Prague - Two strategic transport projects on the outskirts of Prague, a new runway at Prague Airport and the northwestern section of the city's motorway ring road, have incurred further delay. The Supreme Administrative Court has backed complaints by the projects' opponents that zoning changes made by the City Hall were illegal.
"It means that the southern version of the northwestern part of the ring cannot be approved and that [the construction of] a new runway at Ruzyně is not part of the zoning map," said Milan Hejl, mayor of Suchdol, Prague's neighbourhood that feels threatened by both projects. The locals fear higher noise and air pollution levels.
Same old flaws
Two years ago, the Supreme Administrative Court annulled an earlier zoning change designed to allow the construction of a new runway.
"The flaws discovered [two years ago] have not been repaired in the new zoning change," says judge Daniela Zemanová. She adds that the city planners have again failed to assess the environmental impact of the planned projects, which is required by law.
For Prague Airport, which hopes to significantly boost its capacity by building a new runway, this is the second major blow this year.
In March, the Environment Ministry rejected the airport's assessment of the new runway's impact on its surroundings. The ministry, run by Martin Bursík (Green Party), said important data was missing in the report, including how much the project would increase the noise levels for Prague's northwestern neighbourhoods and for nearby villages of Central Bohemia.
Prague Airport originally planned to start building the new runway in 2010 and open it for air traffic two or three years later. The latest court verdict may delay the work by several years.
City opts for dirtier and costlier
The Environment Ministry has also criticised the City Hall's decision, announced in early September, to build the northwestern section of the motorway ring road via Suchdol and several nature reserves.
The ministry said that this southern version of the ring may be violating Czech laws as well as an EU directive requiring that large projects are preceded by an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study.
"I regret to say that the City Hall's decision ignored the documents and the views expressed in the EIA without any explanation, although this is required by law," said Bursík.
Bursík's ministry favours a northern route for the road, which does not run through Suchdol, but passes by the Nuclear Research Institute in Řež. This version is more environmentally friendly and several billion crowns cheaper than the southern version, according a study by consultancy MottMcDonald.
David Rath (Social Democrat), who is likely to become the next regional governor of Central Bohemia, is also pushing the northern route.
"I will initiate zoning procedures for the ring to run along the northern route between Ruzyně and Březiněves," said Rath in an interview for Czech Radio. He added the northern route is a bit longer, but avoids residential areas and its construction would be significantly cheaper and faster.
"The road could be opened at the end of my governor's term," said Rath, for whom the northern version of the Prague ring road is one the main priorities.
