If the trial proves successful, the proposed traffic organization scheme will remain in effect on a permanent basis.
The Department of Transport Infrastructure told Vesti that Sahaidachnoho Street will become one-way. Cars will be able to travel along it exclusively in the direction of Poshtova Square. To get from the center to Kontraktova Square, drivers will have to use Borychiv Tik and Ilyinska streets, then turn onto Bratska. Opposite the Fairmont hotel, water-filled dividing barriers will appear, which will allow widening the roadway for traffic heading from Volodymyrskyi Descent to Havanskyi Bridge.
On the streets adjacent to Sahaidachnoho and Kontraktova Square, some road signs will be updated — this should make movement more comfortable and faster for both drivers and pedestrians. During the trial period, a number of existing signs will be covered with covers, and new ones will be installed nearby. Some traffic lights will be reconfigured by changing the signal cycle, and additional traffic lights are expected to be installed soon — six for vehicles and eight for pedestrians.
"During the morning, daytime, and evening peak hours, we will monitor traffic and count the number of cars to correctly set time intervals on traffic lights and identify which road sections turned out to be more or less congested," explained specialists from the department.
The city administration is optimistic and believes the experiment will yield a positive result. If it turns out that the new routes are convenient for motorists and traffic flows do not experience delays, the traffic scheme will be approved on a permanent basis by the end of the year. In addition, Sahaidachnoho, Andriivska streets and Kontraktova Square are planned to be completely freed from cars and made pedestrian-only by the start of the Eurovision contest in Kyiv.
Urbanist Hryhorii Melnychuk predicts that the introduction of the new scheme will not lead to traffic jams. "The main flow of cars today goes along the embankment. On Sahaidachnoho, of the four lanes, two are occupied by parked cars, so there is no intense traffic there. Part of the transport will be redistributed to Pokrovska Street, which is now almost empty. True, the residence of the American ambassador is located there — I hope he will not object. When empty streets fill with cars, reckless drivers will stop speeding on them, and traffic will become safer."
