"Budapest City Council unanimously agreed on Thursday to build a Ft 5.8 billion underground garage, a visitors centre and a public park on Kossuth tér by late next year. The council also unanimously decided to submit ten EU tenders for developing a network of cycle paths. Deputy mayor Miklós Hagyó submitted plans that would double the existing 180 kilometre network by 2013.The Budapest city council approved a proposal with a large majority to provide a further Ft 17.1 billion for the reconstruction of Margit híd, which had originally been planned to be renovated for Ft 13 billion.
City Hall will cover the Ft 17 billion surplus in the budget by postponing a 2.5 kilometre road linking the M5 motorway and Ipacsfa utca and not building any cycle paths nor upgrading any other bridges.
Socialist, Free Democrat and eight Fidesz members voted for the proposal, while the Christian Democrats, the Democratic Forum and 17 other Fidesz members, including caucus leader István Tarlós, abstained. Tarlós said they had been trapped, as they did not want the project to fall through.
A investigative commission employing two experts will draft a report by November on what Christian Democrat Gábor Bagdy called “the scandalous upgrade of Margit híd”. The eight-member Ft 15 million commission will be run by Bagdy, who initiated the probe, and could hold its first meeting next week."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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26.06.2009