Brief News about Sofia’s Urban Environment
Since early April night public transport has been launched in Sofia. Four bus lines cross the city to connect all large neighborhoods. The buses run from 12 pm until 4 am. The transfer location where all buses meet is at Knyaz Alexander I Square. The price of the night card is BGN 2. It is valid for all lines and is sold by conductors onboard. The routes of the four lines of Sofia’s night transport and a timetable can be found here.
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Sofia’s public transport will have 20 electric buses as of October, Yordanka Fandakova, the Mayor of Sofia, announced on her Facebook page. The vehicle technology is based on a 324kW battery with slow charge that allows travelling for at least 300km with a single charge. The electric buses meet the highest technological requirements. They are air-conditioned and equipped for disabled people.
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Sofia will have a new sports hall for volleyball. Its construction at the Garitage Park Complex, near the “Vitoshki kambani” area, has already begun. It will be the new home of the “Levski Sofia” volleyball club. The hall will have a capacity of 1700 seats. The complex will also have a training block, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a physiotherapy center, a conference hall, a journalists’ and athletes’ area. The investment of the facility amounts to BGN 5 million, with Garitage Park being the main investor.
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As of the end of March, the entry of cars in the Borisova Gradina Park has been totally limited. Only police, fire and ambulance cars will be allowed to enter the park, as well as cars with a pass from the Green System Directorate of Sofia Municipality, which will be allowed a temporary stay in the Borisova Gradina Park for servicing the park’s facilities and maintaining the green areas. The barriers are put at the entrances from Nezabravka Str. and from Dragan Tsankov Blvd. Parking on “Dragan Tsankov” will be allowed at weekends in the right lane, in the section between Park Hotel Moskva and the roundabout junction of the TV tower.
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Placement of signboards to guide guests and foreign tourists in Sofia for their location has begun. The text on the boards will be available both in Cyrillic and Latin. The facilities are two-sided and provide directions for the surrounding streets, closest sites and cultural attractions in all four directions.
The top of the boards has a reflective foil in order to be clearly visible at night.
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Foreign tourists in Sofia have now the opportunity to use audio and radio guides on portable devices during their tours around the capital’s landmarks. The guides are available in 6 languages – English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Italian. They are also available in Bulgarian for Bulgarian visitors coming from other cities.
The recordings are about 3 hours long and include historical facts and curious details of the main landmarks in the capital.
The guides can be rented or purchased from the website of the developers here.
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The reconstruction of Zapaden Park in Sofia has begun. The project is funded under the “Regions in Growth” program and the grant amounts to BGN 8 549 999.
The reconstruction of the park, which has not been renovated since its opening in 1957, includes the building of a lake, a rose garden, a children’s playground, a picnic area, a stage for events, as well as a dog area. The renewal of the park is scheduled to be completed within a year.
