Prague - A Prague municipal court decided that there would be no more addiotional roads and expressways built and widened around the planned skyscrapers in Prague district of Pankrác.
The court upheld the concerns of civic association Arnika that have been protesting against new road communication because the district is already now hit with too much exhalation and sound pollution from the nearby highway D1. The pollution even exceeds the hygienic limits.
The court decision is a second blow in a row that struck the skyscraper project. In August, UNESCO objected to the new skyscrapers stating that they would destroy the panorama of the Prague historic center.
Local Development Ministry that confirmed the court's decision will have to reopen the case of the skyscraper project again.
No environment reports
Attorney Ondřej Tošner who filed the lawsuit in the name of the protesting civic associations acknowledged that the court did not look only at the administrative mistakes but also at the real matter.
"The court ruled that the impact of the transport on the environment should have been taken into account or that administration should not allow a new road construction in a heavily sound polluted area without offsetting it," Tošner said.
Marie Janoušková from the civic association Občanská iniciativa Pankráce (Civis Association of Pankrác) said that the administration did give a chance to people to express their concerns but did not consider them in the decision process.
"We expect the discussion about the transportation to start all over again now and we will have a chance to help improve its concept wherever possible," says Janoušková.
What about the other decisions?
There are some road projects that have already been completed before the court decision, like onramps in streets Milevská a Hvězdova. New onramps for the Prague expressway are also half-finished.
Civic associations are already working on another lawsuit against the expansion of the expressway. The court is expected to issue a decision soon.
"The city should decrease the traffic on the expressway instead of increasing it," says Alžběta Rejchrtová from the Association of people struck by the North-South expressway.
