Presented Nova Gorica and Gorica's work plan for 2024

Presented Nova Gorica and Gorica's work plan for 2024

In February, the area of the Transalpina Square and Nova Gorica Railway Station will be affected by a construction site for the renovation of the square and connecting roads on the Italian side (the Fabiani Trident), for the redevelopment of the Nova Gorica Railway Station, and, later, for the renovation of the buildings dedicated to the Super Osmica and EPICenter project. These works are extremely important not only for the European Capital of Culture 2025, but also for the development and further integration of the conurbation formed by the two cities. The contracting administrations for the works are the Municipality of Nova Gorica, the Municipality of Gorica, the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation EGTC GO, and the State of Slovenia. As the mayors of both cities of Gorica, Samo Turel and Rodolfo Ziberna, jointly emphasized at the press conference, the cross-border area will be busier this year due to the renovation work, temporary changes to the road system will be necessary, and the cooperation of residents will be required. The results, however, will be of great benefit to all citizens, as well as a historic step in cross-border cooperation. The contractors and contracting authorities will keep the public informed of any traffic changes.

The works in the wider area of the Square will be carried out by several contractors: the Transalpine Square renovation project by EGTC GO, the modernization of the Nova Gorica railway station by the Directorate of Infrastructure of the Republic of Slovenia (DRSI), and the renovation of the Super Osmica and EPICenter by the Municipality of Nova Gorica. As Mayor Samo Turel pointed out, all parties involved will try to organize the construction site in the best possible way to minimize inconvenience, anticipating minimal impact, however, he asked for tolerance and understanding from both residents and visitors to the area. To ensure that construction sites are as interconnected as possible and that traffic congestion does not increase, representatives of all contracting authorities are meeting weekly to coordinate the work.

On February 1st, Minister of Infrastructure Alenka Bratušek will present in detail the Nova Gorica railway station redevelopment project, which occasion will officially seal the start of the work. As part of the DRSI-led station redevelopment, at least for the time being, there will be no interference with traffic in terms of road closures. Passengers will also be able to access the station, and access will be properly marked. As Mayor Samo Turel said, we have received assurances from the municipality that all tenants of the station premises have been informed of the planned start of the work.

The mayor added, "Regarding the investments of the City of Nova Gorica, namely the renovation of the Super 8 and EPICenter buildings for the needs of the European Capital of Culture, the implementation will not have any significant impact on the environment and will not cause any traffic congestion. The renovation projects of both buildings have been completed and we plan to renovate both buildings this year."

Rodolfo Ziberna, mayor of the City of Gorizia, expressed his enthusiasm for the joint project: "Working concretely without borders is a challenge for all of us. This is the first cross-border construction action and in fact, thanks to the EGTC, the two cities are pioneers in this field for all of Europe. History is being made here and will be read for decades to come. Of course, this period of construction will be a bit tiring for the residents, on the Italian side especially in the area of the Piazza Transalpina and the Fabiani Trident, but they can be proud to be part of this renewal process. Everyone's cooperation is like a brick in building the future of our cities. Fortunately, there are only a few homes on these streets, but of course all residents will be kept abreast of the progress of the renovation. Once the work is completed, we will also move the Gorizia public transportation stop closer to Transalpina Square."

Tomaž Konrad, deputy director of EGTC GO, said that renovation work on the Transalpine Square and the part of the connecting streets (the Fabiani Trident) will begin in the first or second week of February this year. To this end, much of the square and the three streets on the Italian side will be fenced off. Pedestrians will have access to all entrances to the station building on both the west and east sides. Existing parking lots on the Slovenian side will be accessible on the south side of Kolodvorska Street. During the first half of the year, a crossing will also be built over the square and further along Kolodvorska Street, with alternating one-way traffic for most of the construction period, but this crossing will be quite busy. During the final phase of the renovation (second half of the year), the regime will be changed and the public will be informed accordingly. Temporary partial closures may occur due to construction. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

The cross-border bus stop in front of the Nova Gorica train station will be temporarily closed during the complete road closure for the construction of the Piazza Transalpina, Nomago reports. The bus will then depart Nova Gorica via Erjavčeva Street and cross the border crossing to Gorizia, while on the return from Italy it will go directly to Erjavčeva Street and will not turn towards the train station. This will reduce the travel time by 2 minutes per ride, but there will be no other changes. Nomago will inform passengers in good time about the temporary closure of the stop.

The municipality has already done some preparatory work on municipal infrastructure. Jernej Kogoj, head of the Investment Department of the Nova Gorica Municipality, explained, "We have already planned the new locations for the domestic connections of Super Osmica and EPICenter, future water wells at Transalpina Square, and the underpass under the Nova Gorica train station. We have also built a network of fire hydrants for fire safety."