In Pictures: How the reconstruction of Na Florenci Street turned out

The reconstruction, costing 214 million crowns, took over a year. In the twenty-meter-wide street, an advisory bike lane has been newly marked. This lane, along a 400-meter stretch of the street, mostly runs alongside parked cars.

From the perspective of cycling, the street serves as a significant link between Karlín and Prague 1, as the main cycling route A252 passes through here. According to municipal data, before the reconstruction, during the season about 400 people used to cycle along Na Florenci Street daily.

As seen from the photos, the new bike lane is being used for taxi parking and loading. Drivers, through their illegal behavior, not only endanger cyclists but also pedestrians, as they often park close to crossings, obstructing the view.

There are three large loading stations in the street. However, delivery drivers, taxis, and private cars still hold in the bike lane. Under the new Masaryčka office complex there is a parking lot for 155 cars. The opposite Florentina building offers an additional 602 parking spaces. This also contributes to increased motor traffic intensity in the area.

While cycling through, cyclists need to be mindful of the possibility of dooring (opening car doors into the bike lane), and they need to circumvent vehicles blocking the bike lane.

The city violated its own strategic document, the Active Mobility Standards, issued last year. The document suggests that in streets with lower-category cycling routes, along with unmarked bike lanes, speed limits of 30 km/h should be implemented. However, this was not done. The request for speed reduction was rejected by the traffic commission of Prague 1 and the Prague 1 office during the resolution of citizen comments.

The Prague 1 Transportation Department also rejected the suggestion of creating more loading zones so that drivers would not stand in the bike lane. They referred to the high capacity garages where delivery vehicles can enter.

In the street a total of 18 bike stands were installed at three locations. Compared to the original state, this means an addition of 9 stands.

On the downside, many free-standing spaces for bikes and motorcycles, which were located on the road, have been taken away. It is already evident that the sidewalk space around the stands is insufficient for shared bikes and scooters.

The stands were placed only at the entrances to Florentina and Masaryk’s station, and only on the northern side of the street. On the southern side of the street, near the Desfours Palace, or at the ČVUT Faculty of Transportation, parking spaces for bikes are entirely absent. However, it is clear that space is available.

Therefore, anyone with the goal of reaching the eastern end of Na Florenci Street and needing to park their bike may find space only in front of Florentina. From there they would have to walk 160 meters to the end of the street. For comparison, when arriving by car, the blue zone covers the entire length of the street.

The Prague 1 Transportation Department rejected comments regarding the lack of bike stands. They stated that the stands are „spread throughout the length of the street“ and „are tied to development.“

On the positive side, at least the correct orientation of manhole covers has been demanded. Originally, they were oriented dangerously in the direction of travel. After this being highlighted on social media, Prague Councilor Petr Hlaváček (STAN) addressed the issue. A completely new cover design was proposed, which went through the standard approval process, even with Prague preservationists. In the future, it should be part of all similar reconstructions in the historic city center.

An interesting feature is the area of the new square in front of Masaryk’s station, where an advisory bike lane is distinguished by a lighter shade of pavement.

In the Czech Republic, dedicated bike lanes are commonly differentiated through colour, and larger vehicles are not allowed to enter them. This is not typically done for undesignated bike lanes, even though norms do not exclude it.

In this spirit, the idea was considered to color-differentiate the bike lane from the rest of the road throughout the street. Such a modification would emphasize the bike lane and optically narrow, thus calm, the entire street.

The Prague 1 Traffic Commission also rejected this proposal.

Now, efforts are being made to address the problems the new reconstruction is producing. Prague 1 Councilor for Transportation, Vojtěch Ryvola (ANO), promised discussions in early December to address the state of the new street.

The head of the Prague 1 Transportation Department, Ludvík Czital (SPOLU nominee in the City Road Commission), stated that the municipal police will penalize traffic offenses here, even though the inspection has not yet been completed.

The realization of separate cycling lanes or significant changes to the street profile are unlikely to happen in the next ten years at least. Therefore, it will depend on how drivers respect the markings and how illegal parking in bike lanes, at crossings, and on sidewalks is penalized.

The search for the causes of the implementation of this non-functional design, already evident in the first days after opening, is likely yet to come. In a relatively old project, there were so many participants (the city, Prague 1, Penta, Institute of Planning of the City of Prague, preservationists, among others), that finding a clear answer will be challenging.

In the future, it remains to be hoped that other complete reconstructions of streets will avoid these mistakes and that the relevant institutions will learn from them. The city should create public spaces that minimize traffic offenses and dangerous situations as much as possible. It should also respect its own strategic documents and concepts.