The river returns to Vilnius – renovation of the left bank of the Neris is planned

The left bank of the Neris will soon become another convenient link for pedestrians and cyclists. The public tender for the improvement of the river embankment in the sections between Šilo Bridge and Vileišių Square, as well as between the White and Žvėrynas bridges has been completed. The contract for the contract works was signed with UAB Žilinskis ir Co. It is expected that, once the detailed design has been prepared, work on the first phase will start this year. Žilinskis ir Co, the construction company that won the international open public tender, has undertaken to carry out the works on the two sections at a cost of EUR 5.84 million. The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The sections to be landscaped in this phase will be from Žvėrynas Bridge to the White Bridge and from Vilnelė Bridge to the approaches of Šilo Bridge, and in the second phase, which will be tendered in the future, the sections between the White and Vilnelė Bridges. The renovation of the quay will include the reconstruction of bicycle and pedestrian paths, stairs, new lighting elements, terraces and small architectural elements. The authors of the project, SĮ Vilniaus Plan, have planned that the quay will be planted with new plants and the slopes will be decorated with naturalistic plantings. The public tender for the landscaping of the left quay was reopened by the Vilnius Development Company following a favourable decision of the Lithuanian Court of Appeal, after one company appealed against the tender conditions, which were allegedly inappropriate and discriminatory for some suppliers. The court suspended the tender at the initial stage, when the bids of the suppliers were pending. After the lifting of the interim measures, the procurement procedures were resumed. The improvement of the left bank of the Neris is part of the overall rehabilitation of the river slopes and approaches. The embankment from Žvėrynas to Žaliasis Mostas has already been landscaped, a sports ground has been built at Balotas Mostas, and work has been completed at the Tuskulėnų Rimties Park, Olimpiečių Street, where a terrace has been built. The remaining part, near the Museum of Energy and Technology, is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. Last August, during the demolition of the old slip road in Olimpiečių Street, masonry was discovered – the foundations of a Tsarist fortress dating back to around 1830. The authors of the embankment reconstruction, Vilniaus Plan, have modified the design to leave the old masonry open for inspection