<p>Trams and cars weighing up to 6 tons can pass over the Libeň Bridge</p>

Prague - Trams and cars weighing up to six tons can again travel across the Libeň bridge in Prague starting this morning. The spokeswoman for the Technical Administration of Communications (TSK), Barbora Lišková, informed ČTK. The bridge was closed about a month ago due to a state of emergency, and now it is supported in the most damaged areas. The capital is still working on whether to repair the bridge or demolish it and build a new one.

"The reopening is important primarily for public transportation. However, the support of the bridge does not address the need to urgently decide about the bridge and its future," said Prague’s transport councillor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) to ČTK.

According to the mayor of Prague 7, which the bridge connects to Prague 8, Jan Čižinský (Prague 7 for itself), Prague should start working immediately on a temporary bridge next to the Libeň bridge for all types of transportation.

"The closure of the bridge showed that Prague cannot do without a temporary structure in case of its reconstruction or, heaven forbid, demolition," Čižinský told ČTK.

According to an expert assessment, vehicles weighing up to 11 tons could technically enter the bridge, but for safety reasons, the rule limiting the maximum weight for entry to six tons will still apply.

Traffic on the bridge is currently light due to the weekend. According to traffic intensity measurements from 2016, about 15,000 cars and nearly a thousand tram connections pass over it daily.

Among other road bridges in Prague, the Libeň bridge is one of the less busy ones; for example, nearly ten times more cars pass over the Barrandov bridge daily, and about five times as many over the Nusle bridge. The closest neighboring bridge to the Libeň is the Hlávka bridge, which sees over 69,000 cars daily, and the Barikádníků bridge, which accommodates around 60,000 cars per day. Both are part of the north-south arterial road. A few thousand fewer cars than on the Libeň bridge travel over the nearby Troja bridge.

The closure affected not only cars but also nine daytime tram lines and two night ones. Most of them operated on different routes.

The bridge, built in 1928, has never been repaired. Prague is currently considering whether to demolish it due to its poor condition and build a new one, or to reconstruct it. The city leadership has not yet decided on the bridge's future. The Ministry of Culture recently stated that it does not consider the structure a cultural monument.

According to experts, constructing a new bridge and comprehensively reconstructing the current one would cost a similar amount, ranging from 550 to 600 million crowns. In the past, Prague had a plan to partially demolish the bridge and build a new one on the existing pillars. According to this plan, TSK estimated the costs at around 350 million crowns. However, this option was rejected by experts due to the poor state of the pillars.

Prague has long-standing problems with the state of its bridges. At the beginning of last December, a footbridge collapsed between Císařský Island and Troja. Four people were injured in the accident.