Nine years ago, when the outskirts of Ivano-Frankivsk first saw a pit dug for a new bridge, first-graders from the surrounding streets had time not only to finish school, but to forget that they had once been promised traffic “as early as next year.” Locals called the Pasichna Bridge a perpetual construction site, or — not without bitter humor — the “golden gates,” it was so expensive and took so long. Then, on August 27 at five in the morning, the structure was finally opened to traffic.
For the city, this is more than just another ribbon-cutting. Pasichna is the district where the regional hospital is located, and years without a proper crossing meant that ambulances, like ordinary drivers, had to lose time on a detour. From September 1, when traffic traditionally increases across the city with the start of the school year, this bridge becomes the first real test: does it actually relieve the center?
The Pasichna Bridge: What Exactly Opened
- The structure’s official name is the Halytskyi Bridge, known locally as “the bridge to Pasichna.” It crosses the Bystrytsia Solotvynska River and links the city center with the Khimikiv–Nadrichna district.
- The crossing is 324 meters long.
- Along with the bridge, a new transport interchange opened, traffic patterns on adjacent streets changed, and separate zones were arranged for pedestrians and cyclists.
- The old bridge on this site was built back in 1969 — it could physically no longer withstand either the load or the pace at which the district was growing.
- The facility was officially accepted into operation by the State Architectural and Construction Inspection (DIAM).
Why the Price Rose Sevenfold
The construction tender was announced back in 2017, and the first contractor — Kyiv-based “Mistobudivelnyi Zahin No. 112” — entered the project with a sum of UAH 120 million. Over the following years, the cost was revised repeatedly: as a result of all procedures and additional agreements (including one for UAH 58 million with the specialized capital construction department), the final price of the works reached UAH 838,060,997 — including related works, the figure is already close to UAH 870 million. In other words, the bridge ultimately cost the city almost seven times more than the original contract.
Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv, who for years personally featured in the news with yet another promised opening date, this time confirmed the launch of traffic and admitted: it’s too early to assess the effect on traffic jams. September itself will be the real test — when school and student traffic adds to the usual flow. He doesn’t rule out rush-hour congestion even on the new section, but stresses that drivers now at least have an alternative route, something that hadn’t existed for almost a decade.
The story of the Pasichna Bridge is, in essence, a story of how long a single infrastructure facility can drag on when it’s layered with changes of contractor, revised budgets, and years of waiting. And at the same time, it’s proof that even the most protracted long-term construction project can be brought to completion. For tens of thousands of people in Ivano-Frankivsk who drive to the regional hospital or simply home every day, this news means one thing: the detour that cost extra minutes for years is no longer the only option.
Stories like this — about completed, not merely started, projects — matter in their own way for the whole country, which is currently being rebuilt on dozens of fronts at once: from roads and bridges to schools and hospitals.
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SpecServis expertise on this topic: SpecServis Completed Projects
Source: Suspilne Ivano-Frankivsk
