We reported on Monday about blocked emergency entrances on the A4 . “Since Friday, everyone travelling on the motorway through Bolesławiec County may feel more threatened,” volunteer firefighters from Nowogrodziec wrote on Facebook.
On Monday, Michał Radoszko, spokesperson for the Wrocław branch of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, explained to us that the road was used not only by vehicles with priority, but also by local residents. He added that the barriers were necessary due to safety requirements.
He pointed out that the barriers installed on the A4 are “quickly removable”. “We use them in most solutions on the A4; this was consulted with the State Fire Service. They are easy to dismantle: you simply drive up, knock out the spikes and lift the barrier,” he stressed.
Robert Brzeziński, spokesperson for the Bolesławiec County Headquarters of the State Fire Service, took a different view: “You have to unscrew 16 bolts. In fact, it is not complicated, but it is certainly time-consuming.”
As it turns out, GDDKiA and the firefighters reached a compromise. On 3 December, we received information from Michał Radoszko that the Wrocław branch of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, “following consultations with the Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service and arrangements with the contractor carrying out work on the motorway section in question, will take additional measures to facilitate the dismantling of barriers at emergency exits.”
“The currently used system of quickly removable bolted barriers will be replaced by a wedge system, which will significantly shorten the operational time of rescue operations. A meeting of GDDKiA representatives was held today [3 December – ed. ‘ii’] at the Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Wrocław, where this type of solution was approved by both parties,” the spokesperson stressed.
He added: “GDDKiA will make every effort to facilitate the work of emergency services on the motorway section in question.”