Paasikiven–Kekkosentie ("Paasikivi–Kekkonen Road"), orRantaväylä, is a busy cartraffic route located inTampere,Finland, which serves as a regionaltransit road and a significant access route to thecity center. It is a four-lane highway owned by the Finnish state and part ofHighway 12.Paasikiven–Kekkosentie is located between theNokia's motorway and theTeiskontie street junction.^[1][2][3]

The originallyPaasikiven–Kekkosentie was seven kilometers long and was built in several phases.^[3][4] The first part was completed on the southern shore ofLake Näsijärvi and north of Tampere's city center in the mid-1970s. The last part at thePetsamo district was opened to traffic in 1989.^[5][6] At the planning stage, the highway was calledKehätie ("Ring Road"), but later the western part was namedPaasikiventie and the eastern partKekkosentie in thetown plan.Paasikiventie changed toKekkosentie on the shore ofTammerkoski at the eastern end of the Näsinsilta bridge.^[3][5][7][8]

The namePaasikiventie refers to PresidentJ. K. Paasikivi, who lived in Tampere as an early child.^[9] When the street name was entered in the town plan in the early 1970s, one hundred years had passed since Paasikivi was born. The nameKekkosentie, which was included in the town plan in 1977, is intended to honor PresidentUrho Kekkonen, who had connections to Tampere through businessman Kalle Kaihari.^[8][10][11] At the time of the completion of Paasikiven–Kekkosentie, the so-calledPaasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine prevailed inFinnish foreign policy.^[12][10]

Paasikiventie andKekkosentie were originally streets managed and operated by the city, but in the mid-1990s they were converted into state-maintained public roads. The road section between Mustanlahti andNaistenlahti was widened in 1997.^[5][12] Completed in 2016, theTampere Tunnel, which is a couple of kilometers long, changed the alignment of the fairway so thatPaasikiventie is now located on the west side of the tunnel (west ofSantalahti) andKekkosentie on the east side of the tunnel (east of Naistenlahti). The tunnel section is notPaasikiventie orKekkosentie, but the name of the underground road isRantatunneli. With the tunnel, the above-ground road section between Santalahti and Naistenlahti became obsolete from Highway 12, and was renamedPaasikivenkatu–Kekkosenkatu. The wordkatu (translated "street") tells that the responsibility for maintaining the road lies with the city of Tampere.^{[13][14][10][15]}

• Mannerheimintie

61°30′06.71767″N23°43′47.16336″E / 61.5018660194°N 23.7297676000°E /61.5018660194; 23.7297676000

• Streets in Tampere
• Roads in Finland
• Keskusta (Tampere)
• Sampo
• Urho Kekkonen

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