The Kampinos National Park warns about the death of animals on provincial road 579. It indicates that a record number of them died in October. He mentions that the main reason is that drivers ignore the speed limit there.
Provincial road 579 crosses the Kampinos National Park. A lot of animals die there, both small and large. These include moose, deer, wild boars, foxes, badgers, wolves, bats and various species of small birds.
“However, the sight of dead small and medium-sized animals does not attract as much attention as a large moose lying on the roadside – the symbol of the Kampinos National Park,” it was stated in a statement published on the social media of the Kampinos National Park.
“Blackest October”
“October is not over yet, and we already know that this is the darkest October for the Kampinos moose, since we have been recording animals dying on the Kampinos section of route 579,” emphasizes the Kampinos National Park. He adds that there has never been a situation in which as many as five moose died in such a short period of time (from October 4 to October 21) as a result of collisions with cars.
The first incident occurred near Roztoka on October 4. Then the male moose died. It was similar in the same area on October 11 and October 18, near Łubiec. On the same day, a moose calf – łoszak – died between Aleksandrów and Sowia Wola. The last incident was reported on October 21 near Aleksandrów. The male also died there.
“The ban is ignored by some drivers”
The Kampinos National Park emphasizes that the main cause of collisions with wild animals is drivers driving at excessive speeds.
At the same time, it was recalled that the speed limit applies on the entire section of route 579, located inside the park boundaries.
“We have known for a long time that the ban is ignored by some drivers. It is enough to recall the speed measurement analysis carried out by ZaPuszczenia a few months ago in just 3 hours. In such a short measurement time, 2,770 vehicles were recorded entering the designated section. Of these, 2,309 vehicles passed through both time measurement points, which means that they constituted transit traffic (83%). As many as 2,240 drivers exceeded the speed limit,” notes the Kampinos National Park. He adds that an offense was committed every five seconds.
According to the Kampinos National Park, 22 drivers exceeded the speed limit by more than 30 km/h. “This means that such a car appeared on the controlled section every less than 9 minutes,” he explains.
“We still ask ourselves: how many more animals and people must die on this route for drivers to adjust their speed to the restrictions on this section?” – summarized.
At the same time, it was noted that collisions with wild animals can be tragic for both animals and people.
There will be sectional speed measurements
On the provincial road number 579, crossing Kampinoski National Park, sectional speed measurement is to be installed. This is what the residents decided in a vote as part of the Masovian Citizens' Budget. Nearly 2.3 thousand people voted for this project. The cost of the radars and markings was estimated at PLN 1.15 million.
“Sectional speed measurement on DW579 will calm the traffic, creating a 'KPN Shield' on the current 'Guillotine' of the Kampinos National Park,” write the authors of the project, pointing out that the radars will improve the safety of residents and animals.
The speed measurement is to cover “the intensive development area in Leszno (so that local traffic and traffic jams before the intersection do not disturb the measurement cycle)” and Cybulice Małe. As you can read in the project, “such a location of measurement points will allow to take into account the transit traffic appearing on DW579 from Błonie (DW579), Zaborów and Kampinos (DW580) from the south, as well as most of the traffic from the north from the direction of DW579 and from the S7 and DW899 routes, also taking into account the traffic coming from Stare Grochale.
The applicants propose an additional measurement point near the town of Kościnne, approximately 7.5 kilometers from the radars in Leszno, which – in their opinion – will “avoid the phenomenon of two streams of cars (monitored transit and unmonitored local traffic)”.
Will there be pass checking?
In addition to speed control, the authors of the project also want the new system to be equipped with the ability to automatically check passes for the legality of passage of heavy goods vehicles.
“The launch of additional preventive monitoring on DW579 will significantly reduce unauthorized traffic of trucks, which, without appropriate permits, treat this section as a shortcut between the A2 motorway and the S7 expressway,” we read in the project.
Controversial plans for the road
The idea of rebuilding the nearby provincial road 579, a local road connecting villages located in the Kampinos Forest, in such a way that trucks can drive on it is controversial. The concept of the District Office in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki assumes widening and hardening the existing surface, which will allow – as we read in the documentation – “access of heavy vehicles to production plants and warehouses in the district”.
“If the surface of the Kampinos-Górki district road is changed to bituminous, there is a high probability of taking over some of the traffic from the provincial road due to attempts to avoid sectional measurement,” argues Mirosław Markowski, director of the Kampinos National Park. He adds: “the asphalt infrastructure cannot be allowed to 'spread' deep into the National Park.” Director Markowski further points out that “improving the road's passability will pose a serious threat” to animals and plants. “The construction of an asphalt road on the section in question poses a real internal threat to the nature of the Kampinos National Park. Changing the surface will significantly increase transit traffic through the Park,” explains Markowski.
We wrote more about the reconstruction plans at tvnwarszawa.pl.
It has over 38 thousand hectares
The Kampinos National Park, located northwest of the capital, was included on the UNESCO biosphere reserves list in 2000, which only confirms how valuable this area is. The area of KPN is over 38,000 hectares, and almost twice as much area is the protection zone around the park.
– In Polish legislation, a national park is the highest form of protection – says Mirosław Markowski, director of the Kampinos National Park.
Main photo source: Shutterstock – Illustrative photo