Tallinn's Urban Environment and Public Works Department told ERR on Thursday that the current maintenance contracts, which conclude at the end of this year, cost the city a combined €14.23 million per year. The new contracts will be concluded for a seven-year term.

The department doesn't believe that the total cost of the new contracts will be any lower, but declined to indicate what the new total price tag may be either.

"We cannot disclose that amount yet, as it may impact the results of the procurement," the department stated in its reply. "But it's likely that it will increase compared with the current one."

This means that the city's road and landscaping maintenance costs for the next seven years will increase to more than €100 million.

Tallinn is seeking five contractors — one for each of its five maintenance areas.

According to a press release, Tallinn Deputy Mayor Vladimir Svet (Center) said that the city expects the seven year length of the new contracts to motivate contractors to invest in new equipment and staff training, which in turn would result in better maintained urban spaces.

He also added that the capital's past few years' experiences with extremely snowy and variable winters was also taken into account when drawing up the new contracts.

"Our goal is to ensure that roads and streets are passable in all weather to encourage walking, cycling and taking public transport," the deputy mayor said. "We want the work to be of a higher quality during the new period, and to that end we are changing our approach somewhat."

The new contracts call for shorter maintenance cycles for sidewalks, footpaths and cycle paths that see intense use as well as specify a list of streets on which snow removal is obligatory. They also call for the installation of grit bins at bus stops and high traffic risk areas, making road grit immediately available even in the event of rapid changes in wintry weather conditions.

The city's contractual partners will have to ensure year-round maintenance and conditions in compliance with conditions requirements set for respective roads and streets, including deicing and snow removal, spring grit removal, summer wet cleaning, the washing and watering of streets as needed, fall leaf clearing, litter and debris clearing and conditions monitoring as well as maintenance of roadside landscaping.

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