The goal of the tender, organized by the Environment and Public Utilities Department (KEKO), was to build nine bicycle shelters at various transport hubs.

But due to the very short construction timeline and other tender conditions, the average cost per shelter in the submitted bids came to approximately €55,000.

Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) said: "We must ensure that taxpayer money is spent wisely. The construction of bicycle shelters and other infrastructure must be approached systematically and thoughtfully, not rushed before elections as the previous deputy mayor wanted."

He said building convenient bicycle shelters across the city helps people combine longer trips with public transport, which promotes sustainable mobility.

"We'll make the necessary changes to the tender documents and build the shelters at a reasonable cost by next spring," the mayor added.

Ossinovski noted that before making a final decision, the city commissioned an independent expert assessment to determine the reasons behind the high bids.

In its expert report, TPJ Inseneribüroo OÜ pointed out that the risks placed on the contractor were very high and costly, mainly due to the short, four-month deadline. According to the expert, an optimal timeline would be at least seven months, and a longer deadline would significantly reduce the cost of constructing the bicycle shelters.

Based on the expert opinion, the city decided to cancel the current tender. Tallinn's Environment and Public Utilities Department will immediately begin preparing new tenders, taking the expert's recommendations into account, so that the bicycle shelters are completed by next spring.

Earlier this month, then Deputy Mayor for Municipal Affairs Pärtel-Peeter Pere (Reform) said the deadline was so short because it was a priority to complete the bike sheds by the start of October. The local elections take place in mid-October.

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