American cities may be attempting to be more European, what with pedestrianization and density being buzzwords in urban planning communities, but Europe is emulating the US in one way: ring roads. While some roads like London’s M25 or Paris’ Peripherique are famous – many former Warsaw Pact countries are racing to update their infrastructure to adapt to their new status in the European Union, and it seems that the first thing many countries do from an infrastructure perspective is to build a beltway around their capital. Here is a look at some of them:

Budapest’s M0 Ring Road has been around for a while, at least on the southern side of town where it is not full motorway standards. At the turn of the century, work began on the eastern half of the beltway which has since been completed. The northern side, which includes a cable-stayed bridge over the Danube opened in September of 2008. The M0 is slowly being extended westward, however the western-most side of the road is not funded as of yet. M0 is a curious number but, as it is the wheel from which most of the country’s other motorways begin, it is logical (Brussels’ ring road is also numbered 0).

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The Megyeri Bridge takes the M0 Beltway over the Danube River north of Budapest. Photo: AAK Hungary

Prague – About 15 kilometers of Prague’s beltway is complete, and the rest of it (designated as R1) is under construction.

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A view of the completed portion of the R1 Ring Road around Prague, construction continues on the remainder. Permission to use is pending.
Photo credit: ceskedalnice.cz

Sofia – Bulgaria’s capital has had a ring road for a number of years, but it was built in the communist days and is generally considered to be substandard with many at-grade intersections. Construction is currently underway to transform it into a full motorway and work should be done by 2010.

Warsaw – EU member Poland’s capital Warsaw sees one of the continent’s main east-west roads go right through the center of the city. Poles often note with dismay that their capital is one of the few large capitals in Europe without a beltway. One is currently in the design stages. The southern bypass, at least, is scheduled to be complete in 2012.

Bucharest – Construction started in 2008 on a Motorway Ring Road around Bucharest, the capital of EU member Romania. The road is being built in two phases and will be numbered “DN100”.

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The Bucharest Ring Road motorway plan, map: Romanian Transport Authority

Vienna – The S1 outer ring road was completed on the southeast side of the city in April 2006, and a northern extension to complete the road around the eastern and northern sides of the metro area (also numbered S1) has been delayed until 2018 due to funding concerns. I should note to all readers that Austria was never communist and has been in the EU since 1995, I just felt like including it. I don’t want to get nasty letters from Wieners :)

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 The S1 southeast of Vienna, photo: Österreich Werbung