Elo Kiivet, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) faction at the city council, said the Tartu budget for 2026 lacks fresh ideas on how to improve the city's urban space through the road and street network.

"We will continue in the spirit of canceling certain projects and finishing some things, but we have nothing to offer as a replacement," was Kiivet's characterization of the Reform-Isamaa city government's plans.

"Tartu has been at the forefront in Estonia when it comes to public spaces and street spaces, but now we are simply taking a step back. Instead, we should continue and remain the visionaries we have always been," Kiivet went on.

The SDE Tartu leader said she is also concerned that plans to reconstruct Turu and Lai streets have been struck off this year's budget, even though the projects were supposed to provide better solutions for cyclists and pedestrians in those street corridors. EU funds were also earmarked for the work, she said.

"We already have a project and co-financing in place, and it is quite irresponsible to throw all that spent time, energy, and money into the trash. If we postpone this project, we may miss this round of applications for EU support, which would mean it would have to be funded from the city's own budget at a much higher cost than originally planned."

Tartu Deputy Mayor Priit Humal (Isamaa) said the completed designs for both Turu, a main thoroughfare running parallel to the Emajõgi river from central Tartu to the town's southern approaches, and Lai, another larger street which marks the northern end of Tartu's old town, came at a significant cost to car traffic capacity. Implementing them in their current form would create additional problems, Humal added.

"The cycling lane will cross the intersection differently, but the intersection will also get a better solution for car traffic. We won't limit ourselves to that intersection — we will extend the light-traffic zone toward the university and on the other side toward Tähtvere, so that it interfaces better with the entire existing street network," Humal said.

The bulk of the roadbuilding budget at €13 million derives from the 2026 city budget, with the remaining €3 million to be provided through various grants.

The largest single project, at €6.4 million, concerns the Sõpruse Bridge reconstruction, followed by the €2 million earmarked for the intersection, at the northern end of the city, of F. R. Kreutzwaldi tänav and F. Tuglase tänav, near the Estonian University of Life Sciences (Maaülikool). This route also forms part of the main cycling network.

Repairs to the Rahu Bridge in the city center will cost a couple of hundred thousand euros, and tunnel construction in cooperation with Eesti Raudtee, build a light-traffic lane from Tamme pst. to Raudtee tänav, major thoroughfares in the southwest of the city, and surface renewal of existing cycle lanes are also to be funded.

As for the Turu and Lai remodellings, the Reform-Isamaa coalition says it sees an alternative to the planned light-traffic path in front of apartment buildings on Turu. This would come by building the path instead along Aleksandri tänav, a parallel street one block away, although this still requires analysis, the city government says. Planning for cycling traffic between Tähtvere, to the northwest, and the city center also requires a more detailed review, Humal added.

Postponing the Turu and Lai work could bring forward to this year work on the planned reconstruction of Paju, an east-west thoroughfare on the right bank of the Emajõgi, and possibly a broadening of the scope of the construction of the Emajõgi riverfront promenade between Turu Bridge and Karlova Harbor.

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