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We consider the problem of preprocessing a weighted directed planar graph in order to quickly answer exact distance queries. The main tension in this problem is between space S and query time Q , and since the mid-1990s all results had polynomial time-space tradeoffs, e.g., Q = ~ Θ( n/√ S ) or Q = ~Θ( n 5/2 /S 3/2 ). In this article we show that there is no polynomial tradeoff between time and space and that it is possible to simultaneously achieve almost optimal space n 1+ o (1) and almost optimal query time n o (1) . More precisely, we achieve the following space-time tradeoffs: n 1+ o (1) space and log 2+ o (1) n query time, n log 2+ o (1) n space and n o (1) query time, n 4/3+ o (1) space and log 1+ o (1) n query time. We reduce a distance query to a variety of point location problems in additively weighted Voronoi diagrams and develop new algorithms for the point location problem itself using several partially persistent dynamic tree data structures.