Smooth rolling A2
Years of slogging across the country by the crumbling road network led lawyer Magda Połacik to conclude: "Driving has turned into a torture-but there's no other way round it."
But for motorists negotiating the Poznań area, all this is about to change.
To a fanfare of fireworks, Polish rally ace and some-time TV hunk Krzysztof Hołowczyc headed the motorized cavalcade that officially opened a 50 km stretch of the A2 Wielkopolska Freeway (WF) between Poznań and Nowy Tomyśl last week.
His gleaming red Porsche preceded a charge of thousands of cars and trucks, who thanks to the generosity of the highway's owners, are being allowed to travel for nearly a week before road tolls come into force.
The new section forms part of a 150 km stretch offering Poland's battling drivers an alternative to the hours of queues that have to be negotiated in Poznań's congested center.
Now drivers taking the cross-country route will save a whopping two hours travel time between Konin and Nowy Tomyśl.
For a charge of zł.11 car drivers will be allowed to roar down the two-lane carriageway at a maximum of 130 km an hour (81 miles an hour). The less speedy tractor-trailer operator faces a zł.42 toll. (WF chiefs say they may even reduce their charges if the state lowers the zł.450-500 billion in taxes the company has to pay each year.)
But motorists were not the only travelers on the minds of the Wielkopolska Freeway's civil engineers.
The A2 boasts two specially constructed animal crossings-giant, grassed concrete bridges that allow farmers to herd their sheep and cattle over the roadway. And the requirements of smaller members of the animal kingdom have made an impression, too. Road builders constructed a network of tunnels at the foot of the hard shoulder designed to help the hapless frog hop from one side to the other.
And the next step? Engineers are hoping to extend their pothole-free path, reaching the German border by October 2007.
To motorists like Magda this can't come soon enough: "It'll make visiting Poznań a pleasure. Now all I'll have to watch out for are the other drivers."
But for motorists negotiating the Poznań area, all this is about to change.
To a fanfare of fireworks, Polish rally ace and some-time TV hunk Krzysztof Hołowczyc headed the motorized cavalcade that officially opened a 50 km stretch of the A2 Wielkopolska Freeway (WF) between Poznań and Nowy Tomyśl last week.
His gleaming red Porsche preceded a charge of thousands of cars and trucks, who thanks to the generosity of the highway's owners, are being allowed to travel for nearly a week before road tolls come into force.
The new section forms part of a 150 km stretch offering Poland's battling drivers an alternative to the hours of queues that have to be negotiated in Poznań's congested center.
Now drivers taking the cross-country route will save a whopping two hours travel time between Konin and Nowy Tomyśl.
For a charge of zł.11 car drivers will be allowed to roar down the two-lane carriageway at a maximum of 130 km an hour (81 miles an hour). The less speedy tractor-trailer operator faces a zł.42 toll. (WF chiefs say they may even reduce their charges if the state lowers the zł.450-500 billion in taxes the company has to pay each year.)
But motorists were not the only travelers on the minds of the Wielkopolska Freeway's civil engineers.
The A2 boasts two specially constructed animal crossings-giant, grassed concrete bridges that allow farmers to herd their sheep and cattle over the roadway. And the requirements of smaller members of the animal kingdom have made an impression, too. Road builders constructed a network of tunnels at the foot of the hard shoulder designed to help the hapless frog hop from one side to the other.
And the next step? Engineers are hoping to extend their pothole-free path, reaching the German border by October 2007.
To motorists like Magda this can't come soon enough: "It'll make visiting Poznań a pleasure. Now all I'll have to watch out for are the other drivers."
