An urbanizing, much-needed but long-delayed reconstruction will begin in the center of Poznań. An important tramway shortcut in the north-south axis will be created, and the important Ratajczaka Street will be transformed into a friendly urban highway. Residents, however, are afraid of the mess and poor organization of the work, typical of downtown. They also point to weaknesses in the project.
The redevelopment of much of Poznań's downtown ended last June. This first stage of the so-called Downtown Project came out not badly(we wrote about it in great detail in June), although with many shortcomings and mistakes that could have been easily avoided. It would have been enough to better organize the design and construction work, and - last but not least - to have a real dialogue with residents. In addition, construction work was carried out extremely sloppily and protractedly (contractor: Terlan/Tormel consortium). The redevelopment initiated by the 2015 urban planning and architectural competition (winner: Studio ADS) ended up several years behind the original intentions of the previous decade.
streetcar for the first time
It's not over, however. The first preparations for the reconstruction of Ratajczaka Street, which has been announced for several years, are now beginning in the field. This is a thoroughfare adjacent to the already transformed part of downtown. It leads from the very center of the center, past the Stary Browar, toward the historic Wilda district. A new streetcar route will be built from scratch on this important street. It will be a significant traffic shortcut that will allow streetcars to run efficiently through the center on a north-south axis.
Reconstruction of Ratajczaka Street in Poznań - illustrative visualization - stop of the new streetcar route at Stary Browar
source: www.poznan.pl
Ratajczaka street in Poznań - intersection with Kościuszki street, visible makeshift traffic circle, which calmed traffic in this place, in the background - Stary Browar - western entrance
photo: Jakub Głaz
There will also be significant functional and aesthetic changes on Ratajczaka . The pavements will make reference to the already transformed parts of the downtown as part of the first stage of the Downtown Project. Lanterns in the form of simple slender pylons and small architecture will also be the same. The number of parking spaces will decrease. There will be an increase in low greenery. The issue of trees, on the other hand, is problematic. There will be 36 new plane trees, but 38 existing trees will disappear (they will be replanted and - in part - cut down). Officials say that - with food gardens and new flower beds - the street will become a "green avenue."
Reconstruction of Ratajczaka Street in Poznań - overview visualization - northern part of the street closer to St. Martin's Street
Source: www.poznan.pl
As part of the reconstruction, the entire underground infrastructure will be replaced, and on the surface, on the permanently narrowed roadways, vehicular traffic will be calmed down (a residential zone on the section enclosed by tenement houses between Ogrodowa and Święty Marcin streets with a barrier-free surface). This will consolidate and deepen the pedestrian and traffic calming changes made in prototyping mode (roadway painting, makeshift traffic circle) several years ago. Cyclists will gain roads and bicycle lanes of the real kind. On the other hand, the square at the intersection with Taczaka Street will be authenticated with a uniform darker pavement. For years it was an overscaled intersection, as unsightly and unfriendly as the whole street. Now it has a chance to become a meeting place and will provide a link between Taczaka Street and the Apollo Passage.
Ratajczaka Street in Poznań - intersection with Taczaka Street, visible street painting after temporary changes and traffic calming
photo: Jakub Glaz
Ratajczaka street in Poznań - intersection with Taczaka street (on the right out of the frame), eventually the whole space is to gain a uniform surface and turn into a full-fledged square
photo: Jakub Głaz
an even denser junction
The very busy, complicated and voluminous intersection at the southern exit of Ratajczaka Street, separating downtown from Wilda (the intersection of Królowej Jadwigi, Wierzbięcice, Niezłomnych, Matyi and al. Niepodległości). Two streetcar tracks of the new route will join the dense puzzle of lanes, turns and turnouts. These will connect to the tracks on Wierzbięcice and Królowej Jadwigi streets. In addition, and this is also a significant novelty, there will finally be convenient above-ground pedestrian crossings instead of the tunnels built half a century ago. New streetcar stops are planned near the Old Brewery, the University Library and on the Wilderness side of the interchange.
