Sunny holiday local check-up

 Ah! The sun is out and I want some... Time for a walk to benefit from autumnal rays, and while conditions allow, to take a peek at how the S7 extension is getting on south of Zamienie. I see, looking at past years (bottom, marked with asterisks), that the national holiday celebrating Poland's regained independence is a good opportunity for photographing progress of local road-building.

Folk were out in force cycling, jogging and walking hither and yon all over the building site, with their children and their dogs - and work was still going on! Not at the usual frenetic pace, but from time to time a dumper truck would roar past. Despite the public holiday, work was very much in progress today.

Below: the new footbridge over the S7 extension will be the only pedestrian link between Zamienie and Dawidy Bankowe to the west, and Zgorzała and Jeziorki to the east. It's taking an inordinately long time compared to the pace of work elsewhere. The new road bridge, some 500m further north (just beyond the warehouse), takes four lanes of motor traffic but has no pavement. Bastards. The top end of the S7 can only be crossed on foot in three places: the tunnel along ul. Baletowa nearly two kilometres away to the north, this viaduct; and then the next one, a kilometre and half to the south, for cars and pedestrians. Entirely insufficient. Communities will end up being split in half.

Below: my first view from that new viaduct which links the two sides of Nowa Wola. Looking south towards Lesznowola

Below: looking north from the same viaduct, note the marked sweep of the S7 as it weaves between Zgorzała (to the right) and Zamienie (to the left on the horizon). Note the service roads on either side of the expressway, and the drainage ditches between the services road and the S7 itself.

Below: Ursynów rises on the horizon on this telephoto shot that shows both the footbridge and the distant cars-only viaduct crossing the S7. Note the posts for the acoustic screens that will muffle the worst of the noise from the residents of Zgorzała.

Below: steps link the service roads on both sides of the S7 to the viaduct carrying the local road. Turf has been laid, rather than waiting for grass seeds to germinate.

Below: a shot taken on Monday evening, looking north towards Warsaw's skyline, from where the slip-road from węzeł (junction) Zamienie joins the northbound carriageway. Note the 'Turdis' to the left (the flashing light on the roof was from a truck passing in the background).

I leave the S7 and head back to Jeziorki via the fields between Nowa Wola and Zgorzała, before crossing the railway line. This area is one huge expanse of housing developments, being built up at tremendous speed. I've just looked at Google Earth imagery from February this year - already out of date.

Below: I don't wanna house that looks like that! End-terrace on the border of Zgorzała and Nowa Wola. Architecturally dismal. People have now moved in. A car or two with every house. Traffic will get worse.

Below: this wasn't here last time I passed by... from behind a field of maize appears yet another new development; the land between Zgorzała, Mysiadło, Nowa Iwiczna and Nowa Wola is rapidly filling up with houses and flats. Despite this frenzy of house-building (around 15 estates in total), access roads remain limited to two muddy tracks (ul. Gogolińska south of Warsaw's border, and ul. Przepiórki), and two asphalted roads to the south (ul. Kielecka and ul. Dzikiej Róży).

Below: looking east along Rów Jeziorki ('Jeziorki Ditch'), the line of silver birches demarcating the southern boundary of Warsaw. To the right, beyond the rushes, a potato field. Beyond that - newly built rows of terraced houses.

Below: looking south along ul. Gogolińska, one of just four access roads to the sprawl of development mentioned above. No asphalt - must be a river mud after a week's rain. Potholes merely filled with gravel. Another new building is appearing - fortunately, this is designated for shops and restaurants - sorely needed by the locals.

Below: "Grass triumphs, and I must say, I'm rather glad." The last line of John Betjeman's Metro-land, expressing his satisfaction that the Metropolitan Railway's plans to extend suburbia all the way out to rural Buckinghamshire failed. This is where the PiS government's flagship social-housing project, announced in October 2017, was to have been built, filling this field with flats for 8,000 people. Word was in May that it would not happen; indeed, on the Mieszkanie Plus website, there's no mention of a project for Jeziorki. All mentions of it have been deleted.

This time last year:
Zamienie is changing*

This time three years ago:
Thoughts on the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence

This time four years ago:
Globalisation in retreat

This time eight years ago:
Leeds, a city made uglier by crooked developers

This time nine years ago:
Węzeł Lotnisko (now Węzeł W-wa Południe) - works continue*

This time 14 years ago:
Its Independence Day