Summary maps and visualisations of the 1st span

Layout
Detailed description of the layout
Early Stage project
Advantages of the General Option
Main technical parameters
Impact on the environment
Opinion of society
Substantiation for choice of the General Option
Real estate
Costs
Chronology of designing works

Layout

The Segment 1 of the Riga Northern Transport Corridor (the so called “Brivibas Dublieris” or “the alternate of Brivibas street”)forms the eastern part of the designed corridor of transport. It starts from the state motor road A2 (Riga –Sigulda) at Bergi in the territory of Garkalne region and runs on Gustava Zemgala avenue (Eastern Bypass). The approximate length of the span is 9.1 kilometres.

Route of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor is conditionally divided in two parts. The first part is the span of transport corridor between Gustava Zemgala avenue and Jaunciema avenue in length of 6.5 kilometres. The second part is the existing (for reconstruction) span of Jaunciema avenue until motor road A2 at Bergi in length of 2.6 kilometres.

Substantiation for choice of the General Option (or the preferred option) of the route layout is available here

Detailed description of the layout

Currently, traffic flows moving along Via Baltica (international motor road E 67) from north (state motor road A1 Riga (Baltezers) – Estonian border (Ainazi)) connect to motor road A2 Riga – Sigulda – Estonian border (Veclaicene) and road junction with motor road A4 Riga bypass (Baltezers – Saulkalne). Traffic flows towards Riga downtown move along Brivibas street, cross the Jugla river between the Jugla lake and the Kisezers lake as well as neighbourhoods of Jugla and Teika. Brivibas street is the main street in Riga that takes up the traffic flow from the northern direction of Via Baltica as well as motor roads A2, A3, and A4. The annual average daily traffic intensity in Brivibas street in the span from entrance of motor road A2 into Riga until Gustava Zemgala avenue reaches 49 000 vehicles per day; and during the morning maximum hour (from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.) – 3362 vehicles (in the span Bikernieku street – Gustava Zemgala avenue). In order to reach the Riga Free Port and north-east neighbourhoods of the city, because of insufficient permeability of Brivibas street part of vehicles including freight transport moving along it uses additionally also Ropazu, Krustabaznicas, and Viskalu streets as well as separate spans of Gustava Zemgala avenue that do not have functional profile correspondent to flows of transit traffic. From crossing with Gustava Zemgala avenue towards downtown, Brivibas street provides traffic flows to the historic centre of Riga as well as serves internal traffic flows of the city from other directions.

Project of the alternate of Brivibas street intends to solve above mentioned problems by construction of a new transport corridor in the span from Jaunciema avenue to Viskalu street and improves the already existing road solutions in spans from motor road A2 to Jaunciema avenue and from Viskalu street to Gustava Zemgala avenue.

Investigations confirm that realization of the alternate of Brivibas street will reduce time spent by vehicles on the way and jams in Riga in general, for example, it is calculated that the possible deduction of traffic intensity in Brivibas street will be 34%; in addition, approachability of the city downtown and port territories on the right bank of the Daugava river will improve considerably, e.g., length of tour during the morning rush hours will decrease for 30 – 50%. Thus, mobility and environmental quality in the region of project impact will improve remarkably. The economically most significant advantage is saving of time spent by motorcars in jams.

As it was already mentioned before, the alternate of Brivibas street forms the eastern part of the Northern Corridor. The route completely merges into red lines of the Brivibas street double set in the territorial plan of the Riga city. Despite the territory reserved by the route of the transport corridor lays along few-storey buildings of Makskernieki parish and Pakalniesu street, it mainly goes through territory of fallow lands (overgrown meadows and under-wood) and does not forecast demolishing of dwelling houses. In the territorial plan of the Riga city, the dominant permitted type of land use is buildings for dwelling and mixed type buildings. The total length of the Brivibas street double calculated in the sketch design is about 9.1 kilometres.
In the scope of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor, construction of five multilevel crossings is planned:

• With Gustava Zemgala avenue (Eastern Bypass). This will be one of the most significant road junctions in Riga that will be constructed in three levels. Detailed solution is provided in the sketch design of the Segment 2.
• With Viskalu street.
• With Markalnes street.
• With Jaunciema avenue. In the future, it is planned to connect there the so called Baltezers bypass, a new-built route that will become a part of the Via Baltic route
• With motor road A2 at Bergi.

