The Hailuodon kiinteä yhteys fixed road link between Oulun Riutunkari and Hailuodon Huikku, an 8.4‑kilometre connection including embankment sections and the Huikku and Riuttu bridges, is planned to open to traffic in autumn 2026, with commissioning scheduled to occur between 16 and 30 September 2026. Once opened, the link will replace the current ferry, improving national and regional accessibility and enabling smoother passenger and freight traffic to Hailuoto.
The Hailuoto Causeway, a fixed road link between Riutunkari in Oulu and Huikku on Hailuoto Island, is planned to open to traffic around the end of 2026, replacing the current ferry service and marking the start of its operational phase. The approximately 8.4 km causeway, being delivered under an alliance model by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and its partners, is under construction from spring/May 2024 with an expected construction duration of about 2.5–3 years before opening.
As documented in the Hailuoto Causeway Alliance Project Plan dated 27 May 2024, the HAIKI alliance partners set a target outturn cost of EUR 105.4 million for the Hailuoto Causeway, covering planning, construction, commissioning and warranty phases under the project’s alliance commercial model.
€105.408M
In May 2024, construction of the 8.4‑kilometre Hailuoto Causeway began, starting onshore civil works to build the fixed road connection between Riutunkari in Oulu on the Finnish mainland and Huikku on Hailuoto Island, which will replace the existing ferry service and improve regional accessibility.
In April 2024, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) decided to move the Hailuoto Causeway project from the alliance development phase into the implementation phase, effectively confirming the investment and enabling construction of the fixed link to commence the following month.
In the second supplementary budget of 2023, the Finnish Parliament approved a further EUR 15 million for the Hailuoto Causeway, bringing the total state capital authorisation for the project to EUR 121 million.
€15M (grant)
Due to rising construction costs, the Finnish Parliament increased the Hailuoto Causeway project’s state funding by EUR 10 million in its fourth supplementary budget of 2022, adding to the original allocation for the fixed link between Hailuoto and the mainland.
€10M (grant)
The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) launched a competitive tender for the Hailuoto Causeway project, initiating a restricted procurement procedure in October 2021 to select an alliance partner group to design and build the fixed link between Riutunkari and Huikku. The tender, covering the full implementation of the causeway including embankment road and two long bridges, opened for bids in October 2021 with submissions due by the second quarter of 2022.
In its seventh supplementary budget of 2020, the Finnish Parliament allocated EUR 96 million to the Hailuoto Causeway project, providing the initial state capital authorisation needed for the fixed road link between Riutunkari on the mainland and Huikku on Hailuoto Island.
€96M (grant)
Authority: Liikennevirasto · Licence: Road plan approval (tiesuunnitelma) for the fixed connection to Hailuoto
On 23 October 2018, the Finnish Transport Agency (Liikennevirasto) approved the road plan (tiesuunnitelma) for the fixed road connection to Hailuoto, following a public display period in May–June 2018 and consultations with municipalities and other key authorities, providing a core planning consent for the project to proceed.
| North Ostrobothnia | North Ostrobothnia | |
|---|---|---|
| Landfall | Huikku (Hailuoto Island) | Riutunkari (mainland, Oulunsalo / near Oulu) |
| Grid Connection | — | — |
North Ostrobothnia
North Ostrobothnia