Under Deputy Scheinherr, the bicycle in Prague became a fetish, criticizes Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09) of the coalition partner
The guests of Petr Dudek’s Context are:
Milena Johnová, for Prague to Himself, Prague Councilor for Social Policy and Health Care
Zuzana Poláková, architect and urban planner from the NGO AutoMat
Jiří Pospíšil, TOP 09, MEP, representative of Prague
Renáta Zajíčková, ODS, deputy, mayor of Prague 5
“If I had to describe it with a few words, it would be chaos, complications and traffic pitches. Coordination by the capital is very poor. Citizens are not informed and, for example, they ask us mayors. However, it is often not possible for them to answer why a specific closure occurred, “says Zajíčková.
Zuzana Poláková, an architect and urban planner from the non-governmental organization AutoMat, disagrees. “I have a feeling that a vision has begun to be built with the current coalition and that we have begun to move closer to Western Europe with some – albeit minor – changes,” he said.
Traffic coordinator
City mayors have repeatedly called on the municipality to better coordinate closures and traffic restrictions. According to them, the coordinator of transport constructions should have helped with that. “Those suggestions from the mayors are repeated, but they are usually not heard,” says Zajíčková.
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The individual coalition parties also have a different view of the method of transport solutions.
“I am sorry that even in the autumn, when it turned out that the coordinators would make sense for Prague transport, the council did not appoint them. Councilor Adam Scheinherr (Prague himself) said that he was the main coordinator, “describes MEP and Prague Representative Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09).
Something basically godly thus became a nightmare for Praguers.
Jiří Pospíšil
“Suddenly, it turns out that there is quite a lot of money to invest in transport infrastructure, that all permits are even resolved so that repairs can begin. But there was no pro who would coordinate it so as not to cause chaos, “says Pospíšil, adding:
“Something basically godly has become a nightmare for Praguers.”
Prague by bike?
Emotions not only traffic closures, but also bicycle lanes that arise in many places, which aim to make Prague accessible to bicycle traffic. “A lot of people would like to ride a bike around Prague, but I’m afraid, so I use other modes of transport,” believes urban planner Poláková.
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According to her, cycling infrastructure was missing especially in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
“People were afraid to use public transport. And suddenly you are missing one important article in that complex situation. That one article drops out, everyone else is burdened. If you miss another one for other reasons – for example, because the cycling infrastructure in Prague is still not high enough to be used by a wide range of people – then suddenly car traffic prevails, “explains the article urban planner.
“It simply came to our notice then that the quarantines weren’t so moving. But we are already higher in terms of car traffic than we were in 2019, “he warns.
Now we are with the volume of car traffic higher than we were in 2019.
Zuzana Poláková
“I support cycling as such. But I have a bit of a problem with the fact that under Mr. Scheinherr the bike in Prague became a fetish and that the bike lanes are being painted even where the road didn’t anticipate it. This narrows the two lanes for cars. And the driver feels less safe, “criticizes the approach of his coalition partner Pospíšil.
At the same time, he himself thinks about whether it is really necessary to extract car traffic from the city center:
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“I wonder if in the future the issue of air and transport is not more about modern technologies – that we will gradually switch to non-internal combustion engines. Whether to limit access to the center and suppress car traffic, or to switch to modern technology as soon as possible. “
However, Zuzana Poláková from the AutoMat organization refuses to perceive cyclists as a problem in transport.
“It’s not that someone wants and doesn’t want someone, or that someone interferes with someone. All pedestrian crossings could cancel this, because some people just don’t mind stopping at a pedestrian crossing, ”the architect concludes.
Listen to the whole debate of Petr Dudek and his guests. Together, they also touched on the issue of housing affordability in Prague, the concentration of drug addicts in Prague 5 or how the capital helped homeless people during a pandemic.