norra länken|publisher=Swedish Road Administration|url=http://www.vv.se/templates/page3____8973.aspx|date=2007-02-27|accessdate=2007-08-11] and the complete road is finished at earliest 2015.cite web|title=Frågor och svar om Norra länken|publisher=Swedish Road Administration|url=http://www.vv.se/templates/page3____8977.aspx|accessdate=2007-08-02]
*Österleden, the eastern section — planning cancelled in 1997, new feasibility study completed in 2006. Estimates for construction start in 2020 and completion in 2030. [cite web|title="Stökigt i Stockholm många år framöver"|publisher=Dagens Nyheter|url=http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1298&a=730452|date=2008-01-06|accessdate=2008-01-07]

References