The Blanka tunnel in Prague costs CZK 20m a month to operate, according to the city’s deputy mayor Petr Dolínek. It’s been one year since the completion of the vital and most controversial part of the Prague inner loop. Dolínek said he hopes costs will go down once Blanka’s trial period ends. Approximately 30 million vehicles have passed through the CZK 43bn tunnel since it opened last September. Running from Střešovice in Prague 6 to Trója in the northeast part of Prague, it was designed to relieve heavy traffic in the city center. It’s impact on the traffic in the city, however, has been heavily debated. While it has markedly relieved congestion in Prague 7, along Milady Horákové and Veletržní streets, according to the Prague Technical Administration of Roadways (TSK), traffic has worsened in Prague 6 along Jugoslávských partyzánů and Patočkova streets and on V Holešovičkách in Prague 8. The accident rate in the 6 km tunnel, meanwhile, is 72 percent lower than on the streets before it was built, according to TSK.
