Tough funding shortfall means only limited road resurfacing in Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme

Only 240 kilometres of asphalt roads will be resurfaced this year in the Pirkanmaa and Kanta‑Häme regions, far below the 450–500 km the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Inner Finland (the ELY Centre) says is needed, YLE reports. The ELY Centre says about 132 km will be paved in Pirkanmaa this year, including roughly 22 km in Tampere city, with most work focused on main roads and ramps. The outlet adds that about €15 million has been earmarked for resurfacing in Pirkanmaa, though not all tenders have been approved yet. The centre also received an additional €11 million from Parliament this year to tackle the repair backlog; YLE reports total resurfacing funding for the area this year is €23.5 million. With that funding the centre plans to repair about 240 km of road across the two regions this year, but says roughly 450–500 km of resurfacing is needed annually to prevent deterioration. YLE quotes Janne Lintilä saying that this year the two provinces have almost as much funding for resurfacing as Pirkanmaa had previously, and that the length of road in the newly included area is about 1.5 times Pirkanmaa’s. The centre says most repairs will target heavily used main roads, and several poorly maintained ramps will also be resurfaced. Planned improvement projects include Kuruntie (Main Road 2774), Hauniontie (Main Road 2812), Ellivuorentie (Main Road 2495) and Viuhantie (Main Road 13943). Keisala warned of a worst‑case scenario if bitumen prices rise too much; the contracts are tied to a bitumen index linked to oil prices. Work methods are being evaluated, and final project choices may be decided after spring service‑level measurements.