Comment | People can no longer fit on Kaivokatu in Helsinki because of the cars

This summer has revealed how crowded Kaivokatu in front of the Helsinki railway station has become.

Due to the special routes and additional traffic replacing the metro, the capacity of the tram stops has clearly been exceeded.

The stops in front of the station are bulging with people, as tourists with suitcases, mothers with prams and citizens with all kinds of shopping have crammed onto the narrow platforms to wait for their own ride.

Heart aside, you can be afraid when someone trips and falls from the platform onto the rails.

Let’s then imagine that in the next few years, the Laajasalo tram will bring more people every 10 minutes, either from the direction of Hakaniemi or from Tallinn’s ships from the Länsistama. At most, the Artic 54X express cars can accommodate up to 200 people.

So a third trolleybus stop seems necessary. The problem is that there is no room for it.

Helsinki traffic planners are now trying to solve the lack of space by banning car traffic in front of the train station.

If the politicians agree, the lanes will disappear from the street section between Keskuskatu and Postikatu.

This section of Kaivokatu will become a public transport street with only tram traffic. The vacated space would be divided between pedestrians, green construction, sitting areas and perhaps art with the ears of the Ateneum.

A cozy reception for those who arrive in the capital.

Car traffic is supposed to move to the Esplanade, where two plus two lanes would serve like the previously disputed lane-qualifying experiment.

On Kaivkatu there are now two lanes in each direction, which in terms of daily supply looks like a pretty good deal for rubber bike traffic. Based on the latest traffic calculations, around 7,000 vehicles drive through the core center every day, and their traffic is mainly distributed along Kaivokatu and Esplanade.

As public transport connections to the city center have improved, the share of car traffic has decreased. About 75 percent of business trips to the city center are made by public transport: trains, buses, trams and the subway.

30 years ago, around 1,600 cars traveled between four and five o’clock in the afternoon on Pohjoise Esplanade. The number dropped to less than a thousand around 2010. Before the corona in 2019, there were about 800 cars in the afternoon rush hour.

Cars compared to the amount given to them, the space on Kaivokatu is large compared to the space for pedestrians.

A quarter of a million pedestrians crowd around the Railway Station on crosswalks, sidewalks, in front of the station, and at the previously mentioned tram stops.

The volumes of walking are so large that no amount of traffic lights can keep pace with the masses of people. In everyday use, the red pedestrian lights have become only indicative.

Kaivokatu has been classified as unsafe and dreary in numerous surveys. Citizens long for a green, bright, comfortable and less dangerous Kaivokatu.

One can hope for that, but even big flower pots do not change the general appearance if the street space is not divided again.

Politicians it’s still not a matter of envy, because the Kaivokatu drive-thru ban raises the blood pressure even of those who are not affected by it.

In addition to motorists, active residents, taxis, some entrepreneurs, some property owners and some commuters are screaming in my ear. The Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce is very active and influential in this matter.

Another opinion is represented by public transport operators such as Helsinki Region Transport and VR. The sound of the walkers is muffled because the field is fragmented.

The idea of ​​an international-level walking center seems appealing, but when the advantages achieved start to be cut, the mind can change quickly.