Repair of Budapest's second oldest bridge to start soon

Renovations of Budapest's Margaret Bridge (Margit híd) will start in the second half of this year, but the works will not cause considerable disruption to traffic on the bridge before the Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd) reopens in December. Szabadság híd was closed for renovations in August 2007 for 15 months.

According to hirado.hu, the renovation of Margit híd will be completed in 2010 and will cost Ft 13.3 billion (roughly €52 million) - of which Ft 7.3 billion will be covered by the city and the rest provided by EU funds. Work can begin once the northern M0 Danube Bridge is opened to traffic, said Krisztián Nyáry, communications director of the town house. While Margit híd is being renovated, trams will be running on a single track.

The reason the renovations cannot be postponed any longer is that the bridge has reached its safety limits, as the structure was not designed to serve as much traffic as it does now.

The Budapest Assembly will make a final decision on renovation plans at the end of January.

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