Photo: PixabayThe project of a tunnel under the center of Belgrade, which would shorten the journey for drivers from the Sava to the Danube bank by a few minutes, and at the same time relieve the traffic jams in the city center as much as possible and reduce the emission of harmful gases - is in the phase of detailed elaboration and will be realized in parallel with the construction of the New Sava Bridge, Marko Stojčić, chief urbanist of the City of Belgrade confirmed for our portal.
"The construction of the New Sava Bridge, as well as the tunnel connecting the Sava and Danube banks, after the metro system, is certainly the most important infrastructural project that will be implemented in the central city area. This project aims to significantly relieve the central city area of vehicles transiting through the city center and for this reason we consider it one of the most significant. In order to avoid a longer time gap between the completion of the bridge and the construction of the tunnel, the decision was made to try to build both projects in parallel as much as possible so that the effect would be simultaneous", says Marko Stojčić and adds that the City of Belgrade is currently dealing with property- legal issues in the area above the tunnel, so that the project could start with its implementation.
MARKO STOJČIĆ, CHIEF URBANIST OF THE CITY OF BELGRADE / PHOTO: MILOŠ LUŽANIN
According to previous announcements, the tunnel should be two kilometers long, and the deepest part, according to the plan presented in 2019, would be about 38 meters below Terazije. When it comes to the width of the roads, within one tunnel section, it will be 9.56 meters, with traffic lanes 3.5 meters wide, but also a pedestrian section with a width of 0.93 meters. Also, according to the current plan, two evacuation exits for vehicles were provided.
In all variants of the plan, the entrance to the tunnel would be at Gavrila Principa street, near the Faculty of Economics, and the exit would be at the intersection of Bulevara despota Stefana and Jovana Avakumovića, that is, at the Police Department for the city of Belgrade.
When the tunnel is built and put into traffic, this underground Belgrade road will reduce congestion and noise in the city center, and, perhaps most importantly, the emission of harmful exhaust gases, by about 12 percent.
According to some estimates, the value of this project will be between 100 and 130 million euros.
Text: Jovana Nikolić
