The mayor of the capital, Aibek Junushaliev, stated in an interview with the podcast of the "Kabar" agency about the intention to build more than 20 underground pedestrian crossings in Bishkek.
According to the mayor, it was initially planned to construct three overground crossings on Chyngyz Aitmatov Avenue (Southern Highway), but this idea was abandoned due to the negative reaction from the citizens.
“Residents expressed concerns that bulky structures would spoil the view of the mountains. We are actively working on improving the visual appearance of the city, so high overground crossings, such as those on Chyngyz Aitmatov Avenue, could hinder this. We decided to take into account the opinions of the citizens and choose the underground option,” the mayor explained.
Junushaliev also added that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country lacked experience in building underground crossings. To overcome this problem, the city hall studied various technologies and chose a modern block construction method. The first four crossings were built at a cost of about 32-34 million soms from the city budget.
According to information, the structures are assembled from pre-manufactured blocks that are delivered to the site and installed on location. The first of these underground crossings has already been successfully completed.
