Street maintenance

Winter maintenance belongs in part to the city and in part to the owners of properties along the street.

• to ensure the removal of the bank of snow formed at the plot access
  • it is forbidden to push snow onto the street or sidewalk
• to ensure the maintenance of the access road to the plot
• to ensure the cleaning of the ditch and rainwater gutters
• to remove hazardous snow from the property’s equipment (for example a letterbox or fence)
• to ensure cleaning of the street (litter) up to the middle line of the street.

Property owners are not allowed move snow from their plot onto the city’s street or park areas. There must be a dedicated place for snow on their own plot. If necessary, snow must be transported to a snow disposal site. The same duties apply to the leaseholder of a plot.

• The city ensures snow removal and the prevention of slipperiness on public roads and pavements. Gritting is the primary method of preventing slipperiness.

Streets have been divided into three and pavements and bicycle lanes into two maintenance classes based on their traffic significance. Streets are maintained in an order of priority determined by their maintenance classification.

The street maintenance classification is displayed on the map(external link).

Frequently asked questions about snowploughing and winter maintenance. The answers cover many issues about winter maintenance.

Streets are maintained in order of priority determined by their maintenance classification. Carriageways have been divided into three and pavements and bicycle paths into two maintenance classes  based on their traffic significance.

If it snows for a long time, sometimes it might take days before you have proper access to residential streets after the snowfall has ended. Because the main streets and major thoroughfares must be kept open by law to ensure commuting, snowploughing crews sometimes have to return to the main streets even if not all residential streets have been ploughed.

Finishing work after a snowfall will be started immediately after the snowploughing. The work might last for several working days.

The maintenance classifications can be found in Espoo Map Service(external link), where you can follow the operations of the maintenance equipment on the Espoo street network for the past 36 hours.

Map Service Support phone 09 816 25100.

In Espoo, there are pavements and bicycle paths right next to the carriageway as well as further away from them. These paths are snowploughed in the order of the maintenance classification.

If the path is next to a carriageway, the carriageway will usually be ploughed first. In this way, snow that has blown onto the pavement and bicycle paths during snowploughing can be removed in a single ploughing operation. If the pavement was ploughed first, the work would have to be done twice as ploughing the carriageway throws snow back onto the pavement.

The aim is to have the main routes ploughed before commuting begins in the morning. During winter, weather conditions may change rapidly, making the condition of bicycle paths unsatisfactory.

The maintenance classifications can be found in the Espoo Map Service(external link), where you can follow the operations of the maintenance equipment on the Espoo street network for the past 36 hours.

Map Service Support phone 09 8162 5100.

We experimented with brushing and salting on Olarinkatu, but already at the beginning of the experiment, the method was found to be unsuitable. The experiment revealed that the cost of treating the site was more than double that of the traditional method. In addition, the risk of slipperiness increased in the area, as a lot of salt was needed to avoid slipperiness. Excessive use of salt is not good for the environment. In addition, salt run-off from street areas causes problems for dogs' paws, properties and iron street structures such as streetlight and traffic sign posts.

The mass of ploughed snow needs to go somewhere. When there is already a snow windrow next to the street, the snow is pushed into driveways. Where possible, efforts are made to divert snow away from driveways, but ploughing will inevitably push snow into the open space.  

There are more than 25,000 driveways in Espoo. Clearing one driveway is a small task, but if the city wanted to clear all the driveways in the city, the fleet would have to be made considerably larger than at present. Several million euros more of taxpayers' money would be spent on winter maintenance.

The responsibility for street maintenance is shared between the properties and the city. The city snowploughs the carriageway. The property is responsible for removing the ploughed snow windrow from the driveway. This snow may not be pushed into the street; it must be treated on the property. The division of responsibilities is laid down in the Street Maintenance Act.

There must be a dedicated place for snow on your own plot. You are not allowed to move snow from the plot to the city’s street or park areas. Also the snow from the snow windrow needs to be placed on your plot. If necessary, snow must be transported to a snow disposal site. The same duties apply to the leaseholder of a plot. The City of Espoo has one snow disposal site in Vanttila at Vanttilantie 9.

