Poloneza viaduct open: now what?

Well, at last - after waiting since October 2009, ul. Poloneza is officially deemed open. Local traffic no longer has to worry about whether or not barriers will await them as they try to cross. So, from ul. Krasnowolska one can drive onto Poloneza (this section was once called ul. Mazurka), and using the four-lane superhighway cross over the S2 southern Warsaw bypass (still under construction).

Above: looking north up ul. Poloneza - a proud sight indeed. And a turn-off for ul. Gawota (right foreground). But let's turn now through 180 degrees from the same spot (below)... and we see Poloneza as it is for the majority of its length - a narrow, muddy track sporting many edge-to-edge puddles.



Local TV news has picked this story up - good. A typical case of buck-passing. The General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) says it only needed to have built the flyover crossing the new bypass. The district of Ursynów says it has no money in its multi-annual budget to lay some asphalt from the end of the new viaduct to ul. Ludwinowska.



What worries local residents is what will happen when ul. Hołubcowa is inevitably closed to traffic - it currently runs over the track of the new S2 and at some point it must be closed; there is a new viaduct being built over Hołubcowa, but if it will be built at the same tempo as the one over Poloneza, it will be over a year and half before it is officially opened.

The imminent closure of Hołubcowa will condemn local drivers to the hell that is Poloneza - a road that can swallow cars once the muddy season takes hold. The city authorities must take immediate action to lay some tarmac on the 260 metres that separate Ludwinowska and the new viaduct.

Update 13 November:

Gazeta Wyborcza has caught up with the Poloneza story: here. And a short video (after a short ad) showing the daily morning rush hour absurdity, below.

Otworzyli wiadukt donikąd. Kierowcy grzęzną w bagnie

This time four years ago:
To Lepiarzówka, on the Polish-Czech border

This time five years ago:
Its Independence Day