Progress along ul. Baletowa

Roadworks along ul. Baletowa have been recently completed (although the diversion signs are still in place). "Balay Street", as we call it, is becoming zoned for light industrial use, and is now lined with small factories, workshops, offices and depots. Residential streets (ul. Jeziorki, Sarabandy) and mixed-use streets (ul. Farbiarska) branch off from it. The new, smooth asphalt should mean that this stretch of Baletowa is no longer under water whenever there's heavier rain.

Busy though it be, ul. Baletowa lacks three things. Firstly, a bus route. This is because further down (between ul. Farbiarska and ul. Gajdy), there's a pinch caused by landowners not wanting to sell their plots so the road could be widened. Two buses cannot pass at this point, so no bus route. Secondly, no left turn onto ul. Puławska - so traffic is diverted down ul. Sporna, at the end of which there are lights enabling traffic to turn left onto the town-bound lanes of Puławska. Thirdly - despite the volume of traffic on Baletowa, day and night (this is the main thoroughfare between Ursynów and Raszyn), there's no level crossing at the railway line. Not even lights to warn of oncoming trains, which have to slow down to almost walking pace as they approach the busy road. I wonder how long before a fatal accident takes place here forcing PKP to erect barriers (like the ones at the very lightly used crossing on ul. Karnawał, a kilometre or so north).

Above: Looking north from ul. Sporna shows just how 'mixed use' Pyry has become. We used to live on ul. Gajdy for over four years, moving out in early 2002. My wife remarked yesterday that Pyry's gone downhill since, mainly due to the increased presence of industry and commerce in what was once a district of garden plots (działki) and detached houses.

This time last year
Warm! +8C