Three new pedestrian zones to open in central Moscow in next 2 years

Moscow City Hall has announced plans to create three new pedestrian zones in the city centre. The deputy mayor Pyotr Biryukov says 14 km of existing road will be pedestrianised.

The first zone will be opened at the end of the year and will extend from the monument to Yuri Dolgorukiy on Tverskaya Street to Lubyanka Square.

Another pedestrian area, stretching from the Tretyakov Gallery to Bolotnaya Square, is planned to be opened in early 2013. 

Some of the roads in these first two planned zones are already closed to traffic at the weekends.

The third zone will stretch 7 km and extend from the Kievskiy Railway Station to Gagarin Square. This is the most controversial zone as it will cross Leninskiy and Komsomolskiy prospects – major arteries with heavy traffic.

The pedestrianisation plans come hot on the heels of Mayor Sergey Sobyanin’s announcement in March that the capital’s paved walking routes would be expanded.