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59-493: The outwash plain is located between the rivers of Kúðafljót in the east and Múlakvísl in the west. Both rivers carry water from the Mýrdalsjökull glacier to the sea. Mýrdalssandur has a 35 km (22 mi)-long coast line, including Kötlutangi [ˈkʰœhtlʏˌtʰauɲcɪ] , the southernmost point of the island of Iceland. The Ring Road crosses this flat surface on 25 km (16 mi). The outwash plain

118-413: A city or town, with the standard of road being anything from an ordinary city street up to motorway level. An excellent example of this is London's North Circular/South Circular ring roads, which are largely made up of (mainly congested) ordinary city streets. In some cases, a circumferential route is formed by the combination of a major through highway and a similar-quality loop route that extends out from

177-718: A clockwise direction from Reykjavík. Travelling clockwise (initially northward) from Reykjavík, the following communities and settlements are located on Route 1. During the 2016 summer solstice , the Icelandic band Sigur Rós filmed and broadcast a live Slow TV event tour of Iceland driving along the entire route. The event was broadcast live in 360-degree video with a soundtrack of constantly evolving music based around elements of their track "Óveður". [REDACTED] Wikimedia Atlas of Iceland Ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline , beltway , circumferential ( high ) way , loop or orbital )

236-669: A complete belt road around Hawaii Island . Other major U.S. cities with such a beltway superhighway: There are other U.S. superhighway beltway systems that consist of multiple routes that require multiple interchanges and thus do not provide true ring routes. Two designated examples are the Capital Beltway around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania using Interstate 81 , Interstate 83 , and Pennsylvania Route 581 and "The Bypass" around South Bend, Indiana using Interstate 80 , Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 31 , and Indiana State Road 331 . Edmonton , Alberta, has two ring roads. The first

295-652: A large proportion of goods traffic as well as tourist traffic. The total length of the road is 1,322 kilometres (821 mi), making it the longest ring road in Europe. The road was completed in 1974, coinciding with the 1,100th anniversary of the country's settlement when the longest bridge in Iceland, crossing the Skeiðará river in the southeast, was opened. Previously, vehicles intending to travel between southern settlements, e.g. Vík to Höfn, had to travel north of

354-488: A regular expressway , and can be upgraded to a 4 lane road when traffic necessitates it. Currently, the section between Kjalarnes and the Hvalfjörður tunnel is being upgraded to a [2+1 road] and should be complete by 2023. The 7.4km long Vaðlaheiðargöng tunnel near Akureyri in the north of the country shortened the route by 16km and improved winter safety, bypassing a mountain road. In more rural parts of

413-528: A through-the-city route there, with the Beltway encircling the city as I-495. The portion of I-95 entering the city from the south was soon completed (and so signed), primarily by adapting an existing major highway, but the planned extension of I-95 through residential areas northward to the Beltway was long delayed, and eventually abandoned, leaving the eastern portion of the Beltway as the best Interstate-quality route for through traffic. This eastern portion of

472-634: A town or city, typically without either signals or road or railroad crossings. In the United States, beltways are commonly parts of the Interstate Highway System. Similar roads in the United Kingdom are often called "orbital motorways". Although the terms "ring road" and "orbital motorway" are sometimes used interchangeably, "ring road" often indicates a circumferential route formed from one or more existing roads within

531-532: A true ring road around Detroit is effectively blocked by its location on the border with Canada and the Detroit River ; although constructing a route mostly or entirely outside city limits is technically feasible, a true ring around Detroit would necessarily pass through Canada, and so Interstate 275 and Interstate 696 together bypass but do not encircle the city. Sometimes, the presence of significant natural or historical areas limits route options, as for

590-405: Is a loose conglomeration of four major arterial roads with an average distance of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the downtown core. Yellowhead Trail forms the northern section, Wayne Gretzky Drive /75 Street forms the eastern section, Whitemud Drive forms the southern and longest section, and 170 Street forms the western and shortest section. Whitemud Drive is the only section that

649-409: Is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducing traffic volumes in the urban centre, such as by offering an alternate route around the city for drivers who do not need to stop in the city core. Ring roads can also serve to connect suburbs to each other, allowing efficient travel between them. The name "ring road"

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708-413: Is a true controlled-access highway , while Yellowhead Trail and Wayne Gretzky Drive have interchanges and intersections and are therefore both limited-access roads . 170 Street and 75 Street are merely large arterial roads with intersections only. The second and more prominent ring road is named Anthony Henday Drive ; it circles the city at an average distance of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from

