Record queues threaten eastbound cross-border traffic at Christmas

Finnish Road Administration and traffic police are prepared for tailbacks extending to Vantaa

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The chronic backlog of trucks (see earlier articles) heading for the Vaalimaa border crossing station is expected to reach record lengths over the upcoming Christmas season.
      The Finnish Road Administration and the Finnish police are both predicting that the lines will stretch back at least to Porvoo, while being prepared for congestion that could reach as far as the Outer Ring Road (Kehä III) in Vantaa.
      ”A queue can develop at a rate of ten kilometres per hour”, notes Jukka Tamminen from the Finnish Road Administration.
     
While preparations are under way for temporary parking areas for eastbound trucks, traffic signs warning of the parking lots will be installed in the next few days. The speed limits will also be adjusted accordingly.
      Goods traffic across the border into Russia has grown by as much as 20 per cent from last year. In the next few weeks, heavy goods traffic is anticipated to reach new records as the New Year, the biggest winter festival in Russia, is approaching.
      The current truck parks closer to the border have space for around 7,000 heavy vehicles, but this may well not suffice over Christmas. Plans are therefore in place for temporary parking lots to be set up west of Loviisa, aloowing for an additional 1,500 trucks to get off the highway.
     
Last year, the queues on roads started growing rapidly on December 22nd, with the end of the line stretching back more than 60 kilometres from the border at its worst, and it took several days to get back to normal.
      ”Last year the weather was good. However, heavy snow or any other kind of bad weather could seriously hamper traffic in Southeastern Finland. Moreover, it would be difficult to avoid dangerous situations”, noted Chief Inspector Markku Palsio from the Police Department of the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland.
      ”I hope that motorists will be able to lower their speeds and to pay attention to trucks as well as to the drivers who get out of their cabs and are walking on the road”, Palsio concluded.
     
According to forecasts, border traffic is expected to grow already next weekend. The Finnish Road Administration predicts that the queues to Vaalimaa will stretch up to 40 kilometres and to Nuijamaa up to 20 kilometres, while the lines to the Imatra crossing would be 10 kilometres long.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Customs consider closing border to curb lorry queue (27.9.2007)
  Parking area for eastbound trucks to cost over EUR 24 million (27.3.2007)
  Ministry of Transport and Communications considering tolls for road users (25.1.2007)
  Large parking areas proposed for eastbound trucks on Russian border (12.12.2006)

Links:
  Finnish Road Administration

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