Private roads

Finland's road network consists of highways, streets and private roads. Various parties operate highways, streets and private roads. Highways are managed by the state, streets are managed by municipalities, and private roads are managed by road councils or private road owners.

Granting private road grants is a voluntary discretionary activity of the municipality. The municipality decides on private road subsidies, their conditions and supervision. The city of Riihimäki grants consent to install traffic control devices on private roads.

The application for private road grants is now open.

The City of Riihimäki's private road maintenance grants for 2025 maintenance costs are available for application from 7.4 April to 7.7.2025 July XNUMX.

During this application period, financial assistance can be applied for for measures considered to be part of the maintenance of 2025, i.e. measures until 31.12.2025 December 1.10.2025. During this application period, instead of financial assistance, you can apply for a work grant for the period 30.9.2026 October XNUMX-XNUMX September XNUMX, if certain criteria are met.

Submitting applications
The grant can be applied for electronically at: https://riihimaki.tiekuntarekisteri.fi/.
In exceptional cases, if an electronic application is not possible for a justified reason, the application may be submitted on paper. The city must be notified in advance and the reasons must be provided.

Service credentials
Known road districts are considered road districts whose email address is known to the city. These road districts will be sent user IDs to the road district register by email in the week starting April 7.4. If you have not received the IDs, you can request them from Matriset Oy's product support;

tel. 040 558 9137
email: helpdesk@matriset.fi

Transition period 2025–2026
The City of Riihimäki will apply a transition period for private road subsidies in 2025 and 2026. During this period:
– The grant is granted as a fixed amount of euros per kilometer.
– The amount of the subsidy is based on the prescribed road categories and percentages.
– Grants are awarded within the limits of the appropriations set by the city budget.

Establishment of a road association and conditional grants
If a road municipality has not been established, residents of private roads can apply for assistance under the following conditions:
– One authorized person is responsible for the application.
– The names and written consents of all road users must be collected.
– The applicant is responsible for the accuracy of the authorization.
During the transition period, the grant may be granted conditionally, so that the road municipality must be established and registered in the required systems by the agreed deadline.

You can find the principles of assisting with private roads in the City of Riihimäki here:

Principles of assistance for private roads, maintenance allowance

Traffic control devices for private roads

Traffic control devices on private roads mean, for example, traffic signs and booms. The traffic control device may be placed on a private road by the road municipality or the shareholders after obtaining the municipality's consent.

The municipality's consent is not required for the installation of temporary traffic control devices due to the condition of the road, the work being carried out on or next to the road. It is often a situation where the exceptionality or urgency of the situation does not make it possible to obtain consent. If the situation becomes more permanent, the consent of the private road manager must be obtained.

The road manager (the road authority or road partners) must apply for consent to install a traffic control device from the municipality, and the official makes a decision based on the application, which is made publicly available. The task of Tiekunta or the partners is to acquire, install and maintain the traffic control device. The applicant is also responsible for the correctness and up-to-dateness of the traffic control device.

The following information must be presented in the application:

• At the road council's meeting, the installation of a traffic control device on a private road must first be approved before seeking the municipality's consent.
• If there are other roads in the area of ​​influence of the traffic control device, then the minutes of the road council's meeting must also be attached to the application, which shows the consent of these road authorities regarding the traffic control device in question (or in the case of unorganized road councils, consent signed by the shareholders or powers of attorney from all parties).
• Attach a copy of the minutes of the meeting with reasons to the free-form application, which shows the road authority's positive position on the installation of the traffic control device.
• If the road union has not been established, all road shareholders must sign the application or give written consent to it.
• In the application, state which traffic signs the county wants to place on the private road.
• In the application, explain why traffic signs are applied for on a private road.
• Mark the planned location of the traffic sign or similar and the direction of the sign's effect in the map appendix.
• Send the application to kirjaamo@riihimaki.fi or the City of Riihimäki, PO Box 125, 11101 Riihimäki. Add the entry "Private roads, Application for setting up a traffic control device" in the message.

According to the Road Traffic Act, information about the installation of the traffic control device must be submitted to the Norwegian Railway Agency in order to store the information about the control device in the Digiroad information system. Tiekunta or shareholders report the information on the Digiroad page Submitting personal information to Digiroad

If the state or municipality jointly assists the road municipality or road partners in the maintenance of the road, the use of the road for traffic other than for the benefit of the road partners may not be prohibited or the road closed during the period to which the assistance applies. The same applies to the road, the maintenance of which the municipality is responsible for at its own expense. (Privacy Act 560/2018, section 85.)

Private Roads Act

Private Roads Act 560/2018 contains information on, among other things, the maintenance and costs of private roads, setting up traffic signs, restricting and prohibiting the use of private roads, the right of non-road owners to use private roads and requirements as conditions for state and municipal subsidies.

