Kopřivnice aims to make the city center wheelchair accessible

Kopřivnice (Novojičínsko) - Kopřivnice in the Novojičín region will reconstruct the route leading around important institutions in the city center as part of the project Barrier-Free City. Thanks to the barrier-free access, movement around the city will be easier not only for people with disabilities but also for parents with children, said Lucie Petříčková, spokesperson for the city hall, to ČTK.
    The city has received a grant of 9.7 million crowns from the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure for the project. The total costs of the modifications will be around 12 million crowns. "The goal of the project is the gradual removal of obstacles that threaten pedestrian safety and make movement difficult for people with various limitations, as well as for mothers with strollers,” Petříčková stated.
    People will have barrier-free access not only to the city hall, post office, or police station but also to the cultural center, library, information center, and technical museum.
    The city has already renovated approximately 400 meters of the entire route, which included modifications to the entrances of some buildings, at its own expense. In total, about 1200 meters of sidewalks, 13 crossings, and some bus stops will be repaired on the route, where barrier-free buses are expected to operate in the future. Four new crossings will also be built. Some crossings will not only be illuminated after modifications, but safety islands will be added in the center of the roadway. The city plans to similarly modify two more routes.