Prague City Hall urges tunnels for outer ring road section

Prague City Hall wants the outer ring road between Březiněves and Satalice to run below the surface in tunnels as much as possible. The City Council will send its opinion to the Directorate of Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD), which will have the final say since the circuit road is a state investment. Parts of the circuit extend beyond Prague’s city limits.

The recommended option for the northeastern segment of the Prague Ring Road (Pražský okruh) calls for three tunnels at an average of eight meters below the surface.

In 2018, the ŘSD prepared technical studies for the section between Březiněves and Satalice, known as construction 520. On the basis of discussions with local governments in the area, in addition to the original proposal of from 2009, two other options for the route were developed.

The basic version called for traffic on the surface, while the new options were for a recessed road or the now-preferred option calling for recesses and three tunnels.

These tunnels run in Vinoř (Radonice), with a length of 1.3 kilometers, Veleň (Miškovice) with a length of 450 meters, and Třeboradice with a length of 2 kilometers.

Prague City Hall exclusively supported the tunnel option. “I am glad that the Prague City Council supports the tunnel option, which will be the most environmentally friendly solution for this area and its inhabitants, and will thus help to speed up the completion of the Prague Ring Road,” Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) said.

However, if economic, technical or geological circumstances do not allow this variant, then the city management would prefer the recessed option. “From our point of view, the preferred tunnel variant received a positive evaluation from the Road and Motorway Directorate from an economic point of view, at the same time it has a minimal negative impact on the citizens living in its vicinity. We will continue to work with the Road and Motorway Directorate to ensure that the construction of the ring road can take place as quickly as possible, while damaging the affected areas as little as possible,” Prague Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Praha sobě), responsible for transport, said.

Prague Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček (United Force for Prague), responsible for territorial development, said that according to the ŘSD all three variants have a positive economic evaluation. “From the city’s point of view, the more preferred option is tunneling and the alternative is recessed. I appreciate the good cooperation with the Road and Motorway Directorate and I believe that we have set out on the right path to find a compromise that will help protect the surrounding area and move the implementation of major infrastructure,” he said.

Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) director Ondřej Boháč said it was a positive development that the various options are being examined as it furthers the debate on the circuit.

The outer ring road should be 83 kilometers long when completed. About half of it is finished so far, but in two isolated sections. To the west and south of Prague there is a route between Ruzyně and Modletice, in the east it spans from Běchovice to Satalice.

A section from Modletice to Běchovice and the northern part of the Prague ring road from Ruzyně via Suchdol and Březiněves to Satalice are still missing. The ŘSD is currently counting on the commissioning of all sections in the north of Prague between 2028 and ’29. The southeastern part of the ring road could be completed in 2025.

The Prague Ring Road, also called the outer ring road, is now designated as roadway D0. The first sections of the D0 motorway opened in 1984, and at that time the road was designated as R1.

There is also an inner ring road, called Městský okruh, or Municipal Ring, which includes the Blanka tunnel complex. The first part of the inner ring road to be competed was the Barrandov Bridge (Barrandovský most), which opened in two phases in 1983 and 1988.