The road construction work will be conducted at the Tallinn–Tartu–Võru–Luhamaa highway section from Raja Street to Variku railway overpass and at the Jõhvi–Tartu–Valga highway section from the Riia Street 140 intersection to the Kantri Hotel, with a 2+2 (3+3 in some areas) lane highway built as a result.
In total, 2.5 km of state roads will be rebuilt, 2 km of city roads will be reconstructed and 2.4 of new city streets will be built along with five roundabouts.
Footpaths will be added along the main highways to separate pedestrians from vehicles and add the missing connections. Approximately 8.4 km of shared-use paths in total will be built or reconstructed.
New lighting will be added to all those highways and streets.
A lorry park and a rest area will be built for the Võru–Tallinn direction.
The Riia intersection will become multi-level, with the Tallinn–Tartu–Võru–Luhamaa direct route moved to the turbo roundabout through an overpass. That turbo roundabout will have two pass-through lanes in both directions of the Riga Highway. To alleviate traffic congestion at peak times, there will be two pass-through lanes for left turns from the Võru side in the direction of Valga and from the Tallinn side in the direction of the Tartu city centre.
To improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, multi-level overpasses will be constructed for all directions at the Riia interchange. A multi-level crossing will also be built at the Jõhvi–Tartu–Valga highway, by the Aardla and Optika streets roundabout.
The Riia interchange overpass decorative lighting is planned in cooperation with the city of Tartu.
New sound barriers will also be constructed to improve the quality of life for nearby residents whose exposure to road noise would otherwise exceed the norms. The road noise levels will be reduced for a total of 14 residential buildings.
A separate greenery project has been compiled for the entire work area.
Planner: Teedeprojekt OÜ.
The estimated cost of this public procurement is 30.8 million euros with VAT. Of that sum, the Transport Administration will cover 27.3 million euros, while the city of Tartu will allocate approximately 2.8 million euros. Estimated work start date: May 2021. Estimated work completion date: early 2023.