Gagarin Square cycle and pedestrian bridge

Challenge

Gagarin Square is a large traffic junction near the centre of Rostov-on-Don. Roads around it cut the surrounding parts of the city off from each other, and the green space in the middle of the square sits unused between traffic lanes.

The aim was to turn the junction into a connection: shorter, safer routes for people on foot and on bicycles, and a usable green place in the heart of a dense district.

What was done

The idea and concept came from Mihail Veklenko. The illustrations were made by E. Kotlyarova, working with the Urban Factory team. The first description dates from October 2013; the drawings were completed in January 2015.

The concept proposes:

• One bridge, four ramps. A cycle and pedestrian bridge with four gentle ramps, at a gradient of 10 cm per metre, equally easy for pedestrians, cyclists, older people, wheelchair users and parents with prams.
• Clearance and structure. At least 5 m above the roadway, with steel spans and a wooden deck.
• A place, not only a crossing. Existing trees kept and new planting added. Two or three rest areas on the vacant green plots, reached from the bridge and screened from road noise and dust by dense hedges.
• A link to transport. An outline idea for an interchange between the tram and a park-and-ride car park.

Urban Factory prepared schemes on a survey base, presentation boards and an aerial overlay, and submitted the proposal with a covering letter in early 2015.

Result

The proposal was not adopted, and the project did not continue. It is shown here as what it is: a concept proposal. It is an early example of how Urban Factory works on mobility — starting from people on foot and on bicycles, and tying a local design to the wider network. The same thinking runs through the agency’s cycling work in Cycling Rostov-on-Don.

Numbers

• 4 ramps at a 10 cm/m gradient
• At least 5 m clearance above the road
• 2–3 rest areas on the square