The new bridge in downtown Novi Pazar to have three traffic lanes, pedestrian decks and bicycle paths on both sides

The city authorities of Novi Pazar have displayed the urban planning projects of two additional bridges in the city center for public inspection.

The first project for the construction of a new bridge across the Raska River, in downtown Novi Pazar, was developed by the PE Institute of Urban Planning, Building and Construction, and envisages the construction of the bridge as an integral part of larger works on the city roads, and once done, will functionally connect the facilities in downtown, placed on the opposite river banks, and thus enable the city center to form a unique entity.

Another urban project has also been developed by the Institute of Urban Planning and refers to the construction of a temporary bridge that will be built before the demolition of the bridge in the city center, in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

The second bridge will be built behind the Vrbak Hotel and it will connect the Quay of the 37th Sandzak Division with the parking lot on the right bank of the Raska river, and then further into Gradska Street. An integral part of both UP are the conceptual solutions of the bridges made by the company Gramont NS from Novi Sad.

The new city bridge will be constructed on the site of the existing old bridge, which is to be removed. The traffic on the bridge connects into the city traffic on both sides of the river. Approaches to the bridge construction are provided through the city's surrounding traffic areas and roadways.

The planned length of the bridge is 20.65 m, the width of the road on the bridge will be 10.5 m, and the pedestrian decks will be 5 and 8 meters wide.

- As for the reconstruction of the existing bridge at the entrance to the Stara Carsija (old town), its width will be increased: three new lanes instead of the existing two. In addition to the extension for vehicular traffic, two-way pedestrian paths will be extended and thus enable bicycle traffic. When determining the width,the width of the existing streets connected by the bridge has been taken into account. This applies especially to the area around the Stara Carsija, which must be analyzed separately both in terms of restrictions related to regulation and the traffic regime. The planned change of traffic in the Stara Carsija and the formation of a pedestrian zone in 1. Maja Street is also taken into account- the project states.

The bridge traffic consists of three traffic lanes, separated by horizontal signaling. The width of the road lanes is 3.5 m, i.e. a total of 10.5 m, and two-way pedestrian decks and bicycle paths with a width of 5.00 m and 8.02 m with width for the fence are being constructed - as per the clarifications.

Further inspection of the projects shows that the idea of a large roundabout in front of the City hall has been abandoned.

The construction of new bridges and access roads should be financed by Turkey with about EUR 1.5 million, and that work was agreed upon during Erdogan's visit to Novi Pazar in October 2017, local media report.

The tender for the design of the bridges, worth over RSD 11 million, was completed in early 2018, and the local authorities announced at that time that the construction of the bridges would begin in the spring of that year.