From today, passengers can use the reconstructed entrances to the Prague metro station B Náměstí republiky from the side of Masaryk station. The entrances have been repaired as part of the transformation of the station’s surroundings and are covered, the glass is covered against bird strikes and has a so-called green roof. This was announced today by the Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček (STAN), the director general of the transport company Petr Witowski, the Mayor of Prague 1 Terezie Radoměřská (TOP 09) and Marek Dospiva, co-owner of the Penta group. The cost was CZK 30 million and Penta was the investor.
“We would like to use it together with DPP as a kind of standard entrance for suitable opportunities, because I think it is architecturally successful. I would be very happy if there were no advertisements on it and it remained clean,” Hlaváček said.
The entrance consists of a black structure that is glazed. Subway signs and other symbols are stuck on the glass to prevent birds from hitting it. The subway sign is in white letters on a black sign with a yellow stripe symbolizing the B subway line. The roofs of the two entrances are green and maintenance-free, and there are nettles and staghorn bushes growing on them.
“The shelter is also practical. It protects the stairs in bad weather, making the journey safer, and by having escalators, it’s also more technology-friendly. We will be happy if they are built at other metro stations,” Witowski said. The new entrance is also at the A Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station, but the exits are not covered. According to Hlaváček, this is an exception due to the project for the total renovation of Jiřího z Poděbrad Square.
The repair of the entrances at Masaryk Station is part of the repair of Na Florenci Street. The so-called blue-green infrastructure was created underground. “We dug all the foundation to a depth of several metres and drove it in carbon-soaked gravel, which absorbs many times more water that seeps through the pavement and does not drain into the sewer. It soaks into the stone and evaporates in the warm season and irrigates the greenery underneath and moistens the downtown,” Dospiva said.
Penta is building new houses around the station. Last October, it completed work on two buildings. The construction took over two and a half years, starting in March 2021. The total investment amounted to CZK 2.5 billion. The company will invest more money in the planned re-roofing of the dormitory, which Penta officials say could start construction at the end of March this year. At the same time, the railway administration started the reconstruction of the station this year, which will add two tracks.
Source: CTK
