Busiest road in Finland a motorway after fifty years

The final stretch of the E18 motorway between Helsinki and Turku in southwestern Finland was opened in early 2009. The section was built in record-breaking time.

“This last stretch was built in three years,” says Tom Schmidt proudly. He is the Managing Director of the special-purpose company Tieyhtiö Ykköstie Oy.

“All in all, it has taken over 50 years to build the whole motorway from Helsinki to Turku. The first stretch was built in the late 1960s, and now, finally, we have a full-length motorway.”

Now that the 51-kilometre stretch of road is completed, the entire 160-kilometre route between Helsinki and Turku is a four-lane dual carriageway. The completed section cuts the driving time between the two cities by half an hour, even though the actual road length is just a few kilometres shorter than before. The E18 is Finland’s busiest road in an east-west direction and the most important route for international traffic in the country.

The new road section is exceptional in Finnish terms. Tunnels comprise one-tenth of the road, due both to the topography and the desire to reduce the environmental impact.

“The area has deep rock cuttings, banks and narrow valleys of fields or woods between high rock ridges. The tunnels enable the motorway to pass smoothly in spite of the topography,” explains Mr Schmidt.

Safety paramount

Improving safety was a key reason to upgrade the busy route. The old road was crowded and the scene of several bad accidents. The new road is now three times safer than the old one, and it is estimated that over the next ten years there will be fifty fewer fatalities and 250 fewer injuries. Safety features include interchanges, separate lanes, high animal fences and landscape contouring.

In the tunnels, preventive safety is crucial. All seven tunnels consist of two separate lanes, with connecting points every 250 metres. Twin tunnels eliminate the risk of head-on collisions, and facilitate rescue work in case of emergency, such as fire.

“The tunnels are equipped with state-of-the-art systems for supervision, traffic control and safety,” says Mr Schmidt.

Wildlife influenced planning and building

The diverse wildlife in the area has to be catered for in both the planning and construction of the new road section.

“The road is sometimes dubbed ‘the wilderness motorway’. The tunnels make it possible for animals, such as moose, to roam the area freely. The routes of the rare flying squirrel were taken into consideration in the very early planning phase. A total of 40 crossings were provided for flying squirrels, and in one location fully-grown trees were planted between the lanes-a sort of an emergency landing strip,” notes Mr Schmidt.

The environmental approach to the design and building of the road meant local inhabitants were also taken into consideration.

The tunnels reduce noise and keep the landscape intact, both important from an ecological and aesthetic point of view. Above the longest tunnel, running for 2.2 kilometres, the wilderness was preserved as a result of the combined efforts of the City of Lohja, local inhabitants and Ykköstie. Funds for the preservation were raised by organising the Five Tunnel Marathon event in October 2008.

Life-cycle model means efficient building

The motorway stretch was implemented as a public-private partnership, also known as the life-cycle model. In this model, public and private sectors work together within the framework of a long-term agreement. The life-cycle model is based on the principle that the state purchases the construction work, the maintenance and the financing of the road from a private contractor.

For this project, the Finnish Road Administration (Finnra) purchased planning, construction and financing from Tieyhtiö Ykköstie Oy. Ykköstie is jointly owned by Swedish Skanska, British John Laing and Finnish Lemminkäinen.

“The project has not been dependent on funds from the national budget, a fact that enabled the short building time,” says Mr Schmidt.

NIB participated in the funding of the road construction project with a long-term loan of EUR 77 million to Ykköstie. The loan disbursements started in late 2005, when the construction work began. The total cost of the construction phase amounted to EUR 300 million.

Other financiers include the European Investment Bank, Nordea Finland Abp, Svenska Handelsbanken AB and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ykköstie is also responsible for the service quality and maintenance of the road. Finnra pays a service charge to Ykköstie which is based on the availability of the road; if, for instance, the road is closed, the charge decreases. The service agreement runs up until 2029-when Finnra will take over the road. Another important aspect of the life-cycle model is the distribution of risk.

“The main principle is that the risk is taken by the party best placed to handle it. The service provider, that is Ykköstie, takes the technical risks and the client, in this case Finnra and the Finnish state, takes the political risks,” states Mr Schmidt.

Improved infrastructure strengthens competitiveness

Kim Krokfors, Senior Manager, Lending, at NIB, says that this is an important project for the Bank. He explains:

“One of NIB’s focus areas is transport and logistics, and the E18 is crucial for the whole of southwestern Finland. Improved transport links support the economic and social development of this region.”

In the long term, its is not just a matter of the motorway between Helsinki and Turku, but a motorway all the way to the Russian border. According to plans, this will be complete by 2015.

The E18 is part of the trans-European transport network known as the “Nordic Triangle” and is one of the EU’s 30 prioritised transport corridors. The triangle links the Nordic capitals of Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki with the Russian border and improves links with Central Europe. The road network is important for the free movement of people, goods and services, and thus for the economic and social development of the EU.