Pirkanmaa province faces maintenance choices

Most of the cash from the Finnish government will support bridge projects with road maintenance being prioritised, noted Antti Laine, at Pirkanmaa’s ELY Centre.
By David Arminas May 2, 2025 Read time: 2 mins
Rural Finnish roads are facing a funding squeeze (image © Vladimir Mironov/Dreamstime)

The Finnish government, in its 2025 draft state budget, has allocated nearly €250,000 in state subsidies for private roads in Pirkanmaa province.

However, critics say this is still low given that it is the same amount that was paid out annually between 2017-2023, according to a report by the private Finnish News Agency (Oy Suomen Tietotoimisto). Most of the 2025 cash will go towards a few bridge projects while basic improvements to the load-bearing capacity of the roads are largely left without state support.

Antti Laine, road maintenance expert at the Pirkanmaa’s ELY Centre (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment), said that there are now clearly more applications for road improvements than can be supported by available funds. This means that strict prioritisation must be made when handing out cash subsidies.

Many of Finland’s 100,000km of private roads are open to the general public, but may have different speed limits and regulations from public roads. Private roads are usually dead ends and are maintained by the local community which uses them. They may not be eligible for communal subsidies.

Laine also said that grants are primarily granted to projects where traffic on the road has been completely blocked or is threatened to be blocked due to surface damage.

Finland has 15 ELY Centres - one for each province - which promote regional competitiveness, well-being and sustainable development, as well as initiatives to curb climate change. Pirkanmaa is also known as Tampere, which is the name of the province’s capital city, an industrial centre.

Maintenance

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