The discussion of the urban plan for Brno has turned into a debate about R43

Brno - The public discussion of the proposal for the third variant of the Urban Plan for the city of Brno, which would not account for the R43 road, turned into a passionate debate between opponents and supporters of the road today in Brno. People debated for two hours whether a study without R43 should even be prepared.
Against the preparation of the third variant of the urban plan was, for example, the mayor of the Královo Pole district, Ivan Kopecký, who argued that promoting the variant without R43 would worsen the traffic situation in Královo Pole. The mayor of the Žabovřesky district, Aleš Kvapil, was also against it. According to him, the so-called zero variant, which would maintain the current state without R43, would freeze the current problems of the districts with increasing traffic into the future.
However, according to Brno councilor from the Green Party, Martin Ander, the discussion about the final decision on whether the R43 expressway will ultimately pass through Brno will take place in the future. "Right now, it is not so much about approving or rejecting R43 itself. It's more about whether a variant of the urban plan without this road will be created and what it will look like," explained Ander. We just want three equally detailed studies, based on the same criteria, to be on the table when making the final decision, added Ander.
In contrast, the councilor of the Bosonohy district, Marie Špačková, spoke in favor of preparing the third variant of the urban plan, raising the objection that the study should also assess the impact of R43 on Bosonohy. "Our district is not mentioned at all in connection with the R43 route. Yet it would be affected most of all the districts. R43 would bring the intersection with the D1 highway to Bosonohy," Špačková argued.
According to the proponents of the new proposal, the current urban plan is already outdated and does not correspond to the situation in the city. "Its validity expires anyway in 2010. Moreover, it did not anticipate today’s obvious trends in the city, such as suburbanization, i.e., the outflow of residents to surrounding municipalities, as well as the shift of job opportunities from the manufacturing sector to the service sector and the emergence of abandoned industrial zones, the so-called brownfields," said Kateřina Leopoldová from the Brno city hall when presenting the proposal.
Residents of Brno, as well as representatives of all Brno districts and all 12 relevant state administration offices, will have 30 days, until the end of May, to express their views on the proposal. The third variant of the urban plan should be completed by August of this year. By the end of 2008, the city hall will evaluate all three variants and create a final version, which the city council is expected to approve by the end of 2010.
According to the plans of the Road and Motorway Directorate, the R43 expressway is expected to be completed in 2013. However, the construction of its Brno section, which was supposed to start as one of the first, has already been delayed. The regional urban plan of South Moravia also includes the R43 road passing through Brno. If Brno ultimately opts for the variant without R43, we will demand that the regional urban plan responds to our decision, added Ander.
The R43 road, intended to divert freight transit traffic from the center of Brno, is one of the problematic constructions in South Moravia, with disputes about its route ongoing for more than 12 years. A petition against its route through Bystrc has been signed by around 30,000 people in recent years. Experts estimate that the new transport artery would have about 25,000 cars passing through daily.
Therefore, most activists advocate for a second variant of the road through the Boskovická basin. The exit from the D1 would be near Ostrovačice. In contrast, civic associations and city halls in Kuřim and Brno's Ivanovice wish to see the R43 completed as quickly as possible along the original route, which would improve local residents' access to Brno.

> website about R43