Agreement on laying down tram tracks on Ada Bridge signed – Tender for reconstruction of Karadjordjeva Street soon

The agreement on the laying down of 2.7 kilometers of tram tracks across the Ada Bridge was signed on March 20 in Belgrade, City Manager Goran Vesic said and added that the agreement with Energorpojekt envisages a period of construction works of 420 days, Beoinfo reports.

– The City of Belgrade has set aside nearly two billion dinars for the laying down of 2.7 kilometers of tram tracks. This is one of the biggest projects currently carried out in the capital of Serbia and is important for several reasons. It is only with the completion of this job that the Ada Bridge will be partially completed – Vesic pointed out.

He reminded that access routes from Tosin Bunar had been completed the previous year, whereas the construction of the access from the Pere Velimirovica Street on the Rakovica side would start the next year.

He emphasized that the agreed deadlines had been strictly honored, as the beginning of the construction of the new Sava bridge and the tunnel to connect the Karadjordjeva Street and the Despota Stefana Blvd depends on the completion of the said job.

– While these works are being carried out, the design of the tunnel and the new Sava bridge, prepared by CIP, will be completed, so that we could open tenders for its realization in early 2019. As soon as tram traffic opens on the Ada Bridge in May 2019, we will be ready to remove the Old Sava Bridge, repair it and move it to a new location. That's when the construction of the new Sava bridge, which will be open for tram and, later, subway traffic, will start – the city manager pointed out.

Vesic added that the new tunnel – a natural extension of the new Sava bridge, would enable a quick connection with the old part of the city and unload the downtown traffic by 11 to 14%, while also relieving the traffic on Branko's Bridge. The development of the traffic routes down the Vladimira Popovica Street and the Zemun Road, which should take in the traffic from the new Sava bridge, will be carried out simultaneously. He added that, in addition to these big projects, Belgrade was looking at another two big projects.

– The first one is the construction of the tunnel through the Topcider Hill, on the Rakovica side of the Ada Bridge, as well as the construction of a new bridge on Ada Huja. These big projects will enable the completion of the inner and the outer ring-road, which will, together with the bypass route around Belgrade, currently being built, and the future subway, create the conditions for making the city as functional as other major cities in Europe and the world when it comes to traffic – Vesic concluded.

The director executive of the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, Radomir Vujadin, pointed out that the laying down of the tram tracks was the biggest infrastructural project carried out in the capital of Serbia at the moment.

He announced the opening of the public procurement procedure for the reconstruction of the Karadjordjeva Street with the Sava Plato, from Branko's Bridge to Beton Hala, which has been estimated at RSD 885 million, in the next ten days. He also announced that the tender for the reconstruction of the Republic Square, estimated at around RSD 360 million, would open fairly soon.