Poloneza - asphalt at last!

A lovely surprise when I cycled to work on Monday morning - lo and behold the promises made by Ursynów mayor Piotr Guział have been fulfilled, and ahead of time. At last there is asphalt on the 240-metre long stretch of road between the new viaduct carrying ul. Poloneza over the S2 Southern Warsaw By-pass and ul. Ludwinowska. At last it will be possible to drive or cycle over this bit in all weathers without fear of being bogged down axle-deep in mud.

Below: looking north from Ludwinowska, Monday morning. Click to enlarge; you will see many vehicles using this road. Some are using Poloneza as an alternative route to jammed-up ul. Puławska, but I guess the majority of the drivers work around ul. Poleczki, the new Business Park, or Platan Park, or the DHL depot, or the new office developments of Służewiec.

Below: looking south from the viaduct towards Ludwinowska in the distance. Four lanes go down into one-and-half; the newly asphalted section is not very wide. Still, traffic tends to flow north in the morning rush hour, south in the evening, so no great problem. Speed bumps here will be useful in slowing down the sad maniac element.

But there's more. Mr Guział has promised to asphalt the 1km-stretch of ul. Poloneza north of ul. Krasnowolska, passing the Grabów cemetery and linking up with the civilised stretch at the north end of Poloneza by Platan Park. This will happen next year, presumably before the local government elections.

Before Mr Guział gets to smug, let me remind him about the 1km stretch of ul. Hołubcowa between ul. Poloneza and Sztajerki (below). This bit, next to W-wa Dawidy railway station, is an utter disgrace. Behold. Puddles spanning the width of the road, rubbish and building waste unceremoniously dumped, a stretch of public road, well within Warsaw's (and Ursynów's) boundaries, that is totally impassable to all but pedestrians in wellington boots or heavy-duty off-road vehicles. This, Mr Guział, is a bloody disgrace and deserves attention before you stand for re-election. Before long, the viaduct carrying Hołubcowa over the S2 will be ready, but as with the Poloneza viaduct until now, it will be connected to the outside world by muddy dirt-tracks.

More good news for cyclists, in another part of town: one of the three north-bound lanes of ul. Spacerowa, between Gagarina and Goworka has been turned into a cycle path (below). This is a steep and laborious stretch up the Vistula escarpment which is a part of my regular journey from the TokFM studios to my office. Not having to jostle with cars makes the half-kilometre climb safer and more pleasant.

This time last year:
A welcome splash of colour to a drab car park

This time two years ago:
To Hel and back in 36 hours

This time four years ago:
Honing the Art of the Written Word

This time five years ago:
Of castles, dams and brass bands