By Johanna Lemola

Urban growth has its downside: congestion. Hardly anywhere is this felt more tangibly than on the land transportation route in the West Harbour and the adjoining Helsinki street network.

A ferry from Tallinn has offloaded its deck-full of cars and trucks. A two-kilometre-long stretch of vehicles moves slowly on the exit road leading from the West Harbour Terminal to Ruoholahti. The corner of the exit road and Mechelininkatu forms a bottleneck, and the congestion continues to the Länsiväylä motorway that leads from the city centre to the west. The scene is repeated many times a day – every time when a ferry arrives.

“Naturally passengers want to arrive in the centre, and the West Harbour is an attractive port of entry, but the Helsinki-Tallinn traffic is a major challenge to Helsinki’s inner-city traffic in and around Ruoholahti,” says Ville Lehmuskoski, who heads transportation and traffic planning in Helsinki.

About 30 percent of all Helsinki-Tallinn freight passes on trucks through the inner city harbours, and many passengers, whether they are on business or vacationing, pass through with their cars. The growing volumes at the West Harbour, together with the development in the adjoining Jätkäsaari district, put mounting pressure on Ruoholahti.

“Ruoholahti is already the most challenging place in Helsinki in terms of traffic, so the growth comes in the worst place in the city,” Lehmuskoski says, affirming that the West Harbour area is his division’s main concern today.

The conceivable solution is a tunnel under the most congested area. Lehmuskoski’s division has outlined four different tunnel scenarios, but none are going forward, awaiting a move from city decision makers. He says, “Our time frame for solving the problem is 10 years.”

In 10 years’ time, the other major growth centres of Helsinki in Kalasatama and Pasila will be presenting more traffic challenges, giving urgency to solving the West Harbour-Ruoholahti congestion.

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