On one side there are allotment gardens, on the other there are blocks of the Dolna-Piaseczyńska estate built in the 1960s. The authorities of Mokotów want a road to be built on a narrow, green area to relieve traffic jams on Dolna Street. A large group of residents is against it.
The idea is not new. The concept of building Noworacławicka Street dates back to the previous century. Already then, Warsaw residents were discussing a two-lane street connecting Grójecka with Trasa Siekierkowska. It was supposed to cross Puławska street below, in a tunnel. The tunnel even appeared in the development plan for the Puławska-Racławicka intersection area. The plan dates back to 2006 and was modified in 2007.
In the same year, the city issued a decision to determine the location of Noworacławicka. However, it did not include the tunnel, and only concerned the connection of Dolna near Ludowa with Sobieski near Beethoven. That was it.
The scale of investment has also changed compared to the concept from years ago. In the past, construction of a four-lane monster right under the windows was considered. Ultimately, officials approved a more modest plan with one two-way road. In 2017, construction work was started seriously. The district announced a tender for the project contractor. One company applied. The initial design was made, but ended up in a drawer. Tax changes of the second PiS government and then the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cuts in the city's investment budget, and Noworacławicka also dropped from the list.
Noworacławicka – single carriageway, two-way
Recently, however, the idea of construction has returned, and what's more, it has gained the approval of the majority of district councilors. – On October 15, Mokotów councilors reported the construction of Noworacławicka to the district budget for next year. The council accepted the proposal – Tomasz Keller, spokesman for the Mokotów City Hall, informed us.
The office representative explained that the street was designed as a single-lane, two-way road with a width of seven meters. In the area of the intersections with Jana III Sobieskiego, Piaseczyńska and Dolna, additional traffic lanes for separate turns, three meters wide, would be created. Additionally, the investment would include the creation of two-and-a-half-meter-wide bicycle paths on both sides, two-meter-wide sidewalks, and two parking lots parallel to the road: one between Kostrzewskiego and Piaseczyńska, and the other between Piaseczyńska and Dolna.
Recreation areas and allotment gardens are at risk
We are talking about the Noworacławicka street project with Jacek Grzeszak, a Mokotów councilor from Miasto Jest Nasze, who is against the construction. – The environmental and social cost of this investment is completely disproportionate to the communication benefits – he says.
As the councilor points out, in recent years, among others: Thanks to the efforts of the residents of Konduktorska Street, a recreation area was created in the area directly adjacent to the road construction reserve. – The area around the pond has been tidied up. Alleys and benches were created. Currently, it looks like a city park, not a neglected and forgotten by everyone greenery. In the summer season, a lot of children come here because of the large playground, the only one in the estate – describes the councilor.
Grzeszak also draws attention to another advantage of this area. – There is a basin under the Warsaw Escarpment where groundwater is shallow. In summer, during the heatwave, it is noticeably cooler here, he explains.
Our interlocutor also indicates that the construction of the road would result in the liquidation of approximately 60 allotment gardens. – The approach to ROD (family allotment gardens – ed.) has changed dramatically since the pandemic. Many young people bought plots. They are angry that the idea of building a road keeps coming back – says councilor Grzeszak.
He raises one more argument. – Noworacławicka is to be designed as a class G road. Even if it is a single carriageway, the reserve of land for its construction must be three times larger. These are the regulations, our interlocutor notes.
The street is to connect Dolny and Górny Mokotów
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
Source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl
They don't want transit under their windows. Petition to the city hall
The mobilization of residents opposed to the road is high. A petition was created, the authors of which call for “the complete removal of this concept from the city's planning documents.” “In return, the reserve area of the road from Piaseczyńska to Dolna may serve as a park (…). On the Piaseczyńska – Sobieskiego section, instead of a road, we request that the current function of the green plot be maintained, which was requested by allotment holders during the General Plan consultations,” the petition said. .
The authors of the petition to the capital city hall indicate that Noworacławicka will not solve the problem of traffic jams in the area. “The bottleneck in the form of the passage through Skarpa ul. Dolna will remain unchanged (and the small number of crossings through Skarpa is the main source of traffic jams in our district), while the new street being built will encourage drivers in transit traffic to drive under our windows, instead of alternative routes east- west. We will have busy streets – not only in front of, but also behind our houses,” we read in the residents' petition.
So far, the road has not been built due to lack of money. – Whether the money for the road will ultimately be found will depend on the city council, because the budget of Mokotów is an annex to the budget of the entire Warsaw – concludes Tomasz Keller.
The budget session of the Warsaw Council will be held on December 15.
Author: Dariusz Gałązka
Source: tvnwarszawa.pl
Main photo source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl