Park linearny - construction progress inspected

Last Monday, as I attempted to make the most of the clement weather (cloudless skies, day-time high of +7C), I ventured to the nearby construction site, where a linear park is built on areas above the Warsaw southern bypass tunnel.

The quite recent makeover of Park Cichociemnych lasted a year and a half and set a nefarious benchmark for the other restoration. Here, works commenced some three months ago and are relatively advanced, so I can hazard a guess it might become a hangout for locals in spring 2025.

According to the original concept, the park was supposed to splay out between ul. Pileckiego and ul. Rosoła, yet west of ul. Stryjeńskich the car parks where residents of ul. Kazury keep their vehicles remain intact. I would keep fingers crossed for turning them into greenery, but realise those cars would choke up other areas in the neighbourhood.

Looking east from ul. Stryjeńskich. A lot has been done, but the spot is way from completion. Plenty of workers potter about, probably also to move ahead with works, as long as autumnal weather permits.

In the middle of the area there are still large undeveloped areas ul. Płaskowickiej. Those will be most likely meadows, as lawns are out of fashion these days. Note the absence of tall trees. They could not put down roots here, as a few metres beneath the ground surface is the concrete ceiling of the aforementioned tunnel.

For children, one sees a small playground in the centre of the park, with what will become swings is currently fenced off to discourage those intent on using the unfinished amenities.

East of ul. Braci Wagów builders have their backstage spot, with mounds of soil, stones, sand and other stuff they need. The moon-like landscape brings to mind the early days of Ursynów, when the district was devoid of nearly any infrastructure.

Close to al. KEN, one can come across Miś Ursynek, a landmark symbol of the district, bringing out some associations with the cult Polish film by Stanisław Bareja. This piece is not just a decoration, it also will serve as a slide to smaller children.

As the inspector nears al. KEN, the proportion of area concreted over gets disturbingly high. This will not make this spot human-friendly on hot days. Paved areas ought to be scaled down to a bare minimum. In the distance, traces of some works under way are seen beyond al. KEN. Sadly, I lacked time to take a look out there.

The next post due in two weeks, as on next Saturday and Sunday falls the final weekend of Szlachetna Paczka.

Warsaw Southern Bypass – further east through Ursynów

Out for a longer Sunday early-afternoon walk through the neighbourhood to behold and share with the readers the progress of works commencing on POW (Southern Warsaw Bypass = Południowa Obwodnica Warszawy) construction site. I should have begun with a decent photo taken at the very end of S2 expressway (where cars do a U-turn to get onto ul. Puławska towards city centre) from where a view to the future route splays out, but I have not grabbed the smartphone a week ago, waiting for traffic lights to alter, the opportunity missed. Today, I have taken the camera with myself. Pardon quality of some pictures, as they were taken against the sunlight.

To the right, a former field east of Auchan hypermarket premises. This used to be a truly untouched terrain, an area cherished by MTB riders (nice bumpy paths) and dog-minders taking their animal friends for long walks. Those days are now a memory. The ground is fenced off, little is going on around so far.

Looking in the opposite direction, at blocks of flats on the northern side of ul. Płaskowickiej. Where I stand, Ursynów Zachód junction will be built, while ul. Indiry Gandhi (unfinished, straight ahead) will be extended and become a dual carriageway carrying the traffic into the expressway. Dwellers of these blocks must be truly delighted to find this just outsie their windows. (PS. watch out for the yellow banner on one of the balconies – a two-bedroom flat is up for sale)

Getting closer to what used to be a roundabout (now a regular intersection with traffic lights) where ul. Płaskowickiej and ul. Pileckiego cross each other. Here is where the lanes onto the tunnel are dug. Somewhere around here two large chimneys, lacking anti-fume filters (for which locals have called out for), will be erected. Again, properties in the area are bound to lose value, especially since even after the construction is completed, noise and fumes will become the order of the day around here.

Strolling further east, I reach the intersection with ul. Stryjeńskich. Construction site is fenced off on both sides; the roundabout still functions. The only three streets to remain passable through the entire building period are: ul. Stryjeńskich, Al. KEN and ul. Rosoła. Traffic chaos is probably inevitable, yet indispensable. In the distance, caretaker Stanisław Anioł, marvellously painted on the wall of a nearby block.

Not far later, I run across remnants of Bazarek na Dołku. A huge squabble sparked off around the place appreciated by locals and doggedly defended by merchants and their allies. I have not kept track of news on the matter of fair recently, but judging by the number of stalls on the former site of Natolin Północny bus terminus, the new location for merchants is on the other side of Al. KEN. Besides, I wonder how many people still prefer local marketplaces like that one to super- and hypermarkets.

