The Transfer Center, which has been under construction since 2023, is to be launched in Kuznice at the beginning of the vacations. The investment, which offered prospects for streamlining and regulating the rather chaotic bus traffic in the village, which for many travelers is the first stop on the way to the Tatra peaks, is being completed in a less than ideal atmosphere. What's wrong with the new Transfer Center in Kuznice?
Theidea of building a Transfer Center in Ku znice has been under consideration for a long time. The first information on the subject appeared as early as 2017, when a wide-ranging project to improve transportation between Zakopane Railway Station and Kuźnice , where many of the most popular Tatra trails start, as well as the famous cable car to Kasprowy Wierch, which served more than half a million tourists in 2023 alone, was discussed. Besieged by travelers, Kuznice has been demanding for years to improve and regulate transportation, which is still largely chaotic, with the participation of private carriers. So far, buses have been parked in the disorderly square below Kuznickie Manor, near the lower station of the Kasprowy cable car. The square, overcrowded with small buses, was chaotic, unsafe, and the charm of the space was not added by souvenir and food stalls. Measures to clean up the area were inevitable - and it looks like they are finally coming to an end, after several years since the tender was announced. However, there is not necessarily anything to be happy about, as the Transfer Center is controversial.
Visualization of the Transfer Center in Kuznice
© Zakopane City Hall archives
nice bad beginnings
Krakow-based Urba Architects is responsible for the project to build the Transfer Center in Kuznice. The concept calls for the reconstruction of the square in front of the aforementioned Kuznice Manor and the construction of an Interchange Center located underneath, where all car traffic - in the future mainly city bus transport and cabs- is to be directed. In addition to bus platforms, the investment also includes the creation of a bicycle path leading from Zakopane and a parking lot where bicycles could be left.
rush horses on concrete
The visualizations available on the website of the design bureau showed a view slightly different from the one one one encounters now, driving or walking towards the Kasprowy Wierch railroad. In Urba Architects' materials, viewed from the perspective of Tatra Guides Street, the construction of the lower level of the Center, intended for buses, is largely hidden behind an embankment planted with trees and dense greenery, which visually merges the new building with the Tatra landscape that forms its background. In reality, however, things are somewhat different, there is no trace of the embankment and it seems that even with the best intentions, there would not be enough room for it. And the concrete structure, referred to in the media as a "moloch," looks truly monstrous, obscuring the view of the Tatra Mountains for tourists heading toward the queue. In the visualizations provided by Zakopane City Hall, the embankment is not there, and in its place appeared a lawn with tall trees. Unfortunately, it is also in vain to look for this on the almost finished Transfer Center.
Visualization of the Transfer Center in Kuznice
© UM Zakopane Archive
The upper level of the Kuznice flyover doesn't look much better. Actually, it doesn't look at all, as it is simply an empty square, devoid of shade and any infrastructure. Currently there are only stairs leading to the lower level and the already unveiled monument to the Tatra Couriers. As we learn from the media, benches are yet to appear after the opening. Visualizations assumed the location of a small, but much-needed green patch in the square - the space set aside for this purpose in the latest visualizations turns out to be much smaller than in the materials made available earlier, where there was room even for a tall spruce tree. Currently, one can count on a lawn and a few shrubs. So there was a bustling, chaotic and disorderly square, and instead there will be an empty concrete pan with an unclear function - so it's hard to talk about significant progress.
The new Zakopane authorities also have doubts about the project, and attempts are planned to "salvage" the not necessarily successful investment.
This square we have what we have. It's good that it's there, and I hope it will perform its function well. Logistically for the city and purely practically, I think the square will fulfill its role well," Łukasz Filipowicz, Mayor of Zakopane, told Gazeta Krakowska. - As for the style and aesthetics of the place, I have always thought that the investment is a bit overestimated and a bit oversized. In my humble opinion, this square could be a bit smaller, one that is more intimate and does not necessarily contain so much concrete. [We'll try to beautify it so that the concrete doesn't haunt it, but that's all after the reception and opening. We will try to make it blend in more with the landscape. We will try to develop some kind of plan when it comes to greenery," Filipovich added.
Construction of the Kuznice Transfer Center in 2023 - this is what the Kuznice Transfer Center looked like during construction
Photo: Cybular © Public domain/wikimedia commons
discussion lacking
It is not easy to imagine measures that could repair the damage done by the Center to the landscape and the built-up space around the Kuznice mansion. The idea for a sensible development of the empty, paved square has been absent from the beginning, and filling it with greenery growing in pots is unlikely to improve the situation. Many of those commenting on the investment on the Internet claim that it is too late to complain, and that the project should have been protested earlier. There is a lot of right in these claims, but even already "lost" cases, such as the case of the Kuznetsk Transfer Center just now, should find their place in the debate on space hygiene. Let the Kuznice Transfer Center, therefore, serve as one of many examples of how an irresponsible decision can change a valuable landscape for years.
