This is both preventing people from leaving their homes as easily as they could do, while also hampering vital services from reaching them.

Meanwhile many municipalities across Estonia have already introduced large-scale restrictions on roads, and concerns remain on where the funds might be found fo

Aime Kauts, 77, lives with her son in the village of Koolma, Põlva County, which at around 250 kilometers from Tallinn and with a population of approximately 24,000, population dentisy: 11 people per square kilometer, is perhaps the quintessential rural region in Estonia.

Dilapidated roads and being stuck in the spring mud are an annual inevitability in that region, but this year the muddy season has arrived earlier than usual.

Among other day-to-day frustrations, this means that mail is no longer delivered to the door.

Aime said: "He (ie. the postman - ed.) said that he would leave the mail with the Leevi store, so we said, how do we get to the store? If he can't get to our village, how are we supposed to make it to Leevi's? And thank God we haven't had any major incidents. A few weeks ago, a neighbor's barn burned tot he ground. Could the fire department's 20-tonne trucks make it up here, or not?"

At the same time, the municipality's infrastructure specialist Rainis Oper said weight restrictions signage is being installed on light roads. The authority gets complaints every day about the state of the roads, he said, though there is a lack of money for proper road maintenance.

"In this way, the critical [situation] is such that there is relatively little money for repairs, and we are doing it in such a way that we [start] hitting the most critical places," Oper told AK.

Although the spring thaw and the accompanying issues with the roads are only now starting, the same concern can be found in most municipalities, AK reported.

Rain Sangerneb of Kanepi Rural Municipality, also in Põlva County, said: "I can state quite honestly and sincerely that I think that the amounts allocated for roads from the budget of any municipality are really not sufficient. Repairing them is a bit like building the city of Tallinn, it will likely never be finished," referring to Tallinn folklore – ie. the city is supposed never to be fully ready.

Road restrictions in Kanepi were introduced three weeks earlier this year than had been the case previous late winters. The restrictions in question most directly affect the forestry sector, hence large piles of timber left in some places, awaiting drier conditions for transportation.

The municipality has already had to make some exceptions, Sangerneb went on.

"So far, we have issued four limited-time permits; two for road maintenance machines, and a permit to limited company Eesti

At present it is not known how long the thaw will go on – a return of colder weather could reverse things for a time of course, but would also have an even more negative effect on the state of rural roads.

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