Skopje mayor Orce Gjorgjievski has lost the first half in the fight over the wild pedestrian crossing at Bit Pazar. The city's attempt to close the crossing ended in a protest by residents and shop owners, and a blockade. The crossing stayed open. Gjorgjievski isn't backing down - but the situation on the ground looks very different from the one on paper.

The context: at one spot on the Bit Pazar boulevard, for years now an illegal pedestrian crossing has been forced through use - people simply cross the street where there's no marked crosswalk. Above it sits an overpass that, on paper, should be the main pedestrian route. In practice, the overpass is barely accessible for the elderly, for parents with strollers, for people with disabilities. So residents avoid it - and walk straight across.

Gjorgjievski says there are two ways forward: the crossing could be legalized with a proper traffic study, or the overpass could be made functional with proper adaptations and the illegal crossing finally closed. Both options make sense on paper. On the ground a third thing happens - the city does nothing, and people keep crossing. Until today, when the City tried to put up a fence. And the residents said no.

„I have received more than a hundred requests from citizens worried about safety," Gjorgjievski says. Worth noting - not every Skopjan wants a wild crossing. Plenty want a regulated one. But everyone agrees on one thing: the current situation doesn't work. Cars on the main boulevard are flying, pedestrians slip between them, and one real accident is just a matter of time.

Gjorgjievski announced talks with the Interior Minister and with the mayor of Čair municipality, Izet Mexiti. An interesting coordination - Čair and the city center have different municipal leaderships, with different party colors. Whether they land on a joint solution or just answer in the media will be a real test of whether Skopje can function as a single city at all. Historically, such coordinations rarely come easy. The wild crossing may stay open for months yet, or years. Until then, residents are crossing at their own risk.