To that end, the city will implement modeling software used in several Nordic cities, following a coalition agreement entry for implementation guidelines on a comprehensive plan to ensure smooth traffic flow and the safety of all road users. This also states that, where necessary, the planned locations of cycle paths will be adjusted.

Reviewing cycling networks in Estonia's second city was one of Isamaa's pre-election pledges before it entered into coalition with Reform, previously the dominant party in Tartu.

Tartu Deputy Mayor Priit Humal (Isamaa) said decisions which have been made in the past need to be reviewed, taking into account the experience gained in the interim.

"Not everything that is desired simply fits into the street space, and if we make one or another choice there, how will that affect the ability of different road users to move around the whole city?" Humal said, adding that the City of Tartu has taken a position on some ongoing projects.

One example of this is the cycle lane project on Lai tänav in the city center. This will not now be going ahead in its currently planned form of a one-way street.

"As for the remaining streets, we will look at them more closely to see how far it is possible to go with them, but it is clear that this process has to be started, and it should not be a very long process. We believe that within a year it should be possible to get results from it," Humal went on.

In addition to Lai, questions were also raised about building cycle lanes on Turu tänav, a main thoroughfare, and a project also on hold.

As well as the one-off €100,000 cost, maintaining the modeling software will cost the city around €25,000 per year.

Both Madli-Johanna Maidla, head of the Tartu cyclists' association, and Age Poom from the University of Tartu's mobility lab, have said that while relying on studies and data is certainly necessary, potentials also need to be taken into consideration as well as the current picture.

"Various previous studies by the city itself have also shown that residents would actually be willing to cycle or use different modes of transport if they were more convenient. For example, when rental bikes were available, studies were made on where those rental bikes were used, and that is where the knowledge came from that, in fact, those rental bikes are used specifically on Turu tänav and Riia tänav," Maidla said.

Cyclists in Tartu, a university town, mainly traverse its main streets and not its smaller side streets, she added.

Poom, meanwhile, said that creating a model surely cannot be reason to not continue today with building the core network, or to put it on hold.

Common ground between Humal, Maidla, and Poom was that the cycling network in Tartu must be complete and coherent.

"We don't travel along just one small section when it comes to our morning or daily journeys. We always form journeys that consist of longer road sections, and we put together our route from these different sections," Poom said.

"Just as a car road does not suddenly break off [its journey], with no ditch or pause in between, in the same way the cycling network must not be interrupted," Poom added. "It has to be coherent, and I know that no matter which district I set off from in the morning, I will reach my destination using that mode of transport."

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