Helsinki renovates its main boulevard

The Finnish capital Helsinki has started the renovation of its main boulevard, the Mannerheimintie, in March 2023. Works will take more than two years to comlpete and have been called the largest urban renovation project the city has ever seen.

The boulevard is home to many of the important buildings of the Finnish capital, such as the national House of Parliament, the National Museum and the Helsinki Opera. Its infrastructure, such as that transporting sewage, has been in place since start of the 20th century or even earlier, which underlines the need for their renovation.

The project will take a two-phase approach to avoid having to close the entire street. In addition to the sewage and power supply infrastructure, the road's tram tracks and the bridge over the Baana boulevard will also be renovated. In addition, the Mannerheimintie will be equipped with one-way bicycle lanes, which it currently does not have.

During the works, the street will be reduced to a single lane in each direction resulting in less capacity for car traffic and possible congestion. Liisa Taskila, project manager for the renewal of the boulevard, says: “We hope that this will be a time when people switch to public transport when entering the city centre, wherever possible. It's worth considering alternative routes and whether it's really necessary to take your own car or whether you could hop on a bus or tram”.

Article published first at TheMAYOR.eu on 7 March 2023.