S2-S79 opens - partially

As of Thursday night, motorists driving eastwards along the newly-opened S2 expressway can proceed a further 5km from Al. Krakowska to Węzeł (junction) Warszawa Południe (Warsaw South), and thence make a 90 degree turn northward, to join the S79 which will take them to Mokotów.

The final 2km-long section of the S2, connecting Węzeł W-wa Poludnie to ul. Puławska, is still unfinished, though this stretch is expected to be ready by the end of this month.

The S2, looking east towards Węzeł W-wa Południe, from Złote Łany bridge.

I must confess to being positively surprised by the sudden spurt of activity. What I saw on my bicycle journey along the S2 and S79 on 11 August offered little hope that the new expressways would be opened sooner than November. In particular the huge canyon that was the Kanał Załuski crossing under the S2 seemed to require months of work to complete - and now here it is, ready, with traffic flowing smoothly over it.

So then. Two cheers. When the S2 reaches Puławska (15 months late), it will stop there; and judging by the poor pace of infrastructure development, I'd be surprised if Warsaw's Southern By-Pass (Południowa Obwodnica Warszawy) actually becomes that - a ring-road allowing east-west transit traffic to skirt the city entirely - much before 2020.

The whole S2-S79 development that I've followed on this blog since January 2009 leaves Warsaw with three stumps going nowhere; the S79 at the southern end (terminating abruptly in a muddy field in Dawidy), the S79 at the northern end (terminating abruptly in front of an office development) and the S2 at the eastern end (terminating abruptly in bushes round the back of a shopping centre car park). As of now, there are no planned dates for commencement of work to drive these roads to their intended destinations.

Today's Gazeta Stoleczna has dedicated a whole page to the absurdities that surround the S2-S79 investment, the unfinished stumps, the 650m-long footbridge on ul. Marynarska to a bus stop that won't be functioning for years, the junction on ul. Wirażowa with traffic lights, zebra crossing, road markings... but no road running off from it. And at the other end, the badly-positioned sign posts that confuse drivers, the badly-synchronised traffic lights, the ill-thought-through lane markings... the usual aftermath of a newly (partially) completed road. It will all fall eventually in place, but when it comes to delivering transport infrastructure, Poland as a state still has much to learn.

Fingers crossed, then, that in a couple of weeks the citizens of Ursynów will wake up and be able to drive all the way to Poznań, Berlin and Lisbon from ul. Puławska without encountering any traffic lights.

This time last year:
Warsaw's second Metro line - progress in jeopardy
[a year on it's still years from completion]

This time three years ago:
Let no one send us to Kielce!

This time five years ago:
World's largest helicopter over Jeziorki

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

The end of the S2 takes shape

Last week as I mentioned the first, seven kilometre-long section of the S2 from Konotopa to Al. Krakowska opened to traffic, 14 months after the original deadline. Today, I cycled along the final stretch of the S2, from Węzeł W-wa Południe (originally known as Węzeł Lotnisko), to the end, beyond Węzeł Puławska. This being the stump of the S2 protruding east of ul. Puławska, a stump awaiting a further push onwards under Ursynów to the Vistula, over it via a new river crossing, then onwards via the Mińsk Maz bypass as the A2 to the Belorusian border. This (we presume) will be built at a similar tempo and to a similar quality to the rest of the S2.

Although the sky was bruising and clouds threatened another downpour, there were plenty of cyclists out along the S2, still a couple of months (at least) ahead of its official opening. Below: looking east towards Puławska, in the foreground a roadsign misleadingly directing drivers straight on to Terespol and the border (wait at least six years for this), or turn right to Sandometer (Sandomierz). A daft destination to put on a roadsign. 'Piaseczno and the South', it should read. Sand City's bigger and much nearer than Sandometer.

Below: the S2 crosses Puławska on the viaduct to the right of this pic (which is looking west this time). To the left, the embankment carrying the Warsaw Metro link line. But what's this? To my huge surprise, a bus stop. This rather suggests that ZTM is planning to run buses along the S2?

