1st segment

Also referred as “Brivibas Dublieris” (the alternate of Brīvības street), the 1st Segment forms the eastern part of the Riga Northern Transport Corridor. It starts from the A2 highway (Rīga – Sigulda) at Berģi several hundred meters outside Riga, in Garkalne municipality territory and continues up to Gustava Zemgala gatve (part of the Eastern Bypass). The approximate length of the 1st Segment route is 9.1 km and geographically it is divided into two parts – first part of route, named as “Jaunciema Connection” is 2.6 km long existing section of Jaunciema gatve (for reconstruction) up to A2 highway at Berģi and further it diverts to the North from A2 road and continues for another 6.5 km length – from Brīvības street up to a junction with Eastern Bypass and this part of the route is named as “Brivibas Dublieris”.

There will be five multilevel junctions within the boundaries of the 1^st Segment:

with Gustava Zemgala gatve (part of the Eastern Bypass) – this will be one of the most important junctions in Riga, which will be constructed in three levels, technical design of this junction has also been elaborated by Transport dept. of Riga City Council and such technical documentation is available;
with Viskaļu street;
with Mārkalnes street;
with Jaunciema gatve – in future there are plans to connect i.e. Baltezers bypass – a new route, which will become a part from the highway Via Baltica);
with A2 highway at Berģi.

The route of the 1^st Segment crosses the river Jugla at Makšķernieki village and the Jugla canal in Bukulti. There will be two parallel 250 m long bridges for each carriageway, which will also cross Mārkalnes street thus keeping the direct connection with Ķīšezers lake. There will be two parallel 105 m long bridges for each carriageway across the Jugla canal in the location of existing Jaunciema gatve bridge.
The complete route development of the 1^st Segment envisages that the 1095 m long Western part of the route is built as a tunnel, which runs further into the 2^nd Segment. Thus the existing street network will be kept in place and the route will not cause inconveniences to the inhabitants of the adjoining Čiekurkalns and Mežaparks neighbourhoods. For construction of the tunnel, the open construction method will be used. The tunnel will be covered after completion and local streets will be situated above the tunnel.
The sketch design project also foresees a possibility that the construction of the Northern Corridor 1^st Segment takes place before the rest of the Northern Corridor segments. In this case (the first stage of the 1^st Segment) initially there will not be so high traffic intensities and it would be possible to build a relatively simple route with possibility for extension and improvement of the remaining parts of the Northern Corridor during later construction phases.

Chronology of project development

February 20 – March 20, 2006 – public hearings on the 1^st Segment of the Northern Corridor construction project. Three alternative route options are presented for public hearings.
July 4, 2006 – Riga City Council adopts a resolution accepting the construction initiative.
October 18, 2006 – the agreement is reached with the Riga Environment Centre Agenda21 on the development of the environment impact assessment for the 1^st Segment of the Northern Corridor.
March 20, 2007 – contract signed with general partnership “BRD&ProVia” on development of the sketch design project.
November 16 – December 27, 2007 – public hearing on the working report of the environment impact assessment of the 1^st Segment..
July 30, 2008 – the procedure of the environment impact assessment ends in a resolution by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Bureau.
September 24, 2008 – Garkalne County Council takes a decision supporting the third alternative option for the first segment.
January 13, 2009 – Riga City Council takes a decision on the general option for the first segment of the Northern Corridor. According to this decision the sketch design project is worked out for the third alternative option.
September 14, 2009 – Riga City Council receives completed sketch design project of the 1^st Segment approved by competent authorities.