Better bike paths and cozy parks - Riihimäki is developing into a more functional and pleasant area

At work in Riksu, there is a story series in which the employees of the city of Riihimäki talk about their work.

Few people think about how much planning work is behind before a city dweller can walk on a new street or in a renovated park. City gardener Päivi Sundman and designer Janina Suppula work in the urban environment design service area of ​​the technical industry.

Sundman is responsible for the planning, development and communication of parks and green areas. Suppula, on the other hand, designs new or renovated streets. Together with a work team of 12 people, they pondered how to make Riihimäki a comfortable, functional and barrier-free city.

"In planning the urban environment, we plan public areas, i.e. streets and parks, for example. When streets are renovated, we always promote cycling of the walking and cycling target network 2050 in accordance with. We are trying to create one-way bike lanes or clearly separate cycling and walking lanes," says Sundman.

Suppula mentions an example from Kauppakakutu. There used to be a combined pedestrian and bicycle path, but now they are separated: the bicycle lane is red asphalt, the pedestrian side is tiled, and there is a very distinct track in between.

Event square from Hämeenakuio

The city center is being improved in accordance with the goal of the Unresistable Wart City. Hämeenaukio didn't have a real square before, but now a pleasant square will be built there, where there will be trees, bushes, a seating area and lots of benches of different heights for different needs.

"There is an opportunity to organize small events in Hämeenauki because electricity is brought there, which makes sound reproduction possible. Accessibility is taken into account in street design with material choices for the street surface. There will be, for example, white attention stripes and stone stripes so that even the visually impaired can tell the difference," says Sundman.

Add more green to the city

Street space is often cramped, and getting green space there requires mediation. For example, trees cannot be planted in areas with district heating pipes.

"Street trees need load-bearing growth platforms made of boulders, which form a supporting backbone for the tree's roots. Then the roots get oxygen and water, even if big machines drive over them. By doing this, the street trees have a chance to be alive in another hundred years," says Sundman.

A cozy city is made sustainably and with environmental issues in mind. For example, the earth masses excavated from parks are used on site by making mounds in the park. In the central part of the Arolammintie and Teollisuuskatu roundabout, the main focus is on the promotion of natural diversity. There is a large R-ötökkä hotel, surrounded by flowering meadow vegetation that occurs in the Riihimäki railway yard.

Controlling stormwater with plants

Riihimäki is planning a housing fair for 2027. The main area of ​​the fair in Kokonharju is still undeveloped and forested. Suppula is now planning the streets of the housing fair area. The locations of the street are determined in the plan, but Suppula plans how the street runs in the terrain.

"Street leveling refers to the change in the height of the street surface in the longitudinal direction. I plan a street on the computer using a point cloud. It is a laser scanning material that shows the current surface of the terrain on a computer. I can see the cross-section and longitudinal section of the planned street on the computer, as well as the water pipes and cables to be taken into account."

Sundman adds that although streets are designed for people, nature values ​​are also taken into account. The Kokonharju bat area, for example, affects the street design so that the lighting needs to be thought of as possibly lower at that point.

You also have to think about stormwater in the housing fair area. In the built environment, rain turns into stormwater, which used to be traditionally channeled into street wells and from there into the Vantaanjoki. Due to climate change, storm water floods have increased, and many methods are being tried to control them. For example, we build storm water tanks, i.e. pits with plants to delay, purify and evaporate water.

We invest in accessibility

Sundman states that there are big projects going on in Riihimäki. In the Jokikylä area, one block is marked as a special accessibility area in the plan.

"The environment around that block will also be made according to the special level of accessibility. Otherwise, the corridors are stone ash, but at that point there is asphalt. Attention should also be paid to maintenance, so that accessibility is also realized in winter."

Suppula says that Riihimäki invests significantly in making a barrier-free environment when renovating the city center, either according to the basic or special level. The target network for the special level of accessibility in the center has been defined in the transport system plan 2040. For example, in the case of pedestrian crossings, the curbs are turned into slopes to make it easier for walkers and strollers to pass through.

Some of the parks and streets are planned as the city's own work, some go to consulting firms through tenders. The urban environment planning team makes the plans, and then the project is transferred to the urban engineering center for implementation and maintenance.

"We mostly design the playgrounds ourselves. We always look for the spirit of the place in question in them, and we always ask the residents for their opinions before park renovations," says Sundman.

Suppula and Sundman praise their work as interesting.

"I like street design in both new and old environments. My work is meaningful", Suppula reflects.

Sundman states that informing the townspeople is an important part of his job. In the future, efforts will be made to make Riihimäki's urban environment even more comfortable and functional.

Reija Ypyä