Winter maintenance of the highway network
This situational picture provides information about the winter maintenance of highways, related policies and future development in Finland. The situational picture of the winter maintenance of the highway network is primarily updated twice a year. The information is produced by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. The information is part of the strategic situational picture of the Finnish transport network.
Winter traffic and the operating environment
Approximately 45% of traffic on highways occurs in the time between October and March (6 months). A little less than 5% of all of the highway traffic of the year is driven in harsh winter conditions (snow, ice). Winters have become shorter in the 2010s and the length of winters is expected to continue shortening in the 2020s.
The need for preventing slipperiness has increased significantly in the 2010s, especially inland, and similar development is expected to continue in the 2020s. So-called standard winters seem to be a thing of the past; instead, changes to weather and road conditions are more rapid than before.
Road user satisfaction with winter maintenance deteriorated until 2018, after which user satisfaction has improved slightly. Winter road condition monitoring based on road weather station information has been able to reduce the amount of poor winter road conditions slightly. Traffic safety in the winter months has improved in pace with or slightly faster than traffic safety in the summer months: the risk of serious accidents has decreased by more than 50% in the 2000s and the seriousness of the accidents has also decreased. The risk of serious accidents on single-lane sections of arterial roads continues to be higher in winter months compared to summer months.
By 2032, vehicle technology will not be able to significantly mitigate risks related to winter conditions compared to the current situation. On busy roads with no separation between opposing lanes, the risk of a serious accident remains higher in winter compared to summer.
Winter maintenance of the highway network 2022–2033
The instructions concerning winter maintenance are up to date. The increasing need for preventing slipperiness will continue to increase the need for winter maintenance in the period under review to a degree, even though the length of winters may shorten. The winter maintenance categories are harmonised on arterial roads. The winter maintenance category needs to be elevated on approximately 150 km of road in the beginning of the period under review. This is cost-efficient from the point of view of traffic safety.
The winter maintenance categories will be elevated in 2022–2023 on approximately 1,000–2,000 km of regional and connecting roads. The need to raise the winter maintenance categories and change instructions is determined by factors such as traffic volume growth, customer needs and climate change.
The maintenance contract model will be renewed and comprehensively implemented by October 2023, which is also when the winter maintenance quality requirements will have been renewed for all contracts. Salting and gritting are expected to increase in the period under review by approximately 10–15%. In the period under review, the winter maintenance of the most important walking and cycling routes will be focused on more than before.
The importance, traffic volume and traffic composition of the road determine the service level required for winter maintenance. Since not all roads can be maintained immediately while still keeping costs at a reasonable level, the roads are classified using different maintenance categories.