Riga opens €82.6m overpass to Kundziņsala, new Delta 17 checkpoint live November 1

The Port of Riga will open an €82.6 million traffic overpass and a new port checkpoint on November 1, 2026, reshaping how every freight vehicle reaches the Kundziņsala terminal territory. From that date, trucks get two round-the-clock access options. From January 1, 2027, they get exactly one.

The new route runs from Tvaika Street across the overpass and through the Delta 17 checkpoint at 42 Uriekstes Street. The alternative, until the end of 2026, is the existing Delta 1 checkpoint at 9 Uriekstes Street. After New Year's Day 2027, Delta 1 closes to Kundziņsala-bound traffic for good, and everything moves through the overpass.

For a port-side logistics operation, that's a hard cutover, not a preference. Dispatchers have two months of dual routing to re-plan truck flows, driver briefings and yard scheduling around a single gate.

Who paid, and how much

The Riga City Council delivered the project together with the Freeport of Riga Authority. The funding stack breaks down as follows:

• EUR 59.6 million — state budget loan
• EUR 23 million — state budget grant
• EUR 4.5 million — EU Cohesion Fund

Put another way, roughly 72 cents of every euro in the project is borrowed state money. The Cohesion Fund contribution is the smallest slice, but it's the badge that matters for future EU infrastructure rankings.

What does this change for terminal staff and carriers?

Terminal employees working on the island keep more flexibility than truckers. They can use the new overpass, or the existing Aptiekas Street route via the Delta 3 checkpoint at 36 Kundziņsala 3rd Line — open workdays from 6:00am to 8:00pm, with prior coordination required for construction site access. Not quite 24/7, then. Plan accordingly.

Carriers face one more wrinkle. The new border crossing facility is still under construction, so border inspection, customs control and food safety inspection services stay at 16 Uriekstes Street for now. Ionising radiation scanning for road cargo, however, already operates at the Delta 17 address. In plain terms: your paperwork and your radiation scan may soon happen at two different addresses. Worth telling your drivers before, not after.

Not just for trucks

The overpass isn't freight-only. Residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods get full access, and the project bundles in a few civic extras: an additional turning lane for vehicles heading to and from the Kundziņsala residential area, a new pedestrian and bicycle path with lighting, dedicated runner lane markings, and three stair-equipped ramps on Tvaika Street and Kundziņsala.

That mix matters commercially. Municipal buy-in for port infrastructure usually lives or dies on whether neighbours see a benefit. Riga has clearly priced that in — literally, given the city council's lead role.

The clock is running

The practical question for any operator moving cargo through Kundziņsala is simple: what does this change before January? First, a two-month window where route choice is real, and congestion at either checkpoint is a genuine variable in dwell times. Second, a single-point-of-failure gate from 2027 — whatever queues at Delta 17, everyone queues at Delta 17.

The transition runs until December 31, 2026. After that, the overpass and Delta 17 aren't an option; they're the only road in town.