Roads in the Falkland Islands

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Typical Falkland Islands road

In 1982, the Falkland Islands had no roads outside Stanley, only tracks.[1] By 2007, the Falkland Islands had a road network of 488 miles (786 km) with a further roads planned for construction link to all occupied mainland settlements by 2013.[2] In 2012, the Falkland Islands Government classified the 536 miles (862 km) road network - East Falkland 304 miles (489 km) and West Falkland 232 miles (373 km) - into "A" roads, "B" roads and "C" roads for purposes of Highways Asset Management Plan. The "A" roads are the 75 miles (121 km) link between Stanley and New Haven (East Falkland) and the 48 miles (78 km) link between Port Howard and Fox Bay (West Falkland).[3] All roads within Stanley are asphalted as are the ones at Mount Pleasant Airport (MPA). The road between Stanley and MPA is mostly gravel all-weather roads (as like the rest of the roads in the islands) with some short asphalted sections.[4][5][6] The road between Stanley and MPA has a large trench on either side, which will ground any vehicle driving into it. These trenches were allegedly dug deeper than they needed to be as annual rainfall was taken as a number for the monthly rainfall.[7]

Stanley has two taxi services which can be used for travel within the town and the surrounding areas. A variety of four-wheel drive vehicles can be hired in Stanley, which are essential for travel along unpaved roads that are potentially badly potholed.[8][9] A bus service ferries passengers between the main airport for international flights at Mount Pleasant and Stanley.[10] Bicycles can also be hired, though because of the unsealed roads and hilly terrain, these are more suitable for use around the Stanley area.[11]

Speed limits are 25 mph (40 km/h) in built-up areas and 40 mph (64 km/h) elsewhere.[12]


References

  1. ^ "Falkland Focus - News from the Falkland Islands Government" (PDF). July–August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Transport and Communication". Falkland Islands Government. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010. Source uses metric units.
  3. ^ "Priorities for Roads Maintenance, Increased Funding for Grading, Capping and for Surfacing the MPA Road" (PDF). Falkland Islands Executive Council. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012. Source uses metric units.
  4. ^ "Falkland Islands". Travellerspoint Travel Community. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  5. ^ "Falkland Islands - Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki". www.sabre-roads.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  6. ^ "Windswept, remote...who would want to live in the Falkland Islands?". The Independent. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  7. ^ Bicheno, Hugh (2006). Razor's Edge - The Unofficial History of the Falklands War. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 337, 338. ISBN 978-0-7538-2186-2.
  8. ^ "Vehicle hire". Falkland Islands Tourist Board. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  9. ^ "British Forces South Atlantic Islands Families Pre-arrival Pack" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Bus and taxi". Falkland Islands Tourist Board. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  11. ^ "Bicycle Hire". web page. Falkland Islands Tourist Board. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  12. ^ "The Falkland Islands" (PDF). Falkland Islands Tourist Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2010.

External links

Media related to Transport in the Falkland Islands at Wikimedia Commons