The capital has a total of 145 bridges, overpasses, and pedestrian tunnels. Many of Riga's bridges were built during the Soviet era and are naturally deteriorating, which is why experts have pointed out that the Vanšu, Zemitāna and Gaisa bridges could do with a facelift. The Vanšu and Gaisa Bridges and the Gustavs Zemgals Avenue overpass are among the major bridges in Riga that the municipality is committed to renovating by 2030.
"Every bridge is inspected regularly - every five years - and this ensures that, well, the bridges are now... No bridge will collapse tomorrow.
"But there are problems that need to be solved," said Ainārs Paeglītis, Director of the Institute of Transport Structures at Riga Technical University (RTU).
Residents have also long complained about the state of the bridges. And rightly so. This is also confirmed by the visual condition.
"We will start, here, with the Zemitāna overpass, definitely. Next is Vanšu Bridge, then it will be the Gaisa Bridge and then the Vairoga overpass. We are not starting with the Vanšu Bridge, because the Zemitāna Bridge... First of all, it is in a bad condition! Very bad. We receive complaints almost every day," said Olafs Pulks (New Unity), Chairman of the Riga City Council's Traffic and Transport Committee.
Contracts with the builders for the Zemitāna and Vanšu bridges have not yet been signed. Tenders are still open until mid-July.
However, work on these bridges is expected to be completed in about two years.
This year, the City Council also wants to start construction of the fourth phase of the Kundziņsala overpass and the Dienvidu Bridge. The total cost of all the projects amounts to €300 million. Does Riga have the money?
"Each bridge has its own source of funding. For example, for the 4th phase of the Dienvidu Bridge, more than 70 million is European money. The Kundziņsala Bridge has 23 million from a special state grant plus a loan. But for the rest - it is clear that it is a loan that will have to be repaid from the Riga budget," said Vilnis Ķirsis (New Unity), Riga City Council Speaker.
All these bridges are scheduled to be completed by 2030.
"Of course, we have to take into account that there will be traffic restrictions. It's like any big construction. There will be schemes for changes to the traffic organization, which will be presented," says Rudīte Reveliņa, Acting Director of the Department for Outdoors and Mobility.
Māris Jonovs, a city activist and head of the association "Safe Streets", hopes that the municipality will succeed with its plan, but is also concerned.
"The organization of the works - how will traffic be organized during the construction works, because these bridges are busy, they carry a large part of Riga's public transport, which connects large neighborhoods with each other. The experience so far, unfortunately, also during this municipal term, has been quite sad.
"Public transport, cycling, pedestrians remain somewhere in the background, rotting away in terrible traffic jams, because there is no courage to limit car traffic," says Jonovs.
