The Transport Commission in the Metropolitan Municipal Council is holding an extraordinary meeting because of the changes in the organization of traffic in the center of Sofia. The meeting was attended by both citizens who are dissatisfied with the changes and those who approve of them, BNT reported.
Cyclists came to the municipality to support the changes and the appearance of a bike lane in this part of the city.
Criticism was heard from the opposition that the changes were made quietly during the holidays and were illegal. “Blue Sofia” submitted a decision to restore the old organization of the movement. And the Deputy Chairman of the Transport Commission, Andrey Zografski, explained that only projects that have been planned for over 10 years and comply with the law are being implemented.
Meanwhile, yesterday it became clear that the Administrative Court in Sofia opened a case to determine whether the changes in the traffic organization are legal. The case was initiated at the request of the European Transport Policy Centre. According to them, there are a number of violations of regulations and laws in the project. If the case is won, everything will have to be returned to its old form.
„Two weeks ago, at the Transport Committee, we requested a rather serious set of documents from the Deputy Mayor for Transport. As a commitment, he promised to provide them. In a commission, he clearly stated that apart from repaving “Patriarch Euthymius”, absolutely nothing else is being done. Without any communication strategy, during the holidays, they did what they had decided, and not only lied to the commission and the members of the commission, they also lied to the citizens,” said Ivan Takov, chairman of the Committee on Transport in SOS.
„What is happening today is a refutation of all speculations that something illegal is being done and something that is against the will of the citizens. In the last 24 hours alone, about 250 opinions have arrived at the Transport Commission. We've reviewed every single one of them. 223 are for this project, 20 are against”, stated Andrey Zografski.
„This is a systemic policy of „Save Sofia” and to their coalition partners – to mistreat the people who live and move in the center because they have some fixation on turning the center into an area for scooters and prides," said Ivan Sotirov, municipal councilor from "Sinya Sofia".