The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 45 million(1) for a new bridge over the Danube in the Slovak capital Bratislava. The agreement was signed today with METRO Bratislava a.s., a special-purpose company owned by the City of Bratislava and the Slovak Republic. Disbursement of the funds will be subject to the successful completion of an ongoing Environmental Impact Assessment, including identification of mitigation measures and adequate public consultation, as well as public tendering in line with standard international procedures.
The project comprises the new Koaická four-lane road bridge over the Danube and its links to the motorway network on the south bank, as well the upgrading of roads on the north bank, site decontamination and all necessary environmental mitigation measures. Koaická Bridge forms part of a long-standing strategic development plan for Bratislava, approved by the City Council.
Two motorway and two road bridges over the Danube river currently connect the city centre of Bratislava (north side) with Petrzalka (south side), a large housing area with a population of 130 000 people or 30% of Bratislava's resident population. As the Petrzalka area provides only about 10% of the city's employment opportunities, heavy commuter traffic crosses the river for employment in the city centre. The four existing bridges cannot adequately cope with the traffic flow. The Koaická Bridge is expected to meet 18% of traffic crossing the river, and ease congestion on the easterly Pristavny Bridge by separating local from long-distance transit traffic. The nearby "Stary Most" ("Old Bridge"), where traffic flows have been reduced for safety reasons, is planned to be closed to traffic in the near future or may continue as a pedestrian crossing. The eventual closing of "Stary Most" will further shift traffic to the three remaining bridges and hence the construction of Koaická Bridge is of crucial importance.
Commenting on the loan, EIB Vice President Wolfgang Roth said: "METRO, our Slovak partner, is fully aware that completing all outstanding actions that would have been carried out as part of a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under the EU Directive 97/11, is a necessary condition before any EIB funds can be disbursed. This includes adequate public consultation, particularly with respect to the impacts in the northern area and on the south bank of the river, and on the appropriate mitigation measures regarding noise, pollution and severance in the northern route corridors. Other key issues are the need for an environmental impact study of the area affected by the project on the south bank and the need for a contaminated land investigation on the north bank. To meet EIB requirements, METRO has engaged the services of international consultants with environmental expertise."
The EIB is the European Union's long-term financing arm. Its loan for Kosicka Bridge brings total EIB lending for projects in Slovakia to EUR 1 256 million. Most funds went to road, railways-, and telecommunications schemes. In addition, the air-traffic control system, power plants, gas transmission and storage facilities, as well as a waste incineration plant and the largest industrial plant in the Bratislava region were financed. The EIB has also granted credit lines (global loans) to several banks in Slovakia, which use the funds to finance projects undertaken by small enterprises and municipalities.
(1) 1 EUR: 43.4090 SKK, 1.95583 DEM, 0.628500 GBP.