Moscow Ring Road

The growth of traffic in and around Moscow in the 1950s made the city planners realise Russia's largest metropolis needed a bypass to redirect incoming traffic from major roads that run through the city. Opened in 1961, the MKAD had four lanes of asphalt running 108.9 kilometres along the city borders. Although not yet a freeway, it featured interchanges at major junctions, very few traffic lights and a speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph).

For a long time the MKAD served as the administrative boundary of Moscow city, until in the 1980s Moscow started annexing territory outside the beltway. In December 2002 Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo became the first Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of MKAD.[2]

In 1995–1999, the road was widened from the initial four to ten lanes, while all intersections became grade-separated, bridges were built to accommodate pedestrians, traffic lights were removed, and a solid concrete barrier was installed in the median. In 2001, all slow-moving vehicles were banned from entering the MKAD, and the renovated road received a freeway designation from the mayor's office.

Ring roads in Moscow:

• Boulevard Ring
• Garden Ring
• Third Ring Road

Comparison to other ring roads encircling big cities:

• Saint Petersburg Ring Road
• Ring roads of Beijing
• London Orbital motorway
• Washington, DC Beltway
• A23 in Vienna
• Boulevard Périphérique in Paris
• Grande Raccordo Anulare in Rome
• Autopista de Circunvalación M-40 and M-50 (Spain) in Madrid
• Tokyo Central Circular Expressway, Tokyo Outer Expressway and other four regular roads, encircling Tokyo

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MKAD (Moscow).

• The MKAD on Google Maps.
• A view of the MKAD from a pedestrian bridge.