Kvarken Bridge

Kvarken Bridge (Finnish: Merenkurkun silta, Swedish: Kvarkenbron) is a proposed bridge between Sweden and Finland across the strait of Kvarken as a part of the European route E12. The cost of the bridge has been estimated to about 1.5 to 2 billion euros. There are islands in the strait, and the sum of the lengths of the probably three bridge parts would be about 40 kilometres (25 mi). The Swedish minister of finance has said it is an interesting idea, but the idea is still decades from being brought to fruition. There is a debate in the coastal cities on both sides, like Umeå in Sweden and Vaasa in Finland.

The working group for the bridge has proposed a three-step programme:

1. To ensure that there is a ferry connection across the Kvarken. The current connection operated by RG Line is unprofitable.
2. To build a ferry harbour on Replot, Korsholm, to shorten the current travel time of 6 hours to about 5.
3. To build a bridge across the Kvarken.

In 2007, the Swedish Västerbotten business owners' association planned to commission a report into the significance of a bridge for the development of the region.^[1]

In 2024, Finland announced that it would spend 200,000 euros on preliminary studies for a future bridge.^[2]

A part of the area examined for a future bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If a future bridge were to avoid this area completely, the cost of a future bridge would rise considerably.