Below: is this a hair-pin bend on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit? No, this is the end of the S2. From the left: traffic coming up from Puławska will be merging with traffic from Poznań and Berlin (coming down the second lane from left) while the former traffic heads for Poznań and Berlin (up the third lane from left) and the latter crosses the former, heading for Warsaw (up the fourth lane from left).

Traffic lights will be installed here, which at least will cut down on serious accidents as two heavy streams of traffic merge, but I predict traffic jams stretching back to the airport at peak times. Below: a road-engineer's plan of how things will work east of Puławska. Click to enlarge. If you live south of here, this is how you'll be getting onto the S2 once it opens...

The M25, along which I travelled early last week, is a good object lesson for Warsaw. London's ring-road may be five or even six lanes in each direction - but can be thoroughly clogged. Imagine - six lanes of traffic stationary in each direction - that's what Eddie and I experienced last Monday week heading anti-clockwise between the M40 and M3. And the S2, Warsaw's southern by-pass, is just two lanes in each direction.

How much longer before the S2 opens finally? End of September I doubt, but by mid-autumn, before the first snows, is, I think, doable.

This time last year:

A day in Jewish Kraków

This time three years ago:
Dismal graffiti yields to street art, W-wa Żwirki i Wigury
[Photos for the record only; they were sprayed over by the mindless spray-can morons weeks later]

This time four years ago:
A dove in the house

This time five years ago:
Coming in to land from the east

S2 update

Work on building the S2 Southern Warsaw Bypass (Południowa Obwodnica Warszawy) officially started on 16 September 2009, while preparatory ground-clearing work began early in 2009. The original aim was to have the S2 connecting the A2 motorway (from Berlin) connected up to ul. Puławska by June 2012, in time for the UEFA 2012 football championships. This slipped to August 2012, then to the end of March 2013...

Now a faint memory, the football's come and gone, while the S2 is still a building site, 13 months on. The currently quoted official date for connecting motorway to Puławska is 'this autumn', which means any time up to 20 December. So a mere 18 months of lateness.

In the meanwhile, I had the chance last week to gaze on the Cosmopolitan building (ul. Twarda 2/4) from the 28th floor (of 32) of the Warsaw Financial Center on ul. Emilii Plater, and admire the speed with which this 160m-high tower is nearing completion.

Yesterday evening, the south-bound lanes of Puławska were being closed. The road is being narrowed. This morning two of the three were re-opened, running to the east of the central pillars of the S2's viaduct flying over Puławska. The north-bound carriageway has also been narrowed from three lanes to two. I predict total traffic chaos on Monday morning's rush hour (and evening too). While traffic is noticeably lighter because of the holidays, it's nothing like the two-thirds reduction needed to make this function normally.

The narrowing of Puławska from six lanes to four over the duration of the roadworks has been a nagging nightmare for people living south of here from the past few years. Praise to the builders for having been able to keep all six lanes open for so long. But the work of connecting the S2 to Puławska via four slip-roads means that road-users (and that includes bus passengers and even cyclists) will now face major inconvenience and delay.

How long will this go on for? Can the builders working for Austrian contractor Porr (which took over Teerag-Asdag - the Austrian firm that initially won the contract to build the S2) finish this junction and restore six-lane working by 1 September? And what are the chances of the whole project (including the S79 from Węzeł Lotnisko up to Sasanki) being ready this year?

In the meanwhile, yesterday's Gazeta Stołeczna disclosed that the section of the S2 from the A2 junction at Konotopa and Al. Krakowska is very nearly ready. Not this weekend - maybe next... If so, this will make the road journey from Jeziorki to Łódź much, much more convenient for us. Cutting across along ul. Baletowa via Dawidy and Raszyn to Krakowska, northbound towards town for a short while, then wszmyk! and we're on the S2.

This should be doable by the time Moni returns to Łódź for the autumn term and the start of her third year at film school.

This time last year:
Progress on S2 bypass - photos from the air

This time three years ago:
Up Śnieżnica

This time six years ago:
July continues glum (2007 - a rainy summer)

Poloneza viaduct open: now what?

Well, at last - after waiting since October 2009, ul. Poloneza is officially deemed open. Local traffic no longer has to worry about whether or not barriers will await them as they try to cross. So, from ul. Krasnowolska one can drive onto Poloneza (this section was once called ul. Mazurka), and using the four-lane superhighway cross over the S2 southern Warsaw bypass (still under construction).

Above: looking north up ul. Poloneza - a proud sight indeed. And a turn-off for ul. Gawota (right foreground). But let's turn now through 180 degrees from the same spot (below)... and we see Poloneza as it is for the majority of its length - a narrow, muddy track sporting many edge-to-edge puddles.



Local TV news has picked this story up - good. A typical case of buck-passing. The General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) says it only needed to have built the flyover crossing the new bypass. The district of Ursynów says it has no money in its multi-annual budget to lay some asphalt from the end of the new viaduct to ul. Ludwinowska.



What worries local residents is what will happen when ul. Hołubcowa is inevitably closed to traffic - it currently runs over the track of the new S2 and at some point it must be closed; there is a new viaduct being built over Hołubcowa, but if it will be built at the same tempo as the one over Poloneza, it will be over a year and half before it is officially opened.

The imminent closure of Hołubcowa will condemn local drivers to the hell that is Poloneza - a road that can swallow cars once the muddy season takes hold. The city authorities must take immediate action to lay some tarmac on the 260 metres that separate Ludwinowska and the new viaduct.

Update 13 November:

Gazeta Wyborcza has caught up with the Poloneza story: here. And a short video (after a short ad) showing the daily morning rush hour absurdity, below.

Otworzyli wiadukt donikąd. Kierowcy grzęzną w bagnie

This time four years ago:
To Lepiarzówka, on the Polish-Czech border

This time five years ago:
Its Independence Day

A long time to relieve Piaseczno

The article in today's Gazeta Stołeczna about the timing of Puławska Bis, the new road destined to link Węzeł Lotnisko (the junction of the S79 and S2 at southern end of Okęcie airport) with the S7 at Grójec, makes for depressing reading. The construction of this road would serve to bring blessed relief to the woebegone citizens of Piaseczno for whom the slo-mo grind along Puławska is a twice-daily ordeal. It now looks like they will have to wait until 2018 for this to happen. By which time, property prices in Piaseczno will have fallen to levels similar to those in Radom.

I have taken the liberty of using the map from the article, as it shows clearly what's happening around these parts. The blue roads are the S2 (east-west) and S79 (north-south) and under construction; the red roads are merely plans.

According to the article, there is local pressure for the highways authority (Generalna Dyrekcja Dróg Krzyżowych i Autostrad) to prioritise the building of Puławska Bis between Lotnisko and a new Lesznowola bypass. The populations of Piaszeczno and Lesznowola are expected to increase by 20% in the forthcoming five years.

GDDKiA (informally pronounced 'GDUCKuh') has not ruled out a 'Piaseczno first' variant, with a 2015 end-date. This would, I argue, give a Pareto-style outcome, in which 20% of the total investment spend would bring 80% of the solution. It would hugely relieve congestion on ul. Puławska. It would also massively reduce morning rush-hour traffic rat-running through Jeziorki. As the map shows, there's no alternative to Puławska other than a filigree network of back roads that were never designed to carry high volumes of cars, narrow roads without pavements, or even (in the case of ul. Poloneza) asphalt.

The local movement for an S7 now has a Facebook page (here) to which I will add my support.

The provision of this road will do much to enhance the quality of life of those living to the south of Warsaw, and indeed, those living in the south of Warsaw.

UPDATE MARCH 2023: the S7 is finally open (though with speed restrictions and with junction at Antoninów still not ready). Ten years and four months after this article was published.

This time last year:
New office - first impressions of the location we've just left

This time two years ago:
The topography of dreams

This time three years ago:
A regular interchange

Back to work

The school holidays are over, journey times across town during rush hours return to their usual durations. Transport infrastructure investments continue. Ul. Marszałkowska's central section (from Pl. Zbawiciela to Pl. Bankowy) is closed to trams; and the flooding of the Powiśle Metro station on the second line under construction looks likely to cripple road traffic around the Wisłostrada for months to come.

Meanwhile, work on the 'Elka', the 'L'-shaped road with the S79 dropping down north-south from ul. Sasanki to Węzeł ('junction') Lotnisko ('airport') and the S2 cutting across west to east from the airport junction to Węzeł Puławska is accelerating. The storm water reservoirs for ul. Wirażowa have been filled in and covered by the S79 and the progress on the new railway viaduct at Węzeł Lotnisko is visible. It may not all be ready by Christmas, but by next summer?

Above and below: now that the new viaducts that carry ul. Sasanki over the railway line at W-wa Służewiec have been opened to traffic (the west-bound one is visible to the left), the old viaduct that ran between them is being demolished. Quite a view, especially with the cranes working on the new business district in the background.

Below: now that the new viaducts carrying ul. Sasanki over the railway and what will be the S79 are open, there are new bus stops and new stairways down from them to platform level.

Below: a view from the southbound platform at W-wa Służewiec, looking at the newly opened viaduct on ul. Sasanki. Note the stairways and wheelchair lifts linking the bus stop on the bridge with... with what? There's nothing down here. One day, the S79 will continue northward beyond Sasanki, but for the time being, the S79 will end here, with ramps running onto ul. Marynarska (eastward) and Sasanki (westwards) in both directions. And that 160m-long footbridge (in the distance to the left) also currently goes nowhere.

The early September weather remains most clement; may it remain so, even though the days are getting shorter and shorter and Equinox is a little over two weeks away.

This time last year:
Clinging onto summer - cycling to Powsin

This time two years ago:
Composition in blue and yellow

This time three years ago:
Z-9

This time four years ago:
My favourite aircraft

This time five years ago:
Утомлённые солнцем

Signs of progress along the S2

After returning from our British break, I was curious to see how work along the S2, Warsaw's southern bypass, was progressing. On Friday, I cycled to work along ul. Poloneza. The asphalt on the viaduct is nearly ready; the pavement, cycle path, lighting, ditto. Of course this is all spurious, because the viaduct does not connect up to the tarmacked road network to the south; 240 metres of dirt track separate the viaduct from ul. Ludwinowska. Will the two be joined in the near future? The road builders have erected an earthwork rampart to prevent commuters from taking advantage of the nearly-completed viaduct. For cyclists, there's the minor inconvenience of having to push your bike over the top of this rampart; it is annoying (the viaduct was originally meant to have been ready in December 2010).

Time, then, to see what's happening along ul. Hołubcowa and at the railway viaduct. Let's start at Hołubcowa, the second of two road bridges over the S2 between ul. Puławska and Węzeł Lotnisko. The beams have now all been laid across the supports and now await decking. Knowing how long the bridge carrying ul. Poloneza has taken, I guess it will comfortably be another 12 months before cars can start using this structure.

Above: the viaduct is unusual in that it curves to the left (looking north). The new line of ul. Hołubcowa will not follow the existing one, but swings off towards ul Czempińska. The railway tracks in the foreground lead to the Metro depot and form the only rail link between Warsaw's Metro system and the outside world.

Above: first view from the top. In the distance to the left, we can see work in progress on the railway viaduct, which is being built in situ while the S2 burrows its way under it.

Above: the giant crane that positioned the beams onto the supports. Its reach is immense - it spans the entire width of the expressway. Its work complete, it will soon be gone from here. Now, on to the railway viaduct.

Interestingly, it was only used at nights, when planes were not landing at Okęcie. When extended to full height, it poses a danger to low-flying aircraft.

