Normafa is the capital’s most popular nature spot, but much of the central, most beautiful area is covered with asphalt and regularly invaded by cars. The crumbling surface of the parking area beside the Normafa Ski-House (Normafa Síház) takes up a lot of space, and on busy days the traffic becomes chaotic as cars block each other entering and exiting. 

That is, until now. On May 10 one of the most important steps in the renovation of Normafa began – the closure of the old bus turning area and parking area.

The closure of the parking area and the bus turning area was planned for years as part of Hegyvidék Local Government’s Normafa rehabilitation program. The fundamental changes included the construction of a bypass from Eötvös Road and redesigning the parking area on Konkoly-Thege Road. The new road and parking area were opened on May 10, allowing the central area to be renovated.

An area of the protected forest zone that is still covered in asphalt will soon be green public space for visitors to Normafa. The main walkway along the ridgeline will be extended several hundred metres. The crumbling asphalt will give way to new paving that will allow rainwater to permeate. It was chosen in conjunction with green and civil organizations. The former bus turning circle will be transformed into public space. A significant proportion of the central area will be made green, not only by laying grass but also by planting around sixty to seventy trees and hundreds of bushes. If all goes to plan, the renovation of Normafa’s centre will take about five or six months.

The second phase of the transformation concerns the inadequate design of the bus terminus which not only seems out of place but is environmentally unacceptable. On the oily, warped asphalt, buses would wait, often with their engines running, spewing diesel fumes and soot into the faces of park visitors.  Runners who had completed the Jánoshegy Road running track, gasping for air, inhaled the noxious by-products of combustion.  This situation will soon be rectified. In collaboration with Budapest’s Public Transport Authority (BKK) the bus turning circle will be moved to Csillebérc this summer. 

More information about these changes will be displayed on signs erected in Normafa by the Hegyvidék Local Government.