Transport and tribulations
WBJ's Michał Pakulniewicz sits down with the Mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, to discuss their progress, and find out whether Warsaw will have a more modern transportation infrastructure for fans flocking to the city for the Euro 2012 soccer championships
Michał Pakulniewicz: The need for the planned second subway line has greatly increased since Poland won the right to host the Euro 2012 soccer championships. When is construction on the second line expected to start?
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz: For the time being we are concentrating on building the central part of the line from Rondo Daszyńskiego to the stadium [currently the 10th Anniversary Stadium, and site of the future National Stadium] or perhaps even to Wileński Station. This part must be completed before 2012. We have already announced a tender and around 10 companies have submitted offers. So far we have completed the first stage, but the tender itself might take some time, especially if complaints against it are submitted.
Companies building the Warsaw Metro have threatened to stop work unless they receive zł.70 million from the city. What is your stand on this?
This is a dangerous trend - threatening to stop work if more money is not forthcoming. I understand that the cost of labor and construction materials have gone up, but when they signed the contract the companies were aware of market risks. Of course, we are negotiating with the companies. Completion of the first subway line is planned for Q3 of 2008 and I think this is a realistic target.
Warsaw desperately needs a ring road, but a tender for it has not yet been called. When can residents expect progress on this issue?
Warsaw is to have three ring roads, the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways [GDDKiA] is responsible for the outer one and we, the City Hall, will deal with the two inner ones. In 2008 we will carry out a tender for the Wiatraczna-Zabraniecka part of the City Center ring road [on the Praga side of Warsaw] as well as a tender for the technical study of the segment between Rondo Radosława and Trasa Łazienkowska. In the same year, a tender for the technical study for the second ring road will be carried out.
When will the market which currently occupies the 10th Anniversary Stadium be removed? Can we expect the stall holders to leave the stadium soon?
We treat our obligations towards preparations for Euro 2012 seriously and we treat the stall holders in the same manner. We have proposed that the stall holders move to a location on ul. Marywilska in the Białołęka district. The majority of them have agreed to this. However, we have to improve the transport infrastructure there to make it more accessible. I must add that this part of Warsaw has good connections with the north and east of the country, which could benefit the stall holders. The state owns the stadium and the government extended the stall holders' contract to September 30. From this date on it is the government's duty to make sure they leave the stadium.
How do you plan to improve transportation within the city - especially from the large, new housing estates currently being built, like Miasteczko Wilanów?
In Wilanów we are planning Al. Rzeczpospolitej, which will be an extension of ul. Sobieskiego. Ul. Płaskowickiej from Ursynów will also be extended to Wilanów. We are also planning to build a tram line on ul. Sobieskiego. Also, two transport providers will introduce 100 new vehicles to Warsaw's streets and they will serve the new estates or places with insufficient transport connections.
The Plac Defilad area at the Palace of Culture could become a new landmark for Warsaw. When will Varsovians finally see some buildings there?
We want to introduce a few changes to the latest plan [which envisaged low-rise buildings around the Palace of Culture]. We want to allow high-rise buildings to be built on the ul. Emilii Plater side. We want these buildings to at least partly cover the Palace of Culture so that it won't dominate the skyline the way it does now. We will have lower buildings on the ul. Marszałkowska side, so they match Domy Centrum on the opposite side of the street. On the Al. Jerozolimskie side we plan medium-height buildings.
The Marcpol building [one of the two markets on Pl. Defilad] will be dismantled by the end of 2008. We are still negotiating with the stall holders in the other market, on the site where the Museum of Modern Art is to be built. It is important that negotiations are completed before construction of the Museum of Modern Art or the second subway line is scheduled to begin.
A lot of investment has been going to places like Wrocław and Kraków in recent years. How do you plan to put Warsaw back in the spotlight in terms of investment?
Zoning plans are the most important issue. We are intensifying work on this and by the end of this year we plan to have 20 percent of Warsaw zoned, in comparison to the current level of 16 percent. Next year we want 30 percent of Warsaw to be zoned. We are particularly focusing on parts of the city which suffer from the most serious lack of plans, like the Wola district.
We are also working on a three-year plan of selling investment plots. These plots will be used primarily for housing construction. This year we intend to sell 127 plots, while in 2008-2009 we plan to sell over 300 plots. We want to sell plots that are included in the zoning plans, because it increases their value and is also safer for the investor. Zoning plans are key to the growth of investments.
