Article categories: News
‘It’s great to be able to rely on the bicycle lanes being well-maintained’ – Enhanced winter maintenance receives praise
Published: 16.1.2025
This winter, more additional resources are being invested in the winter maintenance of Vaasa’s bicycle lanes than before. The city aims to increase year-round cycling, and to achieve this, the super-class bicycle lanes covered by enhanced winter maintenance will be kept in rideable condition around the clock. The quality of winter maintenance is assessed by 284 volunteer cycling agents.
Cycling agents provide weekly feedback on the quality of snow clearing. In November and December, they submitted roughly a thousand reports, which suggest that the new operational model has gotten off to a promising start.
On a scale from 1 to 5, the average rating for November was 4.26 and for December, 4.18. Cyclists particularly praise the sanding and ice prevention efforts.
– Instead of gravel, we are now using finely ground natural sand, which doesn’t damage bike tyres. A very thin layer of sand suffices, so sometimes it may appear as though no aggregate at all has been spread. However, sand works much better than gravel, explains Samuli Huusko, Project Engineer.
Challenging weather conditions, such as the Jari storm in November, naturally increase the amount of feedback. During the week of the storm, the rating dropped to 3.87, but otherwise, the November average remained above four.
– The project has gotten off to a very good start, although we’ve certainly had some challenges. The feedback from the agents has been valuable, enabling to the contractor to respond quickly. And with the five-year contract, we aim to continuously develop the operations, says Huusko.
Safety and fairness are top priorities
In addition to cyclists, enhanced winter maintenance benefits pedestrians, as well as those using wheelchairs, walkers, or pushing prams.
– We want to enable equal mobility for everyone. Cars can cope even in slightly worse weather, but just a few centimetres of snow on the bicycle lanes makes it difficult to get around, Huusko notes.
Winter maintenance is crucial, as movement becomes difficult and dangerous if the lanes are not properly cleared or sanded.
– Hopefully, well-maintained bicycle lanes will increase year-round cycling and reduce, for example, the need to drive children to school, says Huusko.
Snow ploughs will operate around the clock if necessary
The super-class covers 62 kilometres of the most important bicycle lanes in Vaasa, connecting residential areas to workplaces, schools, daycare centres, and services. Snow removal equipment is deployed when the snow cover reaches two centimetres. The maximum snow depth is four centimetres during the day, and five centimetres at night.
– The requirement is that the lanes are kept clear around the clock. In practice, the main bicycle lanes are cleared at the same time as the first-class roads, and as long as the snowfall lasts, Huusko explains.
Enhanced winter maintenance is part of the City of Vaasa’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Promoting sustainable mobility is one of the key means to achieve this goal.
Clearing snow from streets and roads is also being enhanced. A pilot project for alternate parking is currently underway in the city centre, aiming to improve the quality of snow removal.
Highlights from the feedback received
‘It seems the quality of the sand has changed; this finer sand works much better. Before, the gravel mostly rolled to the sides of the bike lane and damaged bike tyres, but now the job has been done very well.’
‘The heavy snowfall was handled extremely well on the main cycling routes. The bicycle lanes are in much better condition than the roads.’
‘Ice prevention was done well.’
‘Overall, the super-class bike lanes stand out compared to other bicycle lanes; a big thank you for that!’
‘The benefits of well-maintained lanes for pedestrians, people with limited mobility, those pushing prams, and small children with balance bikes have received less attention.’
‘It’s great to be able to rely on the bicycle lanes being well-maintained. You’re doing a great job!’
‘The difference is easy to see, and the quality is definitely higher than before.’
Follow the status of winter maintenance
You can follow the winter maintenance status of bicycle lanes on the City of Vaasa’s cycling map. In the ‘Tehostetun talvihoidon toimenpiteet’ (Enhanced Winter Maintenance Measures) section, you can review the maintenance actions performed on the super-class lanes for a selected period, such as the last 24 hours, half a day, or a few hours. The map also includes other cycling-related views, such as the general maintenance classifications of bicycle lanes.
Enhanced winter maintenance is managed by the contractor 06 Infra Oy, selected through a tendering process. Information about the actions taken is also shared weekly on the contractor’s Facebook and Instagram pages. The channels provide up-to-date information on matters such as the condition of the routes, weather conditions, and other useful matters.