Sisä-Suomen elinvoimakeskus, the state vitality centre for inland Finland, is reconsidering its demand that Billnäs ironworks in western Uusimaa replace all seven of its road signs, a requirement that would cost the company €55,000.
The signs have guided travellers to the village since 2010. The centre told the operator to renew them within a year or it would collect them at the company's expense. Owner Olli Muurainen said replacing them is pointless.
"Not a single driver has got lost in Fiskars," he said, referring to another old ironworks village nearby.
Group manager Petteri Pietilä told Yle that the entrepreneur contacted the centre again on Monday, and that not all the signs may now have to be changed. "We can certainly respond in a way that serves all parties," Pietilä said. He added that he aims to arrange a Teams meeting with the operators this week.
Billnäs ruukki has proposed that at least three of the signs could stay in place as they are, while a sub-plate could be added to or swapped on four others. The requirement is based on an amendment to the road traffic law that changed the appearance of service signage, including the shape of the arrow symbol. Pietilä said he doesn't believe the change affects traffic safety, but the signs must be consistent along the whole route.
The company filed a rectification claim, which the centre rejected as unfounded, and Muurainen said he lodged an appeal with the administrative court last Friday. He described the dispute as a "Kafkaesque" situation. "When common sense is on one scale and laws, decrees, regulations and instructions are on the other, we officials simply have to lean toward the laws," Pietilä said.
He believes a court hearing can be avoided through the new dialogue.