Polotsk to celebrate European Mobility Week with a bike festival

The European Mobility Week will be held in Polotsk from September 16 to 22. As reported by the "Interaktsiya" Foundation, a real cycling festival will be organized in the city during these days.

The busiest days of the European Mobility Week in Polotsk will be the weekend of September 19 and 20. Mobile Saturday will begin with the presentation of Polotsk's new transport strategy (concepts for new bike lanes, public transport routes, and roads). Immediately after the presentation, Polotsk residents will have the opportunity to communicate with experts to jointly find solutions to improve the transport situation in the city. On the same day, citizens will be able to compete in cycling contests for speed and agility, learn how to deal with transport malfunctions thanks to a special master class, and visit a cycling-themed photo exhibition. A children's workshop will be organized for children, where they will make bicycles out of cardboard. The culmination of the day will be a bike carnival for the most festive cyclists and a performance by capital city BMX riders, who will also teach everyone interested in bike tricks. In the extreme zone, it will also be possible to test longboards and balance boards.

All events of Mobile Saturday will take place from 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM on Svobody Square.

The next day, September 20, Polotsk residents can expect a bike quest and a bike tour of Polotsk, as well as a bike race in the very center of the city. "Each day of this week will be interesting in its own way, not just the weekend. For example, on Thursday, September 17, students of School No. 6 and their parents will take a joint bike ride to classes. And on Monday, September 21, an open-air film screening will be held on the summer terrace of one of Polotsk's cafes. The theme of the screening is urban life. The European Mobility Week will conclude with a car-free day. It is celebrated worldwide on September 22, and in Polotsk and Novopolotsk on this day, some bike rentals will offer discounts for motorists," said Anton Rodnenkov, head of the project for developing a sustainable urban mobility plan for Polotsk.

The named project has been implemented since 2014 with the financial support of the European Union. It provides for the creation of a long-term strategy for sustainable transport development in Polotsk, taking into account the interests of all Polotsk residents: pedestrians and drivers, passengers and cyclists. "Such a strategy should help Polotsk not only reduce traffic jams and make travel around the city more comfortable, but also significantly reduce harmful emissions into the city's atmosphere," the Interaction Foundation noted.

The project is being implemented by the Polotsk District Executive Committee and the Interaction Foundation. They are also the organizers of the European Mobility Week in Polotsk. Representatives of Polotsk and Novopolotsk cycling businesses and mass media acted as partners of the event.

Hundreds of cities participate in the European Mobility Week, striving to develop cycle paths and improve public transport services to reduce the volume of vehicle emissions into the atmosphere. Polotsk was the first in Belarus to officially join the event and found itself in the company of Budapest, Vienna, London, Madrid, Stockholm, Moscow, etc.

Alena Tikhonova, BELTA.