Frequently Asked Questions

Everything that you have always wanted to know about the New Turku Market Square.

Why Will the Turku Market Square Be Renovated?

We will renovate the Market Square in order to offer a cosy and a living meeting place in the heart of the city centre for everybody.

According to the Vision for the City Centre, Turku will be a European, intelligent, vivid and healthy city in 2029. The spearhead project ‘Developing the City Centre’, which is lead from the city strategy, strengthens the vitality and the comfort in the city centre. Essential points in developing the whole city centre include, for example, the decisions related to the solutions about the construction work and the traffic.

What will be the result like after the renovation? The Market Square will be the real heart of the city of Turku. It will be the reason to come to the city centre. After the renovation of the Market Square and the city centre, Turku will have Finland’s best city centre for pedestrians and cyclists. The renovation will be possible to organize happenings and concerts in the Market Square. The infrastructure of the Market Square will support the diversity of cafés and restaurants. The Market Square will be a meeting place for everybody. In addition, it will be easy to access by all different means of transport.

How Will the Market Square Be Changed?

The Market Square will be renovated to correspond to the modern needs. The buildings will be renewed, and there will be cafés and public spaces inside. The deck of the market place can be heated, the paving stones of the old market square will be set back again in a way to have an even surface that is easy to circulate on. The sales points will be reorganized to take the most important itineraries into consideration. As a result, it will be easier to get your business done at the Market Square.

Some of the parking places will be removed, and part of the streets will be converted into pedestrian streets or cycling roads or to living streets which allows only the service traffic and the traffic to the properties. In order to make this possible, an underground parking facility will be built under the Market Square.

What Phases of the Reform Are Still in Front of Us and in Which Schedule Will They Be Done?

It has been estimated, that the renovation work will last for about three years or until 2021. There will be temporary traffic arrangements and changes made in bus traffic as the reform progresses. In the first phase, the traffic of the Street Kauppiaskatu has been transformed bidirectional between the Streets Yliopistonkatu and Maariankatu.

The sales points of the market place have been transferred to a temporary location in the front of the Turku Orthodox Church. The bus stops of the public transport have been transferred from the Market Square to the Puutori Square and to the Street Linnankatu.

Why Will the Parking Facility Be Built Under the Market Square and When Will It Get Ready?

The prerequisite of the renovation of the Market Square consists in directing the parking underground. In this way, we will reduce the traffic around the place. Consequently, it will be more peaceful in the area, and it will feel nicer and safer to stay around the Market Square. In addition, the automobilists will get plenty of new parking place close to the services and to the shopping centres.

It has been estimated that the parking facility will get ready in the end of the year 2020.

Will the Opening Hours of the Public Market Be Changed?

The Public Market is currently open from Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We will try to maintain the same opening hours during the renovation, and they can get even longer due to the events arranged at the Market Square, for example.

How Will the Renovation Work Affect the Public Market and the Events Organized at the Market Square?

The sales activities at the Turku Market Square will continue as normal as possible also during the renovation. The sales activities of the Market Square were transferred to a temporary location in the end of the summer 2018. There will be happenings organized in the temporary market place and in the pedestrian part of the Street Yliopistonkatu.

How Much Will Be the Cost of the Renovation of the Market Square?

According to a current estimation, the part of the City of Turku of the renovation of the Market Square and of the streets will be about 30 million euros. The company Turun Toriparkki Oy is responsible for building the parking facility, and it is responsible for the costs relating to that.

Parking Places will Be Removed from the Market Square. How to Get with a Car to the Market Square?

The parking facility will be built underground to serve the automobilists. Consequently, the parking lots around the Market Square and along the streets can be removed, and the space can be used by the people for the leisure, cafeterias and various events. Thanks to the parking underground, it will be easy to access the Market Square by car also in the future.

The automobilists can use the underground car parks of Louhi and Stockmann Q-Park, for example, during the renovation of the Market Square. It will be possible to park the car along the sides of the Street Aurakatu during the construction work.

How Will the Public Transport and the Bus Stops Change at the Market Square?

The public transport is being developed further. According to the Vision for the City Centre, the centre of Turku will be made easy to access for everybody. This goal will be attained by making fluid public transport solutions that support each other.

In order to create a working public transport system, the bus traffic will be directed to two streets dedicated for the public transport. Related to this matter, new city terminals will be built. The bus waiting areas will be made wider, and it will be made easier to reach the bus stops by building new crosswalks. The Street Yliopistonkatu will be transferred to a walking and cycling street, and the bus stop of the charter traffic will be transferred to a new location along the Street Aurakatu.

For the moment, the traffic of the Street Kauppiaskatu between the Streets Yliopistonkatu and Maariankatu has been made bidirectional, and the taxi rank has been transferred from the Street Yliopistonkatu to the Street Kauppiaskatu. Bus traffic has been directed to the Streets Aurakatu and Linnankatu, and part of the bus stops have been transferred from the Street Yliopistonkatu to the Square Puutori.

How Will the Habitants of the Neighbouring Buildings Be Taken into Consideration During the Construction Work?

The habitants of the neighbouring buildings will be informed about the progress of the renovation. The construction work will be done in a way that the habitants of the neighbouring buildings will not get disturbed. It will be possible for the habitants of the city centre to enjoy their new urban living room in 2021.