A plan is being prepared for the construction of a pedestrian bridge between Zemun and Lido - A step toward relocating the Old Sava Bridge?

The Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction Affairs of the City of Belgrade has announced an early public review for the preparation of a Detailed Regulation Plan for the construction of a pedestrian bridge that will connect Kej oslobodjenja (Quay of Liberation) in Zemun with Lido beach on the Great War Island.

The plan is being drafted on the basis of a decision adopted by the Belgrade City Assembly in March 2025 and covers an area of approximately 11 hectares. The commissioning authority is the Office of the City Urban Planner, while the responsible authority for the plan is the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction Affairs. The documentation is being prepared by the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade.

The aim of the Detailed Regulation Plan is to define the planning and construction rules for the bridge which, as stated, would enhance the attractiveness of the area in both tourism and environmental terms, opening up new pedestrian views toward the Danube.

The bridge is planned to have piers in the riverbed of the Danube branch, in compliance with navigation safety requirements and the conditions set by the competent authorities. On the side of the Great War Island, the connection would be made by a mobile cantilever extension, without the construction of permanent structures or supports, in accordance with the protection regime of this natural asset.

A particular challenge in the design process is the fact that, in accordance with protection regulations, the installation of piers and permanent structures is prohibited within a 50 meter protection zone from the water surface. For that reason, the final bridge design will be defined through technical documentation, with mandatory hydrological and hydraulic analyses of the water, ice and sediment regimes of the Danube and the Sava.

The Directorate for Construction Land and Building of Belgrade previously pointed out that special attention should be given, during the drafting of the plan, to integrating ramps and stairways into the Zemun promenade zone, as well as selecting an access point to the island outside the flood zone.

The early public review will last until March 20.

Old Sava Bridge as a solution?

There has been speculation in the public that the metal structure of the Old Sava Bridge, which has been removed, could take on the role of the pedestrian bridge.

Information that the Old Sava Bridge could be relocated to a Danube branch near the former Hotel Jugoslavija was published by newspaper Politika in October 2024, at a time when protests over its removal were ongoing.

- The bridge will not be destroyed but will be given a new life as a pedestrian and cycling route by being installed as a link between Zemun and Lido at the location where a pontoon bridge is set up in the summer leading to the beach on the Great War Island. For that, a Detailed Regulation Plan must be prepared to define everything necessary for the bridge to be moved to a new location, an unnamed source told Politika at the time.

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic previously stated that there should be a pedestrian and cycling bridge between the Zemun quay and the Great War Island, that he does not know whether it will be the Old Sava Bridge, but that the city has no objection.

Responding to journalists' questions about whether the Old Sava Bridge would be relocated to the site where a temporary pontoon bridge is installed each summer leading to Lido beach on the Great War Island, Sapic said that those are questions for the Government of Serbia, as it is their project.

- If that bridge can be relocated or not, you should ask the Government. We have nothing against the idea, Sapic said.

I. Z.

Grad Beograd, Sekretarijat za urbanizam i građevinske poslove

JP Direkcija za građevinsko zemljište i izgradnju Beograda

Grad Beograd

Secretariat for Urbanism and Construction Affairs of the City of Belgrade

Office of the City Urban Planner

Assembly of the City of Belgrade

Directorate for Building Land and Construction of Belgrade

Old Sava Bridge

Lido

Zemun Quay

Pedestrian Bridge Zemun Great War Island