Proposed Cable Car across the Danube May Connect Bulgaria and Romania
BalkanTravellers.com
The cable car would run parallel to the only bridge that connects the two countries across the river - the Danube Bridge, also known as the Bridge of Friendship, which was constructed in the 1950s.
In addition to lightening traffic on the bridge and increasing mobility between the two cities, proponents of the cable car’s construction say it will serve as a tourist attraction.
According to initial projections, about 8 million euro will be needed for the design and construction of the cable car, the Bulgarian Dnevnik newspaper reported. Funding will be sought from the Romania-Bulgaria Cross-border Co-operation Operational Programme for 2007 – 2013, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, which has as one of its priorities accessibly, aimed at improving mobility and access to transport infrastructure in the cross-border area.
It remains to be seen whether this proposal will materialise or go down the drain, although the need for better connections across the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania is indisputable.
In addition to the Danube Bridge, there are nine other border crossing points between two countries, consisting of seven ferry routes and two inland crossing points near the Black Sea.
The idea to construct a second bridge that would connect the towns of Vidin (Bulgaria) and Calafat (Romania) in the western part of the border, has seized people’s imagination since the 1980s. However, for two decades the project saw numerous symbolic digs and no actual progress. As BalkanTravellers.com reported in March, however, the latest deadline given for its completion in 2010 may actually be realistic, as many of the important issues surrounding the second bridge’s construction – such as the construction firm bid and the land disputes, have already been solved.
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
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excellent smugs
