Sketch Project of the First Stage of the Riga North Transport Corridor Has Been Elaborated

The sketch project of the 1st stage of the Riga North Transport Corridor or the Brīvības iela backup was approved in September.

The elaborated sketch project anticipates construction of a new 9.1 kilometres long motorway, which starts at the current Jaunciema gatve connection to Brīvības gatve at the Riga city boundary in the east and ends at Gustava Zemgala gatve in the west, where the 2nd stage of the Riga North Transport Corridor starts.

The performed works are financed within the framework of the European Union project “Inclusion of the City of Riga and the Riga Port into the Network of TEN-T Roads”.

The Brīvības iela backup sketch project anticipates construction of two carriageway roads with two lanes in each direction from the city boundary and up to a point not far from Ķīšezers and construction of two carriageway roads with three lanes in each direction from Jaunciema gatve at Ķīšezers up to Gustava Zemgala gatve. The project also anticipates construction of five multi-level traffic junctions with Gustava Zemgala gatve, Viskaļu iela, Mārkalnes iela, Jaunciema gatva and Brīvības gatve.

The North Transport Corridor is designed in four stages. The approximate total length of the road is 27-30 km.  The North Corridor is included into the main roads system of the country, creating convenient connections to the existing motorways – in the west it will be connected to the Riga – Jūrmala – Ventspils motorway at Priedaine and to the Riga detour road at Babīte and in the east – to the Vidzeme šoseja in Berģi. The North Corridor will be integrated into the structure of Riga streets with several multilevel crossings. The motor road will also cross the 0.4 km wide Daugava. The project aim is to relieve the Riga centre of traffic congestion, thus improving the quality of its environment. Besides, the North Corridor will allow convenient access to the entire Riga Port territory on both banks of the Daugava.

Elaboration of the sketch project of the 1st stage of the North Transport Corridor was started on 20 March 2007. During the period of 16 November to 27 December 2007, public discussion of the assessment report of the project impact on the environment took place, based on which results on 13 January 2009 the Riga City Council adopted a resolution “On Construction of the Expressway Leading to the City of Riga from the A2 Motorway up to Gustava Zemgala Gatve (the Brīvības Iela Backup)”.

Comprehensive information on the Riga North Transport Corridor project is available at the Project Management and Development Directorate of the Riga City Council City Development Department and on the www.rdpad.lv and www.ziemelukoridors.lv web pages.

Marija Ābeltiņa,
Public Relations Manager
Riga City Council City Development Department