A reader wrote to our editorial office on behalf of the residents of Kraszewskiego Street, which is under renovation. Two days ago, a female reader also called to describe the difficulties faced daily by residents travelling along the street. The woman stressed that she was concerned about the lack of progress on the work and the absence of workers at the construction site. She also said that she had intervened in the matter at the City Hall. That same evening, she called again to inform us that work had begun and workers had appeared in the street.
In describing the residents’ problems connected with the reconstruction of the street, the reader also raised the issue of the lack of parking along it. In an email to the editorial office, he wrote:
On behalf of the residents of Kraszewskiego Street (…) I am asking you to bring our problem to media attention. On our street (…) between numbers 36 and 66, the water supply and sewage systems are being reconstructed around the roundabout. The matter is so troubling that our problems began as soon as the reconstruction started. The workers dug up the street, throwing soil right and left, leaving no possibility for pedestrians to pass freely—not to mention residents with small children travelling with prams (…).
What is more, no worker has been seen for two days, and in the middle of the roundabout there is a huge excavation; (…) piles of soil have covered the pavements, limiting access to the houses by 90 percent. The street area has turned into one enormous swamp of mud and clay. Nothing is being done here. The green area (where people used to receive parking tickets) now looks like a vast wasteland. Not a patch of grass can be seen. The children’s swing has been wrecked. (…). There is no chance of leaving the roundabout with clean shoes—disgraceful. The mayor apologises to residents for the inconvenience, but in reality has no idea how the company is working. MZGK cannot reach the area to collect waste, and sorting rubbish is also impossible—unless residents carry their rubbish through the mud to the front of the roundabout.
Another issue. Our Mayor did not take into account the designation of parking spaces, as has been done on the nearby Traugutta, Miodowa and Brzozowa estates, where parking spaces were designated for residents. On our roundabout, the road is only wide enough for one car, which means that two cars cannot pass each other, so parking on the street is hardly possible. Parking a car on the pavement obstructs pedestrians. The question (…) is: where are we supposed to park our cars? Why are there car parks on other estate roundabouts, while there is none—and will be none—on ours? Our requests to the city authorities to create parking spaces receive a negative response. And if we park as we did before on the supposed green strip (which has not existed for years), they will install bollards to prevent us from parking.
In response to residents’ complaints, Agnieszka Gergont, the city’s spokesperson, said that the road renovation on Kraszewskiego Street was time-consuming and complicated because it involved replacing the water supply and sewage networks, together with installing new connections to buildings, replacing street lighting and laying a new surface.
As the road is relatively long—approximately 596 metres—and its final section is a dead end, the work will be carried out in four stages to minimise disruption.
The first stage has begun and, according to the investor’s promises, is to be completed by the end of November this year. The work will be carried out so that after each section of pipeline several metres long is completed, the excavations will immediately be backfilled in layers, with the soil compacted. The street will then be hardened—it will have a compacted crushed-stone surface—until next year, when asphalt will be laid.
The entire investment on Kraszewskiego Street is scheduled for completion on 30 April 2013. The contractor is Budromax. The reconstruction of Kraszewskiego Street is co-financed by PWiK w Bolesławcu Sp. z o. o., the owner of the water and sewage network. The value of the works is PLN 1,282,782. On behalf of the City Hall, the spokesperson apologises for any inconvenience and disruption connected with the renovation.
(information: ii)