Cracow. ZDMK improves dangerous bicycle rides with asphalt overlays

Krakow officials started removing faults in places where the bicycle path intersects with the street. These are differences in levels of several centimeters between the bicycle paths and the part of the road on which two-wheeler users can safely cross to the other side.

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Cyclists have been arguing for a long time that this type of inequality is not only uncomfortable and dangerous, but also inconsistent with applicable bicycle standards. These “cycling standards” – or more correctly, “technical standards for the cycling infrastructure of the City of Krakow” – are defined by regulation of the Mayor of Krakow. All municipal units must comply with them in new investments. The document specifies, for example, the width of the bicycle path and how bicycle paths are constructed.

A similar problem occurs at the junction of sidewalks and streets, where Krakow's road builders have been leaving a few-centimeter curb for years, which makes it difficult for people in wheelchairs and children on bicycles or scooters to move around. In many European cities, at every pedestrian crossing, the sidewalk descends to street level without any drop. But no changes will happen quickly here, because thousands of intersections would have to be covered with asphalt.

The problem appears in places that were designed before the rules for creating bicycle infrastructure were tightened – they are compliant with the old standards, but not with the new ones. This concerns the provision that “no faults greater than 0.4 cm are allowed at the junction of the bicycle path and the public road.”

– There are no longer the problems with new bicycle routes that we observe with the existing ones. Designers plan the infrastructure so that there is no significant difference in levels between the bicycle path and the road. A project with faults would not be agreed upon in the bicycle audit now – explained Marcin Dumnicki from the Kraków City of Bicycles association in an interview with tvn24.pl.

Some activists accuse city officials of improving existing bicycle paths to eliminate gaps very slowly. To such an extent that in the summer an informal group called the Nocny Zarząd Dróg Rowerowych “improved” the crossings on its own, guerrilla-style adding asphalt ramps at the curbs.

Officials from the Road Administration of the City of Krakow (ZDMK), which is already quite formal, called the activists' action illegal and could “lead to the crumbling of the asphalt, which in turn poses a threat when the fragments end up under the wheels of cars.”

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Initially, officials wanted to improve crossings… by grinding the curbs with an angle grinder. They tested the idea on al. Daszyński, and then abandoned them. – For grinding to bring good results, it must penetrate the pavement and road very deeply. This is not always possible, and the effect was not very good. It turned out that people praised the “partisan” asphalt overlays made by the informal Night Cycle Roads Authority. Driving on such overlays is simply smooth – said Marcin Dumnicki.

So the officials reached an agreement with the cyclists, to some extent adopting the “guerrilla” method of the night group, but in a more professional version. The fact that the first bicycle rides have already been smoothed out was announced on social media by bicycle expert Jarek Tarański, creator of the Velo Małopolska fanpage.

“The Road Management Board of the City of Krakow (…) finally started to correct faults at bicycle crossings that do not comply with the standards. After consultations with the social side of the so-called 'cycling team', ZDMK declared that several important crossings would be 'smoothed' by the end of October this year, and this was actually done “- wrote Tarański, showing photos of the corrected crossings. Asphalt overlays appeared, among others, on the Zwierzyniecki Bridge and at the intersections of al. Focha from ul. Kałuża and Armii Krajowej and Przybyszewskiego streets.

“From my impressions, driving on them is much more comfortable now, without having to look under the front wheel and the curb gutter, leaving attention to what is happening around us,” commented the author of the entry.

Krzysztof Wojdowski from the Roads Authority of the City of Krakow, when asked about bicycle rides inconsistent with bicycle standards, replied that “there are no bicycle paths being built in Krakow that would be inconsistent with applicable standards.”

– The problem is that due to various procedures, the investment process is very long. For example, the bicycle path along the Łagiewnicka Route was created during the construction of this route, so all documents were processed at a time when other bicycle standards were in force, different from the current ones – explained Wojdowski. – But there are faults after renovations that do not comply with the standards, as in the case of the crossing at the intersection of ul. Prandota et al. November 29 – Jarek Tarański answers him.

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The Łagiewnicka route was opened in 2022. When it was designed, the standards from 2004 were in force. The new document came into force in 2018, when construction had already started.

– Where possible and does not require major adjustments, changes are made at the construction stage to make the road more cyclist-friendly. As for existing crossings, we and the cyclists came to the conclusion that we will remove curbs where it is technically possible – said Wojdowski. This includes: to ensure that during heavy rain, due to asphalt ramps, water does not spill onto the road but avoids the obstacle.

– These smoothing measures are being implemented too late. ZDMK should comply with bicycle standards basically from 2018 – emphasized Jarek Tarański in an interview with tvn24.pl. – It took officials eight years to level, for example, the longitudinal fault near the ICE Kraków congress center, and it was only done under pressure from the social side, the bicycle team established a few months ago. Unfortunately, there are more such dangerous places, Tarański emphasized.

The ZDMK representative emphasized that 15 locations have been identified where the crossings will be rebuilt by the end of this year. Most of it has already been done. But that's not all.

– We appeal to ZDMK to first deal with the list of several dozen journeys that was created during the Citizens' Budget. They were reported by cyclists, so the road authorities should take them into account – emphasized Marcin Dumnicki.

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There are at least 80 such journeys – not only those reported under the participatory budget. for crossings along Lipska, Monte Cassino, Warszawska streets or in the area of ​​Czyżyńskiego roundabout.

– We will apply to the city budget for next year for several million zlotys for such renovations. It all depends on what resources we have at our disposal, said Krzysztof Wojdowski.

It is possible that next year's budget – prepared for the first time by the administration of the new president Aleksander Miszalski (KO) – will turn out to be exceptionally generous for cyclists. In July, Miszalski established a task team to set directions for the development of bicycle infrastructure in Krakow. The president himself commutes to work by bike – he also often showed up with his bike during the election campaign.