Focus on Helsinki harbour activities shifts to new Vuosaari facility

Six-year construction project completed on schedule and on budget

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The Vuosaari harbour opened for shipping traffic today, Monday, November 24th, 2008. The date marks an end to a massive six-year construction project.
      The construction work, which began in January 2003, cost slightly more than a billion euros, including the transport network, the harbour itself, and the corporate buildings. Those behind the harbour project are pleased to note that both the timetable and the budget of the project have held.
     
When the construction project ends, a chain reaction begins, which will have a significant impact on Helsinki’s land use, construction, and traffic planning. As the Vuosaari harbour opens, work in the West Harbour and Sompasaari will come to a halt almost immediately. Shoreline land left vacant by the move will become available for housing construction.
      Work has already begun in Jätkäsaari in the south of Helsinki, and a new maritime residential area is to go up in Sompasaari as well. The new areas will require considerable input into public transport.
     
Concentrating harbour activities in one location leads to more efficiency in the handling of flows of goods. logistically Vuosaari is located near major highways and rail links.
      One aim is to make the choice of forms of transport more environmentally friendly. Lorry trailers are to be increasingly transported to and from the harbour by rail. The aim is for the Vuosaari harbour rail link to handle 20 per cent of transport, instead of the current ten per cent.
     
Streets in the centre of Helsinki will be freed of the burden of heavy vehicles servicing the harbour. Emissions and noise pollution will decline. On the other hand, there will be a greater burden on the ring roads of the Helsinki region.
      There will be considerable pressure for construction and repair of the Kehä III ring road, which is likely to experience more traffic jams than before.
     
The opening of the new Vuosaari facility was not immune to the weather: the first ship to dock arrived more than an hour late, thanks to the stormy conditions in the Gulf of Finland.
      Finnlines' M/S Finnstar tied up at around 8:30 on Monday morning, although the vessel was expected in harbour before 7 a.m. this morning.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sörnäinen Harbour will move to Vuosaari overnight on November 24th (17.11.2008)
  Longest road tunnel in Finland re-opened (23.1.2008)
  Vuosaari harbour transport needs could cause major traffic jams on Ring Road (13.12.2007)
  Rail traffic about to start through Vuosaari Harbour track’s 13.5-km tunnel (21.11.2008)

Links:
  Vuosaari Harbour Project

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