The Transport Administration announced Wednesday that, in order to ensure the safety of road users, flexible bollards or rubber posts will be installed instead of a fixed median barrier.

Before the median barrier was constructed, there were four traffic accidents involving injuries on this section of the road between 2013 and 2019, resulting in one fatality and four injuries. After the road section was reconstructed (between 2020 and 2023), there were seven traffic accidents with injuries, affecting eight people. In terms of accidents involving injuries, vehicles collided with the median barrier three times.

There were two property-damage-only traffic accidents in the 2017-2019 period, and 19 in the 2020-2023 period, with 11 instances of collisions with the median barrier.

"Our goal in installing the median barrier was to improve traffic safety on this road section by separating the directions of travel and to test the solution under Estonian traffic conditions. We found that it helps prevent head-on collisions, but after analyzing the overall number of accidents, we concluded that due to the narrowness of the road cross-section, it is ultimately not suitable," said Priit Sauk, the agency's director-general.

Sauk highlighted the importance of recognizing that, in cases where vehicles collided with the median barrier, the absence of such a barrier could have resulted in head-on collisions, which are generally very severe at highway speeds. "Given the high risk of head-on collisions on roads with 1+1 lanes, we determined that we cannot leave this section without some form of separation. While rubber posts do not eliminate the possibility of head-on collisions, they do serve as an additional physical measure to reduce risky behaviors," Sauk noted.

On the Tallinn-Rapla-Türi road section, in addition to installing rubber posts, the Transport Administration will also put up information boards to remind drivers to maintain safe distance and appropriate road markings. The section through the wildlife corridor will be marked with "wild animals" warning signs.

"The goal is to reduce the number of traffic accidents on this road section, and the aforementioned measures together should decrease the instances of traffic accidents involving injuries," Sauk added.

The removal of the barrier and the installation of rubber posts are planned to start this summer during the resurfacing of the same road section.

The agency will conduct an additional impact analysis of replacing the barrier with rubber posts two years after the measures are implemented, in 2026.

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