The ODS may repeat that it wants circuits, but it cannot do more than I do, the councilor says
The completion of the Prague Ring Road will be a big pre-election topic this year – as usual. At the same time, Prague City Hall and Prague politicians have only a limited influence on when this construction will take place – like other motorways, the Prague ring road is being built by the State through the Directorate of Roads and Motorways (ŘSD).
However, Prague took a powerful part in the construction when it undertook to build around the busiest intersections of green zones from trees and natural ramparts in order to divert noise and dust from the most affected city districts.
Adam Scheinherr, a councilor for transport, describes in an interview for Seznam Zprávy how work on one of the most important transport constructions in the Czech Republic continues.
What does the much-twisted completion of the Prague Ring Road really depend on now?
For us, the most important section is 511 between D1 and D11. When we have this done, we will have almost all highways around Prague connected. Except for the D8. But even there, through the Industrial Semi-Circuit and the Vysočanská Radial, we can pass quite easily.
But that section is facing huge problems. He obtained an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) twenty years ago, and has been fighting for zoning decisions ever since. It was overturned, even in court. As a result, the building does not move on at all. The last issued invalid territorial decision was dropped on the bias, with the proviso that it should not have been issued by our Prague City Hall. Now they are assessing it in southern Bohemia. The Office of the South Bohemian Region has not yet announced the date.
However, the purchase of land for section 511 has already begun. How important is it to complete the construction?
It is essential for us to show the citizens that I mean the building, including the green belts. A rampart is to be built near Běchovice, where we are arguing whether it will be 30 or 35 meters high. Shields all noise and emissions that would otherwise go into the building. That’s why I wanted to start buying land, which will be partly in the green belt and partly under the highway itself. When it is bought from one owner, it makes sense to buy it at once. That’s why I wanted to make an appointment with the RSD so that we could start buying. They said they could not, that they had internal regulations, that it was redeemed only after the zoning decision.
I don’t think that’s entirely good. We need to build a city ring road (The smaller City Circuit builds Prague, while the larger Prague Circuit builds the state, ed. note) we buy land even if we do not have a zoning decision. This prevents, for example, the speculative purchase of those lands and the blocking of buildings.
What exactly does the cooperation of the capital with the RSD look like?
I started negotiating, it was still Minister Dan Tok. For him, we launched a memorandum between us and the RSD, which was finally completed, approved by both the Ministry of Transport and our council. (summer 2017, editor’s note). The ministry, hence the RSD, made an exception that land can actually be bought without a zoning decision, so we could start negotiations with the owners.
Redemption actually began. How did the construction move?
It is an administrative or procedural martyrdom, but it is a huge step for the construction. Citizens really see that I mean the green belts seriously and that we do not just want to do the construction, but we also understand their other comments and we want to comply with them.
Prague paid about 110 million crowns for the land to the family of ex-minister Toman, negotiations were not easy. What did the auction look like?
Originally, there was a discrepancy of about 40 million, which we can’t just give. We really have to follow the expertise. For example, the reviewers talked together and found out why their opinion is so different from ours. In the end, after about eight months, they agreed on our price. The city priced it at 109 million and its estimate was about 150 million. We managed to agree on the lower limit.
How is the purchase of additional land needed for the green areas around the circuit going on?
We already have another approximately 30 percent of the area historical. We are dealing with a state that also owns some areas, such as the Research Institute of Animal Production, which owns some land. With the buyout, we gained about 50 percent for the green belts. Now we are talking about land mainly near Koloděj, where there is also one big owner. I think it’s going in the right direction.
Do I anticipate that the construction of the green belts will take place at the same time as the construction of the circuit?
This is a condition. This is what the affected municipalities wanted, especially Běchovice and Újezd nad Lesy, they have a very busy Českobrodská road there.
When is it real that he will really start building?
I do not know. Every prime minister says that construction will begin in his term. I hope that construction will really begin, because this is the most important thing the Czech motorway network needs. I can’t guess what the RSD is able to do for it, how it is able to do so.
If I get a zoning decision this year and the court does not agree, then they may have a building permit next year. And if the court doesn’t agree, they can start building next year.
I understand that the negotiations with the previous government must have been complicated, for example it was money for the City Circuit in exchange for the construction of a government district in Letňany, in the end it came to an end. Do you promise a better approach from the current government?
We were in contact with Minister Kupka as Deputy Minister for Transport of Central Bohemian Governors. Together we held negotiations with the Ministry of Transport and the ŘSD, not only on this part of the circuit, but of course also on sections 518 and 519.
The circuit is a big ODS topic. The autumn municipal elections are approaching, how can this affect the preparation of the construction?
I was surprised that when the council voted on the big land purchase, not everyone from the opposition, the ODS and YES, voted in favor. Of course, I was surprised that the mayor of Horní Počernice (Petr Měšťan from ODS, editor’s note), which is not directly adjacent to the building, appealed against the zoning decision. I have dealt with him many times. I wanted him to withdraw the appeal because he was submitting it for the local government, for the political leadership of the city district. It never led to the goal. They fear that traffic on section 510 will increase.
The ODS can repeat a thousand times that their subject is circuits, circuits and nothing but circuits, but basically they can’t do more than I do. I have no idea what I did wrong or what more I could have done to move this construction forward.
Are there any constructions or changes that really depend on the completion of the circuit? Need to close Smetana’s embankment for transit traffic?
If we look at the map where Smetana’s embankment is and where the circuit is, it is clear that the significance of the circuit for Smetana’s embankment is almost zero. What depends on the Prague ring road is the future of the Spoovská spojka, which cannot be enzymatic until the circuit is completed. Likewise, the Radlická radial is conditioned by the completion of section 511. These are large structures that are conditioned by the completion of at least 511.
Will you tighten the traffic restrictions in the center, for example on the Smetana embankment?
I will not make it in this election period, because the city districts in the center came together under the leadership of the ODS, everyone refused. I’m not going against them, it’s the local leadership. I will only tighten Smetana’s embankment so that at least the public space and tram stops are at the level of being one of the most beautiful embankments. A new tree line, two new tram stops and reconstructed sidewalks should be built there in the summer at the latest.
What building will you be able to open before choosing?
When I joined, I did not receive a single building permit for an important building in the city. We even managed to obtain a building permit for the Troja footbridge, which we managed to open in the previous year.
We have spent three years reconstructing roads, important radials, so that the basic transport infrastructure is in good technical condition. We are now moving towards finally being able to focus on developing that infrastructure.
That is why last summer we started the construction of a tram line from Barrandov to Holyně. In the autumn, we completed a large parking house near Černý Most and started building a parking house in Nové Butovice. We started the construction of the Holešovice – Karlín footbridge and at the same time we started the construction of the first new trolleybus line after seventy years. In the spring, we would like to start building the Modřany – Libuš and Divoká Šárka – Dědina tram lines. A lot will start to be built, I hope the Dvorecký Bridge as well. We’ll see who the tape is cut to.