Ostrava will pay 400 million for the transport network to Nová Karolina

Ostrava - The city of Ostrava will pay nearly 400 million for transport and technical constructions from 2008 to 2010, which will connect to the development of Nová Karolina. Their list and investment amounts were approved today by Ostrava's councilors. In the first phase, for example, Porážková street will be extended, which will become an important route for servicing the center. The city committed itself to integrating Karolina into the wider urban environment upon the sale of the land. According to Mayor Petr Kajnar, the city wants to finance transport infrastructure outside the area of Karolina mainly from European funds.
    "It is the developer's responsibility to build infrastructure only within the area of Karolina; the city must fund everything that lies outside. We want to obtain money from European funds that are intended for city development. Even if there were no European sources, transport infrastructure is something that the city must finance, even if it has to borrow money. We cannot afford to block the investor," Kajnar told reporters.
    By 2010, for example, Porážková street will be repaired and extended, along which a trolleybus will run in the area of Nová Karolina. The street will connect the area between Frýdlantské bridges and Českobratrská, and a new train stop Ostrava-Centrum is also planned. The councilors also decided today on an adjustment of the zoning plan, which will be necessitated by the shape of the grade-separated intersection of Porážková and Českobratrská streets. The first phase also includes the renovation of the tram bridge; a new stop should be built on 28. října street.
    By 2012, a tram line will be brought to the area of Nová Karolina, and Sokolská street will be extended until 2014. In the fourth phase, Železárenská street will connect to the area of Karolina.
    According to the mayor, the city will coordinate the timelines of individual transport constructions with the development in Karolina. The first phase is currently being designed by the winner of the developer contest, Multi Development. A boulevard, a square, a retail and entertainment center, and one administrative and residential block will be created in the center of Ostrava. The Dvojhalí building and the power plant will be renovated.
    Karolina is more than seven times larger than Wenceslas Square. The Dutch company Multi Development has so far invested in 18 countries. In the Czech Republic, it has completed the retail and entertainment centers Olympia in Plzeň and Olomouc, as well as the Chodov Center in Prague. The company specializes in the construction of urban, commercial, and administrative centers throughout Europe. It plans to invest around 15 billion crowns into one of the most significant development projects in the country. Construction will take about ten years.