The building authority of Prague 5 rejected the application for the placement of the lock chamber

Prague - The building authority of Prague 5 rejected the application for the issuance of a decision on the location of a new navigation chamber at Dětský ostrov. The reason is that the chamber does not comply with the zoning plan. This is stated in the decision of the authority, which is available to ČTK. The new chamber is sought to be built by the state enterprise Povodí Vltavy due to the insufficient capacity of the current one and the high number of vessels on the river. The construction would take two to three years and cost about half a billion crowns. According to the spokesperson of the river basin Hugo Roldán, the state enterprise is convinced that it is possible to locate the chamber without contradicting the zoning plan.

The construction is to be situated on eight plots in the cadastre of Smíchov and Malá Strana. "Only on three of them is it explicitly possible to place a navigation chamber according to the zoning plan," the document states.

Another problem is that part of the construction is to be on Dětský ostrov, which is designated in the zoning plan as an area for parks, gardens, or cemeteries. Moreover, the chamber would limit the functional use of the island and disrupt its visual connection with Střelecký and Slovanský ostrov. "The construction of the second chamber would cut off Dětský ostrov from the river space," the material states. Recreation would be limited not only on the island but also on the river, where Prague residents go out in boats and pedal boats.

Povodí Vltavy will continue to try to push the project, for example at the beginning of June during a meeting in the municipal district of Prague 5. "The benefit of the new navigation chamber is undoubtedly the reduction of waiting times for passage, acceleration of the passage itself, and the separation of recreational traffic, which would also lead to a reduction of emissions from the vessels passing through," Roldán stated. According to him, the traffic could be redirected only to the new navigation chamber in the evening hours, easing the burden on the residents of Janáčkovo náměstí.

Prague 5 fundamentally disagrees with the construction of the navigation chamber. "By no means does Prague 5 want a second navigation chamber and will take all steps to prevent any potential construction. The second navigation chamber will not help any citizen; it will only benefit the companies that transport tourists on steamers along the Vltava," spokesperson Jakub Večerka told ČTK last week. The current chamber sees about 28,000 vessels passing through per year, or around 80 daily.

"Complaints about noise are reportedly related to music from vessels, not from the operation of the navigation chamber. Measures leading to the elimination of these and similar phenomena are already solvable and fully within the city's competencies," added the spokesperson for the state enterprise.