With its rapid construction lately, Plovdiv is literally suffocating. During the peak hours of the day, crossing the city by car can break the nerves of even the most patient driver.
The worst situation is in the area of Central and Freight Station, where car traffic enters into a direct “conflict” with the fact that almost through the city center passes the railway from Europe to Turkey and the Middle East. This paradox requires a very careful approach and clear transport solutions, say engineers under the hills. One of them is the tunnel under Central Station.
The Municipality of Plovdiv has already issued a building permit for the facility, but it has not entered into force
“The document concerns this part of the tunnel, for which a building permit has been issued by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. This is a section in the easement of the railway area and includes the entire above-ground and underground infrastructure and the communications to it “, the chief architect of the municipality Dimitar Ahryanov specified for” Maritsa “. He explained that the route starts from Vasil Aprilov Blvd., passes under the station wheel and exits to Todor Diev Stadium, where it will connect with Makedonia Blvd. and Kukush St.
Next to the stadium, the tunnel will have a connection with the future South Tangent
If I drive on “V. Aprilov ”and we want to get on Hr. Botev ”, there is a smooth ascent – two approaches leading to the roundabout in front of the station. The cars coming from Hr. Botev ”, and will be included through Ruski Blvd. on Lyuben Karavelov St. or on the small Trakia St., specified arch. Ахрянов.
The finished tunnel under the station will be 544 m long
underground facility, and the approaches from the north and from the south are 153 m. The route will have two local lanes to “V. Aprilov ”, which are also 135 m. The facility runs parallel to the existing pedestrian underpass, and there are stops of public transport – one is from the north, with a direct connection to the station square. The other is under the bus station “Rodopi” and has a connection with the shops of BILLA and Mr. Bricolage above ground.
Engineers call it the “Plovdiv metro” or part of the inner-city highway that connects the two north-south directions. The tunnel under the station is set to be the fastest connection from the city center to the Yuzhen district. It will be used by those coming to Plovdiv from all over the Rhodope collar, all the way to the Zdravets hut.
The facility was talked about back in 2016,
when the Railway Infrastructure National Company announced that the project was part of the modernization of the Plovdiv railway junction, financed with money from the Connected Europe Facility in the Transport sector. The construction of the breakthrough under Central Station should be completed in 2023 according to the contract concluded between NRIC and a consortium with the leading company Trace Group Hold.
The total value of this project is a little over BGN 89 million. The money goes to the construction activities in two directions – one is the rehabilitation of the existing railway infrastructure in the area of Central Station, and the second is the construction of the tunnel under the station. Preparatory activities are currently being carried out in the field. The first sod of the site and the actual work will start next week, said the NRIC press center.
Experts say Plovdiv’s big chance is that the National Railway Infrastructure Company will take on the design and implementation of this complex and expensive site.
The Municipality of Plovdiv cannot finance such construction alone,
and the route will solve extremely important transport problems.
Who are they? One is that the area of the Central Railway Station is key for Plovdiv – here are two of the three largest bus stations, which provide more than 70% of traffic in the country. Also the terrain of the Freight Station, which is expected to be built because it is private. From here pass 6 powerful transport arteries: Hr. Botev ”,“ Komatevsko shose ”, N. Tsanov “,” Ruski “Blvd.,” V. Aprilov “Blvd.,” Macedonia “Blvd. The zone is generally the transport area of Plovdiv and provides the flow of passengers outside the city. will largely solve these problems, and will also connect Plovdiv’s public transport with other modes of transport – rail, bus, intercity and air.
The excavation will be done in the Milan way, announced some time ago engineer Ivan Bakalski from NRIC, project manager for the modernization of the Plovdiv-Burgas railway line, part of which is the breakthrough under the station. He specified that in connection with the specifics of the terrain, the contractor chose to work on the so-called open way. What is it – sections of the future facility are dug under the surface of the terrain, a reinforced concrete structure is built, then the surrounding terrain is restored.
The good news for the people of Plovdiv is that the largest section in which there are interventions is in the terrain of NRIC and their railways. While in the other streets and boulevards work will be done on sections – for example, when part of “V. Aprilov ”, Ruski Blvd. will work, as well as parts of the station’s wheel.
Photos by Natasha Maneva
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