On July 12, President Vladimir Zelensky will be in Dnepropetrovsk on a working trip. After inspecting the Southern Bypass, he went to the scandalous local unfinished construction project - the New Bridge, where, together with the mayor of Dnepropetrovsk Boris Filatov, on the eve of the opening of the Central Bridge, they inspected the progress of work, reports a PolyTNavigator correspondent.
This was reported by the press service of the Dnepropetrovsk City Council.
By City Day (September 14), the city authorities plan to completely repair the road surface on the bridge, lay an additional row of expansion joints, and install a network of trolleybus lines.
“We are the only ones in Ukraine who decided to carry out such a large-scale reconstruction using only the city budget. Before the start of major repairs, the Central Bridge was in terrible condition. Worn-out beams and metal structures of the crossing could cause a real disaster. There were many difficulties: a contractor who missed all deadlines; additional work that could not be foreseen before the start of repairs; no one knew the condition of the bridge under the asphalt. However, now we can say with full responsibility that the New Bridge will be opened on City Day, and it will be completely safe and comfortable for all road users,” said Boris Filatov.
President Zelensky, in turn, invited Boris Filatov to make a bet, which the mayor immediately agreed to: if the bridge repairs are not completed by September 14, Boris Filatov will resign.
Local media note that the road was blocked situationally due to Zelensky’s arrival - for a few minutes, so the traffic that day was not too congested. “Dozens of people gathered on the pedestrian part of the New Bridge, they filmed what was happening, applauded and tried to show Vladimir Zelensky some photographs and documents, someone even asked him to sign a complaint. All attempts by pedestrians to run across the bridge to the president were stopped by the police,” writes dp.informator.ua.