The route of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor crosses the Jugla river at Makskernieki parish and the Jugla channel in Bukulti. Over the Jugla river, two parallel 250 meters long bridges for every drive will be built for crossing of Markalnes street, too; consequently, connection with the Kisezers lake will be preserved. Instead of the existing bridge of Jaunciema avenue, two parallel 105 meters long bridges for every drive over the Jugla channel will be constructed.

Complete solution of the route of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor includes placement of a 1095 meters long span of the western part of the route into a tunnel that would continue in the Segment 2. Thus, the existing network of streets shall be maintained and the route shall not disturb nearby living inhabitants of Ciekurkalns and Mezaparks; in addition, better conditions for development of adjacent territories would be provided. The tunnel will be built applying method of open construction: after completion of construction works it will be covered and streets of local significance above it will be laid.

Early Stage project

The sketch design includes the possibility to build the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor before the rest of the Northern Corridor. This solution is named the Early Stage project of the Northern Corridor and it is a simplified solution of the alternate of Brivibas street with considerably lower cost; however, it is able to function in full amount and to provide benefits as an independent project.

Choice of the conception of the Early Stage project was substantiated with technical and economic parting of this segment (possibility to realize it as a separate project), availability of the EU funds, potential amount of the EU financing, as well as implementation plan and time-schedule of such concept. This vision also conforms to the Mobility plan of Riga and Pieriga that recommends realizing of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor as a separate project first by leaving construction of other segments for further perspective depending on project financing solutions.

Currently, needed modifications in the territorial planning of the Riga city for years 2006 – 2018 are performed, necessary technical investigations are made for the route of the Early Stage project and its connection with the existing network of city streets, technical solutions of the layout are on the stage of sketch design; and financial investigations are providing specifying and substantiating costs of the Early Stage project.

The Early Stage project forecasts construction of the Brivibas street alternate as a motor road with two traffic lines in every direction and it is designed in accordance with the standard LVS 190-2:1999. This solution includes reservation of territory and establishment of needed structures and engineering systems that would provide as simple as possible rebuilding of the route to a motor road with three traffic lines in every direction in future for minimal additional cost.

Just like in the complete solution of the Brivibas street alternate, the Early Stage project forecasts constant traffic flow without objects of traffic-lights, crossings with motor road A2, Jaunciema avenue, Markalnes street, Viskalu street, and Gustava Zemgala avenue as well as convenient connections with Konkeses avenue, Ezermalas street, Lizuma street, and Kanala street. In perspective, also this solution will have a simply solution for connection of the planned Baltezers bypass that will operate as the new entrance of Via Baltica into Riga. Unlike the complete solution of the Brivibas street alternate, all vertical layout of the basic route of the Early Stage project goes on the ground level: construction of bridges (except over the Jugla river and the Jugla channel) and tunnels is not included. Bridges and two-level structures are planned only in separate connections with the existing network of streets (for example, construction of a 250 m long bridge over the Jugla river at Makskernieki parish and construction of a 105 m long bridge (reconstruction of the old one) over the Jugla channel at Bukulti).

Advantages of the General Option:

• it will provide a convenient traffic flow from Via Baltica (state motor road A1) as well as state motor roads A2, A3, and A4 until crossing of Gustava Zemgala avenue and Gaujas street (in the future, after construction of the all Northern Corridor – through whole Riga);
• it will connect Via Baltica and other international, state, and Riga regional motor roads entering into Riga with the network of Riga streets;
• it will facilitate a more convenient access to the territory of the Riga Free Port and to the network of main Latvian state motor roads and European transport communications (TEN-T) on the right bank of the Daugava river thus increasing development potential of the port and simultaneously reducing the direct impact to the system of city transport and environmental quality caused by its freight flows;
• it will improve efficiency of the transport system of the Riga city by moving the traffic flow, especially the flow of transit freights, away from the historic Riga downtown and Brivibas street and by improving connections between northeast neighbourhoods of the city;
• it will divide traffic flows between city mains and street: Eastern main, Viskalu street, Markalnes street, and Jaunciema avenue in the eastern part of the city.