767-417: Is challenging when a through highway and a loop bypass together form a circumferential ring road. Since neither of the highways involved is circumferential itself, either dual signage or two (or more) route numbers is needed. The history of signage on the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C., is instructive here. Interstate 95 , a major through highway along the U.S. East Coast , was originally planned as

826-480: Is popular with tourists since it covers most of the country and many sights of interest are located near to the route. It has long been a popular route with Icelandic families going on summer vacation, but in recent years the route is becoming more popular with foreign tourists who either rent a car or bring their own on the ferry to Seyðisfjörður . Traffic levels on the road vary considerably between locations: in and near Reykjavík around 20,000-50,000 vehicles use

885-793: Is used for the majority of metropolitan circumferential routes in Europe, such as the Berliner Ring , the Brussels Ring , the Amsterdam Ring , the Boulevard Périphérique around Paris and the Leeds Inner and Outer ring roads. Australia , Pakistan and India also use the term ring road, as in Melbourne 's Western Ring Road , Lahore 's Lahore Ring Road and Hyderabad 's Outer Ring Road . In Canada

944-500: The Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C. Some ring roads, such as Washington's Capital Beltway, use "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" terminology for directions of travel, since cardinal (compass) directions cannot be signed uniformly around the entire loop. The term 'ring road' is occasionally – and inaccurately – used interchangeably with the term ' bypass '. Bypasses around many large and small towns were built in many areas when many old roads were converted to four-lane status in

1003-474: The Frankfurt area, major national highways converge just outside city limits before forming one of several routes of an urban network of roads circling the city. Unlike in United States, route numbering is not a challenge on European ring roads as routes merge to form the single designated road. However, exit and road junction access can be challenging due to the complexity of other routes branching from or into

1062-943: The North and South Circular roads and the Inner Ring Road ). Birmingham also has three ring roads which consist of the Birmingham Box ; the A4540 , commonly known as the Middleway; and the A4040 , the Outer Ring Road. Birmingham once had a fourth ring road, the A4400 . This has been partially demolished and downgraded to improve traffic flow into the city. Other British cities have two: Leeds , Sheffield , Norwich and Glasgow . Cleveland, OH and San Antonio, TX , in

1121-578: The Reformation , the King of Denmark took over the monastery with all its possessions. The monastery was dissolved, but it still existed for a long time as a rich farm until it was finally abandoned in 1945. The area was used as a filming location for the Star Wars spinoff film Rogue One , representing the planet Lah'mu in the opening scenes of the film. Route 1 (Iceland) Route 1 or

1180-530: The Ring Road ( Icelandic : Þjóðvegur 1 or Hringvegur pronounced [ˈr̥iŋkˌvɛːɣʏr̥] ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route , it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns together in the most densely populated areas of the country. Economically, it carries

1239-495: The United States , also each have two, while Houston, Texas will have three official ring roads (not including the downtown freeway loop). Some cities have far more – Beijing , for example, has six ring roads , simply numbered in increasing order from the city center (though skipping #1), while Moscow has five, three innermost ( Central Squares of Moscow , Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring ) corresponding to

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1298-866: The 1930s to 1950s, such as those along the Old National Road (now generally U.S. 40 or Interstate 70 ) in the United States, leaving the old road in place to serve the town or city, but allowing through travelers to continue on a wider, faster and safer route. Construction of fully circumferential ring roads has generally occurred more recently, beginning in the 1960s in many areas, when the U.S. Interstate Highway System and similar-quality roads elsewhere were designed. Ring roads have now been built around numerous cities and metropolitan areas, including cities with multiple ring roads, irregularly shaped ring roads and ring roads made up of various other long-distance roads. London has three ring roads (the M25 motorway ,

1357-680: The 1950s and not yet completed, called the Suburban Beltway. It consists of several roads— Lagimodière Boulevard , Abinojii Mikanah , the Fort Garry Bridge, the Moray Bridge, William R Clement Parkway , Chief Peguis Trail and the Kildonan Bridge . Saskatoon , Saskatchewan, has a ring road named Circle Drive. It is cosigned as Saskatchewan Highway 16 and Saskatchewan Highway 11 along the whole route since

1416-492: The 1970s. In addition, the Skeiðarársandur plain is subject to frequent glacial floods during or after eruptions on the nearby Grímsvötn volcano . Bridges and other stretches of road over the plains have had to be rebuilt as a result, notably during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 , when the ring road was severed for several days in the south. These are not considered to a be a risk to everyday travellers as

