Ul. Mleczarska under construction, at last

A stride in infrastructure development, long overdue, is being made. Ul. Mleczarska runs parallel to ul. Puławska and not only links Piaseczno with Nowa Iwiczna and Mysiadło, but also serves as alternative for congested ul. Puławska. Local authorities from Piaseczno have been setting about pursuing reconstruction of the street for months, but finally works kicked off last Monday.

Curious to behold the first effects of reconstruction, I strolled down the street towards Piaseczno. As run-off in the mayoral election in gmina Lesznowola was not necessary (pragmatic voters have decided the incumbent mayor, not outstanding, but reasonable and predictable, will hold her office for another term), I had no civic obligation to fulfil… I will try to oversee and document the investment (a few posts on it ahead), although its completion will not affect me much, as in the second half of next year I plan to move out to Warsaw… Yet, for locals, the new road will certainly facilitate moving around, but before it happens, a few months of traffic commotion have to be endured…

To the right, section of ul. Mleczarska (which marks the border of Piaseczno and Stara Iwiczna / Nowa Iwiczna) closed off from the south on its intersection with ul. Sękocińska (Piaseczno side) and ul. Słoneczna (Stara Iwiczna side). Further down no works have started out. Drivers consistently break the traffic ban. In the distance – railway track running to Siekierki power plant.

To the right, currently the intersection of ul. Mleczarska and ul. Energetyczna. In a few months a sizeable (in relation to width of the road and traffic density) roundabout is to be built here. So far patched-up tarmac has been ripped off and rainwater drainage is being built. From my cursory reading of the construction plans, I infer the next stage will be putting the low-voltage electricity mains underground, which is immensely commendable. The fewer wires hang overground, the less susceptible they are to damages done by gusty winds, heavy snows and breaking trees and so the less frequent the resultant power outages…

While machines and workers are out, the detour via roadside is free for drivers. I look at those desperate folks trying to pass by holes and ruts and cannot make out why so many motorists put suspensions of their vehicles at peril to save one or two kilometres…

The section between ul. Energetyczna and ul. Raszyńska (Piaseczno) / ul. Krasickiego (Nowa Iwiczna) has not been impacted by any preparatory works. The very photo shows how pitiful the state of the road is. The whole reconstruction (the street with alongside pavement and cycling path) is to be finished by 30 June 2015. It will be a pleasure to see the revamped place illuminated by the setting sun (see post dated June 2011). Hope lifts spirits on a dark, glum day like this…

To the right – the north-most end of the development, the intersection of ul. Mleczarska, ul. Raszyńska and ul. Krasickiego. The two drawbacks of the junction are the narrowness of ul. Mleczarska and poor visibility. Seasoned drivers generally have no problems on this intersection, however not few motorists turn helpless here. Consequently, during 10 years of living here I have seen or heard of several prangs and witnessed three serious accidents. To improve safety, the intersection will not only be broadened, but traffic lights are to be put up…

Basically, this is the scope of works to be carried out over the next months. If the winter turns out harsh, the completion deadline of 30 June 2015 might not be met… For the time being, the most perceptible fallout of closure of ul. Mleczarska is increase in traffic volume on ul. Puławska. In the morning rush hours, the jam begins a few hundred metres further, just ahead of ul. Karczunkowska, as fewer cars come out of the bottleneck in Piaseczno – good for me. In the evening, alas, traffic on ul. Puławska is snarled up from Pyry and around the border of Warsaw the street is absolutely clogged up. Since there is no link between ul. Karczunkowska and Mysiadło, I can slip off ul. Puławska nowhere ahead, but in Mysiadło… Further down in Piaseczno the snail’s pace is ghastly…

The photos might be weather-wise misleading. There’s no snow on ground, so it doesn’t look like winter. In fact temperature while I walked was –7C with wind chill of –15C. Not a conducive weather to hang around in the open air. I fear the chill may keep lots of lazy voters indoors and turnout in polling stations might be lowered by cold weather…