Reconstruction of Ratajczaka Street in Poznań - visualization - Ratajczaka/Niezłomnych/Królowej Jadwigi/Matyi/Niepodłegłości interchange, visible new pedestrian crossings duplicating existing tunnels
Source: www.poznan.pl
The exit of Niezłomnych Street in Poznań - view from the north of the traffic interchange at the intersection with Niepodległości Avenue, Matya and Królowej Jadwigi streets, the Nowy Rynek complex is visible (designed from left: medusa Group, JEMS Architekci, Macieków Pracownia Projektowa)
photo: Jakub Głaz
The project is being carried out for the City - as usual in the case of such projects - by the company Poznańskie Inwestycje Miejskie. The contract engineer, Sweco, has already been selected. A tender is underway to select a contractor (the deadline for submitting bids has been extended to February 14). The reconstruction project was prepared by the consortium SAFEGE S.A.S. and Graph "it. It was already ready more than three years ago, and we wrote then that construction work would start in 2022. However, this did not happen, because the contractors' tenders significantly exceeded the budget. The city therefore postponed the reconstruction of a significant part of the street and - as part of the first stage of the Downtown Project - transformed only a short section of it between Swiety Marcin and 27 Grudnia streets. On the track laid there, historical streetcars had their starting stop (near the library) last year. Today, the cost of construction is 180 million zlotys, of which 100 million comes from the EU FEnikS program.
Ratajczaka street in Poznań - a fragment of the street after reconstruction (with tracks), in depth the intersection with Swietym Marcin and a section near the University Library, view from the south
photo: Jakub Glaz
bad luck and concerns
The main construction work is expected to start in the fall and be completed after about two years. If successful, it will be a farewell to the exceptional bad luck of Ratajczaka Street. A tramway shortcut was planned on it three decades ago. Implementation kept getting delayed. Over the years there were also more and more critics of this very sensible solution, who feared streetcar noise, obstructions for drivers and reduction of parking spaces. These concerns have not diminished. On the contrary: they were joined by new ones. After the breakneck redevelopment of Phase I of the Center Project, residents fear similar months-long obstructions and mess, and businesses fear a drop in customers and bankruptcy. Legitimate criticism is also resounding about the removal of existing trees (especially some exceptionally fine specimens) and their replacement with new saplings.
Ratajczaka Street in Poznan - trees on the southern section of the street
photo: Jakub Glaz
A similar battle over the already growing Turkish hazel trees was waged by residents and the Freedom Square Association during the reconstruction of 27 Grudnia Street in the first stage of the Center Project. The fight with officials ended successfully, a fact that the city's mayor Jacek Jaskowiak took very much to heart. He tried to blame the community members fighting for the hazelnut trees on the delays in the work, and even... on the temporary abandonment of the construction of a streetcar right-turn by the famous Okrąglak, despite the fact that the trees are growing on the other side of the street.
The construction of this missing track (this is, mind you!, part of the already completed first stage of the Center Project) is also only starting now. That's because the city and designers have laid out the track over the basement of the famous Okrąglak office building (formerly a department store) extending beyond the building's perimeter. Despite assurances that everything was in order, it turned out that the City could not start the work on time, and in a settlement, paid 2 million zlotys in compensation to the owner of Okrąglak for backfilling the basement. It also has to erect an underground retaining wall to keep the iconic building stable.
27 Grudnia Street in Poznań - construction of a tramway right-of-way near Okrąglak
Photo: Jakub Głaz
two million hidden
Construction work has therefore returned to the site commissioned seven months ago. The right-turn, however, must be built, because it is a functional extension of the north-south route under construction in Ratajczaka Street (replacing the originally planned, more functional connector in 3 Maja Street). It will direct streetcars to Mielżyńskiego street and further toward the cathedral, and in the future to the north via the extended route to Naramowice (its first section away from the center has been in operation for almost three years).
27 Grudnia Street in Poznań - construction of a tramway right-turn by Okrąglak
photo: Jakub Głaz
Regarding the organization of the work on Ratajczaka and the greenery there, residents have been rallying for several months on the Internet and at live meetings. Officials have entered into a dialogue with them, but continue to conduct it reluctantly without communicating quite clearly about all intentions and plans. They also omit information unfavorable to them in their communications (such as the two-million-dollar compensation for the basement of the Roundhouse). The next meeting on the organization of the work and the final shape of the project will be held today, February 6, at 4:00 pm, at the headquarters of the City Hall on Plac Kolegiackiego.
Ratajczaka Street in Poznań - announcement on reconstruction
Photo: Jakub Głaz