1475-415: The 2013 opening of Circle Drive South. Regina , Saskatchewan has a partial ring road that is named Ring Road ; however, due to the city's urban growth since the road was originally constructed, it no longer functions as a true ring road and has instead come to be used partially for local arterial traffic. The Regina Bypass , a new partial ring road, has replaced it, although Ring Road must still be used in

1534-708: The 21st century, some farms still exist in Álftaver. In 1168 a monks' monastery of the Augustinians was founded in the Þykkvabær í Veri [ˈθɪhkvaˌpaiːr iː ˈvɛːrɪ] on the Mýrdalssandur. The name was then changed to Þykkvabæjarklaustur  [ is ] [ˈθɪhkvaˌpaiːjarˌkʰlœystʏr̥] and the first abbot there was Saint Thorlak . He was later bishop in Skálholt and some of his successors were either bishops there or in Hólar . In 1550, with

1593-604: The Beltway ", derived metonymically from the Capital Beltway encircling Washington, D.C. Ring roads have been criticised for inducing demand , leading to more car journeys being taken and thus higher levels of pollution being created. By creating easy access by car to large areas of land, they can also act as a catalyst for development, leading to urban sprawl and car-centric planning. Ring roads have also been criticised for splitting communities and being difficult to navigate for pedestrians and cyclists. Most orbital motorways (or beltways) are purpose-built major highways around

1652-468: The Beltway was then redesignated from I-495 to I-95, leaving the I-495 designation only on the western portion, and the completed part of the planned Interstate inside the Beltway was redesignated as a spur, I-395 . A few years later, the resulting confusion from different route numbers on the circumferential Beltway was resolved by restoring I-495 signage for the entire Beltway, with dual signage for I-95 for

1711-461: The United States. In many cases, such as Interstate 285 in Atlanta, Georgia , circumferential highways serve as a bypass while other highways pass directly through the city center. In other cases, a primary Interstate highway passes around a city on one side, with a connecting loop Interstate bypassing the city on the other side, together forming a circumferential route, as with I-93 and I-495 in

1770-592: The area of Lawrence, Massachusetts . However, if a primary Interstate passes through a city and a loop bypasses it on only one side (as in the Wilmington, Delaware , area), no fully circumferential route is provided. Within cities, ring roads sometimes have local nicknames; these include Washington DC's Interstate 495 (The "Capital Beltway"), Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio (The "Outerbelt"), and Interstate 285 in Atlanta (The "Perimeter"). Route numbering

1829-475: The city of Calgary , Alberta, for an entire length of 101-kilometre (63 mi). Winnipeg , Manitoba, has a ring road which is called the Perimeter Highway . It is designated as Manitoba Highway 101 on the north, northwest and east sides and as Manitoba Highway 100 on the south and southwest sides. The majority of it is a four-lane divided expressway . It has a second ring road, planned since

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1888-614: The concentric lines of fortifications around the ancient city, and the two outermost ( MKAD and Third Ring ) built in the twentieth century, though, confusingly, the Third Ring was built last. Geographical constraints can complicate the construction of a complete ring road. For example, the Baltimore Beltway in Maryland formerly crossed Baltimore Harbor on a high arch bridge prior to its collapse in 2024, and much of

1947-595: The country (everywhere apart from the Westfjords ), making it a popular itinerary to take for tourists and vacationing locals alike in Iceland. The Ring Road is paved for all of its length and is mostly two lanes wide: one lane going in each direction. The Icelandic Road Administration, Vegagerðin , oversees the maintenance and operation of the Ring Road. The road is generally of good quality, recent road improvement projects have improved safety considerably. However

2006-475: The country through Akureyri, making the opening a major transport improvement to the country. Many popular tourist attractions in Iceland, such as the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, Dyrhólaey cliffs, Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, as well as Mývatn lake, Dettifoss and Goðafoss waterfalls in the north are easily accessible from the Ring Road. The road passes through almost all areas of

2065-484: The country, mostly in the glacial plains of the south and the Eastfjords , 31 single-lane bridges exist on the Ring Road. Dating back to the original construction of the road in the 1970s, they are sometimes constructed of wood or steel. Vehicles who approach the bridge first have the right of way. These are often narrow and long, making passing difficult, especially when there is high traffic. Non-locals, unaware of

