The additions to infrastructure allocations proposed by the government for next year will fuel economic growth in both the short and long term. The impact can be seen most quickly in construction, and infrastructure projects will accelerate the development of urban areas in the coming years and decades.
On November 21, the government submitted a proposal to the parliament on supplementing the budget proposal. The presentation included major investments in road infrastructure, which will improve the operating conditions of the business world, increase opportunities for the movement of labor between growth centers and within urban areas, and lead to major housing and other construction.
"With this decision, the government continues to resolutely implement the government program to accelerate growth," says the CEO of Rakennusteollisuus RT Aleksi Randell.
The government proposes funding for the renewal of the access control system of the entire Finnish railways, i.e. Digirata, as well as for several new rail, urban tramway and road projects. In addition, the government presents a condition of 400 million euros for the construction of the Länsirada.
"The Digirata project, the construction of the Länsirada, and the transport projects included in the MAL agreements of the Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti, Jyväskylä, Kuopio and Oulu regions, when implemented, will bring more than a billion euros worth of work to infrastructure builders in the coming years," says the vice president responsible for the infrastructure industry at Rakennusteollisuus RT Paavo Syrjö.
The construction industry encourages municipalities to make decisions
The projects are still conditional on the decisions of the cities and municipalities involved in them. If the decisions of the cities and municipalities are implemented on time, the transport projects included in the West Rail and MAL agreements will be allowed to start already next year with a total of more than 140 million euros.
The state has made its decision. The construction industry is now encouraging municipalities to make their own decisions in order to speed up the necessary growth projects.
According to Syrjö, the leverage effects of traffic projects on other construction are undeniable. For example, the construction of the Länsirada promotes urban development and brings about the construction of tens of thousands of new apartments in the area affected by the line.
The construction of the western line and the transport projects included in MAL agreements will increase the competitiveness of the regions, improve employment and bring much-needed tax euros to the municipalities of the region.
The government's decisions create faith in a better future for home builders struggling out of a recession.
"In this economic cycle, bold forward-looking decisions are needed, the effects of which will extend for decades," Randell encourages the municipalities.
