Warsaw wants to increase the road safety fund, it is to be supplemented by 164 million zlotys. The money will go to build new roundabouts, traffic lights, and traffic calming elements.
– The current fund for improving road safety will be supplemented with an additional amount of PLN 164 million. The additional funds will be spread over four years – said on Monday the deputy mayor of Warsaw Tomasz Mencina.
The motion in this matter will be considered by councilors at the next session of the Warsaw Council. The capital allocates 30 million zlotys from its budget to improve safety each year.
When councillors accept the budget increase, the funds earmarked for increasing safety will reach PLN 284 million. This money will be used to build new roundabouts, traffic lights, refuges, traffic calming elements and lighting.
“We're halfway there”
– These activities are unprecedentedly methodical and planned, which is possible to a large extent thanks to the pedestrian crossing safety audit. Their effects are also exceptional. The number of road accident victims is definitely lower than the national and EU average and, most importantly, it is still falling – said Łukasz Puchalski, director of the Municipal Roads Authority.
The funds for improving safety on Warsaw roads will be used to build new roundabouts, traffic lights and introduce traffic calming elements. They will cover all pedestrian crossings indicated in the BRD audit as “priority”, i.e. those rated the lowest by auditors.
-We want to achieve this goal by 2028. We are currently halfway there, which means that 170 such locations remain to be rebuilt. We will base changes in each of them on auditors' recommendations and adjust them to specific locations – added Łukasz Puchalski.
To date, the Municipal Roads Authority has implemented 772 such actions at 580 pedestrian crossings. In addition, 2,100 “zebras” have received additional lighting – almost all that required it.
A new division will be created
In addition, from October, a new road safety department will be established at ZDM, which was responsible for the crossing audit. It will be headed by Mikołaj Pienkos from ZDM. The tasks of the new department will include, among others, supervision of the implementation of the new road safety program and traffic organization, continuation of the “Droga na siękę” project (safety near schools) and research and analysis.
The deputy mayor of Warsaw emphasized that the city also cooperates on security with the capital city police. – In the years 2019-2024, over PLN 30 million was allocated from the city budget to support the capital city police. This year, it is over PLN 8 million – he added.
Main image source: ZDM