Over the past two weeks or so, a new sign has appeared at the bottom end of ulica Dworcowa in Nowe Grobice. This thoroughfare (literally 'station street') runs parallel to the railway line, from Sułkowice station to the DK50, Warsaw's southern ring-road. The last 400m or so of the 1.2km-long road is unasphalted (the asphalt stretches only to the last house along ul. Dworcowa). And this part of the road rises along with the embankment built up on either side of the tracks as it approaches the road bridge. Over the past year, the embankment has been properly shored up against erosion, with geogrid and rock. The work was completed in the autumn.
Below: ATTENTION PRIVATE PROPERTY ENTRY PROHIBITED HIGH EMBANKMENT
I call bullshit on that. This isn't private property - it's a right of way (see further down). And numerous footprints and bicycle tracks in the soft ground suggests that local folk are ignoring this.
The word wstęp - as opposed to wjazd - means all forms of entry. Wjazd would only be a prohibition on vehicular access.
Below: here's ul. Dworcowa, Sułkowice in the distance (and you can just about make out where the asphalt starts). You can also see the embankment to the left.
Left: update from one week later (Saturday 18 Feb) - this sign has appeared at the other end of this stretch, by the asphalt. Taken literally, it would prohibit access to homes. But note - this is a warning triangle, not a prohibiting circular 'no entry' sign. One for the lawyers.
Below: this is as official a map as you can get in Poland - from the gmina (municipality or commune) of Chynów. The DK50, here named ul. Grójecka, cuts through this section, the railway cuts under it, to the right of the railway runs ul. Dworcowa. All the way down to the main road. Right of way is evident - clear and unambiguous.
Click to enlarge (the red circle marks the location of the offending sign).
I am assuming that PKP PLK (the railway infrastructure operator) has placed the sign, as a bit of
dupokrycie ('arse-covering') and
spychotechnika ('buck-passing') measure - should someone fall down the embankment, it's not their fault. So rather in their bureaucratic mind-set, the fact that the alternative for local pedestrians and cyclists are sent on a detour that involves an extra kilometre is not something they've considered. It's not just the distance - it's the fact that it's bloody dangerous. The alternative involves a kilometre of main road (up to the traffic lights) with no pavement,
below. Photo taken on a Sunday where heavy-goods vehicle movement is (technically) prohibited. This stretch of road is infinitely more dangerous for a pedestrian than the trackside path.
Below: same stretch of road on a Saturday; truck after truck after truck. How can walking alongside such traffic be less dangerous than using the path by the railway embankment? PKP PLK doesn't care - it's somebody else's issue.
It has ever been thus. Safety is not a joined-up issue.
Left: Pedestrians cross over the Warsaw-Radom line along the DK50 viaduct, rebuilt last year. There's a proper barrier to protect them against road traffic on one side and a barrier to stop them falling onto the tracks on the other. But before the barrier begins, there's that embankment entirely exposed. But again, if a pedestrian comes off the footpath and tumbles down here - it's not PKP PLK's responsibility.
I can only imagine that the people responsible for placing that sign know damn well that it will be roundly ignored by the locals. It cannot be enforced - unless the railway authorities place
SOKist patrols here. Should I accost one, I'll give them an earful.
What PKP PLK should do of course is to extend a footpath/cyclepath along the last 400m of ul. Dworcowa (pavement or asphalt, with a barrier along one side if they don't think users are careful enough not to go over the edge). A sign banning people from walking or cycling along an existing road has no place here and is unacceptable.
* Cobble - cobblestone = moan. "Havin' a cobble about something." Cockney rhyming slang.
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