Below: the first section is ready, and trains are using it. Indeed, all trains passing this point travel over this one single line, both diesel-hauled coal trains and passenger trains on the Warsaw-Radom line.

Below: both north- and southbound tracks on the Warsaw-Radom line have been cut; it seems that the two viaducts will be done together. I'm impressed at the speed the first viaduct was completed, but I fear the complexity of the remaining work (including gouging out the space below for the expressway) might drag on.

Below: a new gantry has been erected to allow electrified traffic to swing across to the coal-train line and use the first completed section of the viaduct.

The scale of the engineering work here is, by Polish standards, complex. Much can go wrong. Yesterday's Gazeta Wyborcza reported that geological samples of the the embankment carrying the S2 between the airport and A2 motorway (Bilfinger Berger's stretch, rather than the bit being built to Puławska by Teerag-Asdag) have show substandard materials and may have to be dug out and replaced - a hideously costly and time-consuming job if indeed this is the case. My earlier estimate of Puławska getting connected to the A2 by Christmas 2013 may prove over-optimistic.

This time last year:
Quiet afternoon in the bazaar

This time two years ago:
The politics of the symbol

This time three years ago:
Warsaw's walls bear witness

Latest aerial photos of S2 progress

A business flight to Gdańsk and back gives me the chance to get some aerial photos of progress (or lack thereof) on the 'Elka' - S79-S2 expressways running to the south-west of Warsaw.

Below: looking along ul. Poloneza, the viaduct to nowhere. Just to the right of the photo, the road peters out into a dirt track. In any case, the city roads department (ZDM) has blocked it off at either end to prevent anyone from using it.

The great big hole in the S2, west of the Poloneza viaduct, has been filled in and asphalted - marks for that. The two junctions at either end, Węzeł Lotnisko and Węzeł Puławska, are far from ready, as I've mentioned recently.

Below: Węzeł Lotnisko, looking west, where the S2 intersects the S79. The southbound carriageways of the latter then stop dead in the middle of a field. No immediate plans to extend.


Left: looking west along the S2 towards Węzeł Puławska, ul. Poloneza in the foreground. It looks as though the main focus of the work is to maintain smooth traffic flow along ul. Puławska; enthusiasm for finishing the job has evaporated.

Below: looking down onto Węzeł Puławska. The prospects of an eastern extension of the S2 in the foreseeable future look bleak.

This time two years ago:
Up Ćwilin

This time three years ago:
Sunset across the tracks, Nowa Iwiczna

This time four years ago:
The storm the forecasters missed

This time five years ago:
Peacocks in the park

Despondency on Puławska

The greatest single impetus to Poland's transport infrastructure is over. What's built is built. I travelled out of Warsaw's Okęcie airport on the new train again today - fantastic it is; frequent departures, brand new rolling stock, informative signage. Gdańsk has a new airport terminal. Warsaw and Kraków are connected via motorways to western Europe.

However, the promised links to the east remain unfinished. There are still no motorways linking Poland's major conurbations with Belarus or Ukraine; Lublin and Białystok still lack international airports as well as motorways to Warsaw, and despite new trains and modernised stations, Poland's rail network is largely deplorable by western standards.

Above: Węzeł Marynarska, where the S79 will join southern Warsaw's existing road network, linking Mokotów to the S2 and onto the A2 at Konotopa. Looking westwards from W-wa Służewiec station. The work here is going on at a rapid pace. There's a huge hole in the ground along the route of the S79 near the airport that needs filling in, but otherwise, I see no major engineering or bureaucratic challenges ahead on this stretch.

Above: this is where things look tougher; Węzeł Puławska (węzeł= 'junction'), where the S2 will one day run over the top of Puławska and onward to the Belarusian border. This is a complex piece of engineering, with a tunnel, roundabout and viaduct all needing to be built, plus slip roads.

Above: the biggest problem, however, is what happens when the junction's built. There are currently no plans to do anything beyond ul. Puławska. In theory, a tunnel needs to dive down under the tower blocks and greenery to the right of this picture to emerge around the Vistula escarpment. Another bridge then needs to take the S2 across the river, and more expressway must then be built to connect the bridge on to the Mińsk Mazowiecki bypass. In practice, budgets are tight, a road above the ground will be fought against by residents. So for the time being - the viaduct being built here will be a classic bridge to nowhere.

Above: a broader perspective. I'm an optimist by nature, but I can't see the S2 being extended eastwards of Puławska for some time to come - barring a successful bid by Poland and Belarus to jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Which does beg the question - why bother building the viaduct at all? Why not end the S2 at Puławska and leave the pillars as monuments to over-ambition?

Puławska is an economically significant artery leading into Warsaw. It needs bus lanes in both directions; ZTM boss Leszek Ruta told me that a bus lane along Puławska will not happen until this junction is complete. This would suggest that commuters living south of here will continue to waste dozens of hours each working week for the foreseeable future.

It is time to call a spade a spade, recognise that taking the S2 over Puławska is an exercise in futility, finish the expressway here, with sliproads, roundabout and tunnel - paint on a bus lane and do it all quickly. And forget about linking Warsaw with our rather nonsensical eastern neighbour.

This time last year:
Stalking the stork

This time two years ago:
Bike ride along the Vistula

This time three years ago:
Late June lightning

Warsaw southern bypass: this time next year?

Assuming you're driving a vehicle weighing less than 3.5 tonnes and are prepared to drive it at speeds below 70kmh/43mph, yes, you can drive from Łódź to Warsaw along a motorway, which was opened in time for the football. But no, the Łódź-Warsaw motorway does not, as yet, connect up with Ursynów, Warsaw's southernmost suburb. How long will we have to wait?

Judging by the picture below - a long time. The S2 expressway, Południowa Obwodnica Warszawy ('Warsaw Southern Bypass') needs to drill its way under the main Warsaw-Radom railway line. Work started recently; since then, two-thirds of one viaduct has been laid (the easy one - the coal train line, without overhead cables). The final third will be slid into place when ready (to the left you can see the trestles on which the viaduct sections were fabricated). Then the soil between the pillars needs to be cleared, and asphalt laid. Repeat for the middle (electrified) line, and again for the westernmost (electrified) line. If this is ready by this time next year, I shall nourish myself upon my headwear.

Below: the future coal train bridge seen from what will one day be a bridge carrying the Radom line over the S2.

While one viaduct is being laid, the railway line that will run over it is diverted onto another line (below). This shot actually is a bit of a trompe d'oeil as the Koleje Mazowieckie train only appears to be on the coal train line; it's swinging around the island platform at W-wa Dawidy station. Nevertheless, three lines are squeezed onto two while the viaducts are under construction.

Below: the view from the current end of the S79, which comes to an abrupt halt south of Węzeł Lotnisko junction (węzeł = 'knot'). Beyond the cabbage fields, Dawidy, Dawidy Bankowe, Zamienie, Zgorzała... and somewhere beyond the DK79 connects Warsaw to Sandomierz and Kraków (the slow way). When will the S79 connect with the DK79 (or S7 Radom-Kielce-Kraków expressway)? It will be years after the S2 southern bypass is ready.

Below: my favourite moan - the viaduct carrying ul. Poloneza over the S2. It was meant to be ready in December 2010. It's still being 'worked' on - five chaps talking it done over tea and sandwiches this morning. A classic road to nowhere; the viaduct peters out in a muddy field and does not connect to ul. Ludwinowska. Why bother building it in the first place?

Below: looking down from Poloneza viaduct onto the S2. Prefabricated sections are lined up, ready to form the viaduct over ul. Puławska. Sometime. Don't hold your breath, Warsaw. Now the football's (almost) finished (just two more matches left at the Stadium Narodowy), there's really no incentive to finish the job. Stretch it out boys, there's no more roadwork once this contract's finished.

