In Kyiv, North Bridge partially reopens: how traffic will change

In Kyiv, traffic on the North Bridge is partially resumed. It was closed in both directions after the Russian strike that damaged the road surface and the trolleybus line. After a technical inspection, movement was allowed with temporary restrictions: vehicles with the left bank will travel with two lanes for buses and cars, and to the right bank — with one lane only for passenger transport, announced Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The structure was inspected by scientists. Experts are also working on introducing bidirectional traffic on the Paton Bridge in the coming days: lane directions will be changed depending on traffic load to increase the bridge's capacity. The city authorities will provide additional details about implementing such traffic and its organization on official channels.

Buses that previously operated on the North Bridge were diverted to the detour via the Podilsko–Vokhovych area Bridge crossing.

The Paton Bridge, where bidirectional traffic is planned, was deemed nonfunctional by scientists at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine as far back as February: it has an emergency status since 2017 year, and its residual resource was assessed as zero.

Regarding why bridges are vital for Kyiv like air and how to preserve cross-river connections during attacks, including through bidirectional traffic, see ZN.UA article “Will Kyiv’s bridges withstand it, or About the interaction of authorities and society” by Oleksandr Serhiienko, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences and director of the analytical-research center “Institute of the City.”