At first a wide avenue in the style of La Rambla was announced, today there is more talk of a linear park with a narrow promenade. Five years after work began, the Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority has presented the first visualizations, giving an idea of what Krucza Street will look like after reconstruction. Although pedestrians lose out, a third, green player in addition to motorists gains in the new concept. But is this enough to consider the Krucza reconstruction project a success?
Unlike several other spaces implemented within the framework of the Green Center of Warsaw (including Pięciu Rogów Square or Central Square), Krucza Street, the reconstruction of which is within the comptetence of the Capital City Roads Administration, did not use a competition formula to select the project. This one was prepared by Meritum Projekt, not once, but at least twice, which does not at all mean that at the time of publication of this article we are dealing with the final version. Which way did the road "from La Rambla to Wiesbaden" go?
Krucza Street in Warsaw before reconstruction
Photo: Adrian Grycuk © CC BY-SA 3.0 en | Wikimedia Commons
Krucza street reconstruction: the first approach
The first announcements of a revolution on Krucza Street were shared by the city as early as 2021, comparing the then not very concretized vision for the street to Brazil's La Rambla. The original version of the project, presented in the form of a cross-section of the street after a traffic analysis was completed in late 2021, promised a reduction in traffic lanes from two to four. Instead of the "missing" roadways, two rows of trees were to appear on the axis of the street, and along with a pedestrian and bicycle avenue between them, with a total width of 8 to as much as 14.5 meters.
While cars currently park diagonally next to the sidewalk, in the first version of the project parking spaces were to be located only in specially designated bays. Even then, there were declarations about the introduction of a Tempo 30 zone, limiting speeds to 30 kilometers per hour, as well as the design of elevated pedestrian crossings and turning lanes for drivers.
The center of the roadway will be occupied by a several-meter wide pedestrian walkway, shaded by tall rows of trees. Car traffic will be calmed down, cars will take single-lane roadways on both sides of the walkway. Intersections with cross streets will not be passable, instead, turnbacks will appear on the section from Pañska Street to Jerozolimskie Avenue. In this way, Krucza Street will become a space friendly to all and a place conducive to the development of services and restaurants. Missing pedestrian crossings, bicycle infrastructure and greenery will be created.
- We read on the City Hall's portal.
Years passed, and the redevelopment only moved forward on paper. In February 2024, the City Hall argued that a detailed plan for the reconstruction of Krucza Street was nearing completion, on top of which, in the meantime, residents were denied public consultation due to the potential delay in the project.
Krucza Street in Warsaw, view towards the south
Photo: Beno © CC0 | Wikimedia Commons
How will traffic on Krucza Street change?
At the end of 2025, another concept went online, this time it was - indeed, a detailed - design for a Permanent Traffic Organization. Although it didn't include exact dimensions, a quick glance at the drawing made it clear that it was far from the expectations raised by the above-described scheme from residents a few years ago.
As announced, traffic on Raven Street was severely reduced. In addition to reducing the number of carriageways by half, the design made it impossible to drive across Krucza through Wilcza, Hoża, Wspólna, Zurawia and Nowogrodzka streets. Instead, two large turnarounds, located on the section between Hoża and Wilcza streets, were planned for stray drivers. The roadways themselves have remained relatively wide, and the development of the central avenue has also been revealed. However, the avenue may be a bit of an overstatement in this case - on the axis of Krucza there will rather be something like a promenade surrounded by two wide green belts.
Common cause, divergent needs
The concept has not met with a positive reception from Varsovians and Varsovian women. Residents pointed to two - interestingly enough - opposing problems with the project unveiled last October. The first voice belonged to the motorized part of the capital's community. There were arguments about potential threats to urban transit, too few parking spaces or the disruption of the urban layout in Downtown - on this issue, the Association for the Protection of Historical Monuments even sent a request to the Provincial Conservator of Historical Monuments to enter Krucza Street in the register.
View of the Grand Hotel on Krucza Street in Warsaw.
© public domain | Wikimedia Commons
On the other side of the barricade, there have been even more allegations. Disgruntled commentators pointed to the overscaled roadways and turnarounds, the lack of separate lanes for cyclists, who will have to share the roadway with cars, and consequently the overly modest dimensions of the planned promenade, on which, according to some accounts, two walking couples will barely fit. The vision of Warsaw's La Rambla quickly morphed, also in the mouths of representatives of the City Road Administration, into a linear park, modeled on a similar space in the German city of Wiesbaden.
Krucza Street in Warsaw before reconstruction
© Warsaw Municipal Road Administration
Wiesbaden instead of La Rambla
The confrontation with the plans of the City Roads Administration took place during a session of the Downtown Council on January 12, 2025, and the worked-out solutions were presented at a meeting a month later. As councilman Zbigniew Trybocki reported for "Stołeczna", ZDM backed off from the idea of closing all intersections - crossing Krucza will be possible at the level of Nowogrodzka, perhaps also Hoża Street. This may make the scaled-back turnarounds disappear from the project. What's more, representatives of the City Roads Administration announced that not all decisions are binding at this stage. Finally, on February 21, 2025, officials finally lifted the shroud of secrecy by presenting two visualizations of the project to be (or surely?) implemented on Krucza Street.
Concept for the reconstruction of Krucza Street in Warsaw
© Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority
Visualizations of the reconstruction of Krucza Street
The road engineers presented two views - one from pedestrian level, showing a cross-section of the promenade, and a visualization shedding light on the appearance of the square in front of the former Grand Hotel.
Reconstruction of Krucza Street in Warsaw, square in front of the Grand Hotel
© Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority
As in the case of the Central Square, the designers of the alley running along the axis of Krucza Street have relied on a combination of different surfaces. Visualizations show both cobblestones laid "in a herringbone pattern" and regular granite or concrete slabs, locally devoid of joints, where grass grows in their place. This solution is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also promotes urban retention. In addition, seating is planned, both in the form of benches facing the axis of the alley, as well as benches with tables, planted in niches on the sidelines. Along the avenue there will also be garbage cans, bicycle racks and water basins made of weathering steel, while circles will be suspended above the entire establishment, probably performing lighting functions. The pedestrian thoroughfare is to be flanked by a row of 274 trees surrounded by lower plantings.
Krucza Street before reconstruction, view of the place where the square will be built
© Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority
In accordance with the concept of the Permanent Traffic Organization, a city square will be arranged in front of the former Grand Hotel, with fountains, additional greenery and a variety of paving, arranged in a dynamic composition.
third green player
Despite the striking visuals, negative opinions about the Krucza Street reconstruction project have not quieted down. So will the city once again bet on an unsatisfactory compromise that will satisfy neither pedestrians nor drivers? Looking at the SOR project, we can see that the width of the lane between the roadways of Krucza Street agrees to some extent with the proud announcements of 2021. Of course, it's not insignificant that the roadways will be wider than the 3.5 meters promised in the original concept, and residents' expectations, built largely on a narrative comparing a rebuilt Raven Street to La Rambla, are not reflected in the design documentation presented.
Either way, there will be no shortage of space for either pedestrians or cars. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the cross-section presented by ZDM did not precisely specify the proportions of the green belt in relation to the width of the pedestrian route.Is more de-concreted, water-permeable and greenable space at the expense of a narrower pedestrian promenade that much of a problem in a city where the vast majority of space is designed solely with its human residents in mind?
