 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Section 1 | ||||
| West end |  N19 inShannon Airport, Ireland | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| East end | Dublin, Ireland | |||
| Section 2 | ||||
| West end | Liverpool, United Kingdom | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| East end | Kingston-upon-Hull, United Kingdom | |||
| Section 3 | ||||
| West end | Esbjerg, Denmark | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end |  E4 inStockholm, Sweden | |||
| Section 4 | ||||
| West end |  E67 inTallinn, Estonia | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end | Saint Petersburg, Russia | |||
| Location | ||||
| Countries | Ireland,United Kingdom,Denmark,Sweden,Estonia,Russia | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
European route E20 is a part of theUnited NationsInternational E-road network. It runs roughly west–east fromShannon Airport, Ireland toSaint Petersburg, Russia.
Its length is 1,880 km (1,170 mi)[citation needed] but it is not continuous; at three points, a sea crossing is required.Roll-on/roll-off ferries make the crossings betweenDublin andLiverpool as well as betweenStockholm andTallinn. No publicly accessible ferries traverse theNorth Sea fromKingston-upon-Hull toEsbjerg(as of 2019)[citation needed], but a ferry for commercial drivers runs betweenImmingham and Esbjerg on most days.[1]
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The initial section of the E20 fromShannon Airport to Dublin viaLimerick is approximately 228 kilometres (142 miles) long and is only partially signed, along the M7/N7. The section from Shannon Airport to east of Limerick is mainlydual carriageway, with a short section ofmotorway as part of the Limerick Southern Ring Road. TheShannon Tunnel, opened on 16 July 2010, completed thebypass of Limerick. The section from Limerick toNaas is motorway (M7), and the final section from Naas to Dublin is dual carriageway (N7). A ferry must be used from Dublin to Holyhead, to access Liverpool.[2]
E20 follows the A5080 fromLiverpool toHuyton, theM62 andM60 fromHuyton toSouth Cave, and theA63 fromSouth Cave toKingston upon Hull. The route length across the UK is 205 kilometres (127 mi) in total but is not signposted.
There are no ferries between Kingston upon Hull andEsbjerg. Alternative ferries were once available fromImmingham, which is 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Kingston upon Hull, andHarwich, which is 350 kilometres (220 mi) from Kingston upon Hull. There are no longer any passenger routes operating between the UK and Scandinavia.
The closest alternative is to take theEurotunnel Shuttle fromCheriton (Folkestone) toCalais, or take a ferry fromHarwich toHook of Holland. Both of these routes would require a detour of around 900 miles (940 miles to Esbjerg, as this route would require you to drive along the E20 to reach Esbjerg).[3]
In Denmark, E20 is a motorway fromEsbjerg to theØresund Bridge. The length of the Danish part is 315 km (196 mi).
It passes first alongJutland from Esbjerg toKolding, then crosses theLittle Belt Bridge ontoFunen. E20 crosses the entirety of Funen, passing approximately 2 km south of Odense. Then, atNyborg, E20 crosses theGreat Belt Fixed Link ontoZealand. E20 follows the Vestmotorvejen untilKøge, where it goes north to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, E20 passes south of the city, crossing ontoKastrup where it meets theCopenhagen Airport. BetweenKøge andCopenhagen, the road has three E-road numbers (alsoE47 andE55).
The Great Belt Bridge and Øresund Bridge are both tolled.[4][5] The Øresund crossing begins as a tunnel at Kastrup, which then transfers onto the bridge at the man-made islandPeberholm. The road crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden on the Øresund Bridge.
In Sweden, E20 is a motorway from theÖresund Bridge inMalmö toAlingsås 48 km northeast ofGothenburg, a 330 km (210 mi) long motorway. Furthermore, it is a motorway most of the route from Vretstorp (20 km (12 mi) west ofÖrebro) toStockholm.
The Swedish part of E20 is 770 km (480 mi) long. Its extent is shared withE6 along a 280 km (170 mi) long stretch, withE18 along 50 km (31 mi) and withE4 along 35 km (22 mi).
The part through Stockholm has very heavy traffic, including the most heavily trafficked road in Scandinavia,Essingeleden (160,000/day). There is often congestion on this stretch. A new tunnel for route E20, "Norra länken", was built north of the city center and opened 30 November 2014.[6] The plannedFörbifart Stockholm bypass will divert traffic from Essingeleden.
BetweenStockholm andTallinn a car ferry departs daily, taking 15 hours. The port in Stockholm is located atLilla Värtan, about 4 km northeast of the central core of the city.
In Estonia, E20 follows the route of nationalmain road nr. 1 (Tallinn–Narva). In Tallinn to relieve traffic a bridge has been built on the intersection of theE263 and the E20. The E20 across Estonia is partially an unsigned expressway for 87 km east of Tallinn toHaljala along with a section nearKohtla-Järve andJõhvi (km 155.9–163.2). The speed limit on the dual carriageway sections is 110 km/h in summer and 90 km/h in the winter with some dual carriageway sections allowing 100 km/h in the winter months but these are set to the parts of the dual carriageway sections where there's not a greater risk of wildlife and pedestrians.
The remainder being single carriageway all the way toNarva where it crosses toRussia on theFriendship bridge.
The distance from Tallinn to the Russian border at theNarva River is 218 km.
In Russia, the route takes the Narva Highway (also listed in the Russian road numbering system as theA180 route, formerly known as the M11 route) running fromIvangorod toSaint Petersburg as a dual-lane highway. The distance from Ivangorod to Saint Petersburg is 142 km.
The border control facilities at the Estonia-Russia crossing are equipped and being operated for a limited amount of traffic on both sides of the border. The border crossing requires a reservation - despite this, waiting lines still can extend for many hours and even days.[7]
Ireland
United Kingdom
A5036:Bootle
M57:Liverpool Outer Ring Road (Whole length)
M62:Huyton -Manchester (Interchange with
E5 and start of multiplex with
E22 at
Warrington)
M60:Manchester Outer Ring Road (Clockwise)M62:Manchester -
(Interchange with
E15 at
Pontefract and end of multiplex withE22 at
Goole)
A63:
-Hull
A1033:Hull
Denmark
Sweden
E20:Malmö (
E22 /E65, Start of Concurrency with
E6) -Helsingborg (
E4) -Gothenburg (
E45, End of Concurrency withE6) -Örebro (Start of Concurrency with
E18) -Arboga (End of Concurrency withE18) -Eskilstuna -Södertälje (Start of Concurrency withE4) -Stockholm (End of Concurrency withE4, TowardsE18)
Estonia
Russia
