Údolní will be closed for over a year from today for reconstruction work. On Friday, representatives of the City of Brno and the consortium of companies that will carry out the work ceremonially launched the construction by knocking on the foundation stone. They also presented their plans for the part of the street next to Obilni Trh, which will become a shared zone between pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.
“Inhabitants of Údolní and adjacent streets will experience less convenience for several months from now. It will also be more complicated for those who regularly pass through the street or who travel here to various companies and institutions,” said the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková. “In the end, however, we will be rewarded with a completely reconstructed street, which, in addition to the modern level of technical elements used, also focuses on user friendliness.” She mentioned the improvement of measures for cyclists, the new public greenery in the area, and the proposed shared zone adjacent to Obilni Trh, which she described as “the icing on the cake” of the plans.
The shared zone is a new addition to the plans, covering the area around the intersections at the Obilní Trh stop. “Originally, it was planned to create a so-called semi-Vienna stop at Obilní trh in the direction from the centre, but in the end this was not possible due to the complex road design, and it had to be solved using a lot of railings and separate lanes, not entirely user-friendly overall,” added René Černý, 1st Deputy Mayor of the City of Brno. “We agreed that after the building permit was issued, we would look for another way – and it offered itself in the form of a newly legally permitted shared zone, with which we already have experience from the area in front of the station. It appears to be very suitable for this location as well, and what’s more – the changes to the construction solution compared to the approved documentation will be absolutely minimal. The discussion of this proposal has yet to be completed, but all parties are in favour of it.”
The shared zone is a new traffic regime that has been available to municipalities and cities since 1 January 2024. Within the shared zone, all road users have equal right of way and cars are not superior to pedestrians. Only the tram has priority. The maximum permitted speed is 20 km/h, and pedestrians and cyclists can use the entire width of the road. Parking of bicycles and vehicles is permitted only in designated areas. Delivery to local businesses is possible for 30 minutes in the morning.
“When preparing the project, we tried to make maximum use of the street space for all traffic participants: cars, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists,” said Petr Kratochvil, Brno city councillor for transport. “In the direction from the centre, there will be a cycle lane, in the opposite direction there will be cycle pictograms.”
Recently, questions have been raised about possible changes to the pedestrian crossing system at the intersection of Údolní and Úvoz. One crossing was removed from Udolni a few years ago, replaced by a crossing further up the street. It has been confirmed that this arrangement will remain after the reconstruction; several public transport lines pass through and turn into that section of road, and the passage and flow of traffic were the priority when deciding on the layout of the street.
The crossing there had historically made it difficult for trolleybus lines to turn from Uvoz towards the centre, which is why the Czech Police and the Brno Transport Company made their earlier recommendation for the crossing to be moved further from the intersection. For the crossing to meet the standard requirements, it would need extensive structural modifications (e.g. completion of the islands between the tracks, moving the crossing further away from the intersection). The return of the crossing would in any case worsen the traffic situation for public transport, and therefore all authorities concerned agreed that the existing crossing point further from the intersection would remain.
You can find more information about the reconstruction of Udolni here.
