Sozopol is not giving up on plans for a bus station, or transport hub, in the Misara district, but both options it has studied are costly because of the town's debts, mayor Tihomir Yanakiev told BNR Burgas.
The council has early investment studies for two options. The first is a hub with shops, and it costs more. The second is a car park only, with a hub to be built around it later, and is slightly cheaper. No prices have been released.
The plot sits by the ring road, on the upper side near the Lidl store, where the council already has road access. Yanakiev said the ground slopes very steeply, so either a bus station or a car park there would be very expensive.
Sozopol's trouble over a new bus station goes back years: archaeological remains turned up on the site first chosen. Talks with the culture ministry have been going well in recent months, the mayor said.
"In seven years my administration has paid off 15 million leva in debt. Nobody asks me how," Yanakiev said. That is about €7.67m.
He said an investment delayed for years can lose its point through changes in policy, in the law or other factors, or the risks around it can grow. The council is still weighing its options for Misara.
The council is also working on parking in the town. New spaces, blue zones and new car parks will add more than 400-500 places, Yanakiev said.
The council has drawn up a transport plan for Sozopol, which did not exist when he took office. Staff then went over every street on the plan, mainly around public buildings, including the town hall.
Two blue zones for hourly parking are already in place around the town hall. They are for people coming on council business and hold almost 150 cars, which can stay for up to 4 hours.
Sites for park-and-ride car parks 3-4km outside Sozopol have also been looked at. Yanakiev says they do not solve the problem on their own, because they depend on transport within the town. Some people will be able to walk to the centre and others will not, so he says the two need to be linked up.
The mayor also brought up the bus stop "down below", which he says the council was blocked from building. It was to be the base for a future town bus service. "That is why I got so angry when they tripped us up over building the bus stop down there," Yanakiev said.
The mayor said the type of visitor has changed a lot over the years, and campsites and places to stay on the edge of town have spread. Hoteliers used to ask for 0, 1, 2, 3 or 5 parking spaces. Now they ask for 30-40.