Departures of trucks from ports to be staggered to avoid backlog

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In an attempt to alleviate the chaotic traffic problems close to the eastern border, the trucks bound for Russia will be transferred to waiting areas in ports and along the hard-shoulders of motorways between Kotka and Hamina and between the village of Koskenkylä and the town of Loviisa.
     
The Ministry of Transport and Communications is also urging that the port cities assume part of the responsibility for the backlog of trucks, as they enjoy the financial benefits of the Russian transit traffic, after all.
      The Finnish Customs is to start staggering the departures of trucks from ports, and consequently, the cities of Kotka, Hamina, Kouvola, and Hanko are requested to arrange parking lots for trucks. Simultaneously, the drivers have to be given real-time information of the situation on the border.
      Whenever a line of trucks in Vaalimaa is longer than the current 23-kilometre queueing lane and hard-shoulder, the police will halt the trucks on the Hamina-Kotka motorway. The hard-shoulder of this motorway is to serve as a temporary parking lot.
      In case this is not sufficient, the next remote parking lot is the hard-shoulder of the highway between Koskenkylä and Loviisa.
     
The situation is exceptional and critical
, said Minister of Transport and Communications Susanna Huovinen (SDP), particularly as the backlog of trucks is expected only to get worse towards the end of the year.
      The Government has made a decision on a budgetary appropriation of EUR 2.5 million to be devoted to the construction of a hard-shoulder on the highway between Hamina and Vaalimaa next year. The work is to begin as soon as the ground has thawed.
      Another EUR 1.5 million has been allocated for the development of a remote system that would prevent future backlogs of trucks. The planned system would involve queueing numbers - similar to the practice in effect in banks and public offices - that could be obtained either from a remote check-in point or via a mobile phone.
      Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki (SDP) stressed that despite the excessively long lines of heavy goods vehicles, the basic security of citizens who are using the roads has to be ensured. In the view of many, it is a minor miracle that there have not been more serious accidents on roads in which one entire lane is blocked by a line of trucks.
     
Both Huovinen and Rajamäki pointed out that the reason for the chronic backlog of trucks is the inefficiency of the Russian Customs, with its complicated systems and excessive number of various officials.
      According to Minister Huovinen, the issue has been brought up with Russia on all possible occasions. She has also informed President Tarja Halonen, who is to meet President Vladimir Putin of Russia soon.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hamina-Kotka motorway to be parking lot for eastbound trucks (16.11.2006)
  Third day of heavy snow paralyses traffic over eastern border (3.11.2006)
  Illegal fees collected from hauliers at Russian border customs station (23.10.2006)
  Russia-bound cargo on Finnish roads is growing dramatically (8.2.2006)

Links:
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