When the construction at the intersection of Kivisilla and Gonsiori streets begins on 14 April, the traffic of tram lines 2 and 4 running in the direction of Tartu maantee will be interrupted, Andres Unn, an infrastructure specialist with the Tallinn Transport Department, told to ERR on Monday.
These lines will be closed until mid-September.

At the same time, tram line 6 will be temporarily put into service, which will run between Kopli and Tondi and will partially compensate line 2, which runs from Kopli to Mere Puiestee, and line 4, which runs along Pärnu maantee between Viru roundabout and Tondi.

Tram lines 1 and 3 will continue to operate until the end of the Youth Song and Dance Festival on July 2, but as of July 3, they will no longer serve Kadriorg.

"After that the intersection of Narva maantee and Hobujaama will be closed to trams," Unn said.

At the end of August, tram traffic will also be stopped in the direction of Kopli, where trams 1 and 2 run. "As far as we know today, it will not be possible to travel from Kopli to the city center via the Viru roundabout between August 28 and mid-November," said Unn. "The rails of the new line will then be connected to the lines in the direction of Kopli."

When the Kopli line closes, the replacement line 6 will not run either. So from the end of August to mid-September is the period when no tram lines will run.

This includes the September reopening of the Narva and Hobujaama crossroads, but the Kopli direction will remain closed.

Unn emphasized that the timing of the closures may change slightly, as it is difficult to predict with precision when anything will be completed and there are likely to be some changes in plans.

It is possible that a section of the tramway has already been completed, but the tram cannot access it because work is still being done elsewhere and the track is impassable.

Road works affect at least 27 bus routes

Unn said that in terms of public transport, the construction of the old harbor tram line is divided into four major phases.

• The first phase will run from 7 March to 3 April and only concerns bus services.
• The second phase will run from 4 April to the end of May and will concern 27 bus routes. This will include a tram stop on Tartu maantee, where lines 2 and 4 will not run from 17 April.
• From June 1, the Viru stop will be closed to buses. "We have been running there with a reduced load since April anyway, but for two months buses won't be able to go down there at all," Unn said.

Bus No 15 to the airport

Speaking about the replacement of tram 4 to the airport, Unn said that the route of bus 15 will be changed for this purpose.

"We are changing the route of the bus 15 so that it will also run in both directions through the airport, where trams stop today.

To do this, the bus will be rerouted in the Ülemiste campus: it will take Keevise tänav to the airport, turn into the harbor and then continue to Sõjamäki. On the way back, it will make an additional en-route to pick up passengers from the airport," said Unn.

Bus 58 is extended via Pallasti tänav to Tartu maantee to compensate for the loss of tram service on Majaka tänav.

The route of buses 44 and 55 will also be changed and extended slightly at the Lasnamäe end.

"There will be quite a few changes. People should definitely keep an eye on the information about the routes they are used to using on a daily basis," Unn emphasized.

The old harbor tram line will connect Vanasadam with the future Rail Baltic Ülemiste passenger terminal. A turnaround is planned for the Tartu maantee tramway just before Kivisilla tänav, from where the new tramway will branch off from the existing tramway on Maneeži tänav to Gonsiori tänav. From Kivisilla, a new tramway will run to Gonsiori, Laikmaa, Hobujaama, Ahtri, Laeva, Kuunari, Kai, Logi, Rumbi and Kursi streets, and to Mere and Põhja puieste, and will connect to the existing tramway in the direction of Kopli.

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