Record-high snow drifts disrupt traffic in Helsinki

Following exceptionally heavy snowfall from the early hours of Monday morning, traffic has been hampered in the capital on Tuesday morning

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Monday’s heavy snowfall has congested traffic particularly in the Greater Helsinki area on Tuesday morning. But considering the circumstances, the capital’s traffic has moved smoothly, according to the Helsinki Police Deparment.
     
Commuters were nevertheless advised to allow some 15 to 20 minutes more time for their trip to work, as traffic could be slower than normal.
      The capital’s entire fleet of snow ploughs was in operation the whole night.
     
The exceptionally heavy snowfall on Finland’s Independence Day accumulated drifts most in the Greater Helsinki area.
      ”The capital area received some 15 centimetres of fresh snow, in some places even more. At the moment, Finland’s most snowy places can be found in Helsinki. For example in the district of Kumpula, the depth of snow is 45 cm and even downtown as deep as 43 cm, while the snow depth in Inari, the snowiest place in Lapland, is only 43 cm”, reported duty meteorologist Jari Tuovinen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute at around 21:00 last night. Still more snow fell overnight and into the morning.
      According to Tuovinen, Helsinki has not experienced such a snowy Independence Day since 1965.
      Moreover, the depth of the snow cover measured at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport last night was 45 cm.
      In the course of the evening, the snow front moved away from the capital area along the coast towards east.
      ”On Tuesday, a new snow front is predicted to arrive on the coast, which could bring another five centimetres of snow”, said Tuovinen.
      Last year, a permanent snow cover did not begin to form until mid-December.
     
As the number of road clearing trucks is not sufficient to take the snow immediately away from the city centre, the high piles of snow may make the capital’s streets narrow and block pavements. Traffic is expected to become snarled up.
      ”Parking spaces are hard to come by, as it is by no means possible to clear the streets of snow and take it away immediately”, noted foreman Kari Heikkilä, who has many decades of experience of clearing snow on behalf of the city.
     
The piles of snow accumulated on pavements cannot be removed anytime soon, either.
      ”The clearing and removal of snow continue to be the responsibility of each property management. I do not believe that any private contractors have time to do it. It is a slow business”, estimated engineer Raimo K. Saarinen from the City of Helsinki’s Public Works Department.
      Saarinen believed on Monday night that the main arteries and streets used for public transport could be cleared by Tuesday morning’s rush hour.
      Instead, residents who live in areas with detached houses and terraced houses will probably have to wait at least for a couple of days until the snow ploughs can clear all snowy roads and pavements of the big dump of white powder.
     
After last winter’s snow farce, the City of Helsinki’s Public Works Department has changed its tactics.
      ”We are now trying to remove the piles of snow away from the streets as soon as possible. We no longer trust that there will be a thaw that could melt all ice and snow”, engineer Saarinen said.
      Helsinki has also been looking for new areas in which to take the snow cleared from the streets and public places of the capital.
      Some new dumping areas have been found in the area between the Inner Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road. In most cases these areas are undeveloped sites.
      Saarinen estimates that this winter the transport distances will be clearly shorter than before.
     
The number of snowploughs available in Helsinki is not larger than last winter, as the Public Works Department has not managed to get more money. On the contrary, the department was granted a total of EUR 2 million less in budget funding, even though new roads and parks are being built constantly.
      In comparison, the City of Vantaa has increased its maintenance appropriations by EUR two million.
      This year snow appeared in quite decent quantities in Southern Finland in November, and it has not melted since then.
     
Following the heavy snowfall, both long-distance and commuter train services have also experienced delays on Tuesday morning.
      In addition, damage to a rail line switch caused by a snowplough in the railyard in Helsinki halted proceedings early in the morning and continues to disrupt rail traffic.
      According to the Finnish rail operator VR, services between Helsinki and Kajaani as well as those between the capital and Tampere are running behind schedule.
      Traffic between Helsinki and Turku is also running slow.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Here to stay? Snow cleared from capital area´s streets and public places may not melt before next winter (10.3.2010)
  Helsinki struggles with towering drifts of snow (2.2.2010)
  Police urge motorists to avoid narrow streets with accumulated snow in Helsinki (1.2.2010)

See also:
  The end is nigh: Maununneva snow pile down to just one metre (21.9.2010)

Links:
  Finnish Meteorological Institute: Snow Depth
  Finnish Meteorological Institute: Five-day forecast Helsinki

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