While Tallinn City Government announced last week that the new project for the road includes a reduction in the number of lanes of traffic in each direction in the vicinity of the Russalka intersection, deputy mayor Züleyxa Izmailova (Greens) said on Monday that further changes were successfully introduced as well.

"An agreement has been reached to reduce the number of lanes, shift the route inland from the shoreline, turn some lanes into public transport lanes and reduce the speed limit to 40 kilometers per hour, which will increase the road's traffic capacity and safety," Izmailova said.

Estonian Greens deputy chairman and Izmailova's assistant adviser Aleksander Laane told ERR that this speed limit would likely not apply to the entire road, but most of it, noting that capacity was greatest at speeds of 38 kilometers per hour. Agreements were likewise reached regarding solutions that will make the project more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

According to Laane, it is now the Estonian Environment Agency who is against the new road's current planned route, allegedly citing that it cannot be brought from the shoreline directly to Narva Highway through a park in the vicinity of the Chinese Embassy as it would damage an avenue of poplars there.

According Tiina Napp, a specialist at the agency, it was not true that the Estonian Environment Agency is against the most reasonable route for the planned road, but it did find that the destruction of the Kadriorg neighborhood's historic poplar avenue did not seem reasonable.

The Estonian Greens claim that Reidi Road is now set to be greener than expected, and that the project's costs will be significantly reduced as well. Due to the changes in the project, Angel's Beach, adjacent to the Russalka monument, will be preserved, and city residents' opportunities for using the recreation area.

"This is not an ideal solution, but this is what can be achieved at the moment," Laane concluded.