Plans are in hand for the €300 million harbour tunnel project for Finland’s capital, Helsinki. The project has now been approved by the Helsinki City Board. The link is intended to reduce vehicle traffic movements around the port area, while increasing traffic and passenger numbers at the West Harbour (Länsisatama). The tunnel will link Jätkäsaari and Länsiväylä and the project will be financed by Port of Helsinki.
The work is needed as the Port of Helsinki intends to concentrate passenger and car ferry traffic coming from or heading to Tallinn through West Harbour. The volume of traffic and passengers will increase in West Harbour as a result necessitating the new tunnel for vehicle traffic between Länsiväylä and West Harbour. The tunnel will be approximately 2km in length and is expected to be complete in the early 2030s.
The harbour tunnel will move heavy traffic in West Harbour away from the streets, which will lower traffic congestion. The tunnel will also reduce traffic noise and pollution in the Jätkäsaari district and improve traffic safety in the area.
The harbour tunnel is one of several road tunnel connections built in and around Helsinki. The geological conditions in the city are favourable to the use of conventional tunnelling techniques, while the country has long been a leader in the production of drilling and tunnelling equipment.
