The new footbridge for cyclists and pedestrians in Hořice will open in September

The bridge construction began in May, and most of the costs will be covered by a grant. "It should be put into operation at the end of September. We are pleased because the bridge connects parts of Hořice that are separated by the first-class road number 35. The road crossing will be safer," said Doležal.

The bridge over the busy road at the exit from the main road into the town will also serve long-distance cyclists. According to the former guarantor of the regional development of cycling routes and mayor of Smiřice Luboš Tuzar, it is a key point on the route between the Les Království reservoir near Dvůr Králové nad Labem and Kladruby. Both points lie on the long-distance Elbe cycling route, which runs from Hamburg along the Elbe to its sources. "The route through Hořice, which crosses the long-distance cycling route number 14 under the town, is actually a connector of the Elbe cycling route and at the same time a shortcut for those heading to the sources of the Elbe and wanting to avoid the regional towns of Pardubice and Hradec Králové," Tuzar told ČTK.

The one-hundred-kilometer long-distance cycling route number 14 runs from Libchavy in the Orlickoústecko region through Týniště nad Orlicí, Hradec Králové, and Jičín into the Liberec region.