Oh my! Exactly one year ago we drew attention to a seemingly small but telling problem - the worn-out road markings in the very center of state power. In a place where thousands of cars pass every day, and from the windows of the institutions you can see literally every movement.
We are talking about the section between the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly building - the so-called “triangle of power“, where after a change in the organization of traffic the new marking had practically disappeared.
The result was absurd.
Drivers continued to drive out of habit, because there was no way they could see the new double continuous line that was supposed to separate the two streams of traffic. Every day cars entered the oncoming lane, followed by collisions, honking, arguments and dangerous situations. Not because the drivers necessarily broke the rules, but because the rules were not visible, and the drivers drove out of habit in the direction of “Dondukov” Blvd., because there were two lanes of traffic there. The changes became one. And who cares about the marking that was erased.
After our first publication, reflective signs appeared. They somewhat guided traffic, but did not solve the main problem - the missing marking.
Now, a YEAR later, we can say that something has been done after all.
The double continuous line has already been painted. The dividing line clearly delineates the two streams of traffic and shows drivers that habitually entering the oncoming lane is unacceptable. A new layer of paint has visibly been applied to the remaining markings in the section.
The good news is that the danger has been significantly reduced.
The bad news is the time it took for this to happen.
Because we are not talking about building a bridge, a tunnel or a new boulevard here. We are not talking about a complex public procurement or engineering facility.
We are talking about two continuous white lines with a total length of about a hundred meters.
And it took the state (municipality) a year to PAINT them.
This is actually the bigger problem.
It's not that the marking is already there. This is normal. The problem is that in Bulgaria we often consider the implementation of things that should happen automatically to be a success.
A erased marking is a signal of danger. Once the organization of traffic has been changed, it must be maintained so that drivers can clearly read the new regime. It is the marking that is the first means of organizing traffic, not the last that anyone thinks of.
The paradox is even greater because this section is not located somewhere in a remote neighborhood or on a third-class road. This is the space between the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly – a place that is guarded, monitored and used by state institutions on a daily basis.
If a double continuous line cannot be restored in a timely manner right in front of the entrances to the government, what remains for the hundreds of kilometers of roads outside Sofia?
Road safety does not begin with national strategies, new programs and dozens of measures presented at press conferences. It begins with the most elementary actions – visible markings, upright signs and clear traffic organization.
That's why the new markings deserve to be noted.
But even more worthy of remembering is the question:
Why did it take a country a whole year to paint two continuous white lines right in the center of state power?
Well, the job is done after all. The markings are already painted.
But if we wait a year for 100 meters of double continuous lines, because some clumsy municipal administrator has to decide to do his job, how long will it take to solve the real problems of road safety?
Have we won? Yes - we won the paint.
However, road safety is still waiting.