Brno closes Pisárky and Glinka tunnels from 12 October to 20 November

From 12 October to 20 November, Brno will close the Pisárky and Glinka tunnels on the Greater City Ring Road at the same time. According to the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD), the repairs will cost CZK 212 million. The tens of thousands of cars that pass through every day will have to be diverted onto nearby streets.

How many cars use the tunnels

Data from Brněnské komunikace shows the scale of the restriction. In the monitored week in September, an average of about 27,500 cars a day passed through the Pisárky tunnel alone heading out of the centre, and another 25,200 heading in. At the Glinka tunnel, cameras recorded an average of 38,700 passages a day. As Brněnské komunikace spokesperson Jaroslava Bílá explained, traffic is noticeably heavier during the morning and evening rush hours.

Normally, when the D1 motorway is jammed, drivers cut through the Greater City Ring Road, but this time that option will not exist. Police expect the biggest problems at the Pozořice–Vídeňská and Vídeňská–Jihlavská intersections, as well as heavier traffic on Bauerova, Heršpická, Jihlavská, Pisárecká and Kníničská streets. As police spokesperson Pavel Švab noted, the first days are usually the worst; after that drivers find alternative routes, but there is no full replacement for the closed roads. Officers will direct traffic on the detours, adjust traffic light timings if necessary and clear accidents quickly. The situation is complicated by a restriction at the junction of the D1 and D2.

Why the repairs cannot be postponed

The lighting, power supply, SOS communication and communications equipment will be replaced, along with the control system. In Pisárky, the concrete structures and part of the road surface will also be repaired. According to ŘSD spokesperson Lucie Trubeliková, both tunnels are technologically linked and share a common control system, so for safety reasons it is not possible to leave one of them open during such a replacement. Some of the equipment in the Pisárky tunnel is at the end of its service life. The repair has been in preparation since 2023, and after all the administrative steps it could no longer be postponed. It had already given way once to construction projects near the Brno exhibition centre.

The closure will also affect public transport. The E56 express bus will take a detour via Rybnická and Pisárecká and will stop at Anthropos instead of the Pisárky stop. The Brno public transport company DPMB expects problems on other bus and trolleybus lines as well, especially for trolleybuses, which are tied to infrastructure. DPMB spokesperson Hana Tomaštíková asked passengers for patience.

Detours and recommendations

Brno is warning drivers in advance on social media and on the city website, and has prepared maps with detour routes. Towards Svitavy and Královo Pole: via Jihlavská, Vídeňská, Pozořice, Křižkovského and Bauerova. Towards the BVV exhibition centre: via Bauerova, Křižkovského, Pozořice, Vídeňská and Jihlavská. Police advise planning trips in advance, keeping an eye on road conditions and allowing extra time. Navigation that takes street congestion into account can help.

The Pisárky tunnel has been in operation since 1998, and the Glinka tunnel opened nine years later. Both connect the D1 with the Greater City Ring Road, central Brno and the exhibition centre grounds.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz