Along the airport's eastern and southern perimeters

I set off from W-wa Okęcie station, where the footbridge has been finally been opened all the way. At last it allows pedestrian access from the platform to ul. Narkiewicza, crossing the tracks, crossing six lanes of the S79 and five lanes of ul. Wirażowa. The footbridge is over a quarter of a kilometre long. It has four wheelchair lifts, of which one (along with a set of stairs) serves a bus stop that has never been opened on Wirażowa. Anyway, at last this footbridge stretching all the way, getting to the station with dry feet from the bus the stop in a civilised way is now possible (remember this? Same place, March 2012. Polska w ruinie, panie!)

One of the collateral pieces of infrastructure built alongside the S79 expressway was the new, re-aligned ul. Wirażowa, wider and straighter. Below: the old Wirażowa still remains as an unconnected stump, used by plane spotters to park close to the end of Runway 15. Hard to imagine that just a few years ago this narrow asphalt strip let trucks and buses reach the busy Cargo Terminal.

In between the old ul. Wirażowa and the perimeter fence is an abandoned part of the airport; it's not sealed off, you can stroll right in and look round. Below: one of the old buildings. They are locked and inaccessible.

I proceed further south along ul. Wirażowa, passing a stand usually used by cargo planes. I was last here in early winter; these new viewing ports (below) had not yet been installed. They are great! Just the right size and height - and there's a rubber rest inside to lay your long lenses on. A boon to spotters, it would be good to see more along the perimeter fence.

Interestingly, when the NATO leaders were in town, the viewing ports were closed for the duration. In any case, people were not allowed nearer than five metres from the fence.Below: a shot taken through the port, an ATR 42 belonging to Czech airline CSA.

The policy of being helpful to plane spotters - of whom there are more and more - is beneficial to security, because genuine spotters will be aware of suspicious goings-on around the perimeter, and are likely to alert the authorities.

Below: I spotted this falcon perched on a lighting rig by the cargo stand. The falcons are trained to attack birds that fly across the airport, thereby constituting a bird-strike hazard. There used to be a loudspeaker at the lower end of the airport emitting distress calls of birds, but it seems no longer to be in use.

Further south along the perimeter, there are no more viewing ports. I took the photo below standing on several concrete slabs that someone had placed here for a better view - more are needed to see over the barbed wire! Just to the right of the shot (if you click to enlarge), you can see the bridge taking ul. Złote Łany over the S2.

Between the airport's southern perimeter and the S2 is a four metre-high wall serving as an sound barrier. The purpose of this is entirely questionable - is it to keep the expressway noise from the airport, or airport noise from the expressway? The wall is built of concrete rings, filled with earth that have over the few years sprouted plentiful greenery - much easier on the eye than those acoustic screens that are the norm for the rest of the S2.

Below: photo taken from Dawidy looking across towards the airport, with a LOT Embraer ERJ-170 and the bridge on ul. Złote Łany ('Golden Wheatfields Street').

This time last year:
Polska w ruinie
[starting off at the same places as this post!]

This time three years ago:
Penrhos - a bit of North Wales that's forever Poland

This time four years ago:
On motivation - and being motivated

Out of the Third and into the Fourth

End September, early autumn. Morning spent working from home, late afternoon time to walk and catch some sun and sunset. It's getting cooler and cooler. By tomorrow morning the temperature will have fallen to 5C. We are being abandoned by the sun as, bored with us, it drifts south. Darkness and cold will march in to fill the void.

We've had equinox, equilux, and the first three quarters of this year have passed. A fine, hot, dry summer. Today the onset of autumn feels like it's arrived. Below: W-wa Dawidy at ul. Baletowa.

Below: a LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner, SP-LRB, takes off from Runway 15 at Okęcie airport - wind's in the south-east.

Below: the RE8 przyspieszony to Skarzysko Kamienna. This train does not stop at W-wa Dawidy or W-wa Jeziorki. The service stops short of Radom, a bus takes passengers from Lesiów to Radom, from where a train takes passengers on to their final destination. Over three hours journey time.

Sun is setting in the west; to the north, Warsaw's skyline is changing, below. Warsaw Spire gets closer to completion. Within a few years, four or five new towers will rise up around that part of Wola as Warsaw's central business district moves west.

Below: looking east along the S2 in the direction of Ursynów. The bridge over it is carrying the railway line that links Warsaw's Metro to the outside world.

Below: the sun sets under the bridge carrying ul. Hołubcowa over the S2. The Metro's rail link in the foreground. This line is very rarely used - the occasional draisine is all I've ever seen on this track. Having said that - every single piece of rolling stock running on Warsaw's Metro - lines M1 and M2 - has passed over these lines.

Below: in the foreground, the rail bridge carrying the Metro link (which has pedestrian walkways on either side). Beyond, the S2 expressway, Warsaw's uncompleted southern bypass, which peters out a few hundred metres to the east. Underneath, ul. Puławska.

Third Quarter ends and year-to-date stats are due: 2.94 million paces walked since 1 January (up from 2.75 million paces in Q1-3 2014). Average daily paces: 10,778. Last year - a mere 10,095. Average weekly alcohol intake 25.7 units (down from 29.2 units for same period last year) where 21 units is safe drinking and dangerous starts at 50 units per week. New for 2015 - daily fresh fruit and veg intake - average is 4.4 portions a day (five being recommended). Remember - if you don't measure it, you can't manage it!

