Lidl near Gariūnai infuriates local businessmen: it secures huge traffic jams

Gariūnų st. A new store being built in 48 is not a welcome newcomer among the neighbors.

A letter written by the people who run the Gariūnai Business Park reached Delfi, fearing that “the public interest is being sacrificed.”

“Such an occupation did not take place elsewhere, but on the section of the A1 highway important to all Vilnius residents, where there is only one lane of traffic to go to Kaunas. Lidl, for its part, has occupied this terrain for infrastructure development and nothing can be done. There will be no road distribution opportunities in the future. Not to mention the demolition of the existing infrastructure, that is, public transport stops, ”the letter said.

It is believed that the purpose of the parcel has changed “illegally” in this place, a copy of the detailed version (1999) of the detailed city plan is attached, which establishes that the parcel is an infrastructure area with easement – network and possible construction of engineering infrastructure service structures.

Gariūnai Business Park started sharing this project on March 23rd on Facebook:

“You have all probably driven on the road through Gariūnai towards Kaunas. The only lane off the highway is almost always obstructed during rush hour. And what will happen when a supermarket appears next to this bar? This is an example of how the public interest has been sacrificed for the private one The purpose of the plot with 0 construction in the municipality without discussion with the community was urgently changed to commercial with construction permits.

It is planned to install a second lane on this state parcel and improve the connection with the Kaunas highway, but a shopping center will appear in its place. The city rejects the possibility of widening the road in favor of the commercial entity. We will have a grocery store, but there will never be a second lane to the highway. We have several questions. and you?”

On April 15, criticism continued: “Probably everyone understands how this main and unique bar near Gariūnai fills up from Vilnius to Kaunas? So who can answer how much the public interest costs in Lithuania and who should protect it? What does the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania do? Could the improvement of the city’s infrastructure have been sacrificed in the interests of the business entity? ‘

However, the municipality assures that construction is possible here and traffic is being improved, but in other projects – redesigning the traffic light controlled intersection, and later – installing another intersection with Kuro str. At that time, Lidl sees specific actions against the project.

What is being built in Gariūnų str. 48?

The public was informed about the planned store on the plot in 2019. December, public and design solutions.

The area of ​​the territory, which is located between Garkiūnų and Paneriškių streets running parallel, is 8390 square meters M. meters, the plot was formed by merging several plots, it is written in the project proposals prepared by the company of architecture 313 architects. Previously, there was a parking lot at this location.

The land can be used for commercial purposes, the building permit was issued in 2020. on October 28, specified in the Records Center.

The store building will have a rectangular shape with a width and length of 33 and 77 meters. The building is expected to be one-story, 7.5 meters high, and the commercial rooms will be about 1,424 square meters. Storage facilities are also provided.

It is planned to park the car in the central and eastern part of the plot. The minimum number of parking spaces required to service a commercial building is 72 units. The total number of parking spaces on the plot is 125 units, according to the document. Entrances to the store are provided from Paneriškių st.

A park is being designed in the eastern part of the plot. In the western part of the plot there is also a green area behind the unloading ramp. The projected area of ​​vegetation is 25 percent. The entire area.

Previously, the Madeinvilnius.lt portal assessed that due to the isolation of the plot, exceptional environmental improvements are not expected.

The architects have stated that according to the general plan solutions, construction on the plot is possible. After all, the General Plan until 2015 defined that in this functional zone – district centers and other mixed areas of high intensity, commercial and service activities, along with the social, service and other infrastructure required for its service.

Lidl’s property rights to the parcels were registered in 2018. August – 2019 in January.

Vilnius General Plan until 2030. A service area is provided here.

Municipality: can be built

Virginijus Pauža, Head of the Infrastructure Department of the Vilnius City Municipality, summarizes briefly: “According to the available information, the valid detailed plan allows to build a commercial building on the mentioned plot.”

However, it did not explain the circumstances in which the use of the land had changed in the past.

Currently, the distribution of the disk drive to Kaunas is not planned in that territory, but other infrastructure improvement works are underway.

“Currently, a two-level transport crossing is being prepared at Gariūnų str. – that is, the first stage is implemented. The distribution of the connecting roads is not covered by this project nor has it been considered. The second stage is a two-level intersection with Kuro Street. After rebuilding the traffic light controlled intersection at Minsko Square, Žirniai, Liepkalnis on two levels, it is now the last traffic light controlled intersection with braking in the remaining IX B corridor. This intersection will be rebuilt into an uninterrupted two-level traffic junction in all directions with four roundabouts and a transport and pedestrian viaduct through Gariūnų Street ”, V. Pauža explains the planned project.

The public was already informed about the new communications on Gariūnų Street, the solutions of the project proposals were approved by the Chief City Architect.

Lidl sees a specific action

“We can confirm that Lidl Lietuva has a piece of land near the Gariūnai market, where he plans to build a shop. The project is publicly available on the Vilnius municipality website, ”confirms Valdas Otsing, Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications at Lidl Lietuva.

According to him, the store and the parking lot are designed so that there is no significant change in traffic intensity, in addition, the municipality plans to renovate the adjacent crossing.

“Recently, we have been monitoring active and focused actions against this object, but we hope that the process will continue to be fluid and that the increasing competition will benefit everyone, especially buyers,” responded V. Stop to the fears expressed by neighbors .