Main road 89 from Paltamo to Vartius is an important part of the EU’s and Finland’s road connection from Finland to Russia. The road had nine narrow highway bridges, which were seen as needing improvements in order to promote industry and traffic flow and safety. The useful width of the bridges was approx. six metres at the narrowest point, which did not meet the requirements set for the roads. Widening the bridges was the first phase in the improvement and widening project of the road. Widening the bridges was seen as improving the prerequisites for heavy transport traffic across the border between Finland and Russia in particular, as well as having an obvious effect on traffic safety. 50 percent of the project funding was received from the European Regional Development fund and 50 percent from the Finnish Road Administration.