This time last year:
Inverted reflections

This time two years:
Observations from London's WC1
and Observations from the City of London

This time four years ago:
Civilising Jeziorki's wetlands

This time five years ago:
Warsaw's Aleje Jerozolimskie

This time six years ago:
Melancholy autumn mood in Łazienki

This time seven years ago:
Autumn gold, Zamienie

This time eight years ago:
Flamenco Sketches - Seville

End to end: cycle ride along unopened S2 and S79

Lovely weather, no one on site, time then to go further than I did yesterday - time to cycle as far as I can along the S2 from Puławska right up to Węzeł Al. Krakowska. Traffic is now using the S2, from Konotopa where it branches off from the A2 motorway. The final section to be opened (in this phase) is that from Węzeł (junction) Al. Krakowska through to Węzeł Puławska via Węzeł W-wa Południe (or W-wa Lotnisko as it was originally known). I cycled this, and then swung along the S79 past the airport to its northern end - and back again to the S79's southern end.

So then - the best photos from my 36km bike ride today...

Looking eastwards at Ursynów. The viaduct in the middle distance is the one carrying ul. Poloneza over the S2. Blocks in the background on ul. Pileckiego.

Looking down onto the S2 from the S79; this is the infamous wanna ('bath') that runs under the railway line to Radom and the S79 expressway. At last, it is nearing completion. However, no east-west passage anywhere around here for pedestrians or cyclists. 

Why the S2 will not be opened by the end of next month - not so much the Grand Canal as the Grand Canyon. A 100-plus metre gap that needs to be spanned and asphalted, plus all the usual infrastructure. 'PZM' = Przejście dla Zwierząt Małych  ('crossing for small animals'); this small tunnel is located over the canal itself.

The S2 westbound approaching Al. Krakowska. Get in the right-hand lanes to turn off towards Ochota and the city centre. Lovely to see such beautiful infrastructure in use by nothing but bicycles! 

Finally, in the distance, traffic is coming off the S2 to join Al. Krakowska. On the other carriageway (to the right), cars joining the S2 can now drive west without encountering traffic lights until they reach Lisbon.

Recently (partially) opened, the slip-road from the airport now offers a link to and from ul. Marynarska. Note orange cross through the south-bound directions (to Sandometer).

Looking south along the S79 from the airport slip-road. To the left, an SKM train waits at W-wa Okęcie station. Note the footbridge that stops short of connecting the station platforms.

The flooded moat outside the Tsarist-era Fort Zbarz, visible from the cycle-path that runs alongside ul. Wirażowa once it's passed the airport slip-road. Wirażowa lies parallel to the S79, carrying (very) local traffic.

The view looking northwards along the S79 from the slip-road connecting the airport to the expressway. Crossed-out roadsign suggests one day this road will take you to Ursus. You have a long wait before that day.

The northern end of the S79, ending abruptly in front of an earth rampart, beyond which is ul. 1 Sierpnia. One day, the S79 will run northward of here; by what route and by when is still mucho misterioso.

Much road-building equipment is parked under the new viaducts on ul. Marynarska. Work here is reaching and end too, although there was hardly anything going on today.

South of Węzeł W-wa Południe, the S79 is about to come to an end. Despite the fact that no further work will be seen beyond here for several years, there's full lighting and barriers right to the end.

As though an earthquake has abruptly sliced the motorway - the southern end of the S2 stops dead in a muddy field. 

This time last year:
Kraks and back in a day by train

This time two years ago:
Fountains by the New Town

This time three years ago:
Old-School Saska Kępa

This time four years ago:
The land, the light

This time five years ago:
Rainbow over Jeziorki

This time six years ago:
Previously in Portmeirion

Shedding light on an unused road

It will be some time before the Elka finally opens, from Marynarska down to Węzeł Lotnisko and across to Puławska, with the connection from Węzeł Lotnisko across to the A2 motorway. There's much to be done on all four of the Elka's junctions (though Węzeł Okęcie is very nearly ready). Road-watchers reckon that some time in the late spring of 2013 the S79-S2 ('L'-shaped road, hence the Polish name) will be opened to traffic.

Still, that's no reason why not to spend money illuminating all this fine tarmac. Below: view from the recently opened footbridge spanning the S79 and ul. Wirażowa, that links the bus stop on ul. Narkiewicza with a footpath leading to W-wa Okęcie station. Dozens of lights switched on; towards the end of next month, they'll be burning 16 hours each day!

Below: view of the footbridge from W-wa Okęcie station. Note pile of soil in the foreground, left over from the construction work.

Below: looking down the steps that lead down from the footbridge to ul. Wirażowa and a new bus stop. What buses will run here I don't know (will the 148 and 306 be re-routed once the whole new road network finally opens?). Note EU-standard wheelchair lifts in pics below and above. The motorway builders and PKP didn't get their act together; the footbridge falls short of the station platform, necessitating a march across the railway tracks to get there.

Below: view from  the end of the platform at W-wa Okęcie. I'm resting my elbows on the handrails of the pedestrian crossing for this long exposure. The new lights of the S79 have different colour temperature from the lighting used by the railway.

Gazeta Wyborcza picked up on this story after I posted the top photo on the S2-S79 forum on Skyscraper City*. It transpires that the costs of keeping the lights switched on at night on an unopened motorway will be borne by the general contractor, Porr.

* The Polish Skyscraper City forum, you will notice, is the most active in the world in terms of people viewing and number of posts.

This time last year:
S2-S79 Elka from the air (there was still talk of it opening in time for Euro 2012!)

This time two years ago:
Fish and chips in Warsaw

This time three years ago:
Spirit of place - anomalous familiarity moments