In the village of Chotíkov, a footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists has been opened over the main road Plzeň-K. Vary

Chotíkov - The new Saint James footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists across the main road from Plzeň to Karlovy Vary, costing 33 million CZK, was opened today in Chotíkov near Plzeň. At the intersection of arches in the middle of the bridge stands a 2.2-meter-high statue of St. James, the patron saint of pilgrims, which has sparked discussions on social media in recent days because it distracts drivers on the road. The bridge allows people to safely cross the busy I/20 route and is part of the Saint James Way to Santiago de Compostela in the Spanish Galicia. This was stated by the mayor Eva Hirschfeldová (Citizens FOR Chotíkov). The municipality has 1,300 residents and their number has increased by 150 over the past five years.

The bridge replaced a closed emergency bridge that was demolished by the state in December 2021. Several months prior, the municipality commissioned designs for three variants of a new bridge - for cars, for trucks, and a third one for pedestrians, which was chosen by citizens and councilors a year later. The other two variants were more expensive and would not meet the funding requirements, as the bridge leads to the outskirts of the former farm, where no development of the municipality is planned.

"It has arches made of ultra-high-performance concrete, a special composite. It lasts for 200 years. I don't know of such an overhead structure of arches existing anywhere," said one of the authors of the bridge, architect Petr Tej. The height of the bridge is eight meters, and the surface is anti-slip. Chotíkov received a 100% grant from the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure for it. "We covered the project costs and primarily the statue. Its design cost 150,000 crowns, while the construction using the same concrete as the bridge cost 680,000 crowns," said Hirschfeldová. According to her, the municipality fully respected the authorship of the architects and sculptor Jan Hendrych, a former professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, and had no objections.

People can access the tourist-favored Krkavec hill from Chotíkov via the bridge, as well as to Ledec and Příšova, and in the opposite direction through the municipality to Kyjovský forest, towards Radčice, Malesice, Dolní Vlkýš, and Kůští, where cycling paths and routes continue.

Opinions have appeared on social media stating that the statue in the middle of the bridge distracts drivers. "We didn't expect such a stir. The authorities or police have not contacted us yet. We have all the necessary building permits, everything is approved," she stated. According to the mayor, the bridge will also be equipped with lighting in the railing, with two lamps illuminating Saint James.

The Directorate of Roads and Highways (ŘSD) allowed the statue with two conditions. "The artwork must be permanently illuminated. The second condition was that the statue would be placed there for a trial period of two months. And if it is proven to distract drivers, making it unsafe for them to pass, it would be removed," said Miroslav Blabol, head of the Plzeň region of ŘSD, which manages the first-class road beneath the bridge.