Routes were supposed to be part of the connection between the end of Strahov tunnel inPatočkova Street and the crossroad close to the bridge Barikádníků and Pelc-Tyrolka. They were planned already in the eighties and after some time, in the beginning of nineties, they became an object of interest again. Already at this time there were talks about the tunnel under Stromovka which is now built. It was mainly the direction of their routes that was different but both ends were the same.

* Variant Blanka this was supposed to lead through Bubeneč and the tunnel under Stromovka.

* Variant Dana this variant crossed Dejvice and led along Vltava embankment in Holešovice.

* Variant Hana was supposed to lead through Holešovice and under Letná.

There were many ideas at the beginning as to what the ring-road should look like. There was even a proposal that counted on Smíchov Railway Bridge which would be used by cars and would create one branch of the ring road finishing in Výtoň. There were also talks about a Radlice radial road. Nevertheless, not even Strahov tunnel was finished at this time, its building was in progress and it cost almost five milliard crowns. A discussion started about the route of the ring-road in the area of Letná and Stromovka.

Ecologists versus Town Hall

Ecologists stood for the variant Hana which avoided Stromovka. Variant Dana was criticised because it would damage the river embankment and would also partially influence Stromovka because it led on to the edge of the Troja shipping channel. Mayors of Prague 7 and 6 considered the variant Dana as the most suitable. Regarding the variant Blanka, ecologists were warning against possible flooding of Stromovka and also of the possible tunnel Blanka. They also pointed out that both variants, Blanka and Hana, would be more expensive than Dana. In 1995 there was even an exhibition organised that took place in the Hall of Architects and where Praguers were introduced to all the options and could also express their opinions. The exhibition met with big interest, there were various opinions and everyone’s concern was to improve traffic in the city centre. In 1995 the town hall finally decided for the variant Hana (through Holešovice and under Letná), variant Blanka was marked as possible and Dana was turned down.

Birth of Tunnel

Another exhibition took place in 1996 and this time things became clearer. Only two variants, Hana and Blanka, were considered and both of them were supposed to connect Myslbek Street with Pelc-Tyrolka. The winner was Blanka which was planned to lead 25 metres under Stromovka to Troja. The route Hana that lead through the tunnel under Letná to Holešovice and Pelc-Tyrolka, wasn’t accepted. The prices of both routs were comparable; something around 6.5 milliard crowns, but this was calculated in the prices at that time. In such difficult geological conditions it is necessary to do a survey stole before the building can start. The survey stole for the option Blanka started to be tunnelled as late as 2002. It was necessary to consider carefully all possibilities of the city ring’s construction, to get building permission and embed the building into the municipal plan. The selection procedure was won by companies Metrostav and Energie Kladno and the survey stole started to be built in the middle of 2002. Its purpose was to verify geological and mainly hydro-geological conditions for the construction. The survey stole Blanka was two kilometres long and it was planned to lead under Šlechta restaurant which demanded its reinforcement. Expenses were about 200 million crowns. The survey stole will become a part of Prague circle’s tunnels that will connect Břevnov and Troja. Currently the building work expenses are estimated to 21.2 milliard crowns and technology should cost 4.5 milliard crowns. Three years later, in August 2005, the stole was finished. It could have been finished earlier but employees of Metrostav pointed out that the quality is more important then speed. The stole provided much valuable information about minerals found in the tunnel. It was also significant that the stole went under the Vltava River. The information gained from the stole was used by designers.

Three stages of building

After the stole had been finished and all information evaluated, it was in 2006 decided that the building of this part of the city ring will be divided into three parts – the first one would lead from Strahov tunnel (Malovanka) to Prašný most (Powder Bridge), the next part would connect Prašný most and Špejchar and the third one Špejchar with Plec-Tyrolka. The expected date of the city ring road’s completion was moved forward. Original optimistic forecasts from the nineties which counted with the year 2008 were changed to a more realistic one that sets the year 2011 to be the year of completion. In the second half of 2007 another exhibition about the city ring road took place in Old Town Hall. Praguers got a chance to get acquainted with the complex variant Blanka as well as with routes that weren’t accepted and with the outer ring of Prague that is partially finished and leads through Horní Měcholupy, Počernice, Suchdol, Horoměřice and Ruzyn.

Unpleasant event

In May 2008, after excessive rains, a big hole in the ground appeared in the middle of Stromovka about 200 metres from Šlechta restaurant. The ten metre crater was created during channelling of one of Blanka’s tunnels even though the tunnel rests 17 metres underground. The case was investigated by the mining office board which was especially checking if the channelling wasn’t too fast and thus negatively influencing quality. According to the investigation’s result, Metrostav’s employees weren’t at fault. The sinking happened due to strong rains that caused water logging of earth. The construction in Stromovka takes place among slate which is not the most suitable material and it also gets slippery in wet weather. The representative of environmental organisations didn’t agree with this statement, saying that it is ridiculous to blame rain for a collapse of the tunnel. Whatever the truth is, the whole matter finished with modification of the surface and other technical precautions that should prevent future occurrence of similar disasters. Metrostav’s representatives announced that the landslide won’t influence the work schedule and that the planned 2011 deadline of opening will be met.

Oskar Exner