Noteworthy is the contrast between traditional acoustic screen (on other side of the expressway) and concrete cylinder wall on this side. Filled with soil, the cylinders will become a natural habitat for greenery and I'm sure that before too long the concrete will disappear under leaf and branch. To me, a better solution that a glass acoustic screen that will soon be covered in graffiti.

This time last year:
Stand Easy! - a short story

This time four years ago:
God Save The Queen - I mean it, Ma'am

This time five years ago:
Legoland, Dawidy Poduchowne

Sunset shots, year's first cycle to work

Now that the clocks have gone forward and there's an hour's extra light in the evening, it's high time to get the bicycle out of the garage and cycle to work. Well, part of the way - too much to do the whole thing in one go, so I let the tram do the bits without cycle paths - Wyścigi to Pl. Konstytucji. 20km is not a bad run for the first ride to work of the year... On the way home, I divert down what will be the Moscow-Berlin expressway (Warsaw's southern bypass). The sun is setting - time for photos. Click to enlarge.

Above: looking towards Berlin, 600km to the west. Below: looking towards Moscow, 1,200km to the east. The same bridge in both photos - the viaduct carrying ul. Poloneza over the S2.

Below: looking westwards along the railway line that connects the Warsaw Metro with the outside world. Note the weird shadow within the lens, reflecting the triangular warning sign upside down just beneath it.

This time last year:
I wake up to more snow

This time two years ago:
Poland's trains ran faster before the war

This time three years ago:
Winter in spring: surely this must be the last snow?

This time four years ago:
Surely THIS must be the last snow?

S2 to Puławska ready this time next year?

It was meant to be so good. Michel Platini announced on 18 April 2007 that Poland and Ukraine will co-host the Euro 2012 football championships, filling me with optimism that this will spur Poland's sluggish transport infrastructure development. With less than 100 days to go before the games kick off, I'm disappointed that things have turned out as usual. While the stadiums are built and working satisfactorily, the road and rail links will not be ready. Deadlines for the opening of Okęcie airport's rail link have come and gone (the last one being 29 February). It's possible that it will be ready in time for the football (indeed rozklad-pkp.pl gives timetables from 1 June onwards).

Certainly the S2 (Południowa Obwodnica Warszawy - Warsaw Southern Bypass) will not be ready. Just look at its state today. The whopping great depression by ul. Oberka, some 200m long, 60m wide and 2-3m deep, needs filling. Below: The roadway is at 108m above sea level. That distant mound of earth is at 104m, the continuation of the roadway is at 106m.

Below: zooming into the gap between two stretches of asphalt. In the distance - the viaduct carrying ul. Poloneza. Still incomplete. On the horizon, the tower blocks of Ursynów - and no plan how to get the S2 under them and onto the Vistula, Minsk Mazowiecki and Moscow beyond.

The expressway needs to be taken under the main Warsaw-Radom railway line (below). Can be done without major disruption to rail services? It's certainly more than three months' work. Pre-fabricated steel bridge structures stand ready, but there's a tunnel that needs to be dun under the tracks. Carry on this way to Berlin.

The viaduct (below) taking ul. Hołubcowa over the expressway needs to be built and completed. If the dismal lack of progress on the parallel viaduct on ul. Poloneza, is anything to go by, it could remain unfinished two years from now.

And the flyover, roundabout and tunnel on Puławska - I can't see that being finished this year. What is certain is that football fans trying to get to Warsaw by road will have a tough time. If the airport station is complete - and if Modlin airport is finished and some kind of a road/rail link established - fine. Railway connections (airports excepted) should be OK with Dworzec Centralny facelifted and W-wa Stadion soon to be opened. Generally, however, count on chaos. So sad.

The first Warsaw match is on 8 June (Poland-Greece); Russia and Czech Republic are also playing in Warsaw.

This time last year:
In praise of blue skies

This time three years ago:
WAM PLUNK BISH BASH ZUNK
(Incidentally, Molesworth fans - Ronald Searle's obituary in the Economist a few weeks ago is a must-read)

This time four years ago:
Four weeks into Lent