The growth of traffic in and around Moscow in the 1950s made city planners realise that Russia's largest
metropolis needed a
bypass to redirect incoming traffic from major roads that run through the city. Construction started in 1956. Opened in 1962, the MKAD had four asphalt lanes and ran 108.9 kilometres along the city's borders. Although not yet a
freeway, it featured
interchanges at major
junctions, very few
traffic lights, and a speed limit of . From 1960 to 1984 the MKAD followed the administrative boundary of Moscow, but in the 1980s the city began annexing territory outside the beltway. In December 2002,
Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo became the first
Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of the MKAD. From 1995 to 1999 workers widened the road from the initial four to ten lanes; all
intersections became
grade-separated,
pedestrian bridges were built to accommodate pedestrians, traffic lights were removed, and a solid concrete barrier was installed in the
median. In 2001, all slow-moving vehicles were banned from entering the MKAD, and the renovated road received a
freeway designation from the
mayor's office. ==Route==