Arolan Freeway 9

Arolan Freeway 9 (Finnish: Moottoritie 9), signed and more commonly known as Freeway 9, is a major north-south freeway in the Republic of Arola. The Freeway 9 is the longest and oldest freeway in the country, spanning a length of 801.4 km (498 mi) and serving four provinces, including the Kelvia Capital District.

The Freeway 9 begins at the second-largest city in Arola at Uilo in the Valtala province, before continuing down to Pudas, the Kelvia city center and terminating at the town of Muhos in the Kronvik province. Opened in stages between 1962 and 1980, the Freeway 9 is the longest of the Arolan Ring Route, a three-freeway loop route which encircles the entire Arola mainland.

Upon the completion of the Freeway 9 in 1980, the highway was designated as the Samuel Salo Freeway, named after first Arolan president Samuel Salo, who also pioneered the Arolan Freeway System.

History
On August 20, 1958, Arolan president Samuel Salo was elected as the first president of Arola. He sought to improve roadways in the Republic of Arola, which at the time was mostly connected by a limited number of unpaved dirt roads, which could be bumpy at times.

In January 1959, Salo began laying up plans for Arola's first freeway and ordered his assistants to begin a search for skilled labourers and some convicts to build the road. Construction started in May that year and progressed well into the 1960s.

On December 30, 1962, the first section of the Arolan Freeway 9 was inaugurated between Tiilikkala and Korvola in the Kelvia Capital District.

In February 1969, the Kelvian section of the Arolan Freeway 9 was declared complete, and opened concurrently with the Arolan Freeway 14 that same month. At this point, Freeway 9 had also reached the province of Kronvik.

Freeway 9 was extended to Pudas in 1975-76, and the entire freeway was opened in 1980 with the final section opening to Uilo.

Kelvia Big Dig
Immediately after the Freeway 9 was fully completed, Arola experienced a surge of car traffic caused by the introduction of the Dillon Grande and the supermini boom.

To resolve this problem, the Arolan government spent 4 years drafting a white paper report using feedback from Kelvia's residents. In September 1991, the Arolan government came to a conclusion that highways at the Kelvia city center would have to be rerouted underground, to make way for a widening project of Kelvia's city roads. This whole scheme became known as the Kelvia Big Dig, inspired by the Boston Big Dig that was in planning process at the same time.

The elevated part of the Kelvian section of the Freeway 9 was planned to be relocated underground as part of the Kelvia Big Dig. On 7th December 2003, construction of the Freeway 9 tunnel commenced at Quay@KVK.

In March 2009, the Freeway 9 tunnel was declared complete and preparations were made before its planned summer 2009 opening. On 30th June 2009, southbound traffic was detoured to the new tunnel, with a ceremonial tour of the new tunnel and northbound traffic detoured the next day. On 3rd July 2009, the tunnel was officially dedicated as the Kayley E. Stevens Tunnel.

Valtala
The Freeway 9 begins as an elevated viaduct at the Koutaniemi - Uilo Airport exit of Freeway 8, where it branches off towards downtown Uilo and Lokhteo Beach, before merging with the Freeway 8 at Odensö. The Freeway 9 continues on an embankment as a 2+2 road through Gloms, Iskoinen and finally Jersö before exiting the Valtala province. The Valtala section has a total of 3 rest stops.

Pudas
As the Freeway 9 enters the Pudas province, there are less houses and man-made structures in the vicinity. At this point, the Freeway 9 starts to bend eastward towards Kelvia.

The remaining section is almost countryside, except when it passes the village of Yunkars and the Yunkars Wind Turbine. There are 4 rest stops in this section, as well as a in the Yunkars rest stop. 12 miles south of Yunkars, the Freeway 9 then enters the Yunkars South Capital Checkpoint, before exiting the Pudas province.

Kelvia Capital District
Upon entering the Capital District, there are approximately 3 miles of countryside before the vicinity is once again populated by suburbs. 7 miles in the Capital District, it splits into two with the Freeway 9 continuing to downtown Kelvia and the Freeway 14 bypassing the area. Half a mile after the split, the Freeway 9 enters the Kayley E. Stevens Tunnel and continues underneath Kelvia.

At Quay@KVK, the Freeway 9 meets the Freeway 15's southern terminus, before continuing east towards Kelvia Korvola Airport, where the Kayley E. Stevens Tunnel ends and eventually merges with the Freeway 14. At this point, the Freeway 9 is downgraded to a 2+1 road (the only highway in Arola to use this feature) due to space constraints. The Freeway 9 then enters the Hurskala Capital Checkpoint where it exits the Kelvia Capital District.

Kronvik
Entering the province of Kronvik, the Freeway 9 snakes through the Rivomaa Highlands, where the freeway goes through slopes. The Rivomaa Highlands section is extremely bumpy not only due to the terrain, but also the deterioration of the asphalt that was laid in the late 1960s.

After 17 miles of passing through the Rivomaa Highlands, the Freeway 9 enters the town of Muhos, where it terminates at a roundabout which also connects to the Freeway 6.