What was supposed to be a routine walk through a residential neighborhood in the capital ended with a little girl being taken to the hospital. In the Bratislava district of Vrakuňa, on Toryská Street, a concrete sidewalk slab suddenly collapsed beneath a four-year-old child. The mother of the injured girl publicly appealed to district officials, demanding that they urgently resolve the dangerous situation, which threatens the lives of passersby.
What Happened on Toryská Street
The incident occurred near the garages on Toryská Street, where the condition of the pedestrian area and sewer grates has long been a cause for concern among local residents. According to the mother, the child stepped on the concrete, which collapsed beneath her feet the very next second. As a result of the fall, the girl suffered injuries to her arms and legs.
The woman highlighted the critical state of the infrastructure on social media: the concrete slabs are crumbling, and the metal components underneath them are completely rotted through. She called on the head of the city district to take immediate safety measures, since anyone else could have been in the same spot as the injured child.
The Authorities’ Response and the Problem of Stolen Grates
Senior district manager Martin Kuruc attributed the situation to long-standing problems with infrastructure and vandalism. According to him, garage entrances previously had to be repaired by the garage owners themselves because the heavy metal grates covering the sewer inlets were systematically disappearing—they were stolen and sold to scrap metal collection points.
Such neglected infrastructure poses significant risks to residents who choose to live in this densely populated neighborhood of the capital. Damaged utilities and crumbling sidewalks pose a direct threat to pedestrians, especially when walking with children.
Large-scale reconstruction and integration with parking
City officials plan to address the problem comprehensively. According to Martin Kuruc, a complete reconstruction of the road surfaces on Toryská and Bebravská Streets is in the works, with an estimated cost of 500,000 euros. The project will also include the replacement of old storm drains; instead of metal grates, the plan is to install sturdier concrete gutters that won’t be of interest to scrap metal collectors.
The municipality is deliberately timing the start of construction to coincide with the launch of the new PAAS citywide parking management system. The renovation is scheduled to begin after July 1, 2027.
It is expected that once the parking policy is implemented in the residential area, the number of through-traffic vehicles—whose owners do not have permanent residence there—will decrease significantly. As a result, cars from local garages will be able to park unimpeded outside the construction zone while repairs are underway. Bratislavak.sk provides more details on the situation.
