Sweden has a fairly limited system of motorways (motorväg in Swedish). The first motorway (Malmö–Lund) was opened in 1953. The motorways' primary purpose is connecting major cities to their surrounding areas, although there is a long-term ambition to connect Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö with motorways.

With the completion of a couple of new motorway stretches in 2006 - 2015, an interconnecting motorway network exists from Öresund Bridge (to Denmark) to the Swedish- Norwegian border and to Gävle, north of Stockholm.

There are also a number of motortrafikleder (semi-motorways, autostrasse), roads with only 2 or 3 (2+1) lanes but to which the same conditions apply as to motorways (i.e. grade-separated crossings, no slow traffic). These can be converted to motorways by adding a parallel road.

This is a complete listing of motorways in Sweden. The Swedish road numbering scheme does not distinguish between motorways and other types of roads.

The speed limit on motorways is generally 110 or 120 km/h (68 or 75 mph). Speed limits of 70 and 90 km/h are often used on urban motorways, and electronic signs can show a lower limit in bad weather.

List of current motorways

E4 Helsingborg – Ljungby – Jönköping – Linköping – Norrköping – Stockholm – Uppsala – Gävle Gävle – Bergby is a 2+1 semi-motorway Söderhamn – Hudiksvall is a 2+2 road but signed as a semi-motorway Njurunda - Sundsvall – Bergeforsen Piteå – Norrfjärden E6 (car ferries from Travemunde, Rostock, Sassitz and Świnoujście) outside Trelleborg with its large ferry harbour around Maglarp – Malmö – Halmstad – Gothenburg – Uddevalla – Svinesund – (Norway) E18 Segmon – Ed Karlstad – Skattkärr Lekhyttan – Örebro – Köping – Västerås – Järva krog Bergshamra – Rosenkälla Rosenkälla – Söderhall is a 2+1 semi-motorway Söderhall – Norrtälje E20 (Denmark) – Öresund Bridge – Malmö – Halmstad – Gothenburg – Tollered Ingared - Alingsås Lundsbrunn - Holmestad Vretstorp – Arboga Eskilstuna – Strängnäs – Stockholm E22 Maglarp – Malmö – Lund – Fogdarp Fogdarp – Hörby is a 2+1 semi-motorway Hörby – Mörrum Nättraby – Karlskrona Kalmar E45 Together with E18 Segmon – Ed, Sweden Surte – Göta Lilla Edet – Trollhättan E65 Malmö – Tittente 11 Malmö Bulltofta – Trafikplats-Sunnanå 25 and 30 Öjaby – Växjö center 28 Karlskrona Österleden 34 Linköping Trafikplats Tift (E4 Linköping västra) – Vallarondellen "Malmslättsleden" 35 Linköping Trafikplats Staby (E4 Linköping östra) – Mörtlösarondellen 40 Gothenburg – Borås – Ulricehamn Through Haga in Jönköping 44 Herrestad near Uddevalla – east parts of Uddevalla (old E6) Råsseröd east of Uddevalla – Väne-Ryr (extension to road 45 opened during 2006) 49 Skara - Axvall 50 Together with E20 Brändåsen (Hallsberg) – Norrplan (Örebro) 53 Oxelösund – Nyköping 73 Älgesta – Stockholm 75 Stockholm Södra länken 80 Gävle – Sandviken 222 Henriksdal – Graninge 226 Årsta – Östberga 229 Skarpnäck – Bollmora 260 Älta – Skrubba 265 Norrortsleden E4 – Sollentuna 273 E4 – Arlanda airport

Motorways without numbers The numbers of these roads belong to secondary categories that do not appear on signs and regular maps: North of Helsingborg Inre Ringvägen in Malmö, former E6/E20 Out of Malmö to E22 Out of Malmö to E6/E22 "Saltsjöbadsleden" in Nacka

Note that there are more semi-motorways in Sweden, but they have not been considered interesting, since those do not connect to motorways.

Long-term goals There are long-term goals in the standard of the major roads, and all new constructed roads should follow this target standard. This target has varied over the years, therefore roads vary somewhat randomly in standard. A bad road has been rebuilt to the target standard of the time, while better roads have been kept as is, even though they did not fulfill the target standard. This is especially noticeable on the E18.

E4 Gävle-Haparanda: probably narrower motorway or semi-motorway all the way. Dual carriageways close to some cities. The existing semi-motorways will mostly be kept. E6 Motorway all the way, finished in 2015. E18 Segmon-Norrtälje: motorway all the way, maybe some semi-motorway in Värmland. Norway-Segmon: semi-motorwaylike with some crossings in level. E20 Gothenburg-Vara: motorway Vara-Vretstorp: either motorway or semi-motorway. Vretstorp-Stockholm: motorway E22 Trelleborg-Karlskrona: motorway. The existing semi-motorways within Blekinge will be kept, but those within Skåne are planned to be rebuilt. Karlskrona-Söderköping: 2+1 semi-motorway, but it will take long time before it is built. Söderköping-Norrköping: motorway 40 Gothenburg-Ulricehamn: motorway Ulricehamn-Jönköping: semi-motorway. Since 2015 there are dual carriageways all the way with several crossings in level, which are planned to be rebuilt on long term.

Electric vehicles Sweden, which has pioneered electrified roads through several pilot projects including the world's first temporary electric road, will turn the E20 into a permanent electrified road, the first of its kind in the world. Jan Pettersson, Director of Strategic Development at Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration, said: "We think the electrification solution is the way forward for decarbonising the transport sector and we are working with a number of solutions."

Gallery

See also Transportation in Sweden List of controlled-access highway systems Evolution of motorway construction in European nations

References

External links