The waiting game is over! For the first time in several dozen years, pedestrians are now finally able to cross Rondo Dmowskiego without having to revert to the underground passaged carved out beneath.
Officially unveiled last Friday, four pedestrian crossings have been revealed along with three bicycle crossings.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said: “until now, the area was only accessible via underground passages. For the elderly, parents with small children in prams, and those with mobility difficulties, this made reaching the tram stops on Jerozolimskie and Marszałkowska impossible.”
The Mayor contined: “this is a revolution in the very heart of the capital.”
Ewa Malinowska-Grupińska, president of the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw, added: “public space is for all of us and should be accessible to the widest possible group of users. Removing barriers facilitates the daily functioning of residents and visitors. It allows them to participate more fully in social life.
“After the devastation of World War II and the changes in the layout of the city center, it seemed as though Warsaw would not again have pleasant spaces in the heart of the city. I am glad that this is changing and that we are breaking this thinking… Warsaw deserves a more beautiful center.”
Adding to the beautification process, the area has also seen an injection of greenery: 20,000 plants have been planted as too have 53 trees.
The latest news has been cited as further proof that plans for a ‘new center for Warsaw’ are rapidly gaining steam in a bid to humanize the city.
Set to become the defining accomplishment of Mayor Trzaskowski’s tenure in office, City Hall’s campaign to remold the city center includes grand designs envisage a new spatial constitution designed to create a locally-focused, healthy and dynamic city.
Of the other pipeline projects, the next few years will also see the completion of a Museum of Modern Art outside the Palace of Culture, the renovation of Hala Gwardii, the creation of Plac Pięciu Rogów and Marszałkowska and Jerozolimskie revived as eco-friendly arteries.
