The first phase involves removing coarse materials, such as grit. Finer sand material can only be removed by washing after the grit removal process.
The work is carried out in the order specified in the maintenance classification of streets, so the spring cleaning will proceed at different times in different areas of the city.
The City is actively preventing issues caused by street dust
The City is making efforts to control the generation of dust on the streets, and the amount of dust is being monitored through measurements by the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY).
Street dust typically contains materials such as pavement material removed by studded tyres, grit and road salt, as well as metal and rubber particles produced by vehicles.
The City of Helsinki is actively working to prevent issues caused by street dust. Where possible, washed and screened crushed stone material is used for gritting, which generates less dust than unwashed grit. The streets are paved with more durable materials than before in order to reduce the amount of material removed by tyre studs.
On the dustiest days, the dust is bound to the street surface with a dilute saline solution.
The City aims to reuse the grit collected from streets, e.g. as fill material in construction, if the samples taken show the material to be clean.
Leaf blowers must not be used for grit removal
The City of Helsinki would like to remind property maintenance companies to take street dust issues into account when removing grit. The City’s environmental protection regulations prohibit the use of leaf blowers in grit removal work due to the dust that this generates. For the same reason, the regulations obligate the use of adequate street wetting in the mechanical removal of grit.
The City also wants properties in the city centre to wet the pavements that they maintain, at least on the dustiest of days.
Helsinki residents can also take part in the dust prevention work by means such as avoiding driving and switching to non-studded tyres as early as possible.
Important: move your car out of the way of street washing!
It is important for car users to move their car out of the way so that the streets can be cleaned efficiently and on time. You can check the planned street washing schedules and whether you need to move your car on the City’s website.
Planned street washing schedules (in Finnish)
The City is currently testing its new Vehicle Removal Alert service. The service allows you to search for current and upcoming vehicle removal requests in the areas of your choosing and subscribe to notifications about them by SMS or email.
Give the Vehicle Removal Alert service a try and send us feedback
It is also important that residents always check the signs on the streets to see if any removal requests are currently in force. These signs are brought in at least two days before the street washing starts. If a car is parked on the street after a vehicle removal request sign has been put up, the removal costs, starting at EUR 111, will be collected from the owner or holder of the car.
Friction tyres reduce the generation of dust
The City encourages residents to use friction tyres as winter tyres to reduce street dust generated by studded tyres. A traffic sign prohibiting the use of studded tyres was tested on Lönnrotinkatu from autumn 2022 to winter 2025. During this prohibition, studded tyres were still allowed on properties. A new, stricter prohibition entered into force in autumn 2025. The stricter prohibition allows driving with studded tyres only onto properties, e.g. into courtyards or parking garages.
The aim is to increase the proportion of friction tyres to 70% throughout the city by the winter of 2030–2031. In 2025, the proportion of friction tyres was 43%, and it appears to have slightly increased in this year’s calculations.
