The enormous concrete passage next to the DBK department store in Prague 4 is to be torn down, in the view of the city of Prague. Located above the Budějovicka metro station, it’s an important pedestrian traffic artery that’s been closed since last month, along with one of the entrances to the metro. As in the case of the Liben bridge, the question after closing it has been whether to repair it or tear down the enormous concrete structure. Construction engineers have apparently advised the city that demolition is the only option. The closure of the second entrance to the Budějovicka station is already causing havoc with commuters used to using it.
The city has known since roughly 2010 that the passage was in extremely bad shape, but this should come as no surprise, according to idnes.cz. The server reports that that no maintenance work has been carried out on it since it was built in 1977. The reason is simple, if horrifying: no one officially owned it until a couple years ago when the city finally took control of it. Since then, writes the idnes.cz, the city and the DBK department store have been holding unsuccessful negotiations on how to proceed with repairs. In 2015, the city council agreed to begin repairs but claims it was unable to get permission for the work to go ahead from the owners of the DBK department store. DBK’s management rejects this narrative and claims it only wanted the work to be carried out in stages.
Prague has been coming to grips with the crumbling state of its infrastructure ever since a footbridge across the Vltava collapsed last December. The Liben bridge was closed hastily in January and it’s still unclear whether it will be repaired at great expense, or replaced.
