Roads in Ukraine's transportation network are divided into two main categories: general-use roads, which consist of streets and roads in cities, villages, and other populated areas; and specialized roads, which include official, private, and special-use roads. Most members of the public travel on general-use roads, the most prominent of which are part of the international E-road network. However, high-speed highways, locally known as avtomahistrali (motorways) or shvydkisni dorohy (expressways), are rare and only exist on certain segments of major routes. In early 2010, in preparation for Ukraine co-hosting the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament, significant infrastructure improvement projects were announced by the newly-established Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, then headed by Borys Kolesnikov. These efforts fell short of expectations in some areas, and the road network at-large is still in need of significant renovation.Soroka, et al. “Current state and development trends of the Transport Industry of Ukraine.” Automobile Roads and Road Construction, no. 114.1, 2023, pp. 108–115, http://ek-visnik.dp.ua/wp-content/uploads/pdf/2023-1/Soroka.pdf
Ukraine inherited its transportation network from the Ukrainian SSR (Soviet Ukraine), whose roads were integrated into the larger Soviet road system. In 1940, Ukraine had only 270,700 kilometers of roads, only 10.8% of which had paved surfaces. The present-day road network was mostly built during the 1960s and 1970s. 99% of roads in the modern network are public-use, of which 12% are considered to have 'national importance' and 87% to have 'local importance'. The whole network of all automobile roads (roadways) is approximately long, of which is hard surfaced. Some critics point out that road conditions and road safety are in dangerous states of disarray.Sylvester, P. Driving in Ukraine: Beware of Poor Road Safety. World Nomads. 26 Jun 2015
Beginning in 2020, the "Great Construction" project facilitated the reconstruction or renovation of many roads. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also heavily impacted infrastructure work in the country, leading to billions of dollars (USD) in construction costs. In 2023 alone, the Government of Ukraine reported making more than 2,000 kilometers of emergency repairs on motorways, highways, and other national roads.More than of state and local roads, and 344 bridges and overpasses, were destroyed or damaged as a result of the invasion.
Overview
After the fall of the Soviet Union, all road service state bodies within Ukraine were reorganized. Ukravtodor was established as a state agency and corporation in 1990, replacing the Ministry of Roadways of Soviet Ukraine as the body governing automobile roads in modern Ukraine. It is supplemented by a project institute Ukrhiprodor which designs objects of road management. UkravtodorUkravtodor Regulations is supervised by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine On February 28, 2002, the state-owned open stock company Avtomobilni dorohy Ukrainy (ADU, ) was created by Presidential Decree.ADU official website The company was directly involved in road construction and maintenance. In 2016 ADU was merged into Ukravtodor, and the latter now owns 100% of ADU's shares.УКРАВТОДОР ПОВНІСТЮ ЗМІНИВ КЕРІВНИЙ СКЛАД ПАТ «ДАК «АВТОМОБІЛЬНІ ДОРОГИ УКРАЇНИ» ТА ДП «УКРДОРІНВЕСТ», Ukravtodor (18 July 2016)
In 2015, the World Bank Group approved a US$560 million loan to improve road conditions in Ukraine, particularly along the M03 route between Poltava and Kharkiv.World Bank Paves the Way for Safer Roads in Ukraine. The World Bank. November 3, 2015
In 2016, many of Ukraine's major provincial highways were in very poor condition, with Ukravtodor reporting that 97% of the country's roads needed repair. This high figure was attributed mostly to corruption-driven budget allocations and to lackluster enforcement of weight restrictions on trucks. That same year, the road repair budget was set at about ₴20 billion. In 2017, the Groysman government began a three year large-scale renovation of Ukraine's motorway infrastructure, with the road budget increasing to ₴42 billion in 2018,Road works booming: Ukraine plans to change its road map within 3 years, UNIAN (16 November 2017) ₴51 billion in 2019,Дороги VS Шляхи, Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (2019) and reaching a record high of ₴70 billion in 2020.Володимир Зеленський підписав зміни до держбюджету на 2020 рік щодо фінансування боротьби з поширенням коронавірусу, president.gov.ua (18 April 2020)
Ukraine's increased efforts at road maintenance and construction have shown some tangible results: on the World Economic Forum's Quality of Roads Report, Ukraine rose from 139th place in 2014 to 119th place in 2019, improving 20 places in five years.
Classifications
The state highways have the index letters of M, H, P, and T, each standing for a respective letter in Cyrillic. These 'state-importance' roads are utilized by the European E-network of highways.
Both the M-network ( - International) and the H-network ( - National) of roads use two-digit numbers ranging from 01 to 33. These roads are designed for major transportation corridors across the country and form part of the European highway system.
The P-network ( - Regional) of roads also uses two-digit numbers, ranging from 01 to 84.
The T-network ( - Territorial) of roads form the territorial network within each of the first-level administrative divisions of Ukraine (oblasts of Ukraine), and their index is a four-digit number where two of the digits identify the region where a given road is located.
Avtomahistral
In Ukraine, a high-speed divided highway or motorway is called an avtomahistral (). Currently, these act not as a distinct route network, but rather as a standard to which portions of the M-roads are adapted.
In the late 2000's, two of the first improved avtomahistral motorways were opened: the Kyiv – Boryspil route (), which takes up the segment of the M03 road connecting the capital with Boryspil International Airport; and the M29 which connects Kharkiv and Dnipro by running parallel with the M18. The Kyiv – Boryspil freeway stretches for and has a traffic capacity of 40,000 vehicles per day.