Between Al. KEN and ul. Lanciego I cross ul. Płaskowickiej in a place where it is forbidden to take a snap through a hole in construction site’s fence. I cannot spot what I most wish to see, namely the uncovered tunnel of the underground line. Since the underground rail tunnels are quite shallow, expressway builders will need to dig beneath them (the bypass was planned there back in 1980s when the underground was built, hence no obstacles should appear along the way). Nevertheless, I fear there might be troubles and the southern part of Ursynów might be cut off from the rest of Warsaw underground-wise after an accident similar to the one which flooded the Wisłostrada tunnel in August 2012.

I admit to have known little about eastern fringes of Ursynów, there were very few occasions to venture there and there comes the sight east of ul. Nowoursynowska. Before Ursynów began to grow into a housing estate in 1970s, it consisted of fields, meadows and some farmlands. This squalid place appears to be a remnant of old days; hopefully in a while it will give way to some more civilised development.

At the edge of Ursynów, looking east from the escarpment towards Wilanów. Here the expressway will come out of the tunnel and run near recently built blocks of flat at the southern end of Miasteczko Wilanów. I still wonder how many people check zoning plans before spending thousands of zlotys on a property. For me personally, dwellings in the vicinity of POW have been ruled out of search long ago, despite lower (do not confuse for “more attractive” prices).

Looking forward to delivering some more news on the topic!

Road construction summary - November 2017

The grand road completion spree of 2012 (coinciding with the football championship held then in Poland) would probably never repeat, yet nearly five years after that it is worth looking how construction of motorways and expressways in Poland has moved on and what sections are expected to be opened over next years.

At the end of 2012 A1 motorway linked Gdansk with the Strykow junction on A2 motorway. The eastern bypass of Łódź, being a part of A1 had been scheduled to be completed in 2012, yet several tribulations, including disputes with distressed general contractor, delayed the end of works by 4 years. Eventually, the 40-kilometre section between Stryków and Tuszyn was opened on 1 July 2016. Further down Piotrków Trybunaski A1 becomes a decent dual carriageway enjoying the status of a national road and giving benefit of smooth driving (watch out for police patrols hunting up speeding drivers). Troubles begin when one gets close to Częstochowa and down towards Górny Śląsk, where two lanes in each directions with frequent intersections are already congested. Construction of the new motorway between Blachownia north of Częstochowa and the Silesian agglomeration has already commenced and is due to draw to a close in mid-2019. Travellers heading for Górny Śląsk from Warsaw are rather advised to take a PKP Intercity train, though journey durations are around a quarter longer than a year ago…

Over the past two years not a single kilometre of A2 motorway has been built. The section between Łódź and Warsaw, plagued by dense traffic cries out for third lanes in each direction. S2 expressway being the southern bypass of Warsaw was partly opened in 2013, the remaining section of Poland’s capital’s southern ring is to be ready by the end of 2020. In 2021 the A2-S2-A2 trail will end beyond Mińsk Mazowiecki and little heralds any further extension east in the foreseeable future.

S3 expressway, the one I have never driven, in 2012 had a completed stretch between Szczecin and Gorzów Wielkopolski. Today it reaches down to Zielona Góra and further sections down to Bolków are under construction (spent some ten minutes in a traffic jam on A4 motorway where a junction with S3 is built in June 2017). Sadly, the expressway will end in Bolków, while the route down to Jelenia Góra and to the border with the Czech Republic is bound to remain a single carriageway.

A4 motorway whose western parts date back to Hitler’s rule, is now the only border-to-border motorway in Poland, on vast sections a toll road, despite this being one of the most congested roads in this country.

S5 expressway would finally link Wrocław with Grudziądz. Several stretches of the expressway between Wrocław and Poznań (never had a chance to travel between these two cities) have been opened over the recent five years, the remaining are under construction and due to be opened up by the end of 2019. The section I drove several times was between DK92 and Gniezno (the new factory has a training centre out there in the sticks) and this one was extended this year beyond Gniezno, but the wait for the fast-traffic link between Poznań and Bydgoszcz will take some two years.

S6 motorway will one day connect Gdańsk and Szczecin, yet except for section between Szczecin and Koszalin being built, further stretches still wait for better days and higher priority in road construction agendas.

S7 is a dire example of how sluggish the pace of road construction can be. The national road number 7 still connects Warsaw with Gdansk (there is an alternative route via A2 and A1) and Kraków and after years of being built stretch by tretch, yet chaotically – new sections of S7 expressway intertwine with old sections of the DK7 road. It will take two years before you will be able to drive from Gdansk to Nidzica through S7, but then the section to Płońsk which badly needs upgrade stands some chance to be completed until the end of 2021… Warsaw still lacks the northern expressway out of the city, while the wait for S7 down to Grójec is estimated to last 4 years. Further south the road is ready or under construction, down to the border of Małopolskie province, where S7 has gotten stuck as a daydream. I do not even feel like mentioning how badly the road link between Kraków and Zakopane needs to be improved.