The city's snow disposal site accepts snow only from contractors registered in the city's system. You can find snow transporters from Espoon KTK. Espoon KTK(external link) is an association of transport companies. Once you have chosen a contractor, you agree on the work and price.

Snow may not be piled on city land.

Snow disposal system(external link)

A snow windrow is always formed on the right side of the driving direction. Each ploughing operation does not accumulate the same amount of snow to the different sides of the street. If the location of the streets allows it, efforts are made to even out the situation by ploughing the streets from different directions. This is not possible on every street, as the routes are optimised to ensure that the area is ploughed as quickly as possible, which is why some streets are always ploughed in the same direction.

The snow windrow can be large if the snowfall has been exceptionally heavy or if the snow has accumulated in large piles on the street. This kind of snow windrow is usually easy to remove.

If layers of snow have accumulated on the carriageway as clumps of ice, a lot of slush will be formed on the street when the weather gets warmer. When the snow melts, it peels out down from the street when ploughed and forms big windrows. This kind of snow or ice slush is heavy. If the temperature drops below zero, the wet snow windrow will freeze and it will be hard to remove.

A snow windrow on a driveway may not be pushed into the street area. If snow from the previous driveway along the street has been pushed onto the street, the snow will pile up on the next driveway, thus the snow from the previous driveway must be piled on the plot.

If a street is ploughed with a "street grader", a considerable amount of icy snow will move from the streets onto the driveways. In this case, the city will mostly clear the blocked driveways. In other cases, the property is always responsible for removing the snowbank on the driveway.

In densely built areas, parking spaces are reduced during winters with heavy snowfall because the snow has to be placed somewhere. The driver must find a legal parking space for their car. A snowbank on a parking space does not give you permission to park illegally.

The act on street cleaning requires that carriageways must be maintained in a satisfactory state. Snow removal on parking spaces is part of the so-called finishing work.

The ploughmen have to work on pavements with pedestrians. In order to effectively and safely clean streets and pavements, the city encourages pedestrians to safely move to the side of the street when a plough is approaching, if possible. We are aware that the machines are a hindrance to pedestrians, but once the plough has passed, the route is easier to follow.

The speed of the plough must be high enough to get the snow mass moving and avoid the plough getting stuck in the snow. Our ploughmen follow safety guidelines and take the environment into account when working so that the work does not pose a risk to the local residents. They follow the speed limits when ploughing.

It's a good idea to tell children that when they see a plough, it's safest to move to the side of the street so that the plough can easily pass. This leaves space for the machine to work and the child can then continue on the ploughed street.

During winter, working during the night is the only possible way to get the streets cleared before the commuting begins in the morning. During the night, snow is ploughed and loaded for transport, and streets gritted in the important areas. Ploughing during the night is also safer and faster than during the day. There is less traffic than during the day and the possible transport trucks have more space to work with.

Slipperiness is tackled in the order of the street maintenance classification. Occasionally gritting has delays due to limited machinery. There are a lot of streets to be maintained. Added delay is caused by the fact that part of the gritting is done with the same machines as the ploughing. Therefore, the gritting can only start after ploughing when the snowplough has been swapped to a gritting device. In severe weather conditions, slipperiness can occur for longer periods of time.

As the weather warms up, sand sinks into the ice very quickly. When the surface freezes again during the night, the street can be more slippery in the morning. In this case, the city tries to either resand the street or scrub the frozen surface, allowing the sand from the day before to rise to the surface and act again as an anti-slip measure.

The best way to promote safe movement is for the city and residents to work together: the city will try to prevent slipperiness by gritting the paths within a reasonable time of detecting it, and the pedestrians should choose non-slip footwear and be aware of the possibility of slipperiness in the morning when the weather is changing.

The maintenance classifications can be found in (external link)Espoo Map Service(external link), where you can follow the operations of the maintenance equipment on the Espoo street network for the past 36 hours.

Map Service Support phone 09 8162 5100.

