The largest pedestrian zone in Europe appeared in Moscow. It stretches for 6.5 km from the Gagarin Square in the south-west of the capital to Europe Square located near the Kievsky Railway Station.
"About half of this route was completely freed from the traffic, and on the other half the roadway was narrowed and sidewalks widened," Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov told reporters. He joined the opening ceremony of the new route, which passes through the Leninsky Avenue, Neskuchny Garden and Titovsky Passage. Further by Andrew's Bridge it crosses the Moskva River, goes out to the park along 1st Frunzenskaya Street, then runs through the Komsomolsky Avenue, Holzunov Lane, Plyushchikha Street and 7th Rostovsky Lane, Bogdan Khmelnitsky Bridge and ends at the Europe Square. Deputy Mayor noted that the opening of the pedestrian zone was preceded by extensive landscaping works on all streets included in it. "Overall, for the reconstruction and landscaping 170 million rubles was spent, that, you will agree with me, is a lot," Mr. Biryukov said, explaining that this amount also includes works on facade reparations, paving and installation of more than a hundred of new street lamps.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina