Vaksali Street, intersection in front of Tartu Railway Station to get €1.7m facelift
Tartu City Government declared AS Tref the winner of the public procurement tender for the reconstruction of Vaksali Street (between Näituse and Riia Streets) and the intersection of Vaksali and J. Kuperjanovi Streets at a total cost of 1,731,395 euros. The reconstruction work is slated to be completed by August 2017.
The intersection of Vaksali and J. Kuperjanovi Streets, or the square located in front of Tartu Railway Station, will be reconstructed according to the projects prepared by engineering firm Tinter-Projekt OÜ and landscape architecture firm Kino OÜ. According to Tartu City Architect Tõnis Arjus, this will be an important visual and conceptual change in the area, the City of Tartu reported in a press release.
"The gateway to the City of Tartu will be getting a fresh look," explained Arjus. "Along with a bike and pedestrian lane and rearranged parking areas, a presentable railway square will be built which will, together with the station building, make for a stately whole."
Tartu Railway Station was reopened to travelers on July 25, 2012, after very extensive renovations following years of disuse and being set on fire by arsonists in Aug. 2006.
Along Vaksali Street, a storm sewer system will be constructed, new lighting installed and streets and sidewalks will be repaired. 1.5-meter-wide, or nearly 5-foot-wide, bike lanes will be installed on either side of the street, and a 4-meter-wide, or over 13-foot-wide, bike and pedestrian lane has been designed to run from Näituse Street to the parking lot located at Vaksali 12b. Two parking lots and three bike parking lots have also been planned for this area.
The reconstruction of the square in front of the railway station will be one part of the project "The development and improvement of accessibility of Tartu Railway Station," which is being funded in the extent of nearly 79 percent by the Cohesion Fund, an EU fund aimed at reducing member states' social and economic disparities.
The same project will also be used to fund the building of a bike and pedestrian tunnel under the railway bridge that crosses Riia Street just beyond Vaksali Street as well as the construction of a bike and pedestrian bridge over Riia Street as an extension of Vaksali Street.
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik