Almost 40 years ago, trams left Košice’s Hlavná Street forever. They got the stop sign in the summer of 1986. That’s how the center got rid of traffic and the exceptions didn’t apply to anyone.
At that time, however, tram transport was already in operation on Kuzmány street, and the argument that heavy tram cars destroy precious monuments such as the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth, State Theater or Urban’s tower.
They also had to leave the car center before. “It happened in Wuppertal that the mayor’s driver drove about half a meter into the pedestrian zone while parking his official car, and passers-by made the city hall’s anger clear. If the exception did not apply to the mayor of Wuppertal, it could not apply to us either,” he recalled some time ago for Korzár Rudolph Schusterwho issued a ban on the entry of vehicles for his and other offices.
And he even had the car of the Minister of Culture, which was parked behind the theater, towed away.
Indications
Košice mayor after four decades Jaroslav Polaček (independent) indicates that he wants to bring tram service back to the center in some form. This follows from the press release of the city, which it published on Tuesday afternoon after the inspection day of the reconstruction of the Lower Gate.
“Together with the Technical University and other partners, we are also preparing a project for the return of very light trams to Hlavná ulica, which we will inform you about in more detail.” said the mayor. The town hall did not publish further information.
The city began the major reconstruction of the Lower Gate from the archaeological museum to the intersection of Hlavná and Rooseveltová in a total length of 150 meters in mid-February.
The restoration for 2.7 million euros is financed from European funds with an eight percent co-participation of the city, and it is in charge of the Vranov company Betpres.
The company guarantees that the work will be finished before the International Peace Marathon, whose 103rd year will take place on October 4, 2026.
The lower gate has been a national cultural monument since 2010. It belongs to the visited, in 2025 more than 55,000 visitors viewed the underground.
The area near the Lower Gate has long had several static disturbances, problems with waterproofing and with water seeping into the Archaeological Museum there.
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Stream
The area of almost 3,933 square meters will be restored. What will change thanks to construction modifications?
There is basically nothing significant about the use and appearance of this part of the center. Reconstruction will enable better use of the underground and extend its life. The repairs will ensure that no more water flows into the underground, that the masonry does not get wet, and that defects will be remedied.
“Within the Lower Gate, we had places where a lot of water came, especially after the rains. That should not happen anymore, the new thing will be the seepage pits to drain as much water as possible into the deep underground. At the same time, we want to restore the little stream that flowed here along Hlavná,” said Polaček.
The city promises better safety for pedestrians, the unevenness of the surface caused by the settlement of Hlavná will be removed. The work will include insulation of stone masonry, reconstruction of skylights, stairs, grates and drainage gutters. They will replace damaged pipes and electrical installation equipment.
They will plant new trees, restore their irrigation. They will renovate the toilets in the underground, wheelchair accessible ones will be added.
Retractable safety bollards will also be added on both sides of Hlavná Street, which will regulate the entry of vehicles into the pedestrian zone. After their installation, the safety of visitors to the city center will increase.
Drops
The building has had static problems for a long time. In 2014, Martin Paška, the technical director of the Košice Housing Company at the time, claimed for Korzár that “the upper covering of Hlavná, i.e. the supporting plate, seems to show some static problems”.
“In that part, to put it simply, the street has settled. Cracks have appeared above the Lower Gate and it’s leaking there. Even on the sidewalk, when you come from the Hilton Hotel, you can already see sinkholes and cracks,” said Paška.
Since 2014, the housing company has provided a partial solution. It was about injections and rehabilitation, they were supposed to reduce water seepage from the exterior. The ceiling structures got soaked and some kind of drops formed there.
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Memorialists then called on the city to fulfill its obligations. They discovered that in several places stones had come loose in the historic walls and ramparts, the disturbed masonry was without grout mortars and mold formed.
They also discovered a crack in the vault of the barbican (a 15th-century outpost in front of the gate). One of the beams of the wooden pillar (of the oldest bridge) was tilted.
In 2014, Paška responded to the criticism of preservationists by saying that they are continuously working on the operative repairs of loose stones. “We scraped the mold by hand.” He also confirmed that the crack in the barbican vault has also been repaired.
The problems were also confirmed by the assessment of the structural engineer in 2018. He explained then that there is damage to the binder and a reduction in the stability and safety of the stone masonry, as a result of water seeping into the wall structures.
The expert warned that if the leakage process is not reduced, there is a risk of masonry collapse in the future. He also pointed out the development of corrosion of reinforced concrete slab.
He recommended that trucks over 3.5 tons be excluded from this part of Main Street. “Long-term traffic damages the surface layer and causes increased exposure of the ceiling slab to surface water, as well as significantly aggravates already damaged parts of the ceiling slab and causes the development of cracks in the ceiling slab.”
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Exchange
In addition to the Lower Gate, the historic paving in the center is also changing. As the city informed, they started with its general replacement two weeks ago. Repairs are mainly focused on frequented locations.
The paving is destroyed by the weather, but also by the weight of cars and trucks that are allowed to access the center.
Last year, its replacement and repairs cost 370,000 euros, the same amount is allocated for this year. In the past six years, more than 2.8 million euros were spent on the restoration of the paving from the city budget.
Procedure for replacing the pavement
Until the end of May, due to the upcoming Košice City Day celebrations, only local repairs of paving and gutters will be carried out in side and less frequented streets.
After the end of the celebrations, they have planned to roughly patch the pavement and other works on Dominikánské námestí until mid-June.
After that, the work will continue on Hrnčiarská, in the direction from Mlynská street to Hlavná, and on the surface grouting of the sidewalks on Kováčská street in the direction of Orlej street. During the entire period, they will also provide regular repairs on the entire Main Street.
