Pomp and ceremony surround grand opening of Siekierkowski bridge

On Saturday the Warsaw City Council together with President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Leszek Miller opened the largest suspension bridge in Poland, Most Siekierkowski and the 15 kilometer long Trasa Siekierkowska. The entire zl. 1.1 billion investment was paid for by Warsaw's local government and represents the most expensive investment in the history of Polish local government. During construction, the authorities had to deal with hundreds of protests from ecologists and landowners. The final junctions on the bridge's Eastern side should be completed within two years, while the roads from the bridge to the city center have been indefinitely postponed. (Zycie, Sept. 21-22; p. 6) A.Z.