Having covered Europe, the UK and the world, now a look at my home turf - Jeziorki and Jakubowizna. Here's it's all about investment and progress.
Jeziorki first. The S7 extension (section A) opened from the end of the S79 down to Lesznowola in the summer. A mere six and half kilometres of it. Section B of the extension (Lesznowola - Tarczyn) is expected to open in 2023. It will mean that the S7 will stretch from Warsaw down towards Kraków as far as the border of Małopolska province
The S7 opening has had the entirely expected effect of dumping a mass of traffic down ulica Karczunkowska. Where once cars came in small strings of five or six, reflecting a traffic-light change on the junction with ul. Puławska, there are now endless torrents using this pavement-free road as a connection to Węzeł Zamienie. The new traffic volume means that using this road as a pedestrian when the adjoining fields are covered with snow or are muddy bogs has become almost impossible. We learnt the news this year that finally, a pavement for ul. Karczunkowska has been approved by the local authority. It will be ready in... 2026.
One huge improvement is the opening (at last!) of bus lanes along ul. Puławska. It means that a bus ride from Metro Wilanowska to Kaczunkowska now takes 25 minutes at peak times, rather than the 40+ minutes it would have taken before. Added to this is my newly acquired Senior's Warsaw Card, a mere 50zł (£9.35) for the whole year, which gives me access to all buses, trams, Metro, Koleje Mazowieckie, SKM and WKD trains right out to the borders of Zone 2. Not only can I flop onto any bus anywhere, but I can get to Zalesie Górne on Koleje Mazowieckie trains for free, and pay the 5.72zł over-60s discount fare from Zalesie Górne to Chynów, cutting the price of a round trip into central Warsaw to a mere 11.44zł (£2.15).
With all the new stations including Warka Miasto opened and all the existing stations modernised, the Warsaw-Radom railway line is almost up to speed - the final touch will be the GSM-R mobile communication system for trains; when that's operational, trains will be allowed to speed up to a maximum of 160km/h on the line (current maximum permissible velocity is 120km/h). This, however, is not expected until 2024. Still, things are moving faster - the quickest train between W-wa Jeziorki to Chynów now takes 24 minutes, an improvement over the 31 minutes pre-modernisation.
But things will get worse before they get better... the modernisation of the Warsaw transversal railway line is about to get under way; Warsaw West (W-wa Zachodnia) is still unfinished with much inconvenience to come. Below: Platforms 3 and 4 at Zachodnia are currently disappearing. Platforms 5, 6, 7 and 8 are almost ready. Platform 2 (to the left) working hard right now, serving all east- and westbound local trains.
I get the feeling after 25 years in Poland that the whole country is a continuous work in progress that will never reach closure; something or other always has to be undergoing a remont.
Back to the S7 extension. Stretch B, from Lesznowola to Tarczyn will be open sometime in the first half of 2023, finally connecting Warsaw to Radom and Kielce by expressway, which comes to an end at the border of Małopolska province. And all the way down to Kraków within a few more years.
On the local front, little change in Jakubowizna, other than the bottom end of my street (the bit that's in Chynów) being officially named ulica Owocowa (lit. 'fruity street'), a no-through road sign on the stump of road parallel to the railway line running up the hill, and another medium-tension electricity pylon replaced by a more modern one. A new house is being built on my street, a single-story dwelling. Work started in the summer. Ulica Torowa outside Chynów station now has proper drainage and a new (first) layer of asphalt meaning no more edge-to-edge puddles when it rains. Sadly, the J&B Snack Bar closed for business this summer - the best burgers in the poviat; a new supermarket (a Dino) has opened at the far end of Chynów. Disappointing choice, but cheaper than Top Market.
And more and more orchards being fitted with anti-hailstone netting - a reaction to the increased frequency of extreme-weather events brought about by climate change! Temperature forecast for New Year's Day is +14C.
This time last year:
S2 tunnel under Ursynów opens
This time two years ago:
The first year of Covid-19
This time three years ago:
Last night in Ealing, twenty-teens
[A strangely prophetic post, suitably dream-like in quality]
This time four years ago:
The Day the World Didn't End
This time seven years ago:
Hybrid driving - the verdict
This time nine years ago:
Pitshanger Lane in the sun
This time 13 years ago:
Miserable, grey, wet London
This time 14 years ago:
Parrots in Ealing
This time 15 years ago:
Heathrow to Okęcie
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