On Thursday, 18 October, the new bridges over the Kwisa in Świętoszów were officially opened. This is the largest investment in the history of Bolesławiec County. It cost nearly PLN 26 million, of which:
- PLN 3 million was provided by Bolesławiec County
- and PLN 1.6 million by Osiecznica municipality.
The remainder—more than PLN 21 million—came from the Regional Operational Programme. “The completion of this project was possible thanks to cooperation between three local governments: Bolesławiec County, Osiecznica municipality and the Lower Silesian Voivodeship,” said Bolesławiec County head Karol Stasik. “This is an important investment for the residents of Świętoszów. Building this road and these bridges brings Świętoszów closer to the county capital, Bolesławiec, and the municipal capital, Osiecznica. It also brings it closer to the A4 and A18 motorways.
“It is also an important investment for the military,” the county head continued. “There are two units in the county belonging to the Black Division: the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade in Świętoszów and the 23rd Silesian Artillery Regiment in Bolesławiec. In the event of exercises or a threat, the military can move through here extremely quickly.”
“This is a key location,” said Lt. Krzysztof Gonera from the press section of the 11th Armoured Cavalry Division in Żagań. “It will shorten the travel time for soldiers from various parts of Poland to the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade.”
In his speech, K. Stasik mentioned the difficulties connected with this investment that local-government officials, including previous Bolesławiec county heads, had struggled with for years. He recalled that the condition for obtaining external funding for the project was to build both the bridges and the road.
He added that the Ministry of National Defence had not wanted to support this investment, despite its key importance to the military.
He then named the people who had made the project possible and thanked:
- the late county head Dariusz Kwaśniewski
- Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Cezary Przybylski
- Osiecznica municipality head Waldemar Nalazek (“Where the devil cannot manage, head Nalazek certainly will”)
- the then councillors of the Bolesławiec County Council, led by its chair
- Ewa Rendecka-Woch and Marzena Klementowska from the Investment and Public Procurement Department of the County Office
- Roman Palczewski and Anatoliusz Koper, former heads of the County Roads Authority
- Paweł Bednarski and Tadeusz Prochownik, the current heads of the County Roads Authority
- Maria Szydłak, the county treasurer
- Magdalena Bednarska-Wajerowska from UMWD
- the authors of the design documentation: Przemysław Marczak and Barbara Kosmacz
- the consortium of companies Sudeckie Przedsiębiorstwo Robót Drogowych and Mostostal Kielce
- SPRB president Ewa Meller-Wypych
- Mostostal president Krzysztof Rusiecki
- site manager Konrad Zawal
- roadworks manager Radosław Gąsiorek.
“Mostostal Kielce carried out this project particularly efficiently. In advance, it promised the marshal and us that it would make the bridge available on 1 September so that children could use it to travel to secondary schools in Bolesławiec,” Karol Stasik added.
Marshal Cezary Przybylski said that county officials had been aware that only cities with county rights could independently take on an investment of this scale.
C. Przybylski:
When I became marshal, I decided that Lower Silesia—as one of the few voivodeships in Poland—would also focus on local roads. This idea proved very good because it contributed to the development of Lower Silesia. And it will continue to do so. Our voivodeship is the fastest-developing region in the entire European Union. According to Eurostat research, we rank first when it comes to job creation.
The marshal also mentioned that when he once visited Lubusz Voivodeship with Polish President Bronisław Komorowski, several MPs from the then head of state's circle approached him. They suggested that Świętoszów should be incorporated into Lubusz Voivodeship because it was poorly connected with Lower Silesia. “This annoyed me greatly,” emphasized the head of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. “I said then that this bridge would be built. And it was.”
Waldemar Nalazek:
This is a very important investment for the entire region. This road and these bridges were once described as the gateway to the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Until today, that gateway had been unstable and very narrow. Now it is wide open.
The head of the Black Division, Major General Stanisław Czosnek, thanked the planners, investors and contractors for ensuring that he did not have to change the plans for the Borsuk-18 exercises. He congratulated the marshal, county head and municipality head on the determination that had made an investment of vital importance to the Polish and American militaries a reality.
The ceremony was hosted by Katarzyna Biegasiewicz-Mularczyk, press spokesperson for the County Office in Bolesławiec, and Mariusz Lickiewicz from the County Roads Authority. The bridge was blessed by the chaplain of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade.
The Osiecznica–Rudawica road and bridges in figures
- bridge load capacity: 50 tonnes under the Polish standard and 150 tonnes under the European standard
- road on the bridge: 2 x 3.5 m
- road outside the bridge: 7 m on curves, 6 m on straight sections; plus 1.2-m shoulders on both sides
- road length: 22 km.
The aforementioned road will also be officially accepted soon. The contractor is still making minor cosmetic finishing touches.