Riga’s “ex-Gogol” is open for transport again

As of Friday, Emilija Benjamini Street (former Gogola Street), previously closed during the construction of a railway overpass, has been reopened for all types of transport in Riga, representatives of the general partnership BeReRix, the developer of the Riga Central Railway Station as part of the Rail Baltica railway project, told LETA.

The relevant section of the street was closed to private vehicles for just over a year during the reconstruction of the street and the construction of the Rail Baltica railway overpass.

After the completion of the railway overpass, public transport stops in both directions will be moved from temporary locations to new ones and will be located under the railway overpass on Emilia Benjamini Street.

By mid-July, it is planned to complete the construction of a full-size pedestrian sidewalk on the eastern side of the overpass (on the side of the Riga Central Station), but at the moment pedestrians can move on both sides of the overpass.

At the same time, in order to restore full traffic flow in the relevant section, the temporary pedestrian crossing on the northern side of the overpass between the station and the Stockmann department store was removed.

In order to ensure safe movement between the station and the Central Market in the future, a new traffic light pedestrian crossing between the Central Market and the new station building will be available for pedestrians and cyclists.

As part of the implementation of the Rail Baltica project, a new railway overpass with six tracks was built on the Emilia Benjamini Street side of the station, the width of which at its widest point reaches 59 meters.

Tactile solutions will be implemented for the accessibility of the environment from the public transport stop on Via Emilia Benjamini to the railway platforms. The road surface areas outside the railway crossing will be put in order according to the design solution, if funding for these works is available.

The construction of the Riga Rail Baltica hub is being carried out by BeReRix, the construction is being supervised by Egis-Deutsche Bahn, and the customer is Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas Ltd. The project is being financed by European funds within the range of 81-85% of eligible costs, and the remaining part is being provided by the Latvian state budget.