Authorities in Tomsk plan to install toilets by 2024, aiming for a 50% completion rate.
Tomsk authorities have confirmed the installation of two modular public toilets on Prospect Lenin and near Beloye Lake by the end of 2024, Alexander Zhivoglyadov, head of the Tomsk municipal department for road maintenance and urban development, announced at a city committee meeting last Thursday.
In the year 2025, plans call for an additional toilet to be installed on Avanhard, though details about a potential restroom in Mikhailovskaya roshcha remain uncertain, with Nikolai Globov, deputy head of the urban development department, providing no concrete information.
Earlier reports suggested that the city administration's 2024 plans entailed setting up five to six free public toilets throughout Tomsk. The final list has been revised to consist of four locations: at the Embankment of Tom, near Beloye Lake, in Mikhailovskaya roshcha, and on Avanhard.
During the meeting, Zhivoglyadov stated, "On the municipal territory of the city of Tomsk, two public toilets have been installed at addresses: Ulitsa Belozerskaya, 13 and Prospect Lenina, 4/1. The cost of the two modular toilets ... totaled 1 million 867 thousand rubles. Each unit costs 933,500 rubles. A large portion of the funds, amounting to 7.2 million rubles, went towards infrastructure connection."
Currently, work is underway for the third location, with a toilet scheduled for installation this year. Wires from Soviet-era cables lie there, and it is unclear who owns them or how they are maintained. Avanhard will be developed further, noted Globov.
Globov emphasized that the main challenge in installing the toilets is dealing with wastewater management. The connection issue in Mikhailovskaya roshcha is still unresolved. "We need to dig under Komsomoskoprospekt, pierce through the 'Barvikha' recreational complex, where the connection point has been granted. This issue has been ongoing since 2023. If we are to install a smart toilet system in our intelligent city, let us make this decision collectively," Globov suggested.
The installation of a smart toilet system might be considered for Avanhard, aligning with the home-and-garden lifestyle, as it's slated for further development. The challenge of wastewater management remains a significant aspect in the process of setting up outdoor-living facilities like public toilets, as seen in the on-going connection issue in Mikhailovskaya roshcha.