The gritting gravel used in Espoo is stone crushed from bedrock. It is much more effective than round sand in preventing slippage due to its sharpness. Thanks to its shape, it won't roll off the street and it provides good grip. The gravel is also a lot cheaper than sand, and it does not cause as much street dust during spring.

The use of gravel from eskers for anti-icing purposes has been discontinued for environmental reasons, among others. Gravel eskers are essential for the formation of groundwater reserves, among other things.

We recommend using puncture-resistant bicycle tyres with a pattern which is as coarse as possible. They are the most durable during winter. Servicing and cleaning the tyres from stone chips after use will significantly reduce punctures.

Even if snow and ice have melted during the warm days, it is often freezing at night, and the damp asphalt surface becomes slippery.

One of the most challenging situations during winter is when the fallen snow packs down hard under the traffic. A packed snow or ice ridge on a street is hard to remove by ploughing. Sand is used to change the structure of the packed snow so that it can still be removed the next day.

Gritting is a faster procedure than ploughing. The snowploughs are removing snow and the gritting machine is gritting where there is no time to plough.

As the city has a legal obligation to plough and prevent slippery streets, we cannot leave parts of the street without ploughing or gritting. Visually impaired people also use the pavements and bicycle paths and would not notice an ungritted area. An ungritted edge could also cause slips for other street users, and you would not be able to tell whether the street is fully or partially gritted under the freshly fallen snow.

During winter, a packed ridge of ice forms on the street surface. The packed ridge forms when people or vehicles are moving on the snow before it has been ploughed. When the weather warms up during spring, this ice ridge softens and turns into slush under the traffic. As the weather warms up, there can be occasionally a lot of slush on the streets and it is slow to remove.

Street spring cleaning is a balancing act between dust prevention and overnight ice. The worst street dust season is usually in March and April. The removal of the grit will start as soon as possible without endangering pedestrian safety. The city washes and brushes the streets with suction sweepers and brushing machines to the extent permitted by the weather. All equipment and personnel are always fully deployed, as the aim is to get the grit out as quickly as possible.

Cleaning is started on bus routes and major freeways, which are the main sources of street dust and thus pollution. Urban cores with a heavy flow of people and traffic also tend to see high levels of dust. Although the activities are concentrated in these types of areas first, the city does wash all the streets. The cleaning work is estimated to take about six weeks overall.

If your home street hasn't been snowploughed in the morning after a snowfall, they haven't got there yet. It will be ploughed, and feedback on an unploughed street will not speed up the work at this point. The streets are snowploughed in a specific order. If you have problems several days after the snowfall has stopped, report the situation in the feedback service(external link). 

The maintenance classifications can be found in the Espoo Map Service(external link), where you can follow the operations of the maintenance equipment on the Espoo street network for the past 36 hours.

On the Espoo Home Street Portal,(external link) you can examine the ploughing and gritting information as well as ongoing projects and plans near your home street, among other things. There is some incomplete information on the portal which we will update in the future.

The Urban Environment Customer Service phone number: 09 8162 5100.

During summer, street structures and surfacing must be kept in a satisfactory condition as required by the traffic needs. The Act on the maintenance, cleaning and clearing of public areas divides the responsibilities of maintaining and cleaning public streets and other public areas between the municipality and plot owner.    

• The cleaning of a street in public use from the plot boundary to the centre line of the street, however, at maximum to a distance of 15 m. Cleaning comprises the removal of any dirt, leaves, litter and loose items gathered on the street area.
• Maintaining ditches and unbuilt green strips bordering the plot and located within three (3) metres of its boundary.
• If the green strip is wider than 3 meters, the street area must be kept clean up to a distance of 24 m from the plot boundary. In this case, the plot owner’s duties do not include the maintenance of the green strip.

• The plot owner is responsible for the maintenance of the access road (plot access).
•  Any damage to surfacing, pits and other such defects endangering traffic in the street area that is to be maintained by the plot owner, must be reported without delay to the customer service or police.

