Porta Macedonia tiles being replaced again; residents expect sturdier repair

Nine months after Orce Gjorgjievski took over as mayor of Skopje, crews have finally begun replacing the paving stones at Porta Macedonia that, despite repeated fixes, had been left broken for an extended period.

Local residents who use the passage every day have repeatedly complained that the surface is dangerous — as they put it, the tiles are "literally breaking people's legs" — and that when it rains the loose slabs let water into building entrances so residents have to wade through water up to knee level.

Why the repairs keep recurring

After the change in local leadership in November of last year, municipal teams paved the plateau by the revolving stairs in front of the GTC and worked on the untidy section in front of the Pelagonija building, which had been left with rubble during earlier façade works. At the time, Gjorgjievski said the next step would be replacing the broken slabs at Porta.

However, the tiles remained damaged because vehicles entering through the gate to the residential buildings use that same route — the original renovation apparently did not account for vehicular traffic and was planned for pedestrian use only. Residents and observers therefore hope the current works will use more durable materials and execution fit for both pedestrians and vehicles.

The sidewalk there was last fully renewed during the term of former mayor Petre Shilegov; that project finished in early 2020 and cost about 33 million denars (more than half a million euros) from the city budget. The City of Skopje was the investor and the construction company was "Bitem". As part of that reconstruction, the old cracked and potholed asphalt was replaced with paving stones over roughly 5,000 square metres using three types of tiles; chestnut trees were planted and new benches and lighting installed.

Photo: Sloboden pechat - Metodi Zdravev