Final Word from Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Prague residents who tried to escape from the city for the start of the summer holidays or the long weekend were in for a rude surprise. Several roads and streets were closed suddenly for repairs, and traffic came to a standstill. It would have been easy to put off the start of the annual summer construction until this week, when traffic is down considerably, but the powers that be would hear nothing of it. Drivers were particularly angry to see roadblocks go up on Thur. and then see workers disappear for their days off. It's tempting to blame the mess on the nation's top cop - Stanislav Gross is now in the hot seat and is an easy target - but road work doesn't fall under his direct supervision. It's the responsibility of ODS (Prague city hall) and KDU-ČSL (transport ministry). Perhaps this is a taste of what the future ODS-KDU government has in store for us.