He called us, the Reader:
The Osiecznica–Rudawica road is open, and the bridges are open. Yet at the motorway exit, toward Świętoszów, the sign is still standing there as plain as day. And it is misleading people. A colleague drove 40 km farther today because he followed the detour.
Similarly, the Reader tells us, there is still a detour sign at the exit from Świętoszów.
As we have established, the detours have no longer been in force for some time. The signage remains because the process of handing over the Osiecznica–Rudawica road has not yet been completed. The contractor is still making minor finishing additions. Nevertheless, the road is passable for everyone.
Let us recall. On Thursday, October 18, a ceremony was held to open the new bridges over the Kwisa in Świętoszów. This is the largest investment in the history of Bolesławiec County. Its cost was nearly PLN 26 million, of which:
- PLN 3 million was provided by Bolesławiec County
- and PLN 1.6 million by Osiecznica Municipality.
The remainder—over PLN 21 million—came from the Regional Operational Programme. “This project was completed 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 municipality capital, Osiecznica. It also brings them closer to the A4 and A18 motorways.”
“This 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 from Świętoszów and the 23rd Silesian Artillery Regiment from Bolesławiec. In the event of exercises or a threat, the military can move along this route very 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 obtaining external funding for the project required both the bridges and the road to be built.
He added that the Ministry of National Defence did not want to support this investment, even though it was clearly crucial for the military.
He then named the people who had made it possible to complete the project. He thanked:
- the late county head Dariusz Kwaśniewski
- Lower Silesian Voivodeship Marshal Cezary Przybylski
- Osiecznica Municipality Head Waldemar Nalazek (“Where the devil cannot go, Head Nalazek will certainly get it done”)
- the then councillors of the Bolesławiec County Council, headed by its chair
- Ewa Rendecka-Woch and Marzena Klementowska from the Investment and Public Procurement Department at 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 CRA
- 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
- construction manager Konrad Zawal
- roadworks manager Radosław Gąsiorek.
“Mostostal Kielce carried out this project particularly efficiently, promising the marshal and us ahead of schedule that it would make the bridge available on September 1, so that children could use it to travel to secondary schools in Bolesławiec,” added Karol Stasik.
Marshal Cezary Przybylski said that county officials realised that only urban counties could independently shoulder 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 region developing most dynamically in the entire European Union. According to Eurostat studies, we rank first in terms of job creation.
The marshal also mentioned that, when he once visited Lubusz with President of the Republic of Poland 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. “That irritated me greatly,” stressed 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. People once called this road and these bridges the gateway to Lower Silesia. Until today, that gateway was shaky 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 exercise. He congratulated the marshal, county head and municipality head on the determination that made an investment of immense importance to the Polish and American armed forces 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 numbers
- bridge load capacity: 50 tonnes according to Polish standards and 150 tonnes according to European standards
- roadway on the bridge: 2 x 3.5 m
- roadway outside the bridge: on curves—7 m, on straight sections—6 m; plus 1.2-m shoulders on both sides
- road length: 22 km.