Alikhanov: bike lanes are a whim
Bicycle path in the pedestrian zone on Rokossovsky Street in Kaliningrad.
The governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov, explained his difficult attitude towards the construction of bicycle paths.
At a meeting with the chief media editors of the region on Thursday, December 29, 2022, answering a provocative question from the Russian West, the head of the region describes his approach.
“The construction of bike paths, I think, is a whim. If we are talking about the transport component. The main investment in the development of transport is the acquisition of new rolling stock: whether trams, buses, or expanding the number of carrying capacities. The city is growing, the suburbs are reasonable. This is where you need to invest. And we do it. To think that bike paths are more or less serious in terms of traffic flows is ridiculous. Well, if half a percent is already good. However, do I think that it is not necessary to do it? Probably not. The project of a bike path from the spit to the spit of the RIAC. He is federal in part of the second stage. At first I also thought: let’s refuse. They told me: Anton Andreevich, why give up 400 million federal money? These 400 million, it turns out, do not happen in kindergarten. If it were possible, I would do it. Kindergarten is more important to me than the bike path, the second stage. But I myself have been there, how popular it is – among those who live there and who come. A good project that returned the money, we also participated in the financing. Thanks to the changes in this project, we will protect the forests in Kulikovo from careful parking. We made a huge park and ride.”
The governor responded cycle route The Danube of the Mazury Canal in the Pravdinsky district, in the opening of which he himself participated in August 2022, as not requiring a lot of money.
“Bike paths are not the focus of my work. The bike path from spit to spit was not invented by me. Unfortunately, the construction deadlines were delayed, – the governor said. “I’m not a fan, I’m just a cyclist.”
it follows that with the opening of the street in Kaliningrad, bicycle roads are also being built almost throughout the entire territory, in particular, today for the movement of Sudostroitelnaya and Pavlik Morozov streets.
© IA Russian West/ash