Traffic everyday life Beogradana will become much more complicated from Tuesday, April 21, because that's when the construction work officially begins tunnel which should connect Karađorđeva Street and Dunavska Padina.
Although the work was originally scheduled to begin on April 15, the contractor, the Chinese company "PowerChina", requested additional time to prepare the construction site, which allowed the Secretariat of Public Transport to move the deadline by a few days. This delay came after a warning from the Center for Local Self-Government, from where they said that closing Despot Stefan Boulevard while the reconstruction of Takovska Street is underway would be an "unacceptable and completely unnecessary" move that would cause traffic hell in the capital.
The director of the Center for Local Self-Government, Nikola Jovanović, tells "Vreme" that the city government showed a serious lack of coordination because it decided to "redecorate" Takovska Street at the very time when one of the most important traffic arteries in the city is closing. "Fortunately, the start of work on the tunnel was postponed for a couple of days, so our announcement had an effect, but the systemic problem remains," said Jovanović, confirming that the work in Takovska, given that it is a matter of regular maintenance, will still be finished by the new date in Despot Stefana Boulevard.
Photo: Tanjug / Amir HazlagićTraffic jam in Belgrade
New traffic regime
According to the new regime, which will last until February 10, 2027, when the works are planned to be completed, the traffic in Despot Stefana Boulevard, on the stretch from Pančevački Bridge to Cvijićeva Street, will be drastically changed. Public transport vehicles will have only one traffic lane available in the direction of the city center, while passenger vehicles will be prohibited from moving towards the city center. Instead, car drivers are diverted to Rue Poincaré. The Secretariat for Traffic advises drivers coming from Pančevački Most to continue straight towards the "Bogoslovija" roundabout, while those coming from Karaburma and Višnjička Street are advised to use Mija Kovačevića Street. From the direction of the city center towards the bridge, traffic will operate in regular mode.
Retired professor of the Faculty of Transportation Milan Vujanić tells "Vreme" that such measures are inevitable in large infrastructure projects. He believes that there is no way to realize such a project without significant traffic restrictions. "When you build a new road in a place where it already exists, you have to close it or seriously limit traffic. I don't know of any other way to solve such things," explains Vujanić.
He adds that the deadline of one year is ambitious, but not necessarily unrealistic, noting that such projects often depend on unpredictable factors such as groundwater and the complexity of the terrain. "In order to get a permanent solution in traffic, the citizens have to be patient while the works continue," says Vujanić, assessing that the tunnel will represent a significant relief for the city in the long term.
A project that has been going on for almost a decade
The tunnel construction project, which the current mayor Aleksandar Šapić called a "little metro", has been known to the public since May 2017. The then mayor Siniša Mali promised the start of construction by the end of 2018, but the plans were delayed for years until the contract with the company "PowerChina" was finally signed at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the financial structure of the project has grown significantly - from the initial 90 to 100 million euros, the value of the works has jumped to more than 220 million euros. The state raised a loan of 24,9 billion dinars for this project, and an additional 970 million dinars was subsequently withdrawn from the budget reserves.
Photo: Tanjug/Jadranka IlićThe Mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić
Even bigger problems in the fall
However, what worries experts and citizens the most is the fact that the current crowds are just a prelude to what's to come. Nikola Jovanović from the Center for Local Self-Government warns that huge problems will only arise in October, when the machine for digging the subway, better known as the "mole", is expected to arrive. He states that then many key roads will have to be closed successively, and one of the first to be hit will be Požeška Street. Jovanović believes that the current city administration does not have the capacity to ensure an adequate traffic regime under the conditions of such complex works.
Photo: Center for Local Self-GovernmentDirector of the Center for Local Self-Government Nikola Jovanović
As a key reason for the current chaos, Jovanović cites the complete lack of coordination between the contractors and the city, as well as the citizens' lack of information about alternative directions. He sees the solution in reforming the city administration and reducing costs through the introduction of the "Belgrade Holding", which would unite the current 15 public utility companies. "That would facilitate coordination, but also represent savings for the budget," Jovanović points out, adding that Belgrade does not need a separate company for managing public transport in addition to the existing Secretariat. The Center for Local Self-Government plans to present all these proposals in a document called "Belgrade 365", with the aim of making the city administration more efficient and transparent for the citizens, which in the end could lead to a reduction in the bill for Infostan.
Request for project suspension
The "Belgrade Remains" initiative today requested an immediate halt to the tunnel construction project, as well as a comprehensive and transparent review of its economic justification, traffic expediency and long-term consequences for the development of the city. "A city that develops according to cars is not a city according to people" - they say from this organization.
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