Southern Bypass of Warsaw - mid-November 2020 update

It had been nearly half a year since my last trip to inspect the progress of Warsaw’s bypass construction east of ul. Puławska, but west of Vistula. Back in late May, I could venture there on bike without covering my face. On previous Saturday I had to put on a thin face mask, to protect myself from a PLN 500 fine, rather than from people I passed by swiftly in the open air.

The weather was quite fine then, with around +9C on thermometer. I had dug up thermal vest and long johns purchased in 2018 before the winter tripbeyond the polar circle, donned a tracksuit, gloves and a chimney and set off. Sadly, after photographing documents on preceding days, I forgot to switch the macro off in my camera, hence pardon the acuity of the first shots. To the right, work at full blast at the intersection of ul. Rosoła and ul. Płaskowickiej being rebuilt. The roads straight ahead will take drivers towards and from Ursynów Wschód junction.

Having descended down ul. Orszady and through Wilanów I reached Przyczółkowa junction which was nearly ready. The construction site was sadly fenced off with workers onsite and security guards looking out for trespassers. I did not venture to see the road nearly or fully completed.

From the afore-mentioned junction I cycled east along the southern road of S2, through a partly finished, partly unmade cycling path. As one can see, barriers, lamp posts and signage were all in place, lanes had been marked out. Note the curve in the distance which seems badly profiled, just as the one on Konotopa junction which takes the traffic from S2 to S8.

I cycled an oval around fields of rural Wilanów to get onto a viaduct which carries ul. Syta above S2. A view westwards, the expressway seems to await administrative procedures necessary before opening. Note the concrete slabs from which it is made, more durable than asphalt.

To the right – looking towards the Vistula from the same viaduct. In the distance plenty of construction machinery on the bridge taking the bypass over the river. On Saturday afternoon the work was in overdrive.

On my was back, I made a stopover on a muddy meadow which should be an extension of ul. Branickiego, linking it to slip roads from and into Ursynów Wschód junction. Nothing had been and the spot (missing 150 metres of road) has been dubbed the section of disgrace.

To reach the goal of cycling 25 kilometres, I rode around Ursynów instead of heading straight for home. On my way, I spotted speed bumps on ul. Roentgena, put in recently. Speeding drivers (I confess I used to drove there at 70 kmph in times when I took that street to reach P&R Stokłosy) now need to slow down to 30 kmph, yet judging by comments on local forums, locals seem disgruntled with the solution.

The last snap, taken, while being caught out by the rain. The extension of ul. Indiry Gandhi, running to Ursynów Zachód junction, which would remain useless until the U-turn at the end of current S2 is converted into a regular extension.

I wonder whether the section of S2 between Przyczółkowa junction and Lubelska junction (where it joins existing A2 motorway) is opened this year. Administrative procedures last around a month, but if completed before the end of December, a trip there by car would be one of those few signs that things are moving on despite the pandemic; hopefully towards normalcy.

Southern Bypass of Warsaw – late spring update

The first comprehensive trip to inspect the progress of works on POW construction west of Vistula since early-January foray. Last Sunday I made use of loosening face covering obligations and cycle without a mask to check how the works have moved on.

Sadly, the Warsaw town hall and GDDKiA have not reached an agreement on closing the U-turn end of current POW, which could have been done just after Easter, to benefit of sparse traffic at that time and day lengthening. The deadlock results in total lack of connection between the current section of S2 and the one under construction.

I started off at the intersection of ul. Indiry Gandhi and ul. Płaskowickiej which is an extension of Ursynów Zachód junction. The development is governed by the City of Warsaw and unfortunately is botched up in terms of comprehensiveness. The very intersection has multi-lane roads, while further west ul. Płaskowickiej is narrowed down to one lane in each direction, which have been a bottleneck for many years. The widened street would run just next to residential blocks by roundabout where it crosses ul. Roentgena, but such proximity has not been a hindrance for block north of the photographed intersection.

