«We’re getting flat tyres», — residents of Mykolaiv have complained about sand and rubbish on cycle paths that haven’t been cleared away after the winter

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 20 April. Photo: NikVesti

In Mykolaiv, sand and rubbish have been left on the cycle paths along the kerbs after the winter. Cyclists complain that this is causing punctures.

This is reported by NikVesti.

Local resident Olha Holubenko reported on Facebook that not only are there remnants of gritting materials left on the cycle paths, but also small bits of rubbish and foreign objects that make it difficult to ride.

«Cycle path or roadside? Winter grit, rubbish and hidden sharp objects. I don’t like cycling on this, because I’ve already had to patch holes in my tyres after the roads were gritted. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t ride over these piles, but according to the Highway Code, I’m not allowed to ride on the clean part now. On 1 April, my request to clear away the winter grit and rubbish was rejected. I submitted it a second time. Now there’s even more rubbish, so the photo might be more effective. Or I’ll try again in the summer,» wrote Olha Holubenko.

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 16 April. Photo: Olha Holubenko

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 16 April. Photo: Olha Holubenko

First Deputy Mayor Vitalii Lukov told NikVesti that after winter, the city is gradually moving towards systematic road cleaning, but the process is taking place in stages.

«We currently have 17 streets that are being cleaned mechanically on a regular basis. But in other areas, manual cleaning needs to be carried out first, because after winter the dirt is tightly compacted and the machinery cannot work effectively,» explained Vitalii Lukov.

In March, in a comment to NikVesti, Vitalii Shevchenko, director of the municipal enterprise ELU Avtodorig, said that they planned to resume mechanised street cleaning in Mykolaiv at the end of the month, when the weather became drier. According to him, the machinery could not operate at that time due to the wet roads. Consequently, cleaning had effectively not taken place for three months. As of early April, mechanised street cleaning had resumed, though not yet across the whole city.

He added that a shortage of staff is also slowing down the pace of work, but the process is proceeding according to plan and new streets are being added to the list of areas cleaned mechanically every week.

«There simply aren’t enough people, so it’s taking a bit longer, but the work is proceeding systematically. This is under the mayor’s supervision. Each week, a number of streets will be added to the list of those to be cleaned mechanically by these new machines,» said Vitalii Lukov.

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 20 April. Photo: NikVesti

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 20 April. Photo: NikVesti

This is what the roadside looks like on General Oleksa Almazov Street (General Karpenko Street) on 20 April. Photo: NikVesti

Commenting on cyclists’ complaints about punctured tyres, Vitalii Lukov noted that the cause may not be the sand itself, but sharp objects that may remain in it.

«As a cycling enthusiast myself, I would say that the sand is unlikely to be the cause of punctures. But it is clear that there may be some other sharp object in the sand, and it could indeed come loose and get caught under the wheel,» he added.

Separately, the official commented on the situation regarding road markings, which have faded on many streets following the winter. According to him, the mayor has instructed the municipal services to speed up the process of repainting them.

«The mayor also took a fairly firm stance on road markings at the last staff meeting. He instructed the municipal company responsible for applying them: if it cannot manage to apply them quickly, then administrative decisions will be taken. There are objective reasons related to the fact that funds are limited. But the mayor said: Make the most of these funds, apply as much road marking as possible, because it is urgently needed right now, and we will look for additional funding later,» said Vitalii Lukov.

It should be noted that in the first two months of 2026, the municipal enterprise ELU Avtodorig spent 260,000 hryvnias on renting street-cleaning equipment, although no mechanised cleaning was carried out in the city due to «wet» roads.

As is known, from 1 January 2026, the mechanised cleaning of Mykolaiv’s streets was transferred to the municipal enterprise ELU Avtodorig. At the time, Ihor Nabatov, Deputy Director of the Mykolaiv Department of Housing and Communal Services, explained that the changes were due to the fact that the municipal enterprise ELU Avtodorig had ‘proved itself’ in the mechanised cleaning of streets and roads.