A tramline will be built on Liivalaia with EU funding in the coming years, and politicians are again discussing the relocation of the "main street." The project would be centered on the west-to-east Pärnu mnt-Narva mnt thoroughfare and would involve a redesign of the area around Viru Keskus shopping mall.

Ossinovski said he received a briefing from the Environment and Public Utilities Department indicating that there are problems with the reconstruction of Liivalaia Street and the tram project.

"The ministry, as the funding body, pointed out that the application submitted by the city of Tallinn had shortcomings. One of these shortcomings concerned a modified project application that had been independently altered by Deputy Mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere, which would have involved the simultaneous reconstruction of the main street and Liivalaia Street," Ossinovski said.

The mayor said the simultaneous reconstruction of the main street and Liivalaia Street had not been agreed upon.

"The ministry also found that closing two such major [traffic] arteries at the same time is not reasonable," said Ossinovski. "I intend to formally respond to the ministry soon to confirm that this is not the city of Tallinn's plan. We will move forward with Liivalaia Street first."

"The schedule for this project is tight, and various project management quality issues pose a serious risk. Intensive work is needed to ensure the project's success," he noted.

Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa) also confirmed that two major streets cannot be closed simultaneously.

"For road users, it would be absurd to close them for years. It simply cannot be done all at once, and the money would go to waste," said Järvan. "If the city center were simply shut down for residents and businesses, it's clear that such a plan would result in disaster when put into practice."

According to the plan, reconstruction work on Liivalaia Street is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2027.

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