The Ústí nad Labem council approved the construction of a footbridge across the Elbe River

Ústí nad Labem - The Střekov waterfront and the area of Zanádraží in Ústí nad Labem should in the future be connected by a bridge over the Elbe for cyclists and pedestrians. The city's council approved the plan for the bridge today. It allocated 4.8 million crowns from the budget for the project documentation. Construction should begin within three years. An architectural-technical competition will be announced for the bridge, Mayor Petr Nedvědický (ANO) told reporters today. The city aims to attract cycling tourists to the center.

The city anticipates that the competition will last about a year. "It is not standard documentation, because there should be an architectural competition for the bridge," said the mayor. The competition has more complex rules; it is necessary to ask the Czech Chamber of Architects for a guarantor and a competition group composed of experts.

"We want an architectural-technical competition. So, the proposed solution should not just include a beautiful picture of how it should look, but also calculations and possibilities of the bridge, including construction solutions," Nedvědický added.

If the competition yields results, according to the mayor, the documentation will be finalized one year after its announcement. This will take about another year. "By the third year from now, construction should start," Nedvědický stated. Deputy Mayor Pavel Tošovský (ODS) added that the city will look for suitable grant titles for the construction.

Ústí nad Labem is often visited by cycling tourists from Germany, but they usually do not ride to the center, which is difficult to access by bike. They specifically use the bike path on the Střekov waterfront. "We need to get cyclists into the center as well and start focusing on the development of cycling tourism," said Deputy Mayor Věra Nechybová (UFO).