Kalvin tér closed to traffic

Heavy-duty drills were wheeled out last Tuesday and Kálvin tér was closed to all traffic save buses and trams last Thursday as work on the much-delayed tunnel for the M4 metro finally got underway. The long process of drilling the tunnel was kicked off at Kelenföldi station with a brass band and a speech by Budapest mayor Gábor Demszky, in which he promised the residents of Budapest only dust, noise and traffic jams. Some commentators compared the speech to that of Winston Churchill’s famous 1940 speech, made as he took up the role of Prime Minister, in which he offered the nation only “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. Unlike Churchill, however, Demszky promised that Budapest would be enriched by a “beautiful, 21st-century” metro in 2010.



Traffic jams will certainly be the order of the day in the vicinity of Kálvin tér, with the busy junction, from which roads branch across the Danube and down toward the airport, closed off to traffic. One of Budapest’s most legendary underground club’s, ChaChaCha, which was located in the underpass at the square, was also forced to close. Cash in questionWhile work has began, it is not yet clear where the money to complete the tunnel from Kelenföldi to Keleti train station will come from. Work began six months behind schedule, and Demszky has admitted the costs have run over budget. However, the EU is allegedly unhappy with providing as much money as was originally foreseen and could only provide half of the expected HUF 280 billion (EUR 1.14 billion). The project is estimated to cost a total of HUF 354 billion (EUR 1.44 billion).

Michael Logan
www.budapesttimes.hu - Monday, April 09, 2007