S8 expressway has seen a substantial stride. The whole section between Wrocław and Łódź was opened for traffic in 2014. In 2015 the section between Warszawa Opacz and Nadarzyn was also completed. On Warszawa – Piotrków Trybunalski one 20-kilometre section is under construction and should be completed in late 2018. North-east of Warsaw the salvation to residents of Marki, bypass of the town, has recently had its opening deadline postponed again, but still is due to be opened by the end of this year. Works on several sections of DK8 meant to upgrade it do S8 status are under way and in a year it is quite probable one would be able to drive from Warsaw to Białystok without a single stop.

While if you asked me where DK9 runs, I would need to scratch my head twice to think, going forward with next number makes little sense. I am looking forward to seeing S17 between Warsaw and Lublin completed and S61 aka via Baltica from Łomża to Lithuanian border. Well, in terms of road construction eastern Poland has always fallen behind in government road construction agendas, yet the lower priority has been underpinned by lower traffic volumes.

The road construction status as of November 2017 is hereby saved for posterity. For up-to-date information on progress of works, visit the regularly updated map looked after by Skyscrapercity users. Hats down to them!

Civilisation winding down?

The pace of progress our civilisation has made over the last decades is impressive and incomparable with any other period of well-researched history. Mould-breaking developments have been made for instance in medicine, engineering, information technology and have left positive marks on our everyday lives.

Thanks to improvement in information exchanges and growing availability and affordability of long-distance fast transport, the world has virtually shrunk. Places out of reach a few decades ago seem now close at hand. Day-to-day unlimited communication with people is now not confined only to those who surround us. Those processes, as I notice, do not have “ever-expanding” character. We seem to be falling victim to them, or they are self-reversing. Just take a look.

Smartphones are the essential tool of information exchange for today’s youngsters, yet for many they have become the prevalent means of communication with the rest of the world. The quite frequent sight of a group of young people all staring at their phones instead of talking to one another is just one of bleak proofs of excessive dependence on technology.

Nearly any place on earth can be reached by air transport within 24 hours, and plane journeys are affordable for masses, yet there is a growing number of places being a no-go areas for tourists; places which a few years ago used to be popular destinations: Crimea, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, some Greek islands besieged by immigrants from Middle East just to name a few. Though Poles’ horizons have broadened, their holiday plans have been altered by new global threats, thus Baltic sea shore, despite cold water, changeable weather, wild crowds and sky-high prices of everything a tourist needs, is again the preferable holiday destination. In 1990s Poles would go to the seaside because overseas resorts were out of their reach financially or because they were daunted by the unknown exotic places. Today the seaside is a safer place (with improved tourist infrastructure one needs to admit).

Two years ago, as I roamed around Germany, I did not take into account I could become a victim of terrorist attack in a shopping mall or restaurant. Paris, Munich, Nice until recently used to have all makings of a safe place for tourists and residents. Terrorism is not an entirely new phenomenon in Europe. Munich was attacked during Olympic Games in 1972. Madrid commuter trains were blown up in 2004, London public transport vehicles in 2005. Yet the frequency of attacks and profiles or terrorists have changed. Today we do not witness Al-Kaida taking revenge for military intervention in Afghanistan. Today secret services do not observe terrorists collectively planning an attack together. Today’s fanatic killer is a young brain-washed male on a lonely, unaided mission to murder possibly many people before he dies martyr.

Societies are becoming less tolerant, I wonder whether they will become less outgoing. Will fear of and dislike for the others become a factor keeping people inside walls of their homes?

After the financial tsunami in 2008 many thought the new economic order will change workings of the world. In fact little has changed. Economies have ridden out the storm although one should be far from declaring they are doing well; had they been, interest rates would have been jacked up. Yet the societal change might be imminent. To keep going, people need to earn and spend money; produce and exchange services, yet who how flows between economic actors go no longer is a subject of economic debate, it has become more about politics and social science. From the economic point of view if in a developed economy there are low-paid jobs domestic workers are unwilling to take up, such gap is filled with migrants from less developed countries being a motivated, cheap labour force which moves the economy forward. From the social or political standpoints, migrants are becoming an unwanted element, regardless of their impact on economic growth and well-being of the whole society.

The ongoing social change is reflected in political choices and the victory of PiS in Poland last year is not the most glaring example. Donald Trump’s dreadful popularity in the United States and support for Brexit in the United Kingdom fill me with far more uncertainty regarding future.

I fear that the world is heading towards isolation, on micro and macro scale. Demise of bonds between humans is already perceptible. Decades ago people had a few close friends and had closer (though often not ideal) relationships with families. Today people have hundreds of acquaintances (a good measure is a number of connections on social networks) but despite this not seldom feel lonesome.

Besides, for most of July I felt too comfortably, too carefree, at times lethargic or numb. That state has given way to some sort of anxiety, a gut feeling something bad might afflict me personally in the close future. Hope it is just a mild version of mid-summer blues caused by to humid air ;-)