Drivers can use the Královopolské tunnels in Brno starting this evening

photo: www.mestsky-okruh-brno.cz

Brno - The Královopolské tunnels were opened today in Brno, another part of the Great City Ring Road. The construction, costing nearly 13 billion crowns, will ease surface traffic in Královo Pole and Žabovřesky and speed up transit traffic. The first motorists will drive through the kilometer-long tunnels this evening. The spokesperson for the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD), Martina Vápeníková, announced this to the media at the opening.
According to expectations, 15 thousand vehicles should pass through the tunnels daily. The project also included the construction of an intersection with the Svitavská radial road and bridges in Žabovřesky. The cost of the buildings alone was 8.4 billion crowns excluding VAT, and the total costs, including preparatory works, were reported by ŘSD director David Čermák to be 13 billion crowns. The construction took more than six years.
Next year or the year after, the expansion of Žabovřeská street to the Hlinky intersection should follow, where traffic problems will shift, as this section is only two lanes. Once it is expanded, there will be a fully functional transit from road R43 from Svitavy to motorway D1.
"For transport in Brno, this is an absolute priority. A new economic assessment of the construction is currently being prepared, based on which further preparation of the construction should continue," said Transport Minister Pavel Dobeš. "If the preparation is successfully brought to the building permit, we could start construction as early as next year," said Věra Hoderová, director of the Brno branch of ŘSD.
Other parts of the city ring that are closest to construction are modifications to Tomkovo náměstí and the intersection with Rokytová street. These constructions could at least partially speed up traffic in Židenice before the construction of the Vinohradský tunnel. "Urban planning decisions have been issued for these two constructions, and the documentation for the building permit is being re-evaluated and updated," Hoderová stated. The completion of the large city ring road in Brno is planned for 2035. "The end is, however, very speculative, and I think this date is very optimistic," Hoderová said.
The Královopolské tunnels consist of two two-lane tunneled tubes measuring 1237 and 1258 meters in length, and the construction included nine bridges totaling 876 meters.