HS Vantaa The Giant Kindergarten threatens to bring car chaos to a quiet detached house area in Vantaa: “No one can predict what the rally will be like”

AM Rekola’s Kustaantie is quiet, only birdsong can be heard. The silence is interrupted by a beep and the ensuing explosion. The residents of the detached house area have been used to this for more than a month, as the largest kindergarten in Vantaa is being built along the road.

“At first, both I and the dog jumped into the air on the couch when the explosion came,” says a resident of the construction site a couple of hundred meters away. Terja Koivumäki.

The Koivumäki detached house has been shaken by the force of the explosions so that the windows have shone. He has not dared to leave the dog alone at home so that it does not start to fear explosions at a young age. The old computer has also been allowed to stay shut for days, as it cannot withstand shocks, according to Koivumäki.

The start of the blasts came as a surprise to Koivumäki, as no bulletin had been distributed to the residents.

“I read from the construction site sign that the Koivukylä kindergarten will be built on the site.”

Vantaa city ​​builder manager Juha Vuorenmaa says that residents received feedback on the clearing work and then a notice of future blasting work was distributed to the plot neighbors. Koivumäki, who lives 200 meters away, was not one of the locals.

The intensity of the blasts caused local residents to worry about their impact on the foundations of the houses.

“An external consultant hired by the contractor evaluates the excavation work before it starts and evaluates the properties under review according to the instructions given for the excavation work,” says Vuorenmaa.

Vibration meters were installed in seven nearby properties, and according to Vuorenmaa, no limit values ​​have been exceeded.

“According to the measurements, there has been no danger to the nearby properties from the excavation work.”

Excavation work are not the only concern of the area’s residents. Another concern relates to traffic arrangements in the area. The city of Vantaa asked locals for their opinions on Kustaantie’s street plans at the beginning of September. Several commenters raised concerns about the escort traffic brought by the kindergarten.

The new kindergarten has a whopping 256 places and 32 caregivers, and as the name of the kindergarten Koivukylä Kindergarten says, not only Rekola’s children are expected to attend the kindergarten. The Koivukylä kindergarten will replace the Tarhapuisto and Minkkipuisto kindergartens, and anyone interested can move to the Koivukylä kindergarten from there. The children of the Näätäkuja group family kindergarten can also move to a new kindergarten.

“It’s hard to predict how many want to move there, but I think a big part,” says Vantaa head of early childhood education Mikael Kokljuschkin.

If everyone moves, it means that more than half of the children in the kindergarten will come farther than Rekola. That, in turn, probably means a car rally. One respondent to the street plan survey commented as follows:

“I calculated 26 parking spaces in the yard of the kindergarten from the plan. What is the basis of this dimensioning when there will be places for 250 children? ”

Regional engineer of the City of Vantaa Jarmo Lagstedt understands the concern, but recalls that according to the town plan, there should be only 12 parking spaces on the daycare site. According to Lagstedt, some cars will also fit in the widening along the street as well as in the yard of the adjacent school.

“No one can predict what the rally will be like. But the assumption is that not everyone comes there by car or at the same time. The situation requires flexibility in all respects. ”

Worry also causes the safety of children on the road. Kustaantie has a Kustaantie kindergarten and a Koivukylä school. In the afternoons, little school children travel to Rekola Church for an afternoon club.

“The safety of Kustaantie will be improved by building a sidewalk from Rekolantie to kindergarten,” says Lagstedt.

However, there is no sidewalk coming along the entire length of Kustaantie. No sidewalk will be built on the section between the kindergarten and Hanabölentie. The decision seems strange to the residents, as the kindergarten can also be reached by car from Hanabölentie.

“Even if the passage from Hanabölentie to Rekolantie will be banned, you can still drive to the plot or kindergarten,” says Lagstedt.

Regional Transport Engineer Heikki Väänänen according to the sidewalk at this stage will be built only at the western end of the street, as it is estimated that most of the traffic comes from the direction of Recolantie.

“At the same time, it also serves traffic to Rekola Church.”

According to Väänänen, the eastern part of the street is a plot street, and it is not necessary to build a sidewalk there. However, it may be that the sidewalk will be extended at some point throughout the street.

Residents according to those coming from Rekolantie face different challenges. The hill of Rekola Church is steep, and in winter cars often get stuck in it.

“I live on Kustaantie and I am really worried that the escort service for the kindergarten will be arranged from Rekolantie. The church hill is going to be total chaos and a miserable joke in the winter. The intersection of Kustaantie and Rekolantie will be confused by the amount of traffic, and otherwise poor visibility makes the place really dangerous., ”Says one resident who responded to the survey.

Improving the connection of recollectors has not been included in the planning at this stage.

Many have also wondered why it was decided to build a kindergarten on the narrow Kustaantie, when the kindergarten has had a reservation for years with good transport connections near Rekola station.

According to the city of Vantaa, the reason was the small size of the plot. A nursery of the desired size would not have fit on the plot.

Terja Koivumäki according to the residents of the area do not oppose the construction of the plot per se, as they already knew how to expect something to be built on the empty forest plot.

However, it was a surprise that instead of detached or terraced houses, a massive kindergarten will rise on the plot.

“If my own children were small and walked through this on a daily basis, I would probably be worried about increasing traffic.”

The kindergarten is estimated to cost 7.3 million euros and will be completed in the autumn of 2022.