Mayor Pajunen speaks out in favour of more cars in Helsinki centre
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Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen and entrepreneurs of the centre of the city made an exceptionally powerful appeal on Thursday on behalf of allowing more cars into the centre of Helsinki.
"People who drive spend significant amounts of money", Pajunen said.
He also rejected the idea of congestion fees to be paid by cars entering the centre of the city, saying that such a move would lead to the abandonment of the city centre, with shoppers increasingly favouring the large shopping malls outside the centre.
"Congestion fees should not be brought here under any circumstances. It would lead to the splintering of the urban structure into an American-style satellite city", Pajunen said.
Pajunen and the entrepreneurs put forward their ideas at a seminar at the Hotel Kämp.
The common view was that easier access by cars was the key to bringing life to the centre of the city.
"The biggest problem of the centre of the city is that there are not enough people here", said Heikki Väänänen, deputy CEO of Stockmann.
Väänänen said that much has already been done on behalf of public transport: there is the Metro, trams, and buses. "Now is the car's turn", he said.
Väänänen chairs a working group set up by the Helsinki Regional Chamber of Commerce, city entrepreneurs, and Helsinki's City Planning Department, which has considered a number of proposals for enlivening the centre of Helsinki.
One of the group's proposals include lower parking fees in the centre of the city in the evenings and weekends.
The group also calls for improving the traffic flow on major thoroughfares through the better synchronisation of traffic lights.
Pedestrian streets are welcome, but only in the Aleksanterinkatu area. The group wants to keep the area near the main railway station, and the Esplanade, open to cars.
The entrepreneurs also favour the construction of a proposed car tunnel through the centre of the city.
Pajunen promised that the tunnel project has not been forgotten, in spite of a cost estimate is EUR 500 million.
He said that a zoning decision needs to be made concerning the tunnel, but that the timetable should not be fixed yet.
"It needs to be an employment project, and built at a time when things are not going well in the economy", Pajunen said.
The high cost of construction in the centre of Helsinki was also a concern.
There were calls for easing restrictions on subterranean construction.
The National Board of Antiquities was also urged to ease its stance on certain questions of preservation of old buildings.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 16.11.2007 - TODAY |
 Mayor Pajunen speaks out in favour of more cars in Helsinki centre |
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