Friday 9 May 2008

Driving home at the end of the working day

Ul. Puławska's getting worse and worse. Once you could work on a bit, leave the office at half past six and get a reasonably clear run home. But traffic volume has been increasing rapidly. Until late last year, one could blame the roadworks. Now finished, Puławska's three lanes run all the way through to Piaseczno. And yet now traffic is worse than ever before. The photo (above) was taken yesterday at quarter to eight in the evening. The photo (below) was taken at the same time today. As you can see, Puławska is a solid traffic jam, of which my car is a contributing part. The development of more and more housing beyond Warsaw's border - Mysiadło, Nowa Iwiczna, Piaseczno, Lesznowola and beyond is bringing ever more traffic onto the main thoroughfare leading south from the city. Wouldn't rail be an answer? A tramway running down the middle of Puławska and improved rail services on the line from Piaseczno into town via W-wa Jeziorki and W-wa Dawidy could take thousands of commuters an hour to and from work.

Apart from the small European and Japanese cars that form this jam, there's something about the landscape, the architecture and the sky that's decidedly American. I wonder if any eagle-eyed local can spot the deliberate error in the top picture?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Must be the famous Scottish restaurant - McDonalds

In terms of Pulawska - you are correct. However, are there any traffic pattern studies available that show the dynamics of travel? (if not, any idea on what to do to alleviate he problem is doomed to failure as so often happens in Poland - ready - shoot-aim)

Michael Dembinski said...

One problem with planning is the lack of information about how many people actually live in Warsaw. There are an estimated 900,000 people living in Warsaw without a meldunek (registered domecile)- in Piaseczno alone some 40,000+. Most people who've moved to Warsaw and its travel-to-work area stay zameldowani in whatever small town they came from, because 'it's easier to sort out things in government offices' (załatwić sprawy urzędowe).

Because no one officially knows how many people live in and around the capital, transport cannot be properly planned.

And yes, the Scottish Restaurant has been cut-and-pasted one mile south! Well spotted!