Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Transport

Hiiumaa county governor Hannes Maasel admitted that the interest towards using the ice road was especially high in the first days after was opened this winter – 800-1,000 cars a day. Delfi reported that some cars waited in the line on Saturday since afternoon and late in the evening eventually had to board a ferry to get to the island.

Maasel told Delfi that the most reasonable solution to the problem would be opening a third lane, which will be considered next year. Locals have said they should have preferential rights to cross the ice road, but Maasel said that since the Estonian state prepares and keeps the road usable, all taxpayers have equal rights of using it. “Quite a lot of foreigners even have arrived to the island via the ice road; they come to see Europe’s longest ice road. It has become a kind of attraction: they drive from here to Saaremaa and back to the mainland.”

Despite the ice road being operational now, ferries still also operate between mainland and Hiiumaa, although ferries now sail less frequently than when the ice road was not open.