Lockdown strolls around S7 roadworks

I'm missing Lent! Yesterday I drank a whole bottle of Primitivo, ate duck and pork sausage (no sugar though), and as every day, set off in the early evening for my constitutional 10,000 paces. Over the past 47 days, there's been no regular photo updates from the manor, so here are some of the better ones.

Big news from Jeziorki is that work on the S7 extension from Grójec to the airport is underway; contractor Pol-Aqua is getting on with it. Heavy plant moving earth (tippers, bulldozers, graders) are operated by one man, so little infection risk as long as everyone takes hand-washing and social distancing seriously. In the last few weeks, the service road running to the east of the S7's path has been coming along.

Below: the sub-base has been covered with ballast. In the distance, the Action warehouse; the S7 will run to the left of it, as we look south. Dawidy behind us, Dawidy Bankowe to the right, Jeziorki to the right.

Below: the end of the S79. The stump running south of the junction (Węzeł Lotnisko) is where the S7 will meet it. During the seven years since the S2/S79 junction was opened, those street lamps you can see have been burning every single night, illuminating asphalt used by no one. Bikers often come here to burn rubber on this unused stretch of expressway. As I approached this scene from Dawidy on Easter Saturday, I could here their engines screaming. Yet by the time I got within sight of the S79 stump, the noise had gone - now I could see why. The police had turned up. In the foreground, the service road, to the west of the S7 here, is coming on, ballast laid here as well.

Two days earlier, on my twilight walk, I could make out what I thought was smoke from stubble-burning across the tracks (below). It turned out not to be - this was the aftermath of the ballast being laid onto the sub-base of the service road. The dust takes a long time to settle!

The day before, the Pol-Aqua guys were hard at work preparing the ground. No danger of spreading viruses sitting one to a cab! In the background the LogMaster warehouse on ulica Baletowa (which will not be demolished; it will sit right at the eastern edge of the expressway).

Dawidy. On ul. Baletowa, a number of buildings have already been demolished to make way for the S7. I counted 25 that will gave to go. Below: one standing, two gone. A 737 bus on its way to the cemetery at Antoninów passes, almost empty.

Below: this is where the S79 currently ends, and where the new contract to build the S7 begins. It will run parallel to the railway line for a short while before curving southwestward.

Left: I have superimposed the map of the S7 extension from jakdojade.pl onto the satellite photo from Google Earth. This shows exactly where the S7 will go as it passes between Dawidy and Jeziorki and Zamienie and Zgorzała. It includes the service roads, on-ramps and exits and other infrastructure associated with the project. The S79 stump is right at the very top.


Below: the other end of my 'manor' (i.e. a reasonable stroll from home, everything on the map above). Beyond Zgorzała, looking south towards Nowa Wola on the horizon. The S7 will cut across ul. Krasićkiego, go on through Lesznowola, then southwestwards on to Grójec, to connect with the existing S7. A lot of work to go!

Left: the new road slices through farmland and meadow, splitting Zgorzała from Zamienie. Just like the A40 Western Avenue has split communities for good as it sliced through Perivale in the 1930s, the S7 will change the local geography and spirit of place in a negative way. Though an improvement for drivers heading south out of Warsaw. Local farmers seem determined to get as much crop in as they can, despite the roadworks.


Below: looking north-east from Zamienie towards Ursynów, south of ul. Dawidowska. Just across Dawidowska will be a major road junction, creating extra traffic for ul. Karczunkowska. A 737 bus travels empty towards the cemetery at Antoninów.

The pandemic will certainly slow down work, but it is encouraging to see that where a job can be done without people coming into close contact with other people, it is being done.

Past references to the S7 extension: Dawidy, July 2018 and Dawidy, Zgorzała, Zamienie, July 2017
In both cases, I was expecting work to begin the follow spring - I was wrong.

This time last year:
Construction updates

This time eight years ago:
Pigeon infestation by Dworzec Centralny

This time 11 years ago:
Magnolia in bloom, Ealing