Five years ago, Chişinău inaugurated a newly renovated pedestrian street. At the time, then Mayor of Chişinău Dorin Chirtoaca promised that the road was made to last “tens and hundreds of years.” But five years later, holes from missing cobblestones make it a real challenge for pedestrians to use. What’s more, this pedestrian only street has become the perfect parking lot for dozens of cars.

Laying the paving bricks for the 300 meter-long Eugen Doga street took almost two years. And local authorities delayed the opening of the pedestrian walkway several times, claiming that the focus was on quality, not on quantity.

Nevertheless, in less than five years after the inauguration, sections of the pedestrian street have become unusable due to missing cobblestones and deteriorating pavement.

Who “dug” holes in the pedestrian street?

Chişinău City Hall spokesperson, Vasile Chirilescu, maintains that some sections of Eugen Doga street are deteriorating due to recent heavy rains or adjacent construction.

“Are these holes big? We need to check. And those responsible will go there to assess the situation. Perhaps sewage repairs were carried out or the sections are around street lamp poles. The street cannot be in such a state. Maybe it’s because of rains. I suspect that there was some [construction] work done and it is going to be paved again. Anyway, we need to talk to the road agents, let’s see what the situation is,” Chirilescu said.

On the other hand, Ion Ştefăniţă, director of the Agency for the Inspection and Restoration of Monuments, has confirmed that the deterioration of the pedestrian street is due to poor quality execution of works.

“Another reason would be that the [technical codes] were not respected. At the same time, they did not apply preventive preservation actions. Every construction site must be properly maintained. If intervention is not timely, serious consequences appear. If a brick is missing, then they all begin to loosen and pop out. For this reason, urgent measures should be taken. A company should be contracted to carry out restoration work on the Eugen Doga pedestrian street,” Ion Ştefăniţă said.

Eugen Doga, on the pedestrian street that bears his name

Composer Eugen Doga has criticized the state of the street which bears his name and claimed he never walked on it.

“That’s not a pedestrian street for people, it’s for horses. Women wearing heels who walk there could end up without shoes and without feet.  The City Hall should not honor me but all the citizens of the city by building this pedestrian street. It is clear there has been sloppy work,” the composer said.

Former Mayor of Chişinău Dorin Chirtoaca, on the pedestrian street

“1. It is the first and only street in Chişinău with granite pavements made similar to the streets of the medieval cities of Europe 300-500 years ago.

2. The street requires maintenance; for 2 years it was left in the lurch, just like Valea Morilor, where things degraded too.

3. The granite paving will last tens and hundreds of years, but if a single brick of granite is removed from its place, the rest will gradually loosen and pop out, because of the domino style of the construction – and it’s the same everywhere, both here and in Europe. Extreme weather phenomena are another negative factor.

4. I repeatedly emphasized that my projects are intentionally mismanaged, to be criticized and denigrated afterwards.

Conclusion: While some were engaged in billion [dollar] theft and sabotaging me at City Hall, I was doing something, I was working, I had projects, including the pedestrian street, and if we look into the activity report, I did more than all of them put together!”

A pedestrian street, but not for pedestrians

Although it should be accessible only to pedestrians, Eugen Doga Street becomes a parking lot for cars daily. A few months ago, patrol officers made drivers comply with the parking regulations. But on this matter, the City Hall spokesman Chirilescu insists that citizens bear part of the responsibility, due to their ignorance of the law.

“If someone parked on that street, people can report it to the police officers. If these cases are properly documented, maybe car owners will not park there anymore. So, the police should help us too. At the same time, the fact that citizens can not appreciate and do not care for their city is also a problem,” said Chirilescu.

Representatives of the National Patrol Inspectorate confirmed that the patrol officers who were responsible for maintaining public order on Eugen Doga pedestrian street were involved in other activities.

“As soon as the drivers saw there was no police authority, they began to park. Shortly we will send a patrol to station there and the road will be cleared. Since it’s called a pedestrian street, parking there is not allowed. We recommend that drivers park on an adjacent street and walk,” said Diana Fetco, Head of the Public Relations Service within the National Patrol Inspectorate.

What do the road traffic regulations say?

According to traffic regulations, the distance between a car and the sidewalk should be 1.5 meters so as not to restrict pedestrian access. Drivers are also meant to park their cars in specially marked places with “Parking” or “Reserved Parking” signs. Otherwise, it is forbidden to stop or park on other parts of the street, even if the driver maintains the 1.5 distance. Drivers who make irregular stops risk a fine up to 1500 lei (approximately $356) and four penalty points.

Street development works first began in 2012. The Eugen Doga street project cost 12 million lei (over $2.8 million), of which 3 million lei came from an economic agent on the basis of a public-private partnership. The rest of the funds were allocated from the municipal budget.

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Diana Severin,