Brno has agreed to purchase the last plots of land for the construction of the city ring road

Brno - Brno has reached an agreement with Login Talk on the purchase of the last plots of land needed for the construction of a large city ring road section in Žabovřeská. The mayor of Brno, Petr Vokřál (ANO), told reporters today. The city has been in long disputes with the landowner, which has delayed the construction. The purchase price is five million crowns. It still needs to be approved by the city council in March. According to the mayor's deputy Richard Mrázek (ANO), construction of one part of the Žabovřeská section could begin as early as this year.

The construction, costing nearly three billion crowns, is expected to last about 40 months. Currently, there is a two-lane road at the construction site. It is a bottleneck where traffic jams form every day. On both sides, there is a four-lane road.

According to the Brno leadership, the purchase will unblock a stalemate after several years. The city will acquire ten plots with a total area of 1,645 square meters. Their estimated value is around three million crowns. "It is a success in the sense that we couldn't resolve it for a long time. The amount is a compromise of what the city is willing to pay and what the owner is willing to accept," said Mrázek.

The company's managing director, Robert Bittó, previously told ČTK that he had wanted to exchange the land with the city in the past for, for example, a parking lot at Sono Center or for three commercial properties valued at around 30 million crowns. He referred to the fact that in the past it was possible to acquire land for important transport constructions for up to sixteen times the price. However, the city did not agree to this. The company offered a different plot, which Bittó also disagreed with.

Therefore, the city had previously initiated the expropriation process. "The expropriation proceedings are still ongoing. We will stop it once the land is registered in the city's name," Mrázek added. According to him, this could take about two months. The purchase must first be approved by the council and then by the city council on March 7. "Then the magistrate will have the mandate to pay the price, and that is a prerequisite for the contract to be submitted to the land registry. The registration should be completed within a month," Mrázek added. Although the city will pay a higher price than estimated, Mrázek believes that the deal is better than expropriation, which could delay the entire construction by several years.

According to Vokřál, the city will transfer part of the land to the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic (ŘSD), which is the investor for the construction of the large city ring road. The city will retain part of it. "ŘSD can then complete the necessary matters for the building permit," Vokřál added.

The construction had outdated EIA documentation regarding the environmental impact assessment. Therefore, new documentation is being prepared, and after obtaining a positive opinion, it will be possible to obtain the building permit. In January, ŘSD told ČTK that construction of the first phase costing 400 million crowns could begin in the second half of this year. Completion of the construction is expected in 2021. First, it is necessary to move the tram line further from the river, which means cutting a tunnel into the rock under Wilson's Forest in part of the route. After that, it will be possible to expand the existing two-lane road to a four-lane road. Once construction is completed, it should be possible to travel without traffic jams along the northern and western parts of the city ring road.

The last open section was the Královopolské tunnels, which were completed in 2012. At the end of last year, the city also began demolishing some buildings in the barracks in Židenice to start constructing the sections of Tomkovo náměstí and Rokytova in the northeastern part of the city.