Deputy judge Jukka Laitasalo, who lives in Eira, took Esplanadi's experiment to court. Now he received a sentence that does not please.
In Eira resident deputy judge Jukka Laitasalo got so upset with the Esplanadi experiment in the city of Helsinki that he took the matter to the administrative court. Now he has received the first verdict in the case, and Laitasalo does not like it.
He demanded from the court that Esplanadi's controversial experiment be suspended and the matter be returned to a Helsinki city official for further consideration and political decision-making.
In the experiment, space was cleared from cars for pedestrians and cyclists on Etelä- and Pohjoisesplanadi and a few other streets, among other things. Motorists lost one lane on both sides of Esplanadi Park. It caused congestion and anger, especially in the early stages of the experiment.
Laitasalo's first complaint about the experiment was left uninvestigated by the city. The city of Helsinki appealed to the fact that the matter is unfinished, and you cannot complain about unfinished matters.
The Administrative Court sided with the city and rejected Laitasalo's complaint about Helsinki's operations.
After the snow came, the plantings of the experiment got a snow cover. Similarly, the terraces built on the old lane were covered in snow.
Helsinki's Pohjoisesplanadi in November 2023.
An experiment has now lasted half a year. Laitasalo's opinion about the experiment has not changed. In his opinion, the experiment will make traffic difficult.
Laitasalo says that he drives Esplanadi to his daughter's family in Katajanokka almost every day, but he purposely handles business elsewhere outside the city center. The center has not become any more pleasant in the experiment, he says.
“Pohjoisesplanadi looks really awful, to be honest. It's a bit mushy. It's like diving into a jungle, and not into a historical cultural environment.”
In the experiment, plantings and sitting areas have been brought to the Esplanade.
“Now in winter it is barren and empty. There have been piles of snow on the widenings, and no one sits there on those benches.”
Laitasalo is now considering taking the case to the Supreme Administrative Court. He does not swallow Helsinki's explanation in the matter.
In court it was not actually discussed whether the city has the right to conduct an experiment with Esplanadi, but whether the residents have the right to complain about it.
You cannot make a claim for correction of things that are being prepared. The Administrative Court decided that the Esplanadi experiment is only in preparation.
According to the law, no binding decision has been made about the traffic arrangements in the area, and therefore it has no “legal effects”.
In addition, the court pointed out that only the person to whom the decision is directed or whose right, obligation or interest is affected by the decision can demand a correction.
Esplanadi's experiment has not been targeted at Laitasalo, the court states.
He does not own or control real estate that would be limited to the areas subject to traffic arrangements.
The trial does not directly affect Laitasalo's rights, obligations or interests in any other way, the court states in its decision.
Side house says he disagrees with the administrative court. He considers the decision special, because it now sends a message that the correctness of the decisions made by the city should not be questioned.
“If the city injects three million euros into such a measure, it's not just about preparation, even if it's labeled as preparation. In my opinion, one can justifiably disagree with that.”
In Laitasalo's opinion, it should be possible to draw a line at something, so that the city's large-scale projects are no longer considered just preparations.
“Especially when the Esplanadi is a central traffic thoroughfare. In that, municipal democracy is one where there should be some kind of possibility to contest the decisions made by the board.”
Helsinki the city environmental board decided in November 2022 that the city will start preparing the Esplanadi experiment starting in 2023.
The final decision to start the experiment was made by the lead inspector of the area use and control unit of the urban environment industry. He approved temporary traffic arrangements for Pohjoisesplanadi, Eteläesplanadi and Erottajankatu last April.
The city of Helsinki has previously admitted an error in processing the rectification request. According to the city, the rectification request was first lost in the city's system.
Later, however, the urban environment board decided to leave the rectification request completely unprocessed.
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