Tallinn gears up for winter storms

An emergency supplementary budget is being allocated to the Estonian capital

Winter hits hard in northern Europe, and Estonia is at the forefront of the cold wave. To combat snowstorms, rapidly dropping temperatures and other such malignances brought on by the chilly season, the city of Tallinn has been granted an emergency supplementary budget of over 250,000 euros.

Getting ready for the winter season

The deputy mayor of Tallinn, Kalle Klandorf, has stated that this year’s focus will fall almost entirely on road maintenance and keeping paths clean from ice – so as to prevent people and cars from slipping and thus to avoid any accidents.

Furthermore, to make the city even safer for the winter season, some of Tallinn’s districts have begun enforcing stricter maintenance conditions on companies applying for contracts.

The local governments of Pirita and Mustamäe have recently announced a call for tenders under the new tighter requirements while the remaining districts have already amended their already existing contracts with operating companies.

A tighter, faster and safer approach

The new requirements include quicker response times to remove snow and ice from roads and paths as well as severe sanctions for non-compliance with the signed contracts. Furthermore, the city government of Tallinn has streamlined the process of making decisions in times of crisis and emergency, so as to be able to react faster to unforeseen circumstances.

The supplementary budget for dealing with dangerous snowy conditions amounts to a total of 178,000 euros – all of it ready to be used in case of an emergency and if any new ideas pop up.

An additional 75,000 euros have been made available for the clearing of dangerous trees along the roads of the city – 17 old trees will be destroyed while 66 will be rehabilitated and made safe for passers-by.