The deadline for the construction of Brno tunnels is at risk, the court has favored the residents

Brno - The construction of the Dobrovského tunnels, a future part of the Brno city ring road, faces delays. The Municipal Court in Prague today ruled in favor of opponents of the approximately eight billion crown construction, who feared that the construction would damage their houses and the environment, and returned the building permit to the Ministry of Transport for revision. Therefore, the April deadline for the start of excavation is seriously threatened, said Jiří Rupp, director of the Brno administration of the Road and Motorway Directorate, to ČTK today.
    The tunnels in the Brno city districts of Královo Pole and Žabovřesky are supposed to be part of a large city ring road, which is expected to ease traffic in the city. According to Rupp, only the start of excavation is threatened; the opening date of the tunnel with two tubes in 2011 is likely to be met even in the case of several months' delay. "The ministry has not yet received the court's written decision, so we can only speculate, but it will probably have to reconsider the conditions of the homeowners," Rupp told ČTK today.
    The lawsuit against the construction of the tunnels was filed by people from the surrounding streets, who fear damage to the structure of their family homes during the excavation. According to Rupp, about a hundred houses will be affected by the construction, but only residents of two of them filed the lawsuit. "Of course, the houses will settle due to the construction. But we will pay for all the securing work and also cover any repairs of cracked walls," Rupp had previously told ČTK.
    The construction of the Dobrovského tunnels, a future part of the Great City Ring, officially began last June. The excavation of the 1.25-kilometer tunnels is set to start only this spring. The tunnels are expected to be in operation from 2011, with the completed construction expected in 2013. Costs are estimated at eight billion crowns, with the Brno city council paying 400 million crowns and the rest coming from the State Transport Infrastructure Fund.
    The Ministry of Transport is also preparing further stages of the ring road, such as the construction of a bridge over the Svitava River in the Tomkovo náměstí location and Rokytova Street, or the construction of a tunnel under the Brno area of Akátky. The Brno Great City Ring could be complemented by another tunnel. Its construction is being advocated by the city districts of Židenice and Vinohrady instead of the original proposal, which accounted for the route of the ring road through Rokytova and Žarošická Streets in the eastern part of the city.