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Estonia usually avoids ice roads alongside its ice-class ferries, but this winter's disruptions left Hiiumaa, the country's second largest island, with limited connections, prompting the state to spend about €120,000 on an official route to Saaremaa.

Before the official ice road was confirmed, islanders were already crossing the frozen Soela Strait on their own, with dozens of cars venturing over the ice early in the week. Social media posts made the route look safe, but officials later warned this perception was dangerously misleading.

Turns out the islanders who made the trek had gotten incredibly lucky.

"Once we started taking a closer look, we found long stretches where the ice was under 20 centimeters thick," said Hannes Vaidla, director of the Western Region of the Transport Administration's Road Management Division. He added that this was dangerously thin.

Once approved, work on the official route began from both islands at the same time, with crews even holding meetings right out on the ice as they coordinated. Engineers drilled repeatedly to gauge ice thickness and structure, using color, fractures and signs of underlying water movement to assess safety.

In trickier spots, Vaidla noted, you check the ice to either side of the route as well.

"If needed, you [drill] more frequently to figure out why the ice is thinner [in one spot]," the transport official explained. "Is there a current here? You have to understand what's happening along the route."

When building an ice road, with human lives on the line, there's no room for error, he emphasized. "So far, nothing has happened on an open route, and I'm quite confident nothing will."

Building it required hundreds of markers, traffic-control equipment and round-the-clock monitoring.

In spots where larger cracks form, crews are prepared to install temporary bridges, said Marek Koppel, Verston's road maintenance area manager for Saaremaa. "Every morning, conditions can be completely different from the day before," he added.

All ice roads, however, are ultimately temporary.

"It's clear this route won't hold up for its entire duration; it will wear out, cracks will form and it will break up," Vaidla noted. But planners are already scouting alternative routes should the ice along the current road deteriorate further.

No seat belts, don't drive too slow

The Saaremaa-Hiiumaa ice road officially opened Sunday morning at Triigi Harbor, marked by the green light on Saaremaa's only traffic signal.

Koppel said drivers were given strict rules: no seat belts, maintain 250-meter gaps between vehicles and only drive at speeds between either 10-25 km/h or 40-70 km/h.

"If you see a car stopped on the side of the route, don't pull up next to it to check on them," Vaidla warned, adding that two 2.5-ton cars stopping on one spot has now doubled the load on the ice there.

This latest ice road was built in response to a crisis, but its popularity raises a bigger question: if winter conditions allow, is Estonia prepared to fund these rare, one-of-a-kind transport links again?

"I don't think the state will start budgeting for ice roads based on this situation just yet," Vaidla said. "But ultimately, it's all politics, and how we steer our policies and politicians is exactly how we can make things happen. We're ready; just give us the chance."

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Editor: Valner Väino, Aili Vahtla

LIVELihtsad uudised 6. veebruarillisten: radio tallinnLIVEwatch: jupiterLIVEAbout usERR News is the English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting, run by a fully independent editorial team.To read up on ERR News' comments rules and to contact ERR's other services, please follow the link below.Staff, contacts & comments

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