If driving were banned in the centre of Helsinki

Opinions divided on need for car tunnel

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By Santtu Parkkonen
     
      The process for the development of Helsinki’s traffic systems could serve as a premise for a truly bad movie.
      It would have a confused plot, scenes would drag on endlessly, large amounts of money would be wasted, and the financiers would not have advance knowledge of how it ends.
      Two solutions have been proposed for dealing with traffic jams and parking problems in the centre of the city; a tunnel beneath the centre and the extension of the Metro west to Espoo have been discussed for decades, but nothing has been achieved.
      There have certainly been attempts to restrict traffic by narrowing streets, raising parking fees, and building pedestrian areas.
      In spite of this, Helsinki’s perhaps best-known, and historically most significant public park - the Esplanade - resembles the central reservation of a motorway during the day.
      "I think that it is culturally humiliating that we are the capital of a civilised Western country, and we do not have a calm car-free zone in the centre", says Antero Alku, who drew up a plan for a car-free Helsinki two years ago.
     
Thursday, September 22nd, was marked as Car Free Day, for which reason the area bordered by Mannerheimintie, Kaivokatu, Unioninkatu and Rikhardinkatu is closed off from private car traffic, making it the pedestrian centre of people’s dreams for a brief moment.
      What would happen of the City Board were to convene in an emergency session and put an end to the vacillation at one go, and to declare that the area that was turned into a pedestrian zone on Car Free Day would never be given back to car traffic?
      "It would turn into an interesting problem. Motorists would opt for the nearest cross-town streets - that is, Kaivokatu, and the streets of the southern part of Helsinki, which are not suitable for the purpose", says Olli-Pekka Poutanen, head of traffic planning for the City of Helsinki.
     
Poutanen sees the construction of a tunnel beneath the centre to be the only solution to Helsinki’s problems.
      "The centre tunnel would be an environmental investment to some degree. When cars are put under ground the areas on the surface can be made more enjoyable."
      The tunnel, which would stretch from Ruoholahti in the west to Sörnäisten Rantatie in the east of the centre, is also seen to be necessary because of plans to build new residential areas in Hermanninranta and Jätkäsaari.
      "For instance, now the heavy traffic of Jätkäsaari goes directly onto the Länsiväylä motorway, because trucks are not allowed into the centre. But when other activities come there, most transport will go through the centre, unless there is the option to go underneath the centre. This is why the centre tunnel is becoming increasingly topical."
     
Antero Alku does not agree.
      "I do not feel that a centre tunnel is necessary, because the centre of Helsinki is already saturated with cars. We do not need any more, and for the same reason, we do not need roads that would draw them in."
      Alku sees the development of public transport as the solution to Helsinki’s burning problems.
      "The development of public transport has stopped. The last great changes took place decades ago, when local trains were electrified and the Metro was built. Nothing significant has taken place since then."
      One of the solutions that he has proposed has been an increase in tram traffic.
     
Poutanen insists that Helsinki’s traffic is under control. Public transport works in the centre, and plans for a pedestrian centre are also moving forward.
      Soon the Kamppi area - which will be almost completely car-free - will be completed, and after that, Keskuskatu will be made into a pedestrian concourse.
      In addition, there will be many pedestrian-friendly streets, such as Yliopistonkatu, which is currently undergoing repairs.
      In the future cars would move from the surface to a service tunnel, and the centre tunnel.
      The service tunnel is currently being planned, and a proposal to amend the city plan to allow a centre tunnel is to be examined by various city boards this autumn.
      The construction of a centre tunnel, which would cost an estimated EUR 250 million, would make it possible to restrict transport on Kaivokatu and turn Pohjois-Esplanadi [the north side of the Esplanade Park] into a pedestrian zone. After that, a pedestrian centre for Helsinki might become a possibility.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 22.9.2005

More on this subject:
 Options for solving traffic congestion in Helsinki

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Centre of Helsinki to get large pedestrian area on Thursday (21.9.2005)

SANTTU PARKKONEN / Helsingin Sanomat
santtu.parkkonen@hs.fi