• The city is responsible for the maintenance of street structures, replacing worn surfacing and repairing damage.
• The city carries out the necessary ditching and culverting to ensure drainage.
• The city ensures the surface levelling and dust suppression of gravel roads and the maintenance of plants, street furniture, traffic islands, safety rails, traffic signs and road markings and other similar equipment in the street area.
• The city ensures the maintenance of plants, street furniture, traffic islands, safety rails, traffic signs and road markings and other similar equipment that it has placed in the street area.

Private roads are maintained by private property owners and other members of the road maintenance association. Private roads are regulated by the Private Roads Act 560/2018.

Private road construction proceedings are ensured by the National Land Survey of Finland and in detail plan areas accordant with the binding plot subdivision by the City of Espoo. 

Members of a road maintenance association are responsible for the maintenance of their private roads. The City of Espoo includes private roads within the detailed plan area in its maintenance activities, if they meet the conditions for inclusion.

The City of Espoo grants allowances for the maintenance of private roads. In order for a private road to be eligible for the allowance, it must be an access road to at least two permanently occupied properties and it must allow access to external traffic. The property driveway, roads situated inside the plot, farm roads and roads leading only to recreational dwellings are not eligible for allowance. 

Applications for private road maintenance allowances are processed once a year.
Tiekunta-avustushakemus 2021 (in Finnish) with the required attachments must be submitted by the end of February to the Registry Office of the City of Espoo either by post or e-mail.

In order to be eligible for the allowance, a road maintenance association must be established to take care of matters related to the road and to ensure that data pertaining to the association and private road are up to date, both in the private road register and in the road and street network information system.

An allowance for fundamental improvement of private roads may be applied for from the ELY Centre(external link).

You need permission from the city to install a traffic sign on a private road. Write a free-form application in which you explain why the site in question needs the requested traffic sign(s). You should also include a separate traffic management plan indicating the exact location of the sign(s). Submit the application and the required documents to the City of Espoo Registry Office.

City of Espoo
Registry Office
P.O. Box 1
FI-02070 City of Espoo

Street address:
Siltakatu 11 (Entresse Shopping Centre)
02770 ESPOO

kirjaamo@espoo.fi

Smooth traffic and safety are key objectives on the city’s roads. Traffic is controlled by traffic signs, road markings and traffic lights, for example. Each site is planned separately, and the best solution is determined for that particular location.

The busiest and most challenging intersections in terms of traffic safety get traffic lights or a roundabout.  The results of the road safety survey are considered in the planning.

The city is responsible for the lighting of streets and other public areas. The ELY Centre is responsible for the lighting of the ring roads and Länsiväylä.

Street lighting is controlled by time

Street lighting is controlled by an astronomical clock. The lights turn off in the morning 10 minutes before sunrise and back on in the evening 20 minutes after sunset.

Energy-saving LED lights have been installed in place of old street lights in many new and renovated sites around the city.

Lighting is turned on during scheduled service

Lighting repairs are carried out by region three times a year. The service cycles follow each other back-to-back. Street lighting is lit during service cycles and repairs to locate burnt out lamps and faults, so the lamps may be illuminated during the day in the area to be repaired.

Temporary traffic arrangements refer to a situation where a street or section thereof must be closed for construction work or moving of machinery. Arrangements resulting from construction work may require partial closure of the street, setting a temporary speed limit or arranging for parking for the workers’ vehicles. Sufficient visibility before any pedestrian crossing must be ensured.

Arrangements caused by construction work require a permit

A permit must be applied for any construction work taking place on the street or in its vicinity.  The permit is fixed-term and subject to a fee.  Apply for a temporary traffic arrangement permit via eLupapalvelun (external link)(external link). With a letter of authorisation, the permit may be applied on behalf

Taking snow to any other areas owned by the city is forbidden.

Snow disposal is allowed at the site in accordance with the terms of use and instructions of the site manager. Bringing construction or any other type of waste to the snow disposal site is strictly forbidden. If the site gate is closed, snow disposal is not allowed in the area or next to it.

The City of Espoo is in some cases liable for damage and injuries that occur in public areas. These cases may include accidents caused by potholes in a street and slipping or falling on a street maintained by the city. However, the city is not always liable for accidents that occur in a city area.

More information about personal injury and property damage.