A reader who contacted us about the issue of the narrowing and traffic-calming devices on Wojska Polskiego Avenue wrote:
I ask the editorial team to address the issue of the road narrowings on Wojska Polskiego Street, which the road authority installed several months ago. On a straight road where two cars would normally pass each other, narrowings have been introduced which, as can be seen in the attached video, often lead to dangerous manoeuvres by inexperienced drivers or those driving by habit – like the taxi driver in the video.
The installed road signs clearly indicate that on the narrowed section, priority belongs to the driver travelling “from below” along Wojska Polskiego Street. Drivers coming from above, from Żeromskiego Street, have a sign informing them that the oncoming driver has priority. As you can see, not everyone follows this rule – that is another problem.
In general – what was the purpose and intention of the people who introduced these road markings, which instead of making traffic flow more smoothly make driving more difficult? What do readers think about it?
Indeed, the road signs at this narrowing clearly indicate that priority is given to drivers travelling towards the military unit (road sign D5, priority on a narrowed section of the road).
We reported on the traffic-calming devices on Wojska Polskiego on the istotne.pl website last autumn. At that time, part of the road was closed to traffic. The reason? Many drivers failed to obey the speed limit sign of 40 km/h treating the street like a racetrack. Readers raised the alarm about this.
In autumn 2023, new road markings appeared on both sides of the road, for drivers travelling in both directions.
Also in the autumn, we asked the head of the District Roads Authority Paweł Bednarski about the change to the road markings at this location. He replied that the aim was to “calm traffic”.
How do you assess the changes to the road markings introduced several months ago? Vote in the poll: