Sofia City Hall Expands Downtown Pedestrian Area

Sofia's Chief Architect, Petar Dikov, says culture must expand all over the city, not only in its downtown. Photo by BGNES

All streets, crossing Sofia's main Vitosha boulevard will be closed for traffic in order to enlarge the city's downtown pedestrian zone.

The news was reported by the capital's Chief Architect, Petar Dikov, cited by the Bulgarian daily Trud (Labor.) Dikov spoke during a conference dedicated to Sofia's application to become European Culture Capital in 2019.

The plan involves the cross-streets between the Patriarch Evtimiy boulevard and Alabin street.

Dikov explains that vehicles using the Vitosha cross-streets are crossing the boulevard, bothering pedestrians, adding two of these streets – Neofit Rilski and Khan Asparuh have been closed in the last 5 months over the subway construction without seriously impeding traffic.

The Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, announced that tramway traffic would not be reinstated on Vitosha boulevard upon conclusion of construction works while making the downtown Shishman street a pedestrian area will be decided on after the finish of the subway and the beltway, which will alleviate downtown traffic.

Dikov agreed currently Shishman cannot be closed completely with the exception of some temporary closures for particular cultural happenings.

Restorations of churches and fortress walls, building the museums of the modern and totalitarian art, and the creation of the so-called "artists district" near the Sveta Nedelya church are the focal points in Sofia's application to become European Culture Capital in 2019.

"Culture, however, must expand all over the city, not only in its downtown, but in all districts. Culture centers are already planned for the Lyulin and Druzhba districts," Dikov informed.

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