Finland's largest motorway project attracts international interest
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The Finnish Road Administration has evaluated the syndicates that have announced their interest in the EUR 300 million motorway project that will connect Muurla and Lohja on Highway 1, the main Helsinki-Turku road. All five groups passed the inspection.
Eero Karjaluoto, the head of the Finnish Road Administration, is pleased with the number of interested parties as well as with their international backgrounds. The five groups include companies from Sweden, France, Spain, and the UK.
Even if a foreign-led consortium should win the project, the actual construction work will most likely be carried out almost entirely by Finnish subcontractors.
Karjaluoto believes that the large value of the project was decisive in attracting foreign interest.
It will take around six months for the interested groups to prepare their calculations and plans. The Finnish Road Administration will then select the two best offers, and continue to develop them further. The winner of the project should be selected one year from now.
The Muurla-Lohja freeway will be an improvement to the road connection between Helsinki and Turku. The 50-kilometre stretch of dual-carriageway motorway should be finished by the end of 2009. Plenty of planning for the road has already been done, including investigating the habitats of flying squirrels, which are protected animals.
Helsingin Sanomat
