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Experts sound the alarm: Estonian roads will become unsafe if money is not found urgently for repairs

Эксперты бьют тревогу: если срочно не найти деньги на ремонт, эстонские дороги станут небезопасными

According to the assessment of service companies, the situation on the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla highway has worsened in some places due to increasing rutting, so much so that the maximum permitted speed should be reduced on certain sections of the highway. Road works. The photo is illustrative. Road works. The photo is illustrative. Photo: Urmas Luik

According to the assessment of service companies, the situation on the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla highway has worsened in some places due to increasing rutting, so much so that the maximum permitted speed should be reduced on certain sections of the highway.

The appearance of ruts on the highway is associated with the aging of the road surface; on highways with a heavy load, without timely repairs, the ruts quickly become deeper. As is known, repairs not done in time, after a few years, lead to the need for much more expensive repairs.

Ruts on roads are eliminated by means of restoration repairs, during which the top layer of the road surface is renewed. According to the executive director of the Union of Infrastructure Construction, Tarmo Trey, the estimated annual need for restoration repairs is currently more than 200 km instead of the previous 150 km.

"We know that the state has planned to repair 79 kilometers of highway this year, or 40 percent of what is needed," Trey said.

According to Trey, the chronic shortage of funds for road maintenance has now reached a stage where at least 450 million euros should be allocated for state highways from this year, but only 153 million euros have been allocated.

Estonia promised the EU to rebuild the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla highway into a four-lane road by 2030, but at the current rate of investment, this will not be done in time; the State Audit Office also points out in its audit that this promise will not be fulfilled.

Infrastructure Minister Vladimir Svet told Postimees last week that the promise would likely not be fulfilled, but he was confident that if Estonia explained the lack of investment to the EU by the need to buy ammunition, there would be no problem.

Trey said the juxtaposition of buying ammunition and investing in roads was not correct. "Building major highways is also a security issue, a vital and necessary step," he said.

As of early 2024, there were approximately 17,000 km of state highways in Estonia. Until 2021, these highways were cleared of potholes and the average rut depth was reduced, but then these works stopped and the average rut depth increased significantly. Given the lack of funds, the quality and condition of the road surface will rapidly deteriorate.

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