News

The spring cleaning in Tallinn has started, and by mid-April, it is planned to clear the remaining leaves, winter road maintenance residue, and debris raised by studded tires from the city roads and streets. First, pedestrian and bicycle paths and public transport stops will be cleaned of granite chips, while cleaning on roads is happening simultaneously.

Tarmo Sulg, the Deputy Head of the Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department, explained that spring cleaning can begin when the air temperature remains above zero degrees Celsius for at least half of the day, and the snow and ice in street drains have melted. This year’s February air temperature was 2.5 degrees warmer than the average of previous years, resulting in the melting of nearly all the snow and ice accumulated during the winter season. The first street sweepers started work on February 19. Since then, daytime collection of road materials has been carried out, using equipment that allows for dry collection of spreading materials. The recent temperatures and forecast for the coming weeks enable cleaning work to be carried out through a comprehensive brigade work organization and use of vacuum sweepers and street washing machines.

“Our current priority is cleaning pedestrian and bicycle paths and public transport stops of chips. During the winter, 2557.70 tons of chips were used on pedestrian and bicycle paths, and primary maintenance has largely been completed there. Two-thirds of the asphalt surface has been cleared of granite chips, collecting over 1600 tons of chips and sweepings. Waste has been cleared by 321 tons. We aim to clear bicycle paths and sidewalks maintained by the Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department of chips by the end of this week. The major street cleaning will start as the temperatures stabilize on those streets where primary cleaning has already been done,” said Sulg.

In parallel, there is also cleaning of spreading materials, asphalt particles caused by the use of studded tires, sweepings, and other debris from cleaning areas’ roads, parking lots, stairs, curbs, roadside slabs, and median strips. Collection of autumn leaves has also begun, with final work completed when the ground is sufficiently firm for the work to be carried out. Last autumn, not all leaves were collected as there were only about 10 days between the first frost and the arrival of snow, while at least 30 days are needed to collect all the leaves.

District governments have also started spring maintenance work. Primary cleaning work on sidewalks maintained by district governments has been done, with roadwork continuing into April. The district governments’ contract partners have collected 277 tons of chips.

Owners of properties adjacent to the road must also collect the granite chips accumulated during the winter. According to the maintenance regulations, leaf blowers must not be used for spring cleaning on walkways and roadways, as this would release excessive dust into the air. Owners of vehicles that have remained in public spaces and hinder cleaning work must clean under and around their vehicles within a one-meter radius.

Drivers using studded tires should start thinking about switching to summer tires, as the greater risk of snow and ice has passed, and the final cleaning and dust removal in urban spaces require the disappearance of studded tires from the streets. As long as the use of studded tires continues, harmful dust is produced, and studded tires do not provide good traction on wet and dry asphalt compared to summer tires. It is advisable to wash vehicles from the residues of road materials accumulated over the winter.