Trams will return to the historic center of Olomouc after half a year

Olomouc - In the historic center of Olomouc, on Denisova and Pekařská streets, trams will start running again on Saturday after a six-month interruption. The service was halted due to a complex reconstruction of the local tram track, the roadway surface, and engineering networks that were in a state of emergency. According to the latest information, the repairs cost approximately 105 million crowns, said Deputy Mayor Martin Major to ČTK today.
    Construction workers began the repairs on March 1. "Currently, they are finishing the last modifications. Tram service will be restored on the morning of September 1. Delivery vehicles will be able to enter the streets starting mid-September," Major stated.
    The repairs included, among other things, the reconstruction of the water supply pipes, some of which dated back to 1890. Due to the age of the infrastructure, water managers often dealt with issues in the networks in the streets. Thanks to the repairs, modern low-floor trams will also be able to run on the streets, which are part of one of the two tram lines leading to the city center from the main train station.
    During the closure, the Olomouc transport company replaced trams with replacement buses on part of the line between the station and the city center. The repairs affected five of the six tram lines. Trams numbered 1, 2, and 5 do not operate during the closure.
    City hall leadership recently decided that a pedestrian zone will be created on Pekařská and Denisova streets. However, some business owners operating in the streets do not like this. They claim that the pedestrian zone will complicate the supply to their establishments.
    Major previously stated that the council tried to respect the opinions of entrepreneurs, as well as ordinary city residents, police, and other experts. According to him, there will be a pedestrian zone regime on both streets, but delivery vehicles will be able to enter them all day long. They will, however, have designated parking spots, and unloading goods must be completed within 15 minutes.
    The city hall has been preparing the repairs of the streets in the historic core since 1999. The start of the reconstruction was previously hindered, among other reasons, by the stance of several property owners who disagreed with hanging the trolley overhead wires on the facades of their buildings and with the recording of the easement in the real estate cadastre.