City Hall has announced plans to organize three new pedestrian zones and install a large-scale network of public toilets across the city center.
Pyotr Biryukov, deputy mayor for housing and public amenities, told journalists Wednesday that authorities had settled on three routes for the pedestrian zones and that they would stretch 14 kilometers in total, Kommersant reported.
Biryukov said that all three zones would be paved and equipped with benches and that the first, stretching from the statue of Moscow’s founder, Yury Dolgoruky, on Tverskaya Ulitsa to Lubyanskaya Ploshchad, would be ready by the end of the year.
Another pedestrian route, from the Tretyakov Gallery to Bolotnaya Ploshchad, should open in early 2013, the City Hall official said. He did not say when the longest route, from Gagarin Square on Leninsky Prospekt to Kievsky Station, would be finalized.
Biryukov’s comments come after Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in June that city authorities were aiming to develop more than 100 such pedestrian areas as a means of beautifying the city for residents and attracting tourists.
Meanwhile, city officials are to install more than a thousand public toilets near metro stations and other busy urban areas, Biryukov told Gazeta.ru.
Biryukov said that all the public toilets would be pay toilets and that Moscow authorities hoped to attract private investors to finance the scheme.
Related articles:
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
