Service agreement signed for E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway

Published 08.06.2015

The motorway will be completed ahead of schedule and at an advantageous price

Today, the Finnish Transport Agency and Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy have signed a nearly 20-year service agreement to build the Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway on a public-private partnership basis. The agreement includes planning, construction, funding and maintenance of the motorway. The total value of the agreement is 378 million euros. Thanks to the public-private partnership model, the motorway can be completed at a lower cost and sooner than planned: the Finnish Transport Agency will be able to save over 150 million euros in reduced service charges over a period of 20 years. The road will open to traffic in spring 2018, one year ahead of schedule. Road construction commences in June. The main contractor is YIT Construction Ltd. 

"At the moment the market conditions are favourable for building and funding. Private companies receive funding for long-term infrastructure projects at low and fixed interest rates. The time is also right for projects which are financed in non-traditional ways, like the public-private partnership model", says Project Director Lars Westermark at the Finnish Transport Agency.

The public-private partnership model enables more effective planning, and above all, expedited construction and inauguration of the motorway. For the future users of the E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway this means that the high-quality and safe road connection can be opened years earlier than with a conventional procurement model.

"Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy is committed to long-term collaboration with the Finnish Transport Agency. The service agreement urges the service provider to develop its services and take effective action, since completing the road on time is a prerequisite for receiving the agreed service charges", states Jaakko Kouvalainen, CEO of Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy. Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy is owned by Meridiam Infrastructure Finance II S.à.r.l and YIT Rakennus Oy.

The E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa project comprises 32 kilometres of new motorway and the related road arrangements. The road section yet to be built is the final section of the E18 motorway, which will cross the country from Turku to the eastern border. The project also includes the building of road arrangements for heavy vehicles at Vaalimaa. In addition, the existing pedestrian and bicycle lanes will be improved and more lanes will be built. The waiting area for lorries at Vaalimaa will be opened in spring 2017, and the motorway will be opened to traffic in spring 2018. The service provider of the PPP project lasting until 2034 is Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy, which is responsible for the funding, planning, construction and maintenance of the project. The main contractor is YIT Rakennus Oy.

 

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Finnish Transport Agency, Project Director Lars Westermark, phone +358 29 5 34 3838, [email protected]
Tieyhtiö Vaalimaa Oy, CEO Jaakko Kouvalainen, phone + 358 40 546 8073, [email protected]

www.liikennevirasto.fi/e18vaalimaa
https://www.facebook.com/e18vaalimaa
https://twitter.com/e18hava

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