2124-621: The country. Heavy summer traffic is especially a problem during the summer at the town of Selfoss , where a single two lane bridge, Ölfusárbrú, is routed through the town carries practically all of the traffic in the south of the country, a significant bottleneck. This is planned to be replaced by a new bypass road and new 4-lane bridge over the Ölfus river, with current plans seeing it complete by 2025. The ring road has complete coverage of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations , with around 30 DC fast charging sites spaced approximately 50-80km apart. They are located in almost all towns along

2183-509: The downtown core. It is a freeway for its entire 78-kilometre (48 mi) length, and was built to reduce inner-city traffic congestion, created a bypass of Yellowhead Trail, and has improved the movement of goods and services across Edmonton and the surrounding areas. It was completed in October 2016 as the first free-flowing orbital road in Canada. Stoney Trail is a ring road that circles

2242-665: The highway's concurrent use as a through Interstate on its eastern portion. The longest complete beltway in the United States is the Charles W. Anderson Loop , a 94-mile (151 km) loop in Texas that forms a complete loop around the Greater San Antonio area. The longest complete belt road, or a beltway that is only two lanes, in the United States is Hawaii Belt Road , a 260-mile (420 km) belt in Hawaii that forms

2301-542: The long-proposed Outer Beltway around Washington, D.C., where options for a new western Potomac River crossing are limited by a nearly continuous corridor of heavily visited scenic, natural, and historical landscapes in the Potomac River Gorge and adjacent areas. When referring to a road encircling a capital city, the term "beltway" can also have a political connotation, as in the American term " Inside

2360-711: The northeast quadrant of the city. Hamilton , Ontario, has the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway , Highway 403 and the Red Hill Valley Parkway which form a ring on three sides. Sudbury , Ontario, has a partial ring road consisting of the Southwest and Southeast Bypasses segment of Highway 17 , and the Northwest Bypass segment of Highway 144 . An unofficial northeast "bypass" route can also be completed on city arterial roads that largely bypass

2419-522: The parent road, later reconnecting with the same highway. Such loops not only function as a bypass for through traffic, but also to serve outlying suburbs . In the United States, an Interstate highway loop is usually designated by a three-digit number beginning with an even digit before the two-digit number of its parent interstate. Interstate spurs, on the other hand, generally have three-digit numbers beginning with an odd digit. Circumferential highways are prominent features in or near many large cities in

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2478-691: The partially completed Stockholm Ring Road in Sweden runs through tunnels or over long bridges. Some towns or cities on sea coasts or near rugged mountains cannot have a full ring road. Examples of such partial ring roads are Dublin's ring road ; and, in the USA, Interstate 287 , mostly in New Jersey (bypassing New York City), and Interstate 495 around Boston , none of which completely circles these seaport cities. In other cases, adjacent international boundaries may prevent ring road completion. Construction of

2537-476: The ring road. One of the most renowned ring roads is the Vienna Ring Road ( Ringstraße ), a grand boulevard constructed in the mid-19th century and filled with representative buildings. Due to its unique architectural beauty and history, it has also been called the "Lord of the ring roads", and is declared by UNESCO as part of Vienna's World Heritage Site . Major European cities that are served by

2596-403: The ring road. In the southwestern corner of the country, near Reykjavík , between the larger towns of Mosfellsbær and Selfoss , the road is usually divided by a barrier and has three or four lanes of traffic, mostly being a 2+1 lane partly- controlled access highway , similar to a 2-lane expressway . At current traffic levels, 2+1 lane roads provide similar safety and traffic requirements to

2655-415: The road daily, rural sections serving routes between Reykjavik and Akureyri in the west and Reykjavík and Vík in the south see traffic volumes of around 2,000 to 5,000 vehicles per day. The stretches farthest away from larger towns, mostly in the sparsely inhabited east of the country see an average around 500 vehicles per day. Traffic on the ring road is also subject to considerable variation between

2714-445: The road is passable. The speed limit is 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) on open sections; 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) in tunnels and 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) through urban areas. A few speed cameras operate on roads just outside of Reykjavík and in all tunnels. In recent years, due to increased traffic and demands for higher road safety, many large improvements have been made in both capacity and safety of

2773-489: The road still has hazards, going over many higher-altitude mountain passes in all parts of the country, which can have steep gradients and sharp curves, as well as blind curves and summits and single-lane bridges, especially in the more rural east of the country. Driving in winter one must take special precautions and pre-check driving conditions with the Icelandic Road Administration to ensure

2832-404: The road, or for maintenance teams to clear the road of snow after major snowfalls. A few major mountain passes prone to closure in heavily trafficked parts of the ring road: Winter closures used to be more common in the past. In recent years, new tunnels such as the 7.4km long Vaðlaheiðargöng near Akureyri in the north, have reduced the need to close the road due to snow. Prior to rerouting,

