Belgrade getting a new bridge at Ada Huja – The cost of the bridge over the Danube estimated at EUR 180 million

Belgrade should get another bridge over the Danube, at Ada Huja, nearly three kilometers long, whose construction would link Pancevo Road and Slanci Road, as announced by the city architect, Milutin Folic.

– We are now resolving the property relations and I expect that the documentation for this bridge will be ready at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 – Folic said for Tanjug.

The plan is to build the bridge in four segments – from Pancevo Road to the revetment, from the revetment to Ada Huja, from Ada Huja to Visnjicki Blvd and from the Boulevard to Slanci Road, and the new bridge is planned as part of a middle ring around the city.

While talking about infrastructural projects of the city, Folic reminded that the expansion of the Old Sava Bridge was also planned, as was the construction of a tunnel from the Old Sava Bridge to Despota Stefana Blvd and a tunnel from the Ada Bridge to Autokomanda.

– In total, two tunnels and two bridges, according to the first estimates, would cost around EUR 400 million and the city is working on procuring the assets for those four infrastructural projects – Folic said.

He points out, however, that the city's budget currently isn't big enough to finance the projects.

– We are currently repaying old debts, after which there will be a possibility of making additional ones, or starting the projects some other way – Folic said.

According to estimates, the bridge at Ada Huja, together with access roads, should, as Folic explains, cost around EUR 180 million.

– This is the estimate of the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency based on previous experience. The tunnel below the Belgrade reef would cost around EUR 100 million, and the expansion of the Old Sava Bridge around EUR 30 and 40 million – Folic said.

When it comes to the Old Sava Bridge, the tender for the planning of the bridge is being prepared, and as for the tunnel, a detailed regulation plan is currently being prepared and should be completed by mid-2017, and the analysis of two potential solutions is being carried out as well.

According to the plan, the Old Sava Bridge will have two lanes in each direction, a pedestrian and bicycle section, which will be placed above the tram tracks. In the extension of the bridge, next to the Faculty of Economics, there will be an entrance to the tunnel below the Belgrade reef, with an exit into the Despota Stefana Blvd.

Following the analysis and the preparation of the plan, it will become known whether all four lanes will be connected to Despota Stefana Blvd, or if only two lanes, one in each direction, will link to the Boulevard, with the other two connecting to Cvijiceva St, Folic explained.

– This is an important link, as it will reduce the pollution in the city by around 15%, the time spent by people in passing through that part of the city by 13 to 14%, as well as the noise – Folic explained and added that the construction of the tunnel was “logical”, since, as he said, the idea about its construction had existed since the 1970s.

He reminded that the city had adopted over 130 regulation plans in the previous two years and that it would continue to adopt new ones, as the goal was to cover each part of the city with plans in the next two years in order to enable the interested investors or citizens to get building permits.

Ada Huja awakening

As eKapija wrote earlier, the space around Ada Huja might soon become a Mecca for builders.

To clarify, the undeveloped area between Visnjicka St and the Danube coast has been the focus of urban planner for years, and the planned purpose of the area has changes several times.

New ideas are arriving with the new Detailed Regulation Plan of Ada Huja, which encompasses a coastal area of nearly 300 hectares. It is precisely there that a new city center is planned with a link to the center of Karaburma, but also to other parts of the city through Ruzveltova St and Despota Stefana Blvd.

By rearranging the Danube Wharf into a green belt, the center should be linked to the sports and recreation complex at Ada Huja. Considering its prominent position on the coast of the Danube and its role in forming the Belgrade landscape, the structures built there need to be representative, and their height shouldn't obstruct the view fro the Danube to Zvezdara, or from Milicevo Brdo to New Belgrade and Zemun.

The plan is to turn the existing commercial complexes in Visnjicka St. and Ada Huja into mixed city centers with residential premises. The sports and recreation center at Ada Huja will be meant for powerboat and kart racing, with the possibility of establishing a small marina.

A corridor for the future road bridge across the Danube is planned in the Ada Huja zone, as announced by the city architect, Milutin Folic. The construction of a tram railway in planned in the corridor of Visnjicka St towards Mirijevo in the first phase.