Krasnodar, 30 September. Our today’s interviewee is Aleksei Kopaigorodsky, Greater Sochi Mayor.
Q.: How is the renovation process advancing in the city?
A.: As for the renovation, this can hardly be the right term for Sochi as a resort city. What it is undergoing should rather be called ‘revitalization’, or exhilaration of its residential neighbourhoods, their reconstruction without bulldozers and demolitions. Over the past few years, a record amount of housing facilities was constructed, and quite often it was done with violation of elementary rules. The infrastructural development was not able to keep pace with the construction boom: water would not go upper than the first or second floor in such blocks, and the roads were only 1.5 m wide there. This is why, 70% of the projects were rejected this year and sent back to do the remedial works.
Q.: The existing motor road between Dzhubga and Sochi is overstretched, especially in height of the season. How will this problem be resolved?
A.: Indeed, currently it serves about 90,000 vehicles a day, which is three times as many as it was in 2015. We are working on the possibilities to increase its traffic capacity. The construction of an alternative road to Adler is planned at Krasnaya Volia Village. When completed, it will allow to divide the traffic streams. This detour road can be used to go to the airport or the mountain cluster. As a result, the load on the A-147 Motor Road will be 30% less.
Q.: Unauthorized constructions represent another important problem in Sochi. What are you doing to deal with them?
A.: In 2020, 27 unauthorized constructions were demolished by court decision, compared with seven in 2019, which shows the dynamics in this sphere. The plan for 2022 is to pull down at least 30 unauthorized buildings.
Q.: One more serious issue is the spread of pest insects.
A.: At the end of 2020, we together with scientists ran an eight-month-long experiment to identify the best methods of pest control. Our colleagues from the institute recommended that palm trees should be treated 5 to 6 times a year. By now, our evergreen cultures have been treated against pests in the area of more than 168 hectares. Nearly 6,000 palm trees have undergone a two-dose treatment.
Q.: This summer, heavy rains revealed new problems in the city. Have measures been taken to resolve them?
A.: A supporting wall is being erected at the City Hospital No. 3. It will be more than 300 m long and 1.3 m high. The money for it was allocated from the Emergency Reserve Fund. Besides, new stormwater drainage systems are being designed and the existing ones are being reconstructed at Sukhumskoe and Novorossiyskoe Freeways to increase the discharge capacity of the stormwater drainage systems.
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