Scandalous! Chain Bridge renovations lasting about 4 years
Only one year passed but the time required for renewing Chain Bridge has been tripled. These 3-4 years do not even include the restoration of the Buda Castle Tunnel — which was originally included in the project. The strangest part of the story is that the reason is not identified, as Index.hu reported.
According to the report in April 2017, Chain Bridge was planned to be renewed within one and a half years from 72 million euros. By next April, these plans have radically changed: three years of work and 51 million euros were mentioned, while Buda Castle Tunnel’s renewal was not a part of the project anymore.
It is not known why the plans have changed in only one year, but the estimated time is now almost three times longer than in the beginning.
According to the permission document drawn up last year, the working process would have begun in June 2017 and would have finished in December 2019. In the current record, December 2018 is mentioned as the date of starting and December 2021 as the time of finishing the constructions. This new plan does not mention the Buda Castle Tunnel anymore.
The renewal of the Chain Bridge has been a hot topic for some time. In 2014, the idea of wider pedestals came up beside the plans to make the bridgehead in Pest greener. Due to lack of funds, both these ideas were forgotten soon.
The removal of the Buda Castle Tunnel also served the purpose of saving money. This project will be treated separately after the renewal of the Chain Bridge is completed. BKK manager Dávid Vitézy wrote a Facebook post about the topic on Sunday:
This means that the Tunnel-Chain Bridge axis will be closed for the traffic for twice the time originally planned, namely for 4-5 years. This means twice as long closure time not just for motorists, but also for buses 16 and 105, as well as for cyclists.
He also noted that BKK and Budapest has lost its control over traffic issues and the city hall’s bureaucracy rules the system now. He stated that a whole new approach and structure is needed to maintain transport in Budapest.
It was revealed in the bill regarding the renewal of the Chain Bridge that an underground garage is planned under the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The attachments claim that the investment is currently just a concept. Even this schedule and budget is uncertain as the tender still has to be announced. As in the case of Metro 3, some more expensive offers may be submitted.
According to another proposal discussed on Wednesday, several other investments will be delayed.
The planning and preparation BBK’s road renewal program’s deadline was prolonged from 2018 to 2020. The sources will be reconsidered.
The deadline for the program’s execution — mostly due to technical issues and legal processes — was also delayed from 2019 to 2020. The preparation, planning and execution of BKK’s artwork renovation program have also increased its costs and estimated time. The renewal of the Russian metro rakes is delayed due to Metrovagonmas.
The construction of the end station in Budafok is also prolonged until the end of 2018.
The development of the cog-wheel currently lacks the construction permit so it will also be finished by about 31 December 2018. The tram line of Újpalota was removed from the plans.
The cyclist bridge near Duna Arena and the cycle track belonging to it do not have the required market approval yet, so it joined the list of projects scheduled for the last days of this year.
The prolonging of tram line 1 is also late, as many of the tasks scheduled for 2017 were delayed to 2018. The renewal of Metro 1 suffers from similar problems.
UPDATE – Years of delay is expected in the renovation of the Chain Bridge
Napi.hu reports that, despite previous estimations, the Tunnel, the Chain Bridge and Clark Ádám Square will not be renovated at the same time. Although in the proposal of the general assembly in April, they emphasised the practical side of realising the three projects simultaneously, now it seems that there will be some years of delay. Therefore, if everything goes according to the recent plan, a traffic closure can be expected in the area for the following 6 years. Here is why.
As we have already reported, based on the previous plan concerning the renovation of the Tunnel, the Chain Bridge and Clark Ádám Square, the renovation process in the capital was expected to would take 2-2.5 years. At that time, it was already known that this would be a large scale project requiring around 22.3 billion forints (74.3 million euros), but then it was also presumed that the three famous locations in the area would be renovated at the same time between 2017 and 2019.
In fact, the project has become inevitable to carry out due to the increasing traffic in the capital, but it would also serve the interest of pedestrians who frequently block the vehicle traffic.
Based on the latest plan, less than 1 billion forints (3 million euros) would be spent in the first year of the reconstruction while in the second (2018) and third (2019) years, more than 10 billion forints (33 million euros) would be devoted to the construction works.
The decision regarding the project recommended by Gábor Bagdy and Balázs Szeneczey, Vice Mayors, was made in April, but in this year’s budget, the three workflow processes were indicated separately. Furthermore, both the dates of execution and the money devoted to the construction were modified.
Let’s see how the project plan was modified!
The renovation of the Chain Bridge
The Chain Bridge would be renovated between 2018 and 2021 from around 11.1 billion forints. This means that 2.2 billion forints (7 million euros) would be spent on the construction works this year, 3.3 billion forints (11 million euros) in 2019 and 2020 and 2.2 billion forints (7 million euros) in 2021.
The renovation of the Tunnel and Clark Ádám Square
The well-known Tunnel would be reconstructed between 2021 and 2024 from 5.7 billion forints (19 million euros) while the renovation of Clark Ádám Square would start in 2023 and finish in 2024. According to the plans, this investment would require less than 400 million forints (1.3 million euros).
Furthermore, in this year’s budget, the underpass for trams located at the bridgehead of the Chain Bridge is also among the plans of the project to realise. This would take place between 2018 and 2020 from around 5.2 billion forints (17.3 million euros).
If the plan becomes reality, then pedestrians and drivers would have to do without this prominent traffic intersection for around 6 years.
Some politicians openly express their view about the delayed reconstruction. Csaba Horváth, a member of the Social Democratic Party, believes that it is not practical at all to postpone the renovation works and at the vote held in April, he argued for the reconstruction of the whole Széchenyi Square at the same time. He also holds that it is a great problem that István Tarlós, Lord Mayor of Budapest, does not discuss the financial situation of the city with the government.
Erzsébet Gy. Németh, a representative of the Democratic Coalition, shared her opinion adding that the capital cannot procure the necessary financial sources even for the renovation of the metro line. This is why such investments as that of the Tunnel and the Bridge need to be postponed.
An urging problem
The renovation of the area is a pressing problem of the capital since the Tunnel is in an awful condition. The present brick vault should be taken down; a new reinforced concrete wall should be set up, new modern lighting facilities and a fire-protection system should be installed. Clark Ádám Square and the Chain Bridge would be better approachable for pedestrians and cyclists after the construction works, and the expansion of the subways and the reconstruction of its steps would also serve the interest of the locals.
We are curious about how the area will look like in years.
Featured image: Bódis Krisztián / Budapest Images/ https://www.facebook.com/pg/budapestimages/photos/?ref=page_internal