Juris, a viewer of Latvian Television's "Studio 4" program, said that with the opening of the highway, "something crazy has started: trucks, heavily loaded two-part giant wagons and even log carriers run along Pärnavas Street in a continuous stream, day and night. Nothing like this before had not been experienced."
Rudīte Reveliņa, the acting director of the Riga City Council's Outdoor Space and Mobility Department, admitted that though vehicle counting equipment has not been installed, the traffic flow on Pērnavas Street has increased. Also, more trucks are plying theirtrade on Gustava Zemgala Street, following the decision to ban them from the city center.
However, it is expected that freight traffic on Pērnavas Street will be closed soon, possibly already during this construction season, raising the question of where the trucks will go instead.
"A street resurfacing program has been approved, within the framework of which resurfacing will be carried out on Gustava Zemgale Street from Ūnijas Street to Brīvības Street. Only when this surface has been restored on Gustava Zemgale Street, will we work on banning freight traffic on Pērnavas Street," Reveliņa said.
"Pērnavas Street will probably be closed for freight transport in the fall," Reveliņa added.
As previously reported by LSM, trucks have been forbidden from using two of the four bridges across the River Daugava, forcing them onto the remaining two bridges and linked roads. Inevitably, while this has reduced heavy goods vehicle traffic in the city center it has correspondingly increased it elsewhere.
