The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (), or MKAD (), is a
ring road running predominantly on the city border of
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits (including ten interchanges). It was completed in 1962. The speed limit is 100 km/h.
History
The growth of traffic in and around Moscow in the 1950s made the city planners realise Russia's largest
metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big city b ...
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
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
, it featured
interchanges at major
junctions, very few
traffic light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...
s, and a speed limit of .
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.
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
The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
. In 2001, all slow-moving vehicles were banned from entering the MKAD, and the renovated road received a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
designation from the
mayor's office.
Route
Gallery
See also
Ring roads in Moscow:
*
Boulevard Ring
The Boulevard Ring (; transliteration: ''Bulvarnoye Koltso'') is Moscow's second innermost ring road (the first is formed by the Central Squares of Moscow running along the former walls of Kitai-gorod). Boulevards form a semicircular chain along ...
*
Garden Ring
*
Third Ring Road
*
Central Ring Road
Comparison to other ring roads encircling big cities:
*
Saint Petersburg Ring Road
*
Minsk Ring Road
*
Berliner Ring in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
*
London Orbital motorway
*
Boulevard Périphérique and
Paris super-périphérique in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
*
Grande Raccordo Anulare in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
*
Autopista de Circunvalación M-40 and
M-50 (Spain) in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
*
Anillo Periférico in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
*
Washington, DC Beltway
*
Interstate 610 (Texas) and
Texas State Highway Beltway 8 in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
*
Ring roads of Beijing
*
Tokyo Central Circular Expressway,
Tokyo Outer Expressway, and four other regular roads, encircling
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
*
Circumferential roads in and around
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
, acting as beltways for the cities in the capital
*
Notes and references
External links
The MKAD on Google Maps.A view of the MKAD from a pedestrian bridge.
{{Roads in Moscow
Geography of Moscow
Ring roads in Moscow
Transport in Moscow