Vanšu Bridge repairs raise traffic concerns in Riga region
Tuesday 22nd September 2026 on 16:30 in
Latvia
Traffic arrangements during repairs to Riga’s Vanšu Bridge remain unclear about a year before construction is due to begin, prompting concern from businesses and Mārupe Municipality, a municipality near Riga, LSM reported.
Mārupe Municipality has sent a letter to the Saeima’s Public Administration and Local Government Committee, citing a lack of information about traffic restrictions and their potential impact on the public.
The bridge is crossed on working days by up to 60,000 vehicles, around 760 Riga public transport buses and trolleybuses, as well as an unknown number of pedestrians and cyclists. A temporary bridge is planned during the reconstruction.
Businesses say traffic will be particularly difficult in 2028. Large Song and Dance Festival events will bring tens of thousands of participants and thousands of spectators to Riga in the summer. In the second half of the year, Latvia will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, with high-level events planned at the National Library and elsewhere in Riga.
Ilze Stebera, a representative of the Latvian Employers’ Confederation and deputy general director of the Ķīpsala International Exhibition Centre, welcomed plans for a temporary bridge. However, employers do not know what access roads will be available, how the bridge will be reached or how traffic elsewhere in Riga will be affected as some vehicles are redirected over the Stone and Island bridges.
Riga Mayor Viesturs Kleinbergs of the Progressives party said he was working on traffic-related issues, but the meeting did not produce clear answers on how traffic would be organised.
Mārupe Municipality is seeking a clear plan from Riga. Its leaders recalled severe congestion several years ago when traffic on the Altonava Street overpass in Riga’s Bieriņi neighbourhood was closed, with Mārupe residents particularly affected.
Mārupe Municipal Council Chairman Aivars Osītis of For Latvia’s Development said mobility issues around Vanšu Bridge should be addressed not only by Riga but by the entire country, which might also need to invest in constructing the temporary bridge. He said the municipality was already seeing congestion in places where it had never occurred and was concerned about what could happen when the bridge is closed.