Riga closes Alberta and Antonijas streets to traffic for six weekends

Riga has closed Alberta Street and part of Antonijas Street to motor traffic for six weekends, LSM reports, allowing pedestrians to use the streets and enjoy their architecture and cafe terraces.

The pedestrian-only arrangement covers the stretch of Antonijas Street between Dzirnavu and Elizabetes streets, as well as all of Alberta Street, every weekend through September 20. The streets are closed on Friday evenings and reopen after midnight on Sunday.

During the closures, motor vehicles may not pass through the affected sections or stop and park along the streets. Residents will still be allowed to drive into the courtyards of nearby buildings.

The closure covers about 400 metres in total. The two streets are regarded as among Riga’s art nouveau landmarks.

Riga has used temporary pedestrianisation experiments for several years. Last year, the city also closed the same section of Antonijas Street and part of Dzirnavu Street for one weekend. Although the response was positive, the Dzirnavu Street experiment will not be repeated this year because it made access to a hotel difficult, the Riga City Council said.

Marta Kotello, chairwoman of the council’s Spatial Planning and Mobility Committee, said the aim was to diversify central Riga by creating different types of streets, including quieter streets in the city’s Quiet Centre. She said weekend closures had less effect on traffic than closures on working days.

The city also plans to close a section of Blaumana Street for one weekend in a month’s time. The longer-term aim of the experiments is to create a pedestrian street in Riga, although the council has not yet decided which street would be closed or when.

Maris Jansons, head of the Riga Neighbourhood Alliance, supports this year’s experiment. He said urban space should be fairly divided between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.