“The weather conditions and sea level have changed to the extent that it is no longer possible to keep the ice roads safely open for traffic. The access points to the ice roads are now under seawater, and the above-zero temperatures of recent days have caused fairly intensive melting of the routes, making it impossible to ensure safety,” explained Meelis Saat, Head of the Road Maintenance and Traffic Management Unit of the West Region Department of the Road Maintenance Division at the Transport Administration. “Interest in the ice roads was very high, and people travelled from several European countries to drive on them. I would certainly like to thank the road users who followed the rules and requirements, which helped keep the ice roads open for so long.”
This year, the ice roads between Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, as well as to Vormsi and Kihnu, were open.
The 17 km-long Saaremaa–Hiiumaa ice road was opened on 8 February and closed on 27 February. It was open for 11 days and was used by a total of 2,449 vehicles in both directions.
On 14 February, a 12 km-long ice road to Kihnu Island was opened and remained open for 8 days. The Lao–Kihnu ice road was used by a total of 2,104 vehicles in both directions.
On 15 February, a 10 km-long ice road to Vormsi Island was opened and remained open for 10 days. During that time, a total of 2,332 vehicles travelled on the Vormsi ice road in both directions.
All ice roads were maintained by Verston Eesti OÜ.
No major accidents occurred on the official ice roads during their opening periods.