2891-414: The roads are closed well in advance of a warning of a volcanic eruption. Since its completion, the ring road has seen constant growth in traffic, and has seen an even quicker growth during the recent rise in number of tourists arriving in Iceland. Average traffic recorded along the ring road rose from a consolidated count of 57,000 vehicles per day in 2005 to over 90,000 vehicles per day in 2019. Route 1

2950-543: The route between Breiðdalsvík and Egilsstaðir (over the Breiðdalsheiði plateau) in the east was often closed in winter. Route 1 was rerouted in November 2017, now using the somewhat sinuous coastal route via Reyðarfjörður , using (now former) Routes 96 and 92 to travel between the towns. Route 1 crosses a few glacial plains, such as Skeiðarársandur , which made the original road construction difficult in

3009-812: The route, as well as rest stops and other locations. Each site has anywhere from 2-16 charging posts and they are operated by various companies including N1 , Orka Nattúrinnar and Tesla . Charging power at each site ranges from 50-250kW and are CCS Type 2 standard, with most also supporting the older CHAdeMO standard. The longest stretch between chargers is a 113km section in the northeast, from Mývatn to Skjöldólfsstadir - where there are no amenities (including gasoline). The ring road first became covered by EV charging stations in 2018, initially by Orka Nátturinnar . Additionally, there are many slower AC charging stations at hotels, tourist attractions and towns. The route goes by many names depending on its location. The following table shows road names (excluding tunnels) in

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3068-408: The rules of single-lane bridges, have ended in head-on and serious collisions using these bridges. Considered a major safety issue, the Icelandic Road Administration aims to rebuild/upgrade all bridges on the ring road to modern two lane standards. Single-lane bridges were reduced from around 60 in 2010 to 32 in 2020. Within the next five years, an additional 14 bridges are to be rebuilt, mostly along

3127-461: The settler ships and was carried away by the water. Around the year 1000 many farms seem to have found themselves on the Mýrdalssandur. Sources mention four parishes in Álftaver  [ is ] [ˈaul̥taˌvɛːr̥] . These farms were, however, were mostly abandoned up to the 15th century, as a result of volcanic eruptions of the Katla, subsequent glacier runs and ashfall. At the beginning of

3186-402: The southern coast. Route 1 has the highest priority for snow removal from the Icelandic Road Administration and is serviced seven days a week during the winter, with teams keeping the road open as weather allows. Conditions are monitored 24/7 and relayed to the public through their website and telephone helpline. During extreme weather it may take hours until the weather calms down to open

3245-572: The term is the most commonly used, with "orbital" also used, but to a much lesser extent. In Europe and Australia, some ring roads, particularly longer ones of motorway standard, are known as "orbital motorways". Examples are the London Orbital (generally known as the M25; 188 km), Sydney Orbital Network (110 km) and Rome Orbital (68 km). In the United States many ring roads are called beltlines , beltways or loops , such as

3304-479: The urban core of the city, but are not fully controlled-access and must be shared with local traffic in the Nickel Centre and Rayside-Balfour districts of the city. Most major cities in Europe are served by a ring road that circles either the inner core of their metropolitan areas or the outer borders of the city proper or both. In major transit hubs, such as the Île-de-France region surrounding Paris and

3363-409: The winter and summer, with the traffic in summer often being double or more than during the winter. This is due to a lower flow of tourist and agricultural traffic, as well as the roads being less passable or even closed during the winter. Traffic can become considerably heavy on weekends during the summer, when locals flock to travel around the country for holidays, camping and summer house visits across

3422-465: Was built by the numerous jökulhlaups of the Mýrdalsjökull . The last large jökulhlaup was due to an explosive eruption of the Katla volcano under the glacier in 1918, and the water volume at the peak of the jökulhlaup was estimated to be around 200,000 - 300,000 m³/s. South of the road rises Hjörleifshöfði to a height of 231 m (758 ft). The mountain is named after Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson . He

3481-534: Was the first settler to come to Iceland with Ingólfr Arnarson . In the Middle Ages there was a fishing lake called Kerlingarfjörður [ˈcʰɛ(r)tliŋkarˌfjœrðʏr̥] at the mouth of the Múlakvísl . Probably it was not a fjord, but rather an extension of a river mouth. The name (isl. Kerling = the old woman) was created according to the land register book, after an old woman had fallen overboard from one of

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