Frenzied clearance work goes on in Helsinki in anticipation of yet more snowfall tonight

The Finnish capital has had to deviate from the regular road maintenance map while timetables cannot be adhered to

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In downtown Helsinki, snow ploughs are clearing the streets of snow, but on the more remote back streets, snow drifts will remain on the streets for several days.
      The streets and sidewalks are being cleaned according to a maintenance rating system, but the map is being used creatively and timetables cannot be adhered to, the Public Works Department reports.
      The city plans to place the maintenance map on the Internet next year in order that residents could always see the updated situation in their own residential area.
     
At the same time, residents will be urged to get their cars off the streets, director Hannu Virtasalo from the Public Works Department assumes.
      All the same, the pace of clearance is extremely slow, as the users of cars must be allowed a couple of days for the transfer of their vehicles.
      The problem is especially acute in densely populated areas where cars can be parked along streets.
      ”Torkkelinmäki in the district of Kallio, and Kamppi, and Kruununhaka”, lists Virtasalo.”But it is still possible to drive there”, he adds, describing how slowly he has had to drive along the streets in an area called Linjat in Kallio.
     
The Rescue Department could not afford such slow progress in getting to somebody in need of attention, but in this weather it takes the emergency services twice as much time to reach call-out scenes as it does in normal weather, says Hannu Arimo of the Rescue Department.
      As far as is known, the record-high snow drifts have not yet caused any fatal accidents, but Arimo reminds the condominiums and maintenance companies of the fact that all rescue routes have to be kept open for firefighting vehicles and ambulances.
      Moreover, all parked cars blocking access to rescue routes have to be forced to leave.
     
The major outbound arteries and ring roads also have their own critical choke-points.
      On the Outer Ring Road there are some hills, for example Heidenhof in Tikkurila, where trucks tend to get stuck, reports Risto Hyvärinta fom the Uusimaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. When traffic slows down too much, trucks will be stuck even elsewhere.
     
In the City of Vantaa, the high piles of snow are already hampering the services of buses in the neighbourhood of the Tikkurila railway station.
      Likewise, the situation at the Myyrmäki bus terminal is difficult. The problem is that Vantaa has no intermediate storage facilities for snow piles, even though much of the city looks like a rural area.
      The snow piles have to be left where they are to wait until the road clearing vehicles have finished ploughing. The vehicles will then be converted into trucks which will remove the piles of snow from the streets and take them to dumping areas.
      A new snowfall would not suit our timetables now, says Raimo Honkanen, who is responsible for the road maintenance operations in Vantaa.
     
This is unfortunate, since the latest indications are that another belt of precipitation is approaching from the south and the Baltic States, bringing anything up to 20 additional centimetres of snow over the next 24 hours, much of it to be dumped along Finland's south coast.
      Considering that the Greater Helsinki region is already under record depths of snow, the prospects are yet more woes for commuters, snow clearance personnel, and others.
     
As a rule, half of Vantaa’s snow clearance employees are kept in reserve, but after a snowstorm all employees are summoned to work, while those who are not scheduled to work come in voluntarily.
      ”The profession of a maintenance worker calls for commitment. At present, neither machines nor workers can rest”, Honkanen describes.
     
Even in Helsinki, a number of small entrepreneurs have come forward offfering snowploughing services.
      While the City of Helsinki's Construction Services Stara takes care of most of the work, even for example RTA-Yhtiöt, offering earthworking and excavation contractor services, is responsible for the winter maintenance of several districts of Helsinki, including Puistola, Suutarila, Laajasalo, and Munkkivuori. Lauttasaari and Oulunkylä are also being taken care of by private contractors.
      Stara has about 400 employees who drive some 300 vehicles.
      Additional equipment could be supplied if only the city could pay for them, says Virtasalo from the Public Works Department.
     
The massive volumes of snow have also caused difficulties for postal workers, and deliveries of newspapers have been affected in the capital region.
      Eastern districts of Helsinki have been particularly badly hit, with the situation slightly better in Espoo, Vantaa, and other outlying communities.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki´s snowplough fleet works all night to clear streets after yet another heavy dump (8.12.2010)
  Record-high snow drifts disrupt traffic in Helsinki (7.12.2010)

Links:
  Finnish Meteorological Institute: Helsinki forecast
  Traffic Weather Warnings (FMI)
  FMI Testbed site, showing arrival of weather front from the south, 9.12.

Helsingin Sanomat