E18 Hamina─Vaalimaa motorway will be completed ahead of schedule and at a lower cost

The final part of the E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway, a section of 8.5 km from Virojoki to Vaalimaa, will be opened for traffic on the 1st of March 2018. The motorway was completed faster than the procuring authority's schedule and well below the original budget. At the moment, a motorway-type connection from Turku to Vaalimaa is now completed and ready for use.

- E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway will significantly improve safety in the area as it is estimated to reduce accidents leading to personal injury by some 60 %. For us, it is a great joy to present the new motorway, completed ahead of schedule, to a very high quality and still keeping the costs lower than the predicted ones, says Project Director Lars Westermark from the Finnish Transport Agency.​

This motorway is crucial for Finnish industry and commerce because it connects both the road and railway networks as well as the sea routes and the Port of HaminaKotka. It has already created new opportunities for the development of land-use and economy in South-Eastern Finland.

- We have done extremely well to complete such a sizeable project in a demanding schedule. The motorway has been constructed to the highest possible quality and applying sustainable methods that take into consideration its entire life cycle. It has been great to see how everyone has worked hard to achieve the targets with a professional approach and a positive attitude, comments the Managing Director of Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa, Jaakko Kouvalainen.

- This project lasted nearly three years and is now completed. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the local people, for your collaboration and positive outlook toward the project and everyone working on it, adds Project Director Jouni Hyvärinen from YIT Rakennus Oy.

Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy is in charge of the maintenance of the E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway, based on a lifecycle service agreement in force until 2034. Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa has entered into an agreement with YIT Rakennus Oy, who will be carrying out all maintenance procedures on the E18 Hamina-Vaalimaa motorway in practice. 

Construction work continues in Virojoki and the old Main Road 7

Work on the old Main Road 7, or National Road 170, will continue after the completion of the motorway. The Finnish Transport Agency and the municipal authority of Virolahti will also start a separate project at the centre of Virolahti. The project aims to improve town-centre routes for both vehicle traffic and bicycle and pedestrian traffic, and to repair the old Virojoki bridge, for instance. This project is set to start in May and complete by the end of 2018.