Road characteristics categories Beyond classification by geographic levels, the roads in Ukraine are also categorized by their ability to handle varying degrees of traffic. There are five categories, with Category I split into A and B subcategories. Although all Category I roads are considered "avtomahistral", not all of them would be considered real motorways. Since around 2010, the two major avtomahistrals, Kyiv – Boryspil and Kharkiv – Dnipro, have been deemed the top roads of category IA.
Categories IA IB II III IV V Average traffic intensity daily (in vehicles) >7,000 >7,000 >3,000-7,000 >1,000-3,000 >200-1,000 <200 Maximum traffic intensity daily (in vehicles) >14,000 >14,000 >6,000-14,000 >2,000-6,000 >400-2,000 <400 Estimated traffic speed (km/h) 130 110 90 90 90 90 Number of lanes in both directions 4-6 4-6 2 2 2 1 (total) Width of lanes (m) 3,75 3,75 3,75 3,75 3,5 4,5 Width of median (m) 6 5
Width of an edge reinforced lane on median (m) 1 1
Width of an edge reinforced lane on roadside (m) 0,75 0,75 0,75 0,5
Total road width (m) 28,5 27,5 15 12 10 6 Radius of a curvature on a turn (m) 1,200 800 800 600 300 150 Maximum lengthwise gradient (per mil) 30 40 40 50 60 70
List of international E-road network routes in Ukraine The international E-road network and its 'European routes' run throughout the continent of Europe, in addition to adjacent islands, parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. The European routes in Ukraine mostly travel along Ukrainian 'M-network' or 'International' roads.
In the list below, main routes are indicated by a green background. These have numbers ending in either zero (0) or five (5). Obsolete routes are indicated by a red background. Odd-numbered routes run north-south and even-numbered routes run east-west.
HighwayLocal routesLength in UkraineNotes37 kmThe shortest (Ukraine-only length) – – – 1334 kmThe longest (Ukraine-only length) – – – – – – – – ... (Moldova) ... – – – /41 km – Changed to – (Turkey)692 kmFerry service in Odesa (Russia)423.6 kmUses Kerch Strait ferry – – 777 kmAuxiliary routes62.5 km486.5 kmKyiv – HlukhivHlukhiv (same as )160 km 221 kmLocated entirely within Ukraine26 kmChanged to 58.7 km260 km – – – 507 km
Transportation corridors
Ten Pan-European corridors for transport were defined in 1994 with the goal of improving connectivity in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine houses portions of three of these corridors: III (Brussels – Dresden – Kraków – Kyiv), V (Venice – Budapest – Lviv – Kyiv), and IX (Helsinki – Saint-Petersburg – Homiel – Kyiv – Chișinău – Bucharest – Thrace).
Border checkpoints
Country Highway Nearest settlement Region Russia Bachivsk Sumy Novoazovsk Donetsk Dovzhanskyi Luhansk Shcherbakivka Kharkiv Izvaryne Luhansk Poland Shehyni Lviv Krakivets Rava-Ruska Ustyluh Volyn Yahodyn Hungary Kosyny Zakarpattia Slovakia Uzhhorod Maly Berezny Moldova Kuchurhan Odesa Mamalyha Chernivtsi Platonove Odesa Mohyliv-Podilskyi Vinnytsia Romania Velyka Kopania Zakarpattia Reni Odesa Terebleche Chernivtsi Belarus Domanove Volyn Novi Yarylovychi Chernihiv
Notable roadworks projects Note that some of these projects may have been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine from 2022 onwards.
Dnipro – Reshetylivka Highway (H-31) As of 2020, renovation has been occurring on the H-31 highway, which connects the capital with Dnipro, a major industrial hub. The largest construction site is located in the Poltava region, where a 7-kilometre section of concrete-surface highway is being built from scratch.В Полтавской области показали, как строят участок автодороги "с нуля" (фото) The bypass section around Poltava includes a 518-metre long viaduct.БУДІВНИЦТВО ПІВДЕННО-ЗАХІДНОЇ ОБ’ЇЗНОЇ ДОРОГИ ПОЛТАВИ З ВИСОТИ ПТАШИНОГО ПОЛЬОТУ
Kyiv – Odesa Highway (M-05) As of 2020, roadworks continue with the goal of reconstructing the full 453 km length of the Kyiv–Odesa Highway. Reconstruction is scheduled to finish in 2021. According to Ukravtodor, the reconstruction is "complex", requiring work on additional auxiliary road services such as the installation of weigh in motion (WiM) complexes, grade-separated intersections, and the abandonment of left-turning lanes.В "Укравтодоре" намерены полностью обновить трассу Киев-Одесса за два года
Zhytomyr Northern Bypass (M-06) As of 2020, the Northern Bypass section of the M-06 Highway around Zhytomyr is being expanded to four lanes with an increased maximum speed of 110 km/h.Северный объезд Житомира будет расширен до четырех полос движения The project includes four multi-level interchanges and three grade-separated railway crossings. Construction is scheduled to finish in 2020.Гройсман в рамках рабочего визита осмотрел реконструкцию житомирской объездной. ФОТОРЕПОРТАЖ
Rivne Northern Bypass, Phase One A two-lane bypass road is currently under construction around the city of Rivne. The first phase is a built-from-scratch 6 km road section linking the N-25 and T-18-32 highways. The project aims to relieve heavy transit traffic in the city centreБелорусы построят объездную дорогу в Ровно and includes a 280-metre-long overpass above a ravine.Как ремонтируют мосты и дороги в Украине летом 2020 года
Local importance routes The 'local importance' roads have three classes but only two indexes (T and O) as the raion-level network of roads does not have an implemented index. Local road indexes are also supplemented by an oblast index noting where they are located.
Index Oblast/City Road length, km Index Oblast/City Road length, km Index Oblast/City Road length, km 01 Crimea 6,605 10 Kyiv Oblast 8,490 20