He called us: a Reader, who had read in our newspaper an article from the City Hall about the Transport Hub under construction. The man told us that nothing had been consulted with the residents of Chrobrego Street and that—in his opinion—the Bolesławiec authorities mainly care about the Market Square, while the rest of the city is treated as an afterthought.
The Reader had even heard that there had been an option to evict the residents of Chrobrego Street in connection with the Transport Hub.
The man stressed that he was not asking for the investment to be halted; he was merely disappointed that the City Hall had treated the residents “from above”.
Agnieszka Gergont, spokesperson for Bolesławiec City Hall:
The concept does not include the building at 1 Chrobrego Street—there are therefore no plans involving relocation.
We will return to this matter.
Below is the official information about the Transport Hub.
It is worth recalling that Bolesławiec, together with eight other institutions from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia, succeeded in obtaining funding from the European Regional Development Fund under the project “TEN-T passenger transport connections in border regions/TRANS-BORDERS—construction of the Transport Hub in Bolesławiec”.
The City of Bolesławiec received funding to develop the concept and complete design documentation for the construction of the transport hub. In January 2019, an agreement was signed to prepare the design documentation for the Subregional Transport Hub in Bolesławiec. The agreement covers the preparation of design documentation, technical specifications for the execution and acceptance of construction works, and investment cost estimates, as well as obtaining all administrative decisions authorizing the start of construction works and providing author’s supervision during the investment’s implementation.
At the site of the planned transport hub—near the existing railway station—both residents and tourists will be able to change means of transport, such as a train, bus, bicycle (the BROM programme—Bolesławiec City Bike, which allows users to quickly and easily rent a bicycle) or another mode of transport.
An important element in the vicinity of the transport hub is the planned changes concerning, among other things, the traffic layout along B. Chrobrego and T. Kościuszko streets. It is worth noting that the multimodal nature of the investment is intended to limit private car traffic, which will positively affect the environment by reducing air pollution emissions and lowering noise levels.
The convenient location and integrated nature of the transport hub will also contribute to the further economic development of the city and region, particularly at a time when businesses are experiencing a noticeable shortage of workers. It is also worth noting that public bus transport in Bolesławiec is free for all users.
The planned hub is an element of subregional infrastructure that will reduce the inconvenience of changing transport modes to a minimum. The transport hub is an optimal place to concentrate long-distance, including international, passenger traffic—for obvious reasons, this applies to rail passengers, as the PKP railway station is an integral part of the hub, but also to international coach and minibus services whose routes pass through Bolesławiec.
Users of the transport hub will have access to, among other things, car parks, multi-storey car parks, a waiting room, service and office premises, ticket offices, toilets and parking bays.
The design documentation for the Subregional Transport Hub in Bolesławiec is scheduled for completion in January next year.
The project partners are: the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport (Germany)—lead partner; Upper Lusatian Transport Association (Germany); Government of Carinthia, Department 7 (Austria); Carinthia Transport Association (Austria); Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (Poland); City of Bolesławiec (Poland); KORID LK, limited liability company (Czech Republic); Regional Development Agency of the Koroška Region (Slovenia); Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia).
Source of funding: European Regional Development Fund 2014–2020 (Interreg Central Europe programme).