Länsiväylä

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Länsiväylä in Westend (Espoo)
Länsiväylä in Westend (Espoo)

Länsiväylä (Västerleden in Swedish) is a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. 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, Länsiväylä becomes a smaller road called Jorvaksentie.

A view of Länsiväylä.
A view of Länsiväylä.

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 Kehä I and Kehä III, it is one of the roads with heaviest traffic in the country. It is constructed as a motorway and compared to the beltways, it is better suited for heavy traffic.

A similar road, Itäväylä (Österleden in Swedish) begins at Sörnäinen and continues east towards Sipoo.

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

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