Helsinki–Turku E18 motorway open for business!

The final stretch of the E18 has now been completed opening the four-lane motorway that runs uninterrupted between Helsinki and Turku. The newly constructed 51 kilometre section between Muurla and Lohja includes as many as seven tunnels, of which the 2.2 kilometre Karnainen road tunnel is the longest in Finland. The unusually large number of tunnels reduces the motorway’s environmental impact, conserving man-made landscapes of cultural interest and allowing animals to roam freely in their natural habitat. Several noise barriers have been constructed reducing such impacts still further.

 

The new motorway’s state-of-the-art tunnel and traffic control systems will continue testing this spring which may lead to an occasional delay but users will naturally be kept fully informed in every instance.

 

The E18 is an important part of the Nordic Triangle route that links the capitals of the Nordic countries providing connections to Central Europe and Russia. The E18 in Finland will make the Nordics even more competitive in terms of logistics and transport services, offering a road connection from the ports of Turku and Naantali via Helsinki to the Vaalimaa border crossing and onwards to St Petersburg.