About 26 months separate Krakow residents and tourists from the possibility of crossing between Kazimierz and Ludwinów via a footbridge. The connection for pedestrians and cyclists has raised a number of controversies for years. Is this investment destroying the genius loci, or will it succeed like the Bernatek footbridge?
If the design of the Lewicki&Latak studio were human, it would be just preparing for matriculation. The concept, which won the competition to connect Krakow's Kazimierz and Ludwinów, was selected in 2006. For many years, the city tried several times to start the investment process.
The issue of the footbridge's construction was loudest in 2020, when the then Provincial Conservator of Monuments, Monika Bogdanowska. The negative opinion of the Malopolska Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments was rejected by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage - this opened the possibility to start applying for a construction permit, and the tender was opened.
The footbridge, designed by the office of Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Łatak, is about 130 meters wide and reaches a height of 16 meters at its highest point. It is to connect Inflancki Boulevard between Skawińska and Wietora Streets with Volyn Boulevard. The construction of the footbridge is also intended, the city explains, to increase the use of the Vistula River and the boulevards.
How much does the investment cost? The amount proposed in the tender by the contractor is PLN 113.7 million. More than half of the cost will be financed under the Government's Polish Order Fund: Strategic Investment Program. Work is expected to start soon.
The construction of footbridges is most often advocated by residents, in the case of the case it became quite different - citizens and citizens of Krakow sent an open letter to the President of Krakow.
The discussion about the location of the footbridge is stirring up interest in the
visa. Biuro Projektów Lewicki Łatak | © Zakład Inwestycji Miejskich w Krakowie
do residents not want a footbridge?
As part of the opposition to the construction of the footbridge, the Resolution Initiative Committee "Bulwar to My" was formed, which issued a letter pointing to the cultural value of the landscape with Wawel Castle and the Pauline Monastery on Skałka, as indicated by the revoked opinion of the WUOZ. As the text of the petition reads:
A look at the architectural documentation of the project makes one realize the enormity of the interference in the Boulevard space and is horrified by the amount of concrete that would appear in place of greenery.
From the social side, it is difficult to find a side of support for the project, but it is nevertheless worth considering the positive aspects of the project itself. First of all, it's hard to talk about concretization when 2 trees will be removed, 1 will be replanted, and 8 new plantings will appear instead. The form proposed by Lewicki and Łatak does not correspond only to the Wawel Castle, but also to the Forum Hotel designed by Janusz Ingarden or the Manggha designed by Arata Isozaki, with which the footbridge tries to correspond.
The Kazimierz-Ludwinow footbridge would perhaps require aproper public panel and open discussion, which is difficult to inaugurate the moment after the signing of the contract. The lack of a real exchange of opinions in the discussion in favor of sham activities will remain a salt in the eye of the implementation, despite the interesting project, which could be appreciated with an exchange of opinions.
The footbridge is needed somewhere else
In the discussion about the Kazimierz-Ludwinow footbridge, the topic of another location keeps coming up. Anyone who has lived in the western part of Krakow is well aware of the traffic problems for pedestrians and cyclists posed by the crossing between Salwator and Debniki. The possible crossing of the Vistula River is either on the Dębnicki Bridge near Wawel Castle, or on the Zwierzyniecki Bridge, located a dozen minutes' walk from the Norbertine Convent. This is a part of the city that has been asking for a footbridge for many years, for which we will apparently wait a while yet.
