At the time of its opening, it was the longest road tunnel in Poland. Running under Warsaw's Ursynow district, the S2 expressway has gone underground for 2.3 kilometers. A linear park will be built above it. The Palmett studio's project is expected to begin soon, but for now there is a shortfall of 33 million zlotys.
Scheduled to open in 2020, the S2 route tunnel was opened to drivers on December 20, 2021, due to prolonged acceptance. During the first month after the facility was made available to drivers, more than 1.2 million vehicles used it; more than 660,000 in the direction of Terespol and more than 580,000 in the direction of Poznań. The space freed up by tucking the roadway underground is to become a 2 km long and 100 meters wide linear park. Its construction has been sought by residents for years.
View of the tunnel of the Warsaw Southern Ring Road
photo: Emptywords / Wikimedia Commons
The project is there, what about the budget?
The Warsaw Council in the summer of 2017 set aside 10 million zlotys to prepare the investment. Two years later, local media reported on the lack of action on the matter and agreements between the Warsaw Greenery Board and the General Directorate of National Roads and Highways, the investor of the bypass. Eventually the organizational obstacles were overcome, and the Palmett studio was commissioned to prepare a design for the park. The design is now nearing completion, but this does not mean that the park will definitely be built.
Visualization of the park
photo: Palmett / ZZW
Additional funds are needed to complete the full scope of the investment. The entire investment will be carried out with city funds. Currently, PLN 11 million is allocated in the budget for construction and gardening works. To realize them to their full extent, another PLN 33 million is needed. Whether the funds will be allocated will be decided at the next session of the Warsaw Council. With the completion of the design work, ZZW is simultaneously preparing documents for a tender for construction work. Announcement of the proceedings is planned for later this quarter.
Promenade linking Ursynów
Visualization of the park
photo: Palmett / ZZW
If the additional funds are awarded and everything goes according to officials' plans, the park will be open for use in 2025. About a thousand trees, more than 100,000 shrubs, climbers, perennials and ornamental grasses will be planted on 10 hectares of land above the ring road. There will be a new layout of sidewalks and walking paths—the main element will be a promenade running the entire length of the park. A recreation area will be designated and a wooden terrace planned over the rain garden.
ecological corridor
The area along Plaskowicka Street is an important ecological corridor of all-city importance. It connects the area of the Warsaw Escarpment with the Kabacki Forest and the AK Cichociemnych Spadochroniarzy AK Park. Particularly noteworthy are the booths designed in it. These are nature-inspired, irregular groups of trees and shrubs of native species with natural functions. A system of rain gardens has been provided for rational rainwater management.
diverse character
Visualization of the park
photo: Palmett / ZZW
The entire project covers the area along F. Plaskowicka Street, from Pileckiego Street to Nowoursynowska Street. Each of the six sections of the park is to have a slightly different character. There will be squares, a vast clearing, a fountain, a garden of senses or a picnic space with orchards. The first works are to cover the central sections of the park. In these areas, work would begin later this year. Sections 4 and 5 are scheduled for 2024, and 2025.—the marginal sections.
community dialogue
Visualization of the park
Photo: Palmett / ZZW
The construction and detailed design of the linear park was developed by the Palmett team on the basis of the architectural and urban design concept developed in the 2016 public consultation by the team of the PROINWESTYCJA design and consulting office led by Katarzyna Lowicka.
Visualization of the park
Photo: Palmett / ZZW
