With local elections approaching, Zagreb Mayor Bandić is suddenly again talking about new cable car.
It seems that Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić will start with the construction of the Sljeme cable car before local elections in May. He is apparently serious, despite the fact that his budget proposal for the next year appropriates just one million kuna for the project, reports Večernji List on December 18, 2016.
After more than 16 years as the helm of the city, Bandić will now apparently give priority to one of the most important city projects. In addition to the funds from the city budget, he will also use money from the Zagreb Holding, a city-owned holding which brings together numerous municipal companies. Although Bandić will not start with the construction of the cable car in nine days, as he previously promised, he might do it in January.
The first phase is the reconstruction of the tram tracks between Mihaljevac and Gračani, near the future lower station of the cable car, with 30 million kuna being reserved for that purpose by Zagreb Holding. According to information from the city authorities, the project is ready and the workers should start with the reconstruction activities after the holiday season is over.
In parallel, city authorities are also choosing the best bid for the demolition of the old cable car route. The entire documentation for the project should be prepared by the end of the year, and the demolition works should begin before the end of January. About five million kuna have been appropriated for that purpose.
It is expected that a tender for the main construction project will be announced soon, while the end of January should bring a separate competition for cable car equipment – gondolas, cables and other pieces of equipment. That cost will be paid from the City Department for Planning and Development, headed by Dinko Bilić. According to initial estimates, the equipment will cost about 50 million kuna.
The fifth phase will finally bring the construction of facilities at the lower and upper stations of the cable car route. City authorities are currently unable to predict how much that could cost. The final amount will be known next summer, when a separate competition will be announced for that part of the project. If everything goes according to the plan, and Bandić wins another term as Mayor, the Sljeme cable car could be completed by spring 2018.
Anyway, Bandić will begin with the construction, and in that way he will force his possible successor to continue with the project. His two main opponents, Anka Mrak-Taritaš and Sandra Švaljek, say that he should have completed the project long time ago if he really wanted to.
The old cable car was constructed in 1963, and was closed in 2007. It carried people from the Zagreb side of the Sljeme Mountain all the way to the top. The upper station was at the attitude of 1000 metres, and the length of the route was over four kilometres. It had 90 four-person gondolas, travel time was 23 minutes, and the maximum height about ground was 65 metres.
