This is one of the most important urban developments for downtown Warsaw. The main downtown artery is to be transformed into a green boulevard. A tender for the detailed design of Green Marszalkowska has just been launched.
Humanizing Warsaw
photo: ZDM Warszawa
Warsaw's downtown arteries are largely a picture of urban despair. Large and overscaled "urban highways," with rudimentary bicycle infrastructure and paved streetcar tracks in the middle. Pedestrians are crowded onto narrow sidewalks and even narrower bus stops, with no way to walk freely between sides of the street. The roads are so wide that it is often impossible to cross them in a single cycle of traffic lights at pedestrian crossings. One such runway-like tract is about tochange its face dramatically. The Warsaw Municipal Road Administration has just announced a tender for a detailed design for the reconstruction of two sections of Marszalkowska Street. The project is to be based on the "Green Marszalkowska" concept, developed through public consultation.
Photo: ZDM Warsaw
The New Center of Warsaw is a program aimed at transforming Warsaw's inner city into a comfortable, accessible and green public space. The first effects of this work can already be seen. Jana Pawła II Avenue has undergone reconstruction, where new, even sidewalks, a bicycle path and rows of trees have appeared. Pedestrians have also gained above-ground pedestrian crossings at the traffic circle of the Forty-Year-Old. Reconstruction of the so-called Five Corners Square at the intersection of Chmielna, Krucza and Zgoda has begun. Now it's time for Marszałkowska Street
Rafał Trzaskowski, President of the City of Warsaw.
Two sections to start
photo: Zarząd Zieleni M. St. Warszawy
The tender announced includes two sections of Marszałkowska Street: from Constitution Square to Nowogrodzka Street and from Królewska Street to Bankowy Square. Both will be designed on the basis of the "Green Marszalkowska" concept prepared by the Greenery Board and consulted with residents. It assumes the introduction of much more greenery in the street space. It will appear, among other things, in the dividing strip between the roadways and the tracks. The project will envisage planting trees (where possible) as well as shrubs and hedges in this area. The roadways will have two lanes in each direction, while parking will be designated in the right lane. An island remains between these sections in the form of the Dmowskiego Roundabout. There, work is already underway to introduce above-ground pedestrian crossings and bicycle crossings. Unfortunately, through years of discussion and design changes, the crossings have moved significantly away from the traffic circle's slab and the intersection itself will remain largely inaccessible to pedestrians from roadway level.
New standards for public spaces
photo: ZDM Warsaw
Marszałkowska is to become more accessible primarily to pedestrians and cyclists. A bicycle path separated from the sidewalk on both sides of the roadway will be designated. Additional crosswalks will be created for pedestrians at Żurawia and Wilcza. A provision for a new zebra on the Saska Axis is also planned. Streetcar stops will also be rebuilt, and signaling on the entire street will be set to prioritize public transportation. The project will include detailed and uniform guidelines for the location of food gardens and zones where advertising will be allowed. The sidewalks will be divided into functional zones - with a clear main pedestrian route and an additional zone intended for, among other things, gardens.
Photo: ZDM Warszawa
The designer selected in the tender will have a year to prepare a detailed detailed detailed design. This timetable is expected to allow the reconstruction to begin as early as 2022.
