Baletowa blues

If you drive to or from work along ul. Baletowa - you will have a tough four weeks. Make alternative plans now, or waste many hours sitting in traffic jams. You have been warned.

From last Friday, right through to Saturday 6 June, the level crossing on ul. Baletowa will be closed to road traffic. This is to allow the new 'down' track to be laid south of W-wa Dawidy. The closure dates, of course, are predicated by the work running to schedule.

How then are motorists going to bypass this crucial crossing? The official detour looks like this (below, map on ul. Postępu in Zgorzała)...

Well, that's clear - use ul. Karczunkowska, turn left onto Puławska, then left onto Sporna, then left onto Farbiarska, then you're on Baletowa. If you're coming from Dawidy, the full diversion via ul. Starzyńskiego is a full 8.5km. Which can take half an hour plus on a weekday.

More info here on TVN Warszawa.

Below: the crossing is closed. Looking west along ul. Baletowa towards Dawidy.

Below: on Saturday and on Sunday, police turned up to stop śmiałkowie who ignored the no entry signs. I must say in the motorists' defence, apart from the one sign in Zgorzała, I could find no other signs giving drivers prior notice of the closure on either side of Baletowa - all the way from Pyry in the east to Jaworowa in the west. Tomorrow will be chaos.

Below: as soon as the police disappear, the motorists are at it again. The level crossing, looking north along the trackbed. Today, not too bad. No work going on. The danger is to suspension on normal two-wheel drive cars with regular ground clearance. Four-by-fours can manage, as can pedestrians and bikes.

Below: on foot, pedestrians can reach W-wa Dawidy station and cross the track. Looking east along ul. Baletowa towards Pyry.

I predict increased traffic for ul. Karczunkowska, while Trombity and Sarabandy will get rat-runners going in both directions. Yesterday was particularly bad, as Sarabandy was closed all day for its entire length for re-asphalting (below).

Below: standing atop a veritable mountain of ballast, ready for the new trackbeds, I can see in the top-left corner W-wa Dawidy station, and beyond it, Warsaw's skyline. My vantage point, around six metres above ground level, gives an idea of just how much ballast has been brought here for the stretch of track between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki stations. Both the 'down' track and - in due course - the 'up' track will be relaid.

By early June, then, in theory at least, the new 'down' track will have been relaid and re-ballasted. If it happens, it will have been around six months from lifting the old rails to switching trains onto the new ones. Which suggests a further six months for the 'up' track. On course for the line running normally with new platforms and tracks by this time next year?

[If you enjoyed my Tracks to Tarczyn post from two weeks ago, you may wish to revisit to see today's pictures at Gołków]

This time two years ago:
Two rainbows

This time three years ago:
Dandelions in bloom

This time four years ago:
Warsaw's city centre - a deli-free zone

This time five years ago:
Patching up the holes

This time seven years ago:
In search of the sublime aesthetic

This time nine years ago:
Flying in from the Faroes