Small local milestones, Chynów station

The rest of the world goes about its business; Covid looks like it's beginning its third wave (earlier than I'd predicted), but here in Chynów, the Big News is that the level crossing on ulica Wolska is finally open. Last weekend there was still work going on, now it's fully functioning, lights, barriers, pavements, connecting pedestrian crossings, signage - everything. This is the crossing to the south of Chynów station, connecting the village of Widok (behind me) to Chynów.
 

The bells start to clang, the lights start to flash, the barriers fall, and what little traffic there is on a dreary Saturday dusk comes to a halt. As is standard now, there is a three-minute time lag between the barriers coming down and the train actually passing.

Below: here's the old crossing on ul. Wolska, now closed for good. The alignment of the road here pre-dates the old barriers; there was a tight kink in the road designed to slow motorists down ahead of the  tracks. With proper safety equipment, this kink is no longer needed, and Wolska has been straightened out. At last, the road surface is smooth; no longer will I have to stand on the footboards of my motorbike to get around this bumpy stretch.

Below: the changed alignment of the roadway (in yellow). Much has changed since spring, when this satellite photo was taken and uploaded to Google Earth. Ul. Kolejowa is now asphalted all the way south to ul. Spokojna (the next level crossing south of Chynów), the new tracks have been laid right through on both lines, and there's asphalt on the southern section of ul. Spacerowa.

Below: but the new asphalt on ul. Spacerowa is but a foretaste of things to come. At the moment, it goes as far as the top of the rise (on the horizon). Beyond that - Somme-style mud and trenches. But it will change. To the right of this photo, you can see the strip of land purchased from the adjoining orchards that will be turned over to a proper, full-width pavement, allowing inhabitants of Widok to get to Chynów station directly - over 85 years after it was built - with clean shoes. The alternative mud-free route, across the level crossing and up ul. Kolejowa, entails an extra 200m walk.

Below: just as I reach the top of the rise (visible in the photo above), as though by magic, the station lights come on. The brand-new station looks so beautiful! The time: 15:35, 12 minutes after sunset (the year's earliest).

Below: Chynów station, three years ago, before the modernisation works got under way. Compare with the photo above to see how much has changed. Only the original station building (in yellow and brown) remains. Everything else is new. Note the new rails waiting to be relaid on the tracks to the left, and the stockpile of concrete sleepers and ballast in the middle distance - and points for the goods sidings to the right. Photo taken from where the entrance to Platform 2 (the middle one in the photo above) stands now.

Below: once, to get to the single island platform from the west side of the station, passengers had to cross a live track; there was no official exit to the east of the line. Now, the tunnel and its three entrances are finally open, giving local passengers greater safety and, at last, proper access to Jakubowizna that doesn't involve marching over 85m of ballast between live rails and then a scramble over a slippery trench and then another 15m of mud to reach the nearest asphalt.

The opening of this tunnel shaves a minute's walking time off my journey from Chynów station to my działka - more importantly its safer than either trespassing across the tracks or walking the long way round via an unlit and unpaved stretch of ul. Kolejowa. Progress.

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