„For years, residents have been asking." This sentence is among the most common in the political vocabulary when a ribbon is cut on some new project - and it's exactly that sentence that says it all. In Štip, work has begun on widening the road between the settlements of Babi and Star Karaorman, a stretch that links the municipalities of Štip and Karbinci. Good news for residents. But also a reminder that „for years" is no figure of speech, but literally the time that passed before something basic got fixed.

The mayor of Štip, Ivan Jordanov, explained why the project came up at all. „We had significant safety risks for all road users, as well as for the pedestrians and drivers who use this stretch," he said on the spot. In other words, the stretch was dangerous long enough to become a story, not a precaution.

The project is worth 7 million denars from the municipal budget and will be carried out in three phases. First the laying of electrical cables, then pavements and street lighting, and finally the asphalting of the widened section. The goal, as the mayor puts it, is safe movement for both pedestrians and vehicles between the two settlements - something that on paper sounds like a standard, but on the ground was a wish for years.

Infrastructure of this kind rarely makes headlines, and that is precisely why it matters. It's not a motorway, it's not a bridge with a photo op - it's a stretch between two settlements where people go to work, to school, to the shop every single day. The question that remains isn't whether the project is good, but why safe movement between two neighbouring settlements has to wait for a budget phase to stop being a risk.