In August this year, a new traffic arrangement was introduced in the area of Wybickiego, Drzymały, Opitza and Brody streets, and three of them became one-way streets. Not everyone liked the change. On Wednesday, 12 October, councillors from the City Council’s Infrastructure, Spatial Planning and Construction Committee met with residents of Komuny Paryskiej Street and representatives of Piwnica Paryska restaurant and Hotel Ambasada. The councillor representing this district—the head of the Forum club—did not take part in the site inspection: Dariusz Filistyński. “I am not ignoring anyone,” D. Filistyński tells “ii”. “I am a cemetery administrator, and we have a great deal of work. I had to stay at work that day. But afterwards I called the committee chair, Dariusz Mucha. I firmly stress that I dealt with this matter as far as I could. I conducted some reconnaissance. I asked most of the residents of Brody Street, as well as representatives of institutions, the kindergarten, the Forest District and the school. I asked people on Opitza and Drzymały streets. Everyone was satisfied with the new traffic arrangement.”
Ul. Opitza powinna być jedno- czy dwukierunkowa?
Moreover, the councillor filed an interpellation on the matter during the September session of the Bolesławiec City Council. It stated that the owner of Piwnica Paryska and hotel guests wanted the no-entry sign on Opitza Street moved so that “convenient access to the Hotel Ambasada car park for hotel and restaurant guests from Komuny Paryskiej Street” would be possible. The letter from the entrepreneur on that street, received by Councillor Filistyński, included a list with more than 120 signatures. “You know what my relations with Piwnica Paryska are like. For years I have fought for normality and for the night-time quiet to be maintained there. Despite this, I filed the interpellation because this person is also one of my voters, although a former rival,” explains the head of the Forum club.
Mayor Piotr Roman referred to the aforementioned list of signatures during the September City Council meeting. He counted that it included signatures from people living on other streets (Narutowicza, Asnyka, Garncarska, Spokojna, Starzyńskiego and Bobrowa), from other cities (Szczecin), and even from other countries (Spain). (Councillor D. Filistyński told us that there were only around 10–12 signatures from Opitza residents.)
“Generally, the point is to be able to drive 10 metres against the direction of traffic on Opitza Street in order to reach the hotel’s rear facilities,” P. Roman said during the City Council session. He added: “This traffic arrangement change proceeded very calmly; we had feared much more serious protests. Besides, in many cities—I stay in various hotels in Poland and abroad quite often—access to hotels is fairly complicated. In Cottbus, I had to drive 1.5 km around the hotel to enter the underground garage.”
“If I were in the position of the owner of this restaurant, I would simply put up better signs directing people to the garage, because if someone drives along Wybickiego Street and turns onto Opitza, they do not add even 50 metres to their journey,” the mayor continued. “Are we supposed to change the entire layout, which was developed with great difficulty over several years, for one person?! There is another problem there. Quite recently, a woman came to me who complained bitterly about what happens around this establishment in the evening and at night. The owner should take care of that. In normal Europe, in the normal world, such a person would lose their licence to sell alcohol. Besides, I do not believe that this affects the number of customers or turnover in any way.”
What is more, back in July the Bolesławiec City Council Office received a letter from the County Police Headquarters concerning a proposal to place a supplementary plate under the no-entry sign on Opitza reading “Except access to Hotel Ambasada”. Traffic police officers wrote that the department, “guided by safety considerations, does not support applying such a solution.”
“At present, Opitza Street has one-way traffic,” states Agnieszka Gergont, spokesperson for Bolesławiec City Hall. “We already consulted this issue in 2008. There are many institutions there, and until August drivers had to pass each other alternately, stopping to let an oncoming car through. There was no chance whatsoever for two buses to pass each other. Now traffic is certainly flowing more smoothly.”
Will the city office consider the entrepreneur’s request from Komuny Paryskiej Street? “First, we are waiting for the opinion of the Infrastructure, Spatial Planning and Construction Committee,” added A. Gergont. We were unable to contact Councillor Dariusz Mucha.
What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion and encourage you to take part in our poll. We will return to the topic.