After numerous recent successes around the Sava river, the City of Zagreb has new plans on how to make it more attractive and invest a lot of money into that.
We’ve already written about the reconstruction project of one of major bridges over the Sava river in the centre of Zagreb, the so-called Most slobode (Freedom bridge). Now, as those works are nearing their completion, we find out that once it’s done, it will include brand new lighting, additional illumination for the pedestrians, and new, decorative illumination along the the entire length of the bridge.
The plan is to install the lighting with highly-efficient LED technology, in line with what the other modern cities across the world are doing. One thing that probably differentiates Zagreb from those other modern cities is the price tag for this project. As Croatian media has reported, the lighting of the bridge (just the lighting!) will cost around 22 million kuna (almost 3 million euros!). Many experts and members of the public have been saying that the price tag for the project is way too high.
Head of the Office for Planning, Dinko Bilić, explains that the price is what it is because the building is specific and the lighting needs to be bespoke and the price is therefore higher than the usual price for a similar project.
He highlights that the proposed LED lights will reduce electricity consumption, reduce the expenses for the maintenance and at the same time be as per regulations for all participants in the traffic system – cars, pedestrians and bicycles.
The important details, he adds, are that the individual light fixtures will be able to be removed, they will be mechanically protected and a modern system for the management of the system will be implemented. For 22 million kuna, they’d better be the best there is out there.
