Buses scrape the road: Sienkevych orders review of Novozavodska Street planned for concrete paving
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- Julia LukyanenkoReporter
The mayor has instructed officials to look into the situation on Novozavodska Street, which was due to be resurfaced with concrete. Photo: NikVesti«Mykolaivpastrans» buses get stuck on Novozavodska Street in Mykolaiv as they leave the depot; even before the war, there were plans to resurface this street with concrete. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych has instructed the municipal services to ensure the road is passable for vehicles and to report back on the matter.
This was discussed today, 4 August, at a staff meeting at Mykolaiv City Hall, according to NikVesti.
The mayor recalled that the road on Novozavodska Street was due to be repaired even before the war due to its poor condition. There is currently no funding for this, but the problem with buses leaving the depot remains.
«I was recently at the «Mykolaivpastrans» company, looking at changes to their operations… That road, that dreadful Novozavodska Street, which we had planned to resurface with concrete before the war, by 2022. Of course, we have no money at the moment, and I don’t see any realistic prospects in the near future as to where we might get this money from. But the fact remains that the long buses leaving the depot are already scraping their front bumpers on that road,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
He has appealed to the Department of Housing and Communal Services, the Inhulskyi District Administration and the «ELU Avtodorig» Road Maintenance Organisation to look into what can be done as a temporary but long-term solution regarding road repairs and bus access. Officials are due to report on this in two weeks’ time at a staff meeting.
Repairs on Novozavodska Street
As a reminder, in 2017 law enforcement officials stated that the condition of Novozavodska and Turbinna Streets – which are designated for heavy goods vehicles – was unsatisfactory and, in some places, dangerous.
In July 2019, Oleksandr Sienkevych approached representatives of the city’s port industry with a proposal to allocate funds for the repair of Novozavodska and Turbinna Streets, which had been damaged by heavy goods vehicles delivering goods to the ports.
In February 2020, the patrol police initiated the closure of Novozavodska and Turbinna Streets to traffic due to the poor condition of the road surface.
On 16 February, residents of Mykolaiv blocked the road at the junction of Kosmonavtiv and Zaliznychna Streets in the Inhulskyi district to all lorries heading for the port. Residents were outraged that lorries pass through this route every day, causing noise, kicking up dust and damaging the road.
On 17 February, Yurii Stepanets, deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, stated that the executive committee’s decision to introduce a series of restrictions on heavy goods vehicles entering the city was not being enforced by anyone.
In May 2020, Mykolaiv planned to spend 19 million hryvnias on resurfacing a section of Novozavodska Street with concrete. According to the mayor, the repairs were planned for the section from Kherson Highway to the railway station.
Subsequently, a tender was announced with an estimated cost of 32 million hryvnias for the repair of Novozavodska Street. The contractor was due to complete the road repairs by 1 April 2021. However, the bidders’ proposals were rejected as they had failed to provide the necessary documentation.
In July 2020, the Department of Housing and Communal Services announced a repeat tender.
