In August of this year, Tallinn established a temporary bike lane on the inbound side of Paldiski maantee, between Mooni tänav and Toompuiestee. The plan was to replace this temporary lane with a permanent solution during the reconstruction of Paldiski maantee, eventually connecting it to a future bike lane planned for the Hipodroomi development along Paldiski maantee.

The bike lane was installed on the roadway heading from Mooni tänav toward the city center, resulting in the bus lane being shifted over by one traffic lane. Consequently, one regular traffic lane was removed starting from Tulika tänav. By early September, this caused significant congestion in the area, affecting both private vehicles and public transport.

Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski acknowledged that while removing one lane reduced capacity for traffic heading toward the city center at this bottleneck, it significantly improved traffic flow on Toompuiestee, benefiting routes toward Tõnismäe and Reidi tee. Cyclists also gained a safe and efficient connection to Sõle, Ristiku and Tehnika streets. Additionally, connectivity with Haabersti and Mustamäe improved.

However, the left-turn lane onto Sõle tänav remains under capacity because the second left-turn lane only begins immediately before the traffic light. This has caused congestion at the Hippodroomi intersection, which in turn leads to public transport delays on the Pirni-Mustamäe tee stretch.

On Friday, the city government reached a preliminary agreement on Ossinovski's proposed solution. It involves removing 143 meters of the bike lane on Paldiski maantee before the intersection with Sõle tänav and narrowing the remaining section of the bike lane. Additionally, starting from Mooni tänav, two left-turn lanes onto Sõle tänav will be created to improve the intersection's capacity.

The changes proposed by Ossinovski aim to improve conditions for car traffic without worsening the situation for public transport and while minimizing the impact on cyclists. This solution could potentially serve as a long-term arrangement until a more extensive reconstruction of the intersection is undertaken in the future.

Explaining his proposal to ERR, Ossinovski noted that the solution mirrors the arrangement at the Pärnu maantee and Liivalaia tänav intersection. "As you enter the city center, there is one lane for public transport, one for cars and two lanes turning onto Liivalaia tänav. This is a completely logical solution if we want to reduce the number of cars in the city center while ensuring smooth, efficient and quick connections to major streets like Sõle tänav," the mayor said.

Ossinovski also emphasized that the primary cause of traffic jams remains the increasing car dependency in Tallinn. "This is definitely the main issue the city needs to address – to ensure a suitable and fast public transport network so that people can better utilize public transit. If we look at the growth in car usage, it is undoubtedly a factor that negatively affects congestion," the mayor stated.

The Transport Department will implement the preliminary solution proposed by Ossinovski as soon as weather conditions allow, including tasks like repainting road markings.

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