ASTANA – Vice-Minister for Investments and Development of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar warned Astana residents to expect heavier than usual traffic during EXPO 2017.
Presumably about 200,000 people will come to visit the exhibition by their private vehicles.
“It is clear that we, residents of the city, will feel some kind of discomfort, but this needs to be done; it is necessary to accommodate that. This is equivalent to when we receive guests at home in a three-room apartment and two rooms are occupied by guests. Something like that. These are temporary difficulties, together with the akimat (city administration), we will separately consider each situation and try to solve it,” said Sklyar at a May 19 press conference at the Government building.
To solve the problem of a shortage of parking spaces, the city administration has developed measures, such as large parking lots, which will be built in the area of the expo and roads will be reconstructed. Authorities promise to finish repairs on most streets and roads leading to the exhibition.
At the same time, journalists reminded the vice minister about the proposal of the Prosecutor General to close the entry of non-resident personal transport to Astana for the time of the expo.
“Urban transport infrastructure is now actively being repaired, so we believe there will be no questions on restricting the entry of personal vehicles. This issue is in the competence of the akimat,” commented Sklyar.
According to the ministry’s forecast, the exhibition will receive more than 2 million visits.
