The project of the railway station forecourt in Pardubice is awaiting building permission

Pardubice - The project to redevelop the area in front of the train station in Pardubice for 180 million crowns, which has experienced several months of delays, may possibly start in September. However, it must have a valid building permit alongside the contractor; the building proceedings have not yet been initiated. The design firm has not submitted all the necessary documents. Vladimír Bakajsa, head of the transport department, said this today to ČTK.

"There are missing statements from the involved authorities, missing contracts with landowners, and missing statements from utility providers. Without that, we cannot initiate the building proceedings. The deadline is two months," Bakajsa said.

The design office submitted a request for a building permit last week; they have two months to complete the documents, which, according to Bakajsa, may not take that long. As soon as the missing documents are provided, the department will immediately start the proceedings. Ideally, if no further complications arise, the building permit will be issued in about two months, Bakajsa stated.

"Many obstacles can arise; no one can rule out appeals against the building proceedings, the tender process, and so on. Nevertheless, I remain an optimist," said the mayor's deputy, Jan Řehounek (ANO).

According to the latest estimates, the city hall wants to start work in September; initially, it was planned for spring. Therefore, it is asking the grant provider, who is Swiss due to their membership in the European Economic Area, for a three-month extension of the project completion deadline, as it is not realistically possible to complete the project by the end of the year.

An official statement from the Swiss side is not yet available. Řehounek believes that everything will turn out well. Additionally, the city has a chance to draw European subsidies in case of any failure.

"No official statement about the extension (of the deadline) has been made. On the other hand, it was clearly stated that the last steps, especially the announcement of the tender for the construction contractor, even though we do not yet have a building permit, are all perceived positively," Řehounek said.

The previous city leadership wanted to build a new terminal for urban and intercity transport, but the project for a quarter of a billion was not sufficiently prepared. The current city leadership has reduced and divided the project into phases. The main change from the current situation will be a central bus platform with benches and information boards about departures located at the fountain.