The roundabout at the intersection of ul. Płaskowickiej and ul. Pileckiego has been restored, but traffic arrangement is temporary. Finishing works on the southern, rebuilt lanes of ul. Płaskowickiej are being done. Over the last weeks the photos have become outdated, since eastbound traffic has been partly diverted into southern lanes.

The quirky traffic lights at the intersection of ul. Płaskowickiej, ul. Stryjeńskich and ul. Dereniowa have given way to a roundabout. Scrapped traffic lights have put to an end post-pandemic traffic jams, yet another proof a roundabout smooths traffic, provided drivers skilfully negotiate it. In the background, the most renowned mural (building wall painting) in Ursynów, a tribute to Stanisław Anioł, the main character of Alternatywy 4 TV series.

At Przyczyłkowa junction I cycled up the slip road to see the progress on main roads of S2. No proper fence to keep visitors away, no security guard to chase me away. The roads are made of huge concrete slabs, which ensures the expressway will be more durable. Little is missing, crash barriers, the upper abrasive layers of asphalt, curbs, lamp posts and marking out lanes.

I rode zigzags to reach ul. Syta which is already carried above S2 by a nearly completed viaduct. From above one clearly sees concrete slabs, packs of curbs awaiting laying and service roads before asphalting. The expressway is actually passable for a passenger car. In the distance, the tallest residential blocks in Ursynów.

A snap from the same location, looking towards Vistula. Works are done even on Sundays (31 May being a Church festival as well), cranes facilitate construction of the second most-complicated civil engineering object (the first being the tunnel beneath Ursynów). I infer opening the section from ul. Przyczółkowa towards A2 motorway east of Warsaw is conceivable this year.

The last picture taken from Wał Zawadowski. Drone photos much better show the progress, from ground level one sees mainly mess close to the river. In Poland pandemic has not slowed down works much, sadly it has not accelerated them where necessary (at the hapless U-turn east of ul. Puławska).

Today I am finishing a fortnight holiday spent at home, reading, cycling or helping my parents with overdue gardening. I had not felt tempted to go anywhere. If epidemic indeed gets under control (the most recent data show record-high number of new infections, most in one Silesian mine) I might consider an away-from-home trip around late summer or early autumn.

Weather note (for Warsaw): May 2020 with average temperature of +11.9C (vs. 1981-2010 average of +14.2C) was the coolest since 1992, the third coldest in my lifetime. Monthly precipitation was 65.7 millimetres, vs. 1981-2020 average of 54.6 millimetres); along with recent rainfalls it temporarily gives relief from drought. But globally it was the hottest May since records began. Central Europe and central North America were the only cold spots on the map.

POW - early 2020 update

Eight months after the recent major photo round-up and nearly three months after posting most recent snaps, time to spend most of a short, a yet bright day to catch up with progress of works on POW construction site west of Vistula.

The weather looked out perfect as seen from a warm interior. In fact, temperature today creeped barely above zero, while outside, unless you took shelter from the chilly wind, it felt like almost -10C. Fortunately, I have not decided to put up for sale my thermal long johns and vest, purchased before the trip beyond the polar circle and today they proved useful, albeit I felt kind of overheated when marching briskly through areas shielded from wind and lit by sunrays.

The morning part of the trip commenced around 10 a.m., after I returned from the swimming pool. Having donned the thermal underwear (and regular outerwear) I jumped into 504 bus, rode 3 stops, alit it and rambled towards the southern end of ul. Indiry Gandhi. At the corner of ul. Pileckiego and ul. Indiry Gandhi I passed what 2 weeks ago had most probably been a Christmas-tree stall. Today the sellers were long gone, unsold trees remained. I wondered whether they had been chopped down legally. Felt sorry for the trees, unlike plastic substitutes, they would not decompose after 400 years, yet each year too few Xmas trees are sold in pots and then replanted.