The law limits the municipality's grant opportunities by making the grant for a private road a condition that a road authority has been established to handle matters related to the road and that the information about the road authority and private road in the private road register and the road and street network information system is up-to-date as required by the Act on Private Roads. The purpose of the law is to guarantee legal protection for the parties involved in matters concerning private roads and equal treatment of road sharers.

Obligations of the road partner

The recipient of the right of way for a private road is obliged as a road partner to participate in the maintenance of that private road according to his share.

The obligation to build and maintain the road begins when the right of way is established and ends when the right of way ceases. Tiekunta can, upon application, obligate a property along a private road to become a partner, if the road can be used for the property's traffic needs.

The road maintenance obligation and the resulting costs are divided among the road partners on the basis of road units. The road units are confirmed among the road partners in the road unit calculation.

Information about private roads, their registration and information reporting

A private road should be registered and, if necessary, it can hire a road manager to supervise the interest of the road and facilitate administrative work. You can get instructions for establishing, caring for and maintaining a private road From the Land Surveying Institute website. The university's information is reported to the Land Survey and To Digiroad.

You can find more information about private roads in addition to Finlex, the pages of the Finnish Land Survey and the website of the Norwegian Railways Agency, for example From the Finnish Road Association website.  You can also order a free private road newsletter or the free Private Road Uutiset magazine from the Finnish Road Association's website.

Decided changes to the City of Riihimäki's private road grants

In the last quarter of 2024, the decision-making process in Riihimäki discussed the termination of private road assistance agreements and the reorganization of assistance activities. On 4.11.2024 November 322 (§ 30.9.2025), the City Council decided to terminate all private road assistance agreements with effect from 30.9.2025 September 30.9.2025, to repeal all current administrative decisions regarding private road assistance, and to end the established private road assistance practice in Riihimäki on 1.10.2025 September XNUMX. All types of assistance related to the lighting and maintenance of private roads by the city based on old agreements and decisions will end on XNUMX September XNUMX. In addition, the City Council requested that the technical sector begin preparing a draft decision on new principles for private road assistance so that the new assistance practice must comply with the Private Roads Act and ensure the prerequisites set out in the Private Roads Act. In addition, from October XNUMX, XNUMX, the grant can only be granted if the road authority has applied for the grant and the city has budgeted grant funds each year.

The City Council decided on the 2025 budget at its meeting on 11.11.2024 November 90 (§ 2025). The budget allocated approximately 85 euros for assistance to private roads for 000.

The Technical Committee has approved new principles for assisting private roads:

The Technical Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, where it discussed new principles for private road assistance, which are intended to support the maintenance of private roads. The new assistance principles form the guidelines for the principles according to which the city will assist the maintenance of private roads in the future. According to the principles, assistance is granted within the city budget and the assistance must be in the city's interest, equal, fair and economically justified. When granting assistance, the traffic significance, location and nature of each road are taken into account. The assistance is based on an application submitted by the road authority and is only granted to road authorities that meet the requirements set out in the Private Roads Act.

According to the new principles for private road assistance, the city grants grants in cash, but work grants are possible in some cases. The principles specify clear conditions and criteria for granting the grant. If a work grant is granted for a private road section, no financial maintenance grant will be granted for that private road section.

The city's technical department has planned a transition period to establish the grant practice. The transition period will allow road municipalities to accumulate a full year of operations before the end of the transition period. The transition period is intended to ensure that private roads have time to organize a functioning road municipality. The transition period will end with the grant award decisions, which will be made in 2026.

You can find the principles of assisting with private roads in the City of Riihimäki here:

Principles of assistance for private roads, maintenance assistance

The city as a road partner

As the city changes its practices regarding private roads from 1.10.2025 October XNUMX, the city's direct responsibility and participation in acting as a road partner through land assets will be transferred, which is the responsibility of the energy industry and the area of ​​responsibility for land use (contact person city surveyor Ari Vettenterä, tonttimyinti(a)riihimaki.fi and/or kirjaamo(a) riihimaki.fi). In this model, the city can be a road partner based on land ownership, and the position is fully equivalent to anyone who owns land along the road. However, the city differs from the traditional road owner in that the city can only act in a representative manner – decisions are made in institutions and by procedures regulated by the form of office holders. Regarding the role of the private road to Osaka, this means that in practice the city can participate as a landowner in the operation of the road network through the road network. The city's goal is a functioning and private roads law-compliant administration on all the private roads of which the city is a partner.

In addition to possibly acting as a road partner, the city can assist private roads according to the new principles of assisting private roads.

The short address for this page is riihimaki.fi/yksityistiet.