Mykolaiv City Council will contact the police regarding traffic jams on the Varvarivskyi Bridge

Traffic jam on the Varvarivskyi Bridge on 18 June. Photo for illustrative purposes NikVesti

Mykolaiv City Council will contact the police regarding non-compliance with traffic regulations for heavy goods vehicles on the Varvarivskyi Bridge.

The relevant formal instruction was announced by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych during the city council session on 12 March.

Councillor Fedir Panchenko put forward this proposal to the mayor. He noted that lorry drivers frequently ignore the executive committee’s decision regulating the procedure and timetable for heavy goods vehicles crossing the Varvarivskyi Bridge. Moreover, according to the councillor, the patrol police do not respond to such violations.

The mayor announced that, following the session, a request would be sent to law enforcement agencies asking them to resume monitoring compliance with the executive committee’s decision, which restricts the movement of heavy goods vehicles across the bridge during morning and evening hours.

In addition, Oleksandr Sienkevych reported that, according to information from the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in the Mykolaiv region, repairs to the road surface of the Varvarivskyi Bridge are planned to resume once the weather warms up.

«We wrote to Oleksandr Antoshchuk, Head of the Service for Restoration and Development in the Mykolaiv region, following the results of the previous meeting. We were informed that repairs to the road surface will be carried out once the weather warms up,» Oleksandr Sienkevych reported.

At the same time, the service also reported that no separate funding for road maintenance is currently allocated.

The mayor added that, following the session, the city council also plans to send a further letter to the Restoration and Development Service to clarify the start date for repairs to the Varvarivskyi Bridge and the scope of the planned works.

It should be noted that in Mykolaiv, major traffic jams regularly form in front of the Varvarivskyi Bridge, particularly in the mornings and evenings. In February, city residents reported traffic problems caused by road resurfacing works and potholes that appeared after the winter.

City Councillor Alla Vorobiova noted that traffic jams on the Varvarivskyi Bridge hinder the movement of ambulances and public transport, making travel difficult. She also appealed to the Mykolaiv Region Patrol Police to organise the passage of goods vehicles at the city entrance, near the village of Vesniane, at 15–20-minute intervals to avoid traffic jams.

Repairs to the Varvarivskyi Bridge in Mykolaiv have been ongoing for several years. Between September 2024 and December 2025, 46.3 million hryvnias were spent on the works, whilst in 2024, 44 million hryvnias were spent on bridge repairs.

Due to repair works and the deformation of metal plates on the drawbridge section, significant traffic jams formed on 22 April 2025 on the approach from the Varvarivka side. Vitalii Dushko, press officer for the Mykolaiv Region Patrol Police, explained that such deformations occur periodically and affect traffic flow.

The Mykolaiv Region Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service had planned to spend 54.4 million hryvnias on repairing part of the Varvarivskyi Bridge. The work is due to be completed by the end of December 2026.