June 12, 2020 – Great news for Split cyclists was announced by the city administration, as a new bike path will soon run from Dr. Franjo Tuđman Square, or the end of the Riva, to the Znjan plateau.
Slobodna Dalmacija writes that the new bicycle paths will begin as soon as the circumstances allow, and after the public procurement for the works worth 139,582 kuna with tax, the company “Pismorad” from Zagreb was chosen as the contractor, with whom a contract will be signed soon.
The planned bicycle route will be 5,100 meters long, and from west to east it will extend in the following direction: Trg dr. Franje Tuđmana, Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda, Obala Lazareta, Obala kneza Domagoja, Katalinićev prilaz, Preradovićevo šetalište, Put Firula, Spinčićeva ulica, Šetalište kalafata, Šetalište Pape Ivana Pavla II.
From east to west, due to one-way streets, the route from Preradovićevo šetalište extends to the following streets: Hatzeov perivoj, Ulica Matije Gupca, Trg M. Pavlinovića, Biankinijeva, Petrova ulica, Poljana kneza Trpimira. This is the most that could be achieved, given the infrastructure, confirms Denis Spadina, president of the Split-Dalmatia County Cycling Association and one of the people behind the conceptual design of the new bike path.
“This is the best that could be achieved, in fact, it is the only possible solution without demolishing half the city. It starts, therefore, from the bottom of the Riva, from the entrance to Diocletian’s cellars, and there will be no traffic across the promenade,” Spadina said, since this is the issue that worried the citizens the most. The number of cyclists, especially during the epidemic, has increased significantly in Split – three to four times!
“There are more and more cyclists and this is a great thing for our city, people have been taking out bicycles that are twenty years old from the basement in recent months, and it is a great trend. I am especially glad that it will now be possible to drive through Trstenik, as so far, traffic rules have been violated. The whole path will be properly marked, and we go step by step. This is only the first phase, if it weren’t for the corona, it would have been over a long time ago, as we had everything ready in January. The next thing we are working on is the path from Znjan to Stobrec, we have several options, but we do not want to overlap, let this come to life first,” says Spadina.
The City confirms that, given the spatial conditions and the previous spatial planning documentation, which did not provide for the construction of this type of communal infrastructure, they will arrange traffic signals in order to contribute to increasing safety.
The good news is that the people of Split break new records in the rental of public bicycles every month, which, thanks to the European project “REMEDIO” implemented by the City of Split in partnership with its company “Split Parking”, are available at 12 locations since July last year.
This new path was also prepared thanks to the European project – “Development of the system of bicycle paths of the city of Split” and the activities of the Department for Smart City projects and digitalization and the Service for international and EU projects.
Split is currently implementing the “Interreg Italy-Croatia” project “TOMORROW”, one of the main activities of which is the improvement of the existing system of public bicycles, so the purchase of equipment for four new terminals with classic and electric bicycles worth 743,761 kuna with VAT. Split Parking also announced the expansion of the public bicycle system, so soon, every district in the city will have its own station, and citizens will have access to electric and classic bicycles at each one.
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