Vesic: Sava Bridge is not a cultural and historical monument and it will not be destroyed

Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic has said that the Old Sava Bridge will not be destroyed, but it will find its place because it is „a part of our history“, pointing out that the construction of a new bridge would relieve traffic in Belgrade.

“The bridge is not a symbol of anti-fascist struggle, we have other symbols of this fight. It will not be destroyed, it will be preserved, but Belgrade deserves a bigger bridge for traffic,“ Vesic told the Serbian Parliament, responding to an MP of the parliamentary group Green-Left Club, Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own, We Must, Jelena Jerinic.

Vesic said that the Old Sava Bridge „is one of the confectionary bridges that were produced in Germany during the Second World War and it is not a cultural and historical monument“, and that citizens should be allowed to move quickly through the city.

Referring to the analysis of the CIP Traffic Institute in public transport, Vesic stated that“10,674 passengers pass at the peak time along Branko’s Bridge, 7,499 along Gazela, in Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 9,558, in Bulevar Nilole Tesle 3,515, and on Sava Bridge 3,171″.

Vesic said that CIP was doing a projection of what traffic would look like without a new bridge on the site of Old Sava Bridge and with a new bridge by 2048.

„Without a new bridge by 2048, we will have 6,860 passengers on Branko’s Bridge in peak time in public transport and 7,866 in private transport, 18,923 passengers on Sava Bridge in public transport and 3,890 in private transport,“ he said.

According to him, with the new Sava Bridge, there will be 6,336 passengers on Branko’s Bridge in public transport, 7,468 in private transport, 19,790 on Sava Bridge in public transport, but the bridge will allow three times more traffic.

„The construction of the new bridge reduces the number of passengers on Branko’s Bridge by eight percent, on Gazela by five percent, on the bridge on Ada by four. This means that the bridges will be unburdened,” Vesic claimed.

MP Jerinic stressed that no one from the opposition disputed that a new Sava Bridge should be built, but she stated that it was clear to everyone that the old bridge was being removed because it was standing in the way of Belgrade Waterfront.

She said the government wanted to bring down one of the most important symbols of the anti-fascist fight in Serbia.

Izvor: RTS, FoNet

Foto: Beta