Environment | An extensive renovation is planned for Etu-Töölö park in Helsinki

Helsinki the city is planning a major renovation of the park area between Eteläinen and Pohjoise Hesperiankatu, the Hesperian Esplanade in Etu-Töölö.

The area to be renovated stretches from Taivallahti to Mannerheimintie, the urban environment department says in a press release.

The city will prepare the design principles for the renovation during the fall. The cycling route through the park will be moved to the street area, and with that, a traffic plan will also be made for the area.

Major renovation is intended to preserve and strengthen the characteristic features of the historic park: rows of trees bordering the street, clipped hawthorn hedges, park corridors and wide fields. In the planning, the park’s lighting and furniture, stormwater treatment, the park’s natural values ​​and the valuable environment of the monuments located in the park are reviewed.

The future renovation of Leikkipuisto Taivallahti is also taken into account.

The park will be renovated approximately in 2027—2028.

In the process cycling moves from the park to the street area. In the future, bicycle traffic will travel either on one-way bicycle lanes or on the same roadway as car traffic. The changes will also improve the comfort of pedestrians.

If the city ends up with one-way bike lanes, the number of parking spaces on Pohjoise and Eteläinen Hesperiankatu will decrease significantly. The goal is to remove as few parking spaces as possible from the streets.

Car traffic on the streets next to the park will be calmed down with narrowings and podiums that limit driving speeds. The city is also investigating the possibility of building a crosswalk on Runeberginkatu.

The park the goals of the renovation and traffic arrangements will be discussed at a residents’ walk on Tuesday, August 29. The program of the residents’ walk with schedules is the responsibility of the city of Helsinki in the event calendar at events.hel.fi.

Alternative traffic plan drafts are made for the traffic arrangements. The drafts will be available for residents to comment on, and more information will be provided about them during the fall. The traffic plan will come into decision-making at the beginning of 2024.