Seututie

Seututie is a Finnish term for a regional road, a category of public road that serves regional traffic within a geographical area. Seututeitä connect municipalities, towns, and important service centers, and they typically link to national highways and other major transport nodes. They are designed to carry mid-range traffic volumes and provide access to local services, workplaces, and tourist destinations, bridging the gap between long-distance expressways and local streets.

In the Finnish road network, seututie sits between valtatie (national highway) and paikallinen tie (local road). These roads support commuter and freight movements across municipalities and regions, facilitating regional development and mobility while remaining more modest in scale than the national highway system. They often traverse urban centers, rural areas, and peri-urban zones, enabling access to schools, hospitals, industrial estates, and cultural sites.

Administration and maintenance of seututeitä are managed within the national road network by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (Väylävirasto) in coordination with municipalities. Funding generally comes from the state budget, with regional development programs and local authorities contributing where appropriate. Classification and updates to seututie designations are part of nationwide planning efforts to reflect changing traffic patterns, population distribution, and regional priorities.

The term seututie is widely used in official planning documents and maps. Roads designated as seututie carry a regional importance warranting state-level oversight, while remaining distinct from primary national highways in terms of scale, purpose, and traffic expectations.