Pärnu requests additional government funding for new bridge
Pärnu City Council is requesting €25 million funding from the government to construct a new bridge. The summer capital plans to go ahead with work despite rising construction prices.
The structure will connect Raba and Lai streets and will be partly financed by loans and contributions from the city but construction prices are changing rapidly due to the economic situation.
The council has now asked the government for an additional €5 million from the 2023 State Budget and for €20 million in total to be added to future budgets until 2026.
"We have written these amounts in the 2023-2027 Pärnu Plan, which is being processed and will be adopted by Pärnu City Council on September 15 into the city's budget strategy," Mayor Romek Kosenkranius said.
The mayor said a third design and construction procurement for the bridge is underway after the first two failed due to proposed high prices, as both were over €70 million. New offers have been submitted by companies in Estonian, Latvian, Finnish and Spanish companies, he added.
It is hoped the contract will be concluded by the first quarter of 2023, Kosenkranius said. The city estimates the cost at €48 million but said it could be 10 percent higher due to inflation.
"If there are no significant problems with the progress of the work, the deadline for the completion of the bridge is 2025 the end of the year," the mayor said.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Helen Wright
