Prague will decide on the future of the Libeň Bridge by the end of the year

Prague - Prague should decide by the end of this year whether to simply repair or partially demolish and reconstruct the Libeň Bridge. During the discussion of a petition against the demolition of the bridge, Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) stated this at a council meeting today. Almost 1800 people have signed the petition. According to a report from two years ago by the Technical Administration of Roads (TSK), the Libeň Bridge is in the worst condition of all Prague bridges.
   "There is no doubt that it is an architectural monument, it just was not declared as such de jure," said one of the petitioners, Kateřina Bečková from the Club for Old Prague. According to Bečková, the poor condition of the bridge is the fault of its owner, which is the city.
    Dolínek said that the planned reconstruction of the bridge will be assessed by experts from Prague's Czech Technical University (ČVUT). The experts are to prepare an assessment and propose the best solution. "Once I have it in my hands, I will submit it to the council," said Dolínek.
    The city has been planning the repair of the bridge for several years; in 2006, authorities issued a zoning decision, and three years later, a building permit. Civil associations and the Prague 7 municipal office opposed the possible demolition of the bridge. The original reconstruction plan, which called for the bridge to be widened and some of its parts demolished, was opposed by the Czech Chamber of Architects, for example.
    Some coalition councilors opposed the demolition. "The Libeň Bridge can be a symbol of whether we are capable of changing our original erroneous decisions," said councilor and mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský (KDU-ČSL). Councilor and deputy mayor of Prague 7, Ondřej Mirovský (SZ), rejected the widening of the bridge, as he believes it is unnecessary from a traffic point of view.
    Since the bridge was opened in 1928, its load-bearing structure has not been repaired even once. Due to its very poor condition, access for vehicles heavier than 7.5 tons was prohibited in 2009. Furthermore, the speed of trams was reduced to 20 kilometers per hour, and trams traveling in opposite directions are not allowed to meet on the bridge.
    The authors of the Libeň Bridge, which connects Holešovice and Libeň, are architect and cubist Pavel Janák and engineer František Mencl.