W-wa Jeziorki bus loop opens at last, but...

After three years and half years with a temporary bus loop, W-wa Jeziorki station finally has a new and permanent one. This morning, the first 209 and L39 buses drove right on past the Biedronka access road, to terminate at the new loop. Below: view of the loop from the viaduct; the yellow-and-red 209 at the pick-up point, the blue L39 at the drop-off point. Note the cars parked on the footpath. Another one (out of shot to the left) stands just behind the L39. Within a few minutes a police car was on the scene and parking tickets were being written out.

As I wrote a long while ago, the Achilles' heel of any infrastructure project are the level-access lifts. Not so much installing them, but getting them approved for use. I have seen two groups of hi-vis attired gents strolling round with clipboards, checking out the lifts... one would have thought that by now, they'd be given the OK. But no - the LED panels still say 'SERWIS'. Because the lifts aren't approved, the two bus stops atop the viaduct are not yet operational. Below: the L39 ignores the bus stop bay. So passengers to the station have to go the long way around, with the risk that the extra couple of minutes on the bus might mean missing their train.

Below: there are two routes to the platforms from the bus loop. The official route (top right) and the direct route (bottom). As you can see, the direct route takes you into such deep mud that you won't want to do it ever again. Rack up more steps to catch that train!

The biggest drawback to the new bus loop is that shoppers at the Biedronka supermarket who've made the climate-saving choice of not driving have a harder time to get home with the groceries.

The viaduct was opened on 15 November 2019, nearly three years and three months after the original level crossing on ul. Karczunkowska was closed. I will judge the job done and the work complete once the lifts are working and the rubbish behind the bus loop cleared away.

The old temporary loop had stood, for the past three-and-half years, a mere 150m from the shop. The new one entails having to drag your bags over four times that distance, over the viaduct and down the steps, to the new one. Even once the lifts are deemed safe for use, shoppers wanting to use the bus will have a half-kilometre walk to the nearest bus stop. Google Maps still showing the old loop, the new loop doesn't yet feature (I've alerted Google to this).

There's still no word about whether the 715 bus will be rerouted back along ulica Karczunkowska, or whether it will remain running down ul. Baletowa; ditto for the 737. And word is that the bus loop in Dawidy, completed in May 2017 but still never used, will finally see buses running to it.

I trust the local authorities will tidy up the situation. It's better than it was, though far from optimal.

Below: how it was, the day the old pętla (bus loop) was closed - 14 August 2016.

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