There will be a cycle route between Ulič and Uličské Krivý

Another cycle route will be completed in the Poloniny Mountains. It is over four kilometres long section from Ulič to Uličské Krivé. The Prešov Self-Governing Region (PSK) has signed a contract for a non-repayable financial contribution with the Ministry of Investment, which will finance the project. Its amount is EUR 1.64 million. The mentioned section is one of three that PSK will complete this year.

The contract for non-repayable financial contribution (NFA) with the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization for the completion of the next stage of the Poloniny Trail cycle track has been signed. It concerns the completion of more than four kilometres long section Ulič - Uličské Krivé.

The latest investment action is a continuation of the projects for the renewal of the almost 14.3 km long cycle route in the section Starina - Ruské and the construction of eight kilometres of new routes for cyclists in the direction of Stakčín. The Prešov County launched them in March this year and they have an investment cost of 11.2 million euros.

The current project in the direction of Uličské Krivé is worth EUR 1.64 million and the PSK is co-financing it in the amount of 5% . All three projects will be the first to be implemented within the Poloniny Trail. This should happen by the end of this year.

"I am glad that despite the complications during the last three years of preparation, we were able to meet all the conditions of the project submission and the contract that will finance the project has been signed. The tender process for the construction contractor will now be audited by the Ministry of Investment and, once this is completed the contract with the contractor enters into force. Then construction from Ulič to Uličské Krivé can start," said Milan Majerský, Chairman of the PSK, in this context.

Specifically, the route between Ulič and Uličský Krivý leads from the local road along the left bank of the Zbojský brook. It is then solved by crossing over a wooden footbridge to the right bank of this stream and continues along the route of the former forest narrow-gauge railway situated next to the dirt road.

It is planned along the Zbojský brook to the village of Ulič. Here it passes the popular tourist rafts and leads to the confluence of the Zbojský brook with the Ulička river. Cyclists will cross this river via another wooden cycle bridge and continue around the river along the protective embankment to the end of the section. Its total length is four kilometres.

The Prešov regional self-government is also preparing other sections of the Poloniny Trail for implementation. Namely between Runina and Uličské Krivý, also between Ulič and Kalná Roztoka, as well as a link to Stakčínská Roztoka. These routes will close the entire cycle route, which will have a total length of 86 kilometres when completed.

"The Poloniny Trail circuit, which connects the villages of the national park and its unique places, as well as wooden churches and local nature, is taking on real contours and I am pleased that soon, through the first completed cycle trail projects, we will offer tourists who come here the promised not only sporting, but also natural and cultural experience," added M. Majerský.

The attractive project of the Prešov Region Poloniny Trail should help to highlight the potential of the Poloniny Mountains and contribute to the development of tourism in this part of the region. The idea of building a cycling infrastructure came from the outputs of the Catching-up Regions initiative, which the PSK has been successfully implementing since 2018, and thanks to which it will invest more than EUR 15 million in the Snina district by the end of the current year.

In Prešov, 10 May 2023, PSK Communication Department