Estonia: Project preparation re small Tallinn ring road to begin this year

TALLINN - The City of Tallinn, Rae municipality, Estonian Road Administration and the state-owned airport company Tallinn Airport have signed a cooperation agreement for the preliminary design stage of the smaller Tallinn ring road.

"The small Tallinn ring road is to run in the area to the south of Lake Ulemiste and its purpose is to connect different parts of the city without passing through the city center," Tallinn Mayor Taavi Aas was quoted in a press release as saying. The mayor added that the new ring road will enable to better access the Jarve sub-district from the eastern suburb of Lasnamae and will also reduce traffic on the Ulemiste intersection as well as on Jarvevana Road and Tammsaare Road.

The Tallinn city government has decided to sign a cooperation project with three parties -- the Road Administration, Rae municipality and Tallinn Airport.

The Road Administration said that the design stage of the small Tallinn ring road is to be included in the administration's work plan for 2019. The government adopted in September a maintenance plan for public roads for 2018-2022, which states that the Road Administration, Tallinn Airport, City of Tallinn and Rae municipality are to cooperate in the construction of the small Tallinn ring road.

The estimated time to be spent on drawing up the preliminary project and conducting relevant analyses is two years. A possible option the parties are to look into involves having a part of the ring road run under the Tallinn Airport runways.