Having mused about trees, I reached the spot were a new intersection of ul. Indiry Gandhi and ul. Płaskowieckiej should be built. The construction crews so far were focusing on re-laying underground installations. Without the intersection, junction Ursynów Zachód will be rendered useless.

I crossed ul. Płaskowickiej and scrambled up an earth mound in the shrubs. The viaduct in the distance on the afore-mentioned junction will carry eastbound traffic onto Ursynów and should bring relief to ever-clogged ul. Puławska. I had decided not to drive several kilometres to capture the sight of S2 roads slipping into the tunnels from the current end of the road. Not worth burning so much fuel for one photo.

Ul. Płaskowickiej will need to be broadened ahead of the link with the expressway; works on it have commenced, for no apparent reason bringing the westbound lanes close to windows of blocks built here in 2006-2007 when plans of the POW had been publicly available. No need to feel regret for dwellers.

I turned around and snapped the pavement and the cycling path along ul. Płaskowickiej behind the construction site fence. These are first elements of the pre-construction landscape restored. Although the very road is to be opened in late 2021, system of roads in Ursynów is to be back in pre-construction shape in August 2020.

The photo to the right has been taken from a pavement by ul. Pileckiego, south of ul. Płaskowickiej. One can spot the southern lanes of ul. Płaskowickiej (turned into a single carriageway 2 years ago) and original ul. Pileckiego rebuilt. The land above the POW tunnel is to be developed into a park, with lots of greenery and amenities to locals.

East of ul. Stryjeńskich there was little to boast about, at least above the ground. Nevertheless, I could not resist to snap the construction site fence next to intersection of ul. Płaskowickiej and al. KEN. It instantly brought to mind… the Berlin wall. Ursynów indeed has been divided by that construction for a while and once it is finished I will need to get accustomed to Ursynów not blotted by metal fences, mud and building machinery.

Ursynów Wschód junction, as observed from the top of the Warsaw escarpment is not an easy object to be photographed. Still I couldn’t make out where the roads carrying the traffic east from Ursynów would run. Progress since mid-October also hard to be estimated. The last morning snap, time to walk off to a bus stop by ul. Rosoła, hop on 179 bus which zigzags through Ursynów and return home.

After a lunch and a moment of rest, time to inspect developments in Wilanów. Przyczółkowa junction seems quite advanced. Yellow footbridge still lacks balustrades. Red viaducts in the distance carry two three-land roads over ul. Przyczółkowa. Konstancin-bound traffic already on target lanes, drivers heading north still need to slow down on temporary detour.

A quirky shot, taken as I was standing on cycling path running parallel to ul. Przyczółkowa, looking west at the slip road towards Ursynów, Łódź, Poznań, Berlin, Lisbon… Tarmac has not been laid, progress of works on the viaducts unknown…

Then on to ul. Wał Zawadowski. Had cycled here several times, today I first ventured there by car and felt like an intruder (despite having not violated any rules). The bridge is also not an easy object for the camera…

The pictures do not show progress on northern bridge is lower than on the southern one, whose construction had commenced earlier. Some time ago the delay on that section was said to be the longest. Today I can bet the entire Southern Bypass of Warsaw is opened in 4Q2021 and I am quite optimistic due to forecasts of mild winter continuing in January and February 2020.

Later I drove to see the viaduct on ul. Syta. One of drawbacks of taking such trips by car is a difficulty in finding a place to park the vehicle. The photo was taken through an opened window, while I stopped and turned the emergency light on. In the distance, the bridge(s) over Vistula.

The last pic, taken in the same location, half an hour before the sunset Looking west towards Ursynów, future roads clearly visible. The very viaduct seems nearly completed. I wonder whether it shares the fate of its peer on ul. Poloneza which infuriated local residents for months between actual completion and opening for traffic.

The progress is anyway best illustrated on films shot by drones, which can be found in the relevant thread of Skyscrapercity forum.