What is burning Prague before the elections? Transport, closures and columns
Municipal politicians are more focused on better coordination of repairs and closures, which would alleviate traffic complications. In the last two years, all councilors of Prague 3, which is perceived as an eternally undermining part of the city, have unanimously criticized the provision of information about them by the municipality and municipal companies. Deputy Mayor for Transport Ondřej Rut (Zelení), for example, in winter in connection with two repairs of cargo networks near the railway station, requests exact dates and scopes of occupations and planning more in advance this year. “We learn about the closures just before they start, gradually and without uniform coordination. I wanted a clear plan for individual closures to be public and so-called on paper. However, no written conclusion was reached from personal meetings with representatives of the city and investors. I am convinced that it took place only in very rough terms and without precise coordination of knowledge of the scope of the acquisitions,” said Rut, who was said to have been overwhelmed by dozens of working drawings from investors at the time, but a comprehensive overview was missing.
Networks are the problem
“The municipality is responsible for its preparation and publication as the coordinator of the closures,” reminded Rut, according to which any problem stems from the fact that the companies, owning the utility networks, are not bound by the reliable municipal information transmission system.
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The Mayor of Troika Jiří Ptáček (TOP 09) currently praises the Prague leadership for improving communication in this area, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. “Most of the time, the reason for repairs is not the roads, but what’s underneath them. At the same time, the networks are owned and managed by a number of different municipal companies, which select contractors in different ways. And in that I see the core of the poodle. From my point of view, it should definitely have more weight than the criterion of speed and comfort for residents. Today, price still completely dominates. But when people stand in lines, it also brings great material damage,” said Ptáček.
What to do with traffic in Prague? See how readers of the Journal voted:
Election poll: What to do with traffic in Prague?
Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) repeats that there is no maintenance without closures, and considers criticism of closures and their imperfect coordination to be populism. According to him, the data proves that the previous sets neglected the infrastructure.
On long elbows
“You can’t blow up a city for cars. Large projects, such as the construction of the city ring road or the construction of the Radlická radial, are also a long way off. We want to positively motivate the people of Prague to switch to public transport as much as possible,” said Hřib.
A modern city with high-quality public transport is promised by the election programs of both the favorites of the autumn elections, the liberal camp and the conservative bloc Spolu pro Praha (ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL). In the field of transport, they diverge only when studied in more detail.
Editor-in-Chief Martin Rumler’s column: How we chose the election topic and what it can ultimately decide
Editor-in-Chief of Central Bohemian Deník Martin Rumler.When we in the editorial office of Deník were looking for a way to find out the topics that will play some role in the elections in Prague and in Central Bohemia’s cities and towns, we tried a web survey. And by the beginning of this week, we collected over three thousand answers from you, our readers, and especially from the voters, who will decide on the shape of the town halls in the next four years on September 23 and 24.
Just by looking at the interim results, it became clear what is troubling the residents of cities and towns today. Regardless of the order, these are transport, availability of housing, (in)availability of health care or the number of places in schools and kindergartens.
We tried to select from them, and with the knowledge of local conditions of our editors, one essential topic for each place. But everyone’s weight gradually changed. Nevertheless, there was an occasional attitude towards the election theme reflecting on the war refugees, in the final the theme of the energy crisis and the fear of social insecurity appeared more and more.
Nevertheless, in the end you will find any topic in our selection in your district or city, the price of energy, impoverishment and also how the management of the town halls will take a stand to help the residents, who will be fundamentally affected by the increase in prices, are peeking out from around the corner.
I am convinced that although all municipalities and cities would like to build that road, that parking garage and another sports hall, the municipal coffers will pass a great test, which will show how good stewards the previous management was and how smart investors and social workers the post-election management of the town halls are .
The September elections may not decide one specific topic in your city, but it will certainly decide who will have to accept unpopular measures from the position of mayor, councilor or ordinary representative, explain why there is no money for this or that, and above all come up with a clear and simple, at the same time, however, an effective way to help your neighbors overcome the crisis within the possibilities of municipal policy and not to allow a loss of housing or trust in the chosen policy and in society in general.