Elka: Work starts today.

I cycled home via Żwirki i Wigury and ul. Sasanki, so that I could see the route of the S79/S2 'Elka' on the day that work officially got underway. This 7km-stretch of expressway, from Sasanki to Puławska via Węzeł Lotnisko, is 'L' shaped, hence 'Elka'. Above: Looking east from the top end of ul. Wirażowa, just south of Sasanki. In the distance, PKP W-wa Służewiec railway station.

One fine day, a long, long time from now, Węzeł (junction) Lotnisko will be connected to Węzeł Konotopa on Warsaw's western outskirts, and from there the A2 motorway will take you to Łódź, Poznań and Berlin. And, further into the future, you will be able to go on beyond Węzeł Puławska and head east across the Vistula, and on to Terespol, Belarus and on to Moscow, via the A2.

There are signs like this (right) on ul. Puławska as well, announcing the lucky winner of the public tender to build the Elka - an Austrian company (come on Brits! Where are you?).

The north-south stretch of the Elka is the S79 coming out of Warsaw, which one day will connect with the S7 expressway heading south to Radom, Kielce, Kraków and on to Budapest.

Below: South of the viaduct, ul. Wirażowa is a broad swathe of land awaiting four lanes of asphalt. By 2012. View looking south. To the left, the Warsaw-Radom railway line; to the right, Okęcie airport.


Left: Further south. This is ul. Wirażowa, once a not insignificant unasphalted tract leading from Okęcie's Cargo Terminal to the level crossing at ul. Karnawał. Today, the southern end of it has almost totally disappeared, hidden by earthen ramps, transsected by giant puddles. It will be replaced by the north-south S8, but until then, it's only crossable by mountainbike, off-road motorbike or on foot. Too narrow for all but the smallest SUV. The Elka will be to the right of this shot, on the other side of the earth ramp. Click on label 'WĘZEŁ LOTNISKO' below to see how work on this stretch of road had proceeded since January 2009. (Frantic pace January to April, nothing until now.) The work was also well documented by Marcin Danecki (see his Panoramio photos on Google Earth).

Incidentally, daytime high yesterday +26.1C , stong sunshine. Not bad for the second half of September!