Street reconstruction – through gritted teeth

For more than a week, residents of Panevėžys and guests of the city have been forced to plan other travel routes – the arterial section of Smėlynė street from the railway crossing to Šiaurinė street ring road is closed for reconstruction. Although Panevėžys City Municipality has informed that they will have to be patient until September, complaints have already been received – and not even from drivers.

Businesses located near the reconstructed section are asking to look for opportunities to at least partially open Smėlynė street or to organize the work in a different way, because the turnover is falling due to the obstacles to reach them. The maintenance works of such a vital European highway should proceed much faster – like in a beehive, but only a few workers can be found on the entire section.

As Aivaras Griciūnas, director of Šilojus store, who appealed to Panevėžys city municipality with a claim, said, it is necessary to clean up Smėlynė street, but the way the reconstruction works are being carried out is a cause for indignation.

“Last year, we endured the reconstruction of Smēlynė street with gritted teeth – we understand that it needs to be managed, and we are extremely happy about that. However, seeing how the work is going on, we cannot remain silent,” says A. Griciūnas.

Became unavailable

According to the interviewee, their company sells garden and garden equipment. Spring is the real Christmas time for them, when sales increase several times. Unfortunately, this one has become exclusive – and not in a good way: even regular customers, unable to reach the store, choose alternatives.

“It is said that entrepreneurs, like farmers, are not doing well, but we applied to the Municipality for the first time”, said A. Griciūnas.

According to him, the company’s turnover fell by about 15 percent last year due to the closure of Smėlynė street.

“This is a lot, because in order not to lose good employees, we must raise their salaries as well. And spring is the time when we receive the most customers,” emphasizes the businessman.

The majority of those customers are residents of the district, because the townspeople usually have only a small plot of land that does not require powerful equipment to maintain.

Buyers are still arriving from the Kupiškis side, and those driving from Pasvalis, according to A. Griciūnas, are already passing the store.

In addition, it used to take up to five minutes to bring heavy equipment from warehouses, but now it takes half an hour.

“Even the most loyal customers apologize that because of the inconvenient access, they are forced to choose other outlets. Although the services we offer are of high quality, it is too much trouble to come to us”, – such explanations are heard more and more frequently by A. Griciūnas.

Businessmen are angry that only a few workers work on the closed Smėlynė street every day, and they only pave the sidewalks, so they raise the question of whether it is really rational to ban car traffic. P. Židonis photo.

Choose the easiest solution

The municipality is asked to look for an opportunity to leave access roads or to allow driving on Smėlynė street after work or on weekends, when the street is closed.

According to A. Griciūnas, the road workers themselves could move or cover the signs.

“Only the signs need to be pushed and pulled, and there are no obstacles or obstacles on the street itself. If it were possible to resume traffic on the street on the weekend, it would be very good. Although we only work half day on Saturdays, it would be a huge help for us. Now, no works are being carried out on the stretch of Smėlynė street up to Paliūniškis street, so why can’t this section be left open”, – the businessman is incomprehensible.

According to him, although the street has been closed for more than a week, only four to five people work there every day. The sidewalk is currently being laid – the surface of the roadway is not even touched.

“The foundations of the street have been made, communications have been replaced, all that is needed is the final asphalt coating. Why can’t the street be opened on the weekend or after the end of the official working day of road workers? – thinks A. Griciūnas. – Electric poles were replaced last week. I agree that traffic is not possible in such a case – safety must be a priority, everything is understandable here. But after all, these works were carried out for several days. Traffic could certainly be allowed in the sections that are not being worked on.”

According to the interviewee, Smělynė Street is one of the main arteries of the city – works should be carried out quickly in it so that residents and businesses experience the least possible inconvenience.

“Of course, the easiest thing is to close the street and not worry – work is going on, bear with me. But after all, it’s the main street, not some kind of dead end,” A. Griciūnis is incomprehensible. He is convinced that no one simply wants to look for solutions.

“Give it to the contractor and that’s it. And we want the needs of business and people to be taken into account. We would be grateful for any opportunity to at least partially resume traffic,” says the businessman.

Not the first complaint

Darius Linkonas, the head of the Construction Department of the City Municipality, confirmed to “Sekunde” that he had already familiarized himself with the received claim. However, whether there is an opportunity to respond to business needs in this situation, we cannot say yet.

When the working group, which will also include representatives of the contractor, meets, only then will decisions be made on possible changes.

According to D. Lincoln, this is the first such complaint this year, but last year they were also received from the gas station located on Smėlynė Street, as well as the Rožyno shopping center.

“We have received complaints before – businessmen complained that business partners refuse to cooperate with them, allegedly due to more difficult communication conditions, and as a result part of their earnings is lost. At that time, the working group had made certain decisions, and I cannot answer what will happen in this case,” repeated the head of the Construction Department.

According to D. Lincoln, the priority is the safety and health of those working on this section of the street. And there is really a lot of work to be done – to dismantle old electric poles, to finish laying the asphalt surface, to install a traffic light post at the intersection of Smėlynė and Paliūniškis streets, to finish laying sidewalks.

“What would it look like when workers are pulling a heavy pole and cars are driving by?” I would think everyone’s safety should come first. And opening the street after working hours or on weekends is not a rational decision, who will take care of traffic management, who will change the signs, if we make exceptions”, said D. Lincolnas.

When the working group, which will also include representatives of the contractor, meets, only then will decisions be made on possible changes. P. Židonis photo.

Don’t want chaos

According to the Head of the Construction Department, unlike last year, when Smėlynės Street was also closed for reconstruction, this time there are no such big traffic jams – car traffic was evenly distributed in the streets of the Rožyna microdistrict.

The contractor does not make any claims when local residents cross the closed Smělynė street, but there are quite a few malicious drivers who ignore the prohibitory signs and drive on it anyway. There are also those who, shortening the road, even cross private plots or drive through ditches. So one can only imagine the chaos that would arise if it were allowed to cross Smělynė street during certain hours or days.

“Perhaps it will be possible to finish the section up to Paliūniškis street sooner, but I can’t give a specific answer yet,” D. Lincolnas did not make promises to entrepreneurs. “Of course, there may be some loss of customers, but maybe it’s better to endure for a few months than suffer until the end of the year.”

Connection is important

The maintenance of Smělynė street takes place in several stages.

In the summer of 2022, about 800 m of its parts from the intersection of Šiaurinė street to the city border began to be cleaned. Now residents of Panevėžys and city guests can use the newly asphalted 4-lane street here.

During the implementation of the project, it is planned to renovate a section of a total length of about 2 km from the railway crossing and the city border.

A total of almost 3.7 million was allocated for this project. 772 thousand euros will be allocated this year. 200 euros from the state Road Maintenance and Development Program.

This year, the major repair of the section from the railway crossing to the roundabout of Smėlynė Street and Šiaurinė Street should be completed. The works started last year will be continued – the second and third layers of asphalt will be laid on the already installed base, a pedestrian and bicycle path will be installed, small architecture, traffic safety measures, lighting will be renewed, and part of the rainwater networks will be installed.

Smėlynės street connecting with the European highway “Via Baltica” in the city territory extends the road belonging to “Via Baltica” A10 Panevėžys–Pasvalys–Riga. It is the main connection for passenger and freight transport going to Riga, with an average of more than 16,000 vehicles per day.