The Finnish Transport Agency procures the funding, construction and maintenance of the E18 Koskenkylä-Kotka motorway from the road construction company Tieyhtiö Valtatie 7 Oy, owned by Meridiam Infrastructure Projects S.á.r.l, Keskinäinen Eläkevakuutusyhtiö Ilmarinen, YIT and Destia. The project will be implemented according to the lifecycle model.
The service agreement was signed on 8 December 2011. The total value of the contract is about EUR 623 million. The project is financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and Pohjola Bank plc.
The agreement period containing the maintenance and funding will extend until 2026. During the agreement period the Finnish Transport Agency pays the road construction and maintenance costs back to the road construction company in the form of service charges from the time when the road has opened for traffic. When the service agreement has ended the Finnish Transport Agency will take over the road.
Construction already underway
The construction companies YIT and Destia have already started their work so that the motorway will be finished at the estimated time. The motorway is estimated to open partly for traffic already in 2013 and it will be completed in 2014. All in all the road arrangements should be completed by the end of 2015.
An important local link in the international network
The Koskenkylä–Kotka motorway is situated on main road 7, which is part of Finland’s most important international road connection E18 and also part of the transport system of the Nordic Triangle, a priority in the European Union since it connects the capitals of the Nordic countries to each other, to the rest of Europe and to Russia. Main road 7 is also part of the Trans-European Networks.
The E18 Koskenkylä–Kotka motorway will partly be implemented as a Green Motorway. The Green Motorway, a concept which has been developed by the municipalities, the provincial federations and important companies, is acting as a cooperation forum in the area. Its aim is to utilise the coming E18 motorway from Koskenkylä eastwards as an innovation platform for sustainable development technology.