The route options for the new Port Tunnel to the West Harbour are now clear. Vuosaari is also preparing to repair its existing tunnel.

1. Port Tunnel route can now be chosen

The planning and evaluation of the route options for the Port Tunnel, which forms part of the Western Harbour expansion, have already been ongoing for several years. The final two options have now been completed in terms of the masterplan and their environmental impact assessments. With all the facts in place, it’s now time to make a choice.

For us, the options are starting to look pretty clear. One option is considerably more expensive and will take a lot longer to implement. The other requires solutions to issues concerning Lapinlahti Park and nature values. We have now reached the point when we must decide on the best solution for the city. The decisions should be made over the coming months.

2. Vuosaari Tunnel to close for repairs

Lifecycle repairs are set to begin in Vuosaari Tunnel, which has been in use for about 15 years. Fintraffic will be renewing the tunnel’s safety equipment. Although these renovations are necessary, they will unfortunately have a major impact on traffic in Vuosaari.

The one-year project is scheduled to begin in early 2025. Vuosaari Tunnel will be closed for most of the time during the renovations, which means that traffic will be directed along an alternative route through the local street network. This will require improvements to be made to the street network during 2024 in order to avoid congestion at and around the harbour during the tunnel repairs. The street network cannot currently withstand the volume of daily traffic that would be caused by closing the tunnel.

3. Strikes hopefully over

This is the second year in a row when ports have been affected by lengthy strikes. The preceding years had been relatively calm in this respect.

This year, political strikes have disrupted both the port’s operations and Finland’s entire foreign trade system, first for five days in February and then again for four weeks in March–April. We hope not to see such extensive strikes in the future, at least not the political demonstrations that are fatally shutting down Finnish ports and foreign trade.  And this is exactly what the government proposal is seeking.

However, some kind of agreement or consensus must be achieved in the labour market. Otherwise, there is a risk that our ports will be shut down again next winter when collective agreement talks start up in the autumn.