Continuing snow showers are becoming quite costly for Tallinn, which needs extra money to clear up city streets.
For 2010, Tallinn allocated 10.5 million euros for road maintenance. The winter season accounts for about 1 million euros a month. "If not for record volumes of snow, then this money would be enough for snow removal,“ said deputy mayor Deniss Boroditsh. The amount of extra funds needed is still being discussed, reported uudised.err.ee.
Cleanup services have been on task, and traffic has not been impacted anymore than usual, said Boroditsh. During continuing snow showers, areas of light traffic and bus stops undergo maintenance every six to eight hours. Ninety-seven snow removal machines and 22 manual labor teams were clearing streets in the early morning hours of December 1. Workers poured 165 tons of chloride onto the roads.
The biggest problems arise in smaller streets administered by city district governments. Parked cars often get in the way of snow removal workers.
Property owners are responsible for organizing snow removal from sidewalks in front of their homes. Hauling away a ton of snow costs 1.5 euros, and an average load costs about 15 euros.
Tallinn's phone lines – which, among other things provide information about availability of hydraulic lifts for removing dangerous icicles – have been flooded with calls.
Municipality governments elsewhere in Estonia are also in trouble because of a very snowy winter last year. Many municipalities are forced to borrow from next year's budget and are hoping for less snow next year.
Weather forecasts are predicting more blizzards to come.
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