Prague 3 will establish additional speed limit zones, plant trees and plan new schools
photo: Jakub Mračno, PrahaIN.cz/Prague 3 Town Hall on Žižkov’s Havlíčk Square.
Prague 3 plans to establish new zones with a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour during this election period, the next one was to be in Jeseniova Street and the surrounding area. The town hall also wants to plant new street trees and is planning three new elementary and five kindergartens in the future, the construction should be paid for by contributions from development companies planning large-scale construction in the town district.
In an interview with ČTK, the new mayor of Prague 3 Michal Vronský (TOP 09) said this. According to him, the council will approve the budget for next year in February.
In the past, Prague 3 already introduced the so-called zone 30 in the vicinity of Biskupcova Street, Jarov and in the area of Na Parukářce and Ke Kapslovně streets. According to Vronský, the public opinion poll showed that the majority of residents support this method of traffic calming. For the next zone, the town hall chose Jeseniova, where people have been calling for it for a long time.
When setting up zones, the city hall first wants to communicate with local residents to avoid disputes. According to the mayor, a traffic study will be carried out next year, and roughly in the middle of the year, the district would like to start participation with the residents of Jeseniovy. Other zones should then follow in such a way as to build on each other, the mayor added.
Communicate with the people of the town hall even in the case of the plan to plant new trees in the streets, for which the town hall had a study prepared in the last election period. “We have selected several streets in the area of old Žižkov,” Vronský said, adding that the plan is to plant tens of taller trees. The town hall wants to prepare a project and then agree with the city’s Technical Communications Administration (TSK) to take charge of the creation of the tree line.
With regard to the housing construction plan in the area of the Žižkov Railway Station and its surroundings, the district will need many new places in primary and kindergarten schools. These should be provided in various forms by developers, with whom, according to earlier information, the municipality negotiated total contributions for the development of public infrastructure of approximately 1.55 billion crowns.
Prague 3 is planning, among other things, the reconstruction of the building on Havlíčková náměstí, where the elementary school should return. According to Vronský, the project has been in preparation for about two years now. Another school is to be built in the area of Habrová Street and the third in the extension of the historical building of the Žižkov Freight Station. In addition, five kindergartens are to be added in Prague 3 in the coming years.
According to the mayor, the town hall will continue to work with the municipality and discuss the exact form of agreements with individual developers. “I think I’ll be acting for two more years,” he said. The agreements will also cover the form of individual projects, for example, the town hall wants to ensure that the new quarter at the freight station is passable with accessible courtyards.
The management of the municipal district will now focus on the preparation of the budget, which it wants to approve in February. Until then, Prague 3 will be in the so-called provisional budget, which means that the town hall will only be able to use one-twelfth of the previous budget each month. This could lead to price increases in January and February, because energy costs increased many times over due to the schools, and twelve of this year’s budget was not enough. According to Vronský, the city hall therefore loosened the rules for dealing with school reserve funds so that directors could use them to buy energy. The mayor added that the goal of the new management will be to find additional savings in operating expenses despite the increase in prices.
Vronský became mayor at the end of November for a coalition of TOP 09 and STAN, Pirátů, Prahy 3 Sobě and Zelených. He replaced his party colleague Jiří Ptáček, who did not defend the post and is an unvacated councillor. So far, Prague 3, which has about 74,300 inhabitants, has been ruled by a coalition, only without Prague 3 Sobě, who is a newcomer to the council.