The planned construction of the northern transport corridor over the Daugava River in Riga could cost EUR 1.5 billion, as Riga Deputy Mayor Ainars Slesers (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way) said at a meeting of the Investment and Business Promotion Council's meeting on Wednesday.
The northern transport corridor will be a public-private partnership, which also means that using the bridge will not be free of charge, writes LETA.
Slesers went on to say that work on the designs could continue for about a year, and implementation of the project could commence in 2011.
"The project will continue five to seven years, and it would greatly benefit the national economy. It will also create 20,000 to 40,000 new jobs," said Slesers.
Slesers also said that a foreign bank consortium would have to be involved in financing the project. He reminded that the Freeport of Riga would like the new crossing to be a bridge, "at least 60 meters high".
The main purpose of the northern corridor will be to improve the transport system in downtown Riga and the entire city, the new bridge will also improve the competitiveness of Riga and Latvia.