S7 expressway to link airport and Grójec

I've written about this before, this will be the biggest story for Jeziorki in coming five to six years. I wrote extensively about the construction of the S2/S79 expressways (fully opened on 19 September 2013; work started on 16 September 2009; ground clearance began in January 2009. The S7 contract linking Węzeł Lotnisko to the existing stretch of the S7 north of Grójec (29km) has been divided into three sections (marked A, B and C on the map below); the winning tenders for the contractors who will build them have been announced, but in the Polish way, the losers are appealing the decisions, so it's still not clear when work will start on the S7 extension.

Here's how the whole project looks in a map published by TVN Warszawa, which I overlaid onto Google Maps for greater detail. Click to enlarge.

One thing is certain, like the S2/S79 project, this will change the local landscape to a great degree. It will curtail my walks west of the railway line, it will cut Dawidy Bankowe off from Jeziorki for walkers and off-road two-wheelers, it will bring an end to the peace and quiet that can be enjoyed in these fields, full of cabbage, carrot, potato and onion; fields that are home to hares and lapwings, marsh harriers and larks.

The upside is that getting out of Jeziorki out onto Europe's highways network will take that bit shorter; rather than having to drive 4.5km to the (current) end of the S2 off of busy ul. Puławska, it'll be a hop of less than 2km to Węzeł Zamienie. The 12 minutes it currently takes to get from home to the airport will be cut back to seven or eight. A second upside is that the vast amount of traffic that takes a shortcut through Jeziorki to avoid the jams on Puławska will have a much, much better alternative to get into town. Puławska should also become less congested. And finally, getting out of Warsaw's suburbs and exurbs into open countryside will be quicker, a short hop to Węzeł Złotokłos or Tarczyn Północ (14km and 19km respectively from Węzeł Zamienie).

This will be a massive project. Section A alone, linking the southern stump of Węzeł Lotnisko that currently ends abruptly in a cabbage field and ul. Słoneczna, the road running west out of Piaseczno, 7km long, involves the construction of seven viaducts and two junctions.

Below: photo taken from a plane coming into land at Okęcie airport, April 2016, the southern stump. Since then, a little tidying, but no progress. And all those street lights, illuminating unused asphalt, get switched on every night.

If you're interested in the detail of the works, here's a link to the original project on Siskom's website. It's a large (64MB) .pdf file of the whole extension; it's out of date (there have been amendments to the locations of the junctions), but nevertheless it serves as a useful compendium of information about the S7 extension, worth the couple of minutes it takes to download. And if you are really interested in the expansion of Poland's infrastructure, take in SkyscraperCity.com's Forum Polskich Wieżowców ; the S7 extension (Warsaw to Grójec) is discussed in minute detail, with over 250 pages - at around 20 posts per page - about the project before the tenders have even been decided. The thread was begun in July 2005, 12 years ago!

I'd say that work on clearing the ground will begin this winter, so all the trees that need to be cut down are out of the way before the spring's okres lęgowy - birds' breeding period. (This is of course on the understanding that the contractors won't be taking forever in the courts.) From then on, my guess is that it'll be 2023 before the S7 extension is open all the way from Węzeł Lotnisko to the northern end of the existing expressway at Głuchów.

The question is - what will open first - Section A of the S7, or the as-yet-no-sign-of viaduct carrying ul. Karczunkowska over the railway line by W-wa Jeziorki station?

UPDATE AUGUST 2022: Section A opens.

This time last year:
Metro Wilanowska redevelopment gets under way
(And first anniversary of the L39 bus route to W-wa Jeziorki)

This time threee years ago:
Local politics, local politician

This time four years ago:
Communication breakdown

This time five years ago:
Getting ready for the opening of Modlin airport

This ten nine years ago:
Maybugs in July - a plague of cockchaffers