Länsiväylä

Länsiväylä (the Western Highway, Swedish: Västerleden) is a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road continues all the way throughout the southern part of Espoo. When finally crossing the border west to Kirkkonummi. Motorway continues towards west to Kirkkonummi.

Länsiväylä is perhaps the most important connection between the cities of Helsinki and Espoo. Almost all bus and private car traffic between central Helsinki and southern Espoo (such as the Tapiola and Otaniemi districts) passes along Länsiväylä. Along with the beltways Ring I and Ring III, it is one of the roads with heaviest traffic in the country. It was constructed as a motorway and compared to the beltways, has been much better suited to heavy traffic. There is an extensive bus rapid transit network in Länsiväylä, using special bus lanes. However there is an underground metro system named Länsimetro under construction, which will replace most buses when completed.

A similar road, the Itäväylä (Eastern Highway, Swedish: Österleden) begins at Sörnäinen and continues eastwards towards Sipoo.

Images

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  Länsiväylä near to Tapiola, behind offices of Keilaniemi

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  Länsiväylä besides of Nöykkiö, time of evening rush hour, behind intersection of Suomenoja

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  Länsiväylä, view from Koivusaari to the center of Helsinki

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  Länsiväylä, section of Lauttasaari

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  Länsiväylä next to Westend

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  Länsiväylä next to Westend, view to Keilaniemi

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  Länsiväylä and the towers of Keilaniemi

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  Länsiväylä next to Westend, behind headquarters of Kone and Microsoft

Other uses

Länsiväylä is the name of a Finnish language free newspaper distributed in Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi.

Coordinates: 60°10′06″N 024°47′40″E / 60.16833°N 24.79444°E