Main technical parameters

		Route from Gustava Zemgala avenue to Jaunciema avenue	Route from Jaunciema avenue to Bergi
Total length of the route, km		9,1
Length of highway and general usage road of category BI, km		6,5	2,6
Amount of asphalt covering of the basic route of the motor road, m2		175500	50600
Engineering structures	Bridges: amount, length, m	2 (355m)	1 (60m)
	Traffic passages and elevated roads, amount, length, m	16 (4015m)	4 (420m)
	Tunnels, lengths, m	1 (1100m)	1 (65m)
Connections to main streets of the city, amount		3	1
Amount of driving lines		2+2 – in the first stage of construction and 3+3 – in the second stage	2+2
Provision of movement of pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transport		adjacent street	adjacent street
Designed/maximal permitted driving speed on the route, km/h		100/100	90/90
Provided access to all real estates		Yes	Yes
Possibility to construct the route in several stages		Yes	No

• Approximate amount of main minerals and construction materials necessary for construction works

(source: calculations made by „BRD projekts” SIA, 2007)

Material	Application	Source	Amount, thousand m3
Ground	Construction of motor road bank	Local ground-sand deposits	1098
Sand	Construction of draining layer	Local ground-sand deposits	420
Crashed dolomite	Foundations of motor road and reinforcement of skirting	Planned to be imported from abroad	209
Crashed granite	Base of motor road covering	Planned to be imported from abroad	102
Asphalt concrete (3 layers)	Construction of motor road covering	Plant of the contractor	108

Impact on the environment

Provision of noise level by applying anti-noise measurements (change of walls, windows, etc)				for existing buildings	Correspondent
				for planned buildings (including elaboration of respective layout of buildings)	Correspondent
Impact of vibrations in direct proximity of the highway				during construction works	Increased in direct proximity of construction works
				during exploitation	Modest
Provision of air pollution with concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)				after commissioning of the Segment 1	Will exceed demands set by norms
				after commissioning of the Segment 2	Will exceed demands set by norms
Possibilities to include technical solutions for reduction of air pollution					Partial (in the tunnel)
Provision of air pollution with carbon oxide (CO), hard particles (PM10) under average meteorological conditions					Correspondent
Crossing of natural territories under special protection					Does not cross
Distance to territory "Natura 2000" "Nature protection area of Jaunciems", m					135 - 340
Distance to cultural monuments, m					30-50
Provision of norms on pollution of soil			during construction works		Correspondent
			during exploitation		Correspondent
Limitation of infiltration of dust settling fields of Riga TEC-1					Provided
Impact on the ecologic conditions in the Kisezers lake					No
Impact on the ecologic conditions in the Jugla river		during construction works			Unessential
		during exploitation in case waters from salt used for salting of bridges are collected and purified			Unessential
Impact on pollution of ground waters		during construction works			Unessential
		during exploitation in case waters from salt used for salting of bridges are collected and purified			No
Impact on pollution of artesian waters					No
Provision of landscape quality	in territories of degraded landscapes				Improved
	in territories of valuable landscapes				No essential impact

Opinion of society

Basing on decision on necessity to elaborate environment impact assessment (further in the text referred as the EIA) taken by the Environment State Bureau on February 8, 2006, in the period from November 16 to December 27 of the year 2007, working report on environment impact assessment developed by Riga Long-term Development Centre “Agenda 21” was delivered for public discussions.

In scope of public discussions, 3 meetings were organized: in the municipality of the Garkalne region, in the executive direction of the Riga Northern district, and in the executive direction of the Riga Vidzeme suburb; in addition, inhabitants were invited to submit written proposals on the developed working report of the EIA.
Process of public discussions presented the following participation of society:

• 3 meetings of public discussions were attended by 117 participants;
• 15 letters, several informative phone calls and e-mails were received.

Written proposals included sound support to the offered 3rd Option of the route that in the further process of designing was favoured by respective decisions of all involved parties.

More detailed information on results of abovementioned public discussions is available here.

Substantiation for choice of the General Option

In order to take a substantiated decision on the General Option of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor, three alternative options were offered to society and authorities for evaluation.

On January 31, 2006, the City Development Department of the Riga municipality submitted to the Environment State Bureau an application on the supposed activity (namely, designing of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor) and on February 8, 2006, decision on necessity of EIAEIA for construction of highway of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor from entrance of the motor road A2 into Riga to Gustava Zemgala avenue (Vairoga street).

