How To Get the Best Value for Money Spent on Finnish Minor Roads

The total length of the Finnish minor road network is about 345 000 km (214,373 mi). The Finnish National Road Administration is responsible for some 65 000 km (40,389 mi) of minor roads, which are called public roads. The remaining 280 000 km (173,984 mi) are private roads that are constructed and maintained mainly by property owners who usually form cooperative societies that take care of this in practice. The role of raw wood haulage is significant, representing about three-fourths of the transported tons if mainly short-distance gravel transportation is excluded. Annual rehabilitation and maintenance funding needs were estimated to be at the level of 750 million to 800 million FIM by using a network management system. The available funds should be allocated to locations where improvements lead to the widest possible positive effects for freight transportation and settlement. For freight transportation this means that frost-damaged road sections should be eliminated from locations that have the widest effects on the utilization of wood resources. To promote development in rural communities funds should be allocated for access roads to communities where other prerequisites for development also exist. The interface between public and private roads needs to be reassessed. The concept of private roads is a very inexpensive and effective way of maintaining low-volume roads.