In the period from February 20 to March 20, 2006, public discussion on the construction initiative of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor and initial public discussion on the EIA of the planned construction carried on. On April 24, 2006, the Environment State Bureau issued an EIAEIA program.

In the period from November 16 to December 27, 2007, public discussion on the working report of the EIAEIA of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor went on. In scope of it, 3 meetings of public discussions were organized: in the municipality of the Garkalne region, in the executive direction of Riga Northern district, and in the executive direction of the Riga Vidzeme suburb.

In accordance with final report of the EIA developed in the year 2008, from three reviewed options of layout of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor, the Environment State Bureau recommended for further investigations the 3rd Option of the route as the environmentally most appropriated layout of route for development of construction project because it causes the less adverse impact on the environment.

In addition, independent technical experts of the Northern Corridor (“AECOM”, the United Kingdom) emphasize in their statement that the 3rd Option is the most appropriate for further development.

Basing on the recommendation of the Environment State Bureau, the council of Garkalne region on September 24, 2008 and the Riga City Council on January 13, 2009 decided to accept the planned activity “Construction of highway from entrance of the motor road A2 into the Riga city to Gustava Zemgala avenue (alternate of Brivibas street)” by forecasting further development of construction project of the 3rd offered Option of layout of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor.

Decisions taken by the Riga City Council and the council of the Garkalne region are available here.

Real estate

Division of land estates impacted by alternative optionOptions* of the Brivibas street alternate by area and type of hold
(Source: “BRD projekts” SIA, 2007.)

Owners	Area of real estates not impacted by the route, ha	%, of the total area in planned red lines	%, of the total area	Amount of real estates impacted by the route	Amount of owners
Current owners of estates in planned red lines**:
physical persons	6.3	10.5		20	25
state	15.1	25.1		9	9
Riga city	23.0	38.3		14	1
legal persons	9.0	15.0		14	14
unknown owners	5.9	9.8		12	-
religious persons	0.8	1.3		1	1
Total in planned red lines**:	60.0	100.0	50.2	70	50
In red lines of existing streets***:	59.6		49.8
Grand total:	119.6		100.0

* - information on estates in scope of red lines of territories of options of the planned highway is summarized
**- includes information on newly planned territories of red lines
***- red lines of existing streets under current use of the Traffic Department of Riga city

Costs

Cost calculations of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor – mio LVL without VAT.

 

* - proposal of traffic organization of the developed Early Stage project: drive with two traffic lines in every direction + drive of main route with simplified crossings of Jaunciema avenue, Kanala street, Markalnes street, and Viskalu street
** - cost calculations performed by „Transportbūvju konsultācijas” SIA with prices of the year 2010
*** - cost calculations performed by joint company „BRD & PRO VIA” with prices of the year 2008
**** - calculation of costs for expropriation of real estates was performed in the year 2010.

Chronology of designing works

• February 20 – March 20, 2006: public discussion on construction intention of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor. Three alternative options for layout of route were offered for public evaluation.
• July 4, 2006: the Riga City Council takes decision accepting the construction intention.
• October 18, 2006: agreement with Riga Long-term Development Centre “Agenda 21” on development of EIA for the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor is concluded.
• March 20, 2007: contract with joint company „BRD & PRO VIA” on development of sketch design is concluded.  
• November 16 – December 27 2007: public discussion on working report of the EIA.
• July 30, 2008: statement of the .Environment State Bureau concludes the EIA procedure.
• September 24, 2008: the council of the Garkalne region supports the 3rd alternative Option of the Segment 1.
• January 13, 2009: the Riga City Council takes decision on the General Option of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor. Basing on this decision, sketch design for the 3rd alternative Option is being developed.

• September 14, 2009: the Riga City Council receives developed sketch design that is approved by responsible authorities.

• September 8, 2010: the Steering Committee of the Northern Transport Corridor of Riga city takes decision on development of the Early Stage project of the Segment 1 requiring reduction of costs by simplifying solutions of routes with simultaneous preservation of the motor road category BI.
• November 23, 2010: the Riga City Council receives corrected sketch design of the Segment 1 in accordance with the conception of the Early Stage project that is approved by responsible authorities.

The sketch design of the Segment 1 of the Northern Corridor is available at the Project Management and Development Unit of the City Development Department of the Riga City Council.

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