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SISKOM - Activities
YES for Via Baltica and the Augustow Bypass going around the Rospuda Valley!!! Notice: Information on this site is copyrighted and may not be used without the authors' permission. |
About the Rospuda Valley:The Rospuda Valley is one of the most unique peatlands in Europe with totally undisturbed water relations. It is under protection as it is the habitat of many rare species of animal and plant life. The peatlands surrounding the Rospuda River are home to 45 plants native to the area, which are under strict protection, 14 species entered into The Polish Red Data Book of Plants and 3 species from Natura 2000 list. According to the Birds Directive, the Rospuda Valley is a part of the European Natura 2000 ecological network designated as a Special Protection Area, a part of the Puszcza Augustowska Wildlife Refuge. It tops Natura 2000 Shadow List in Poland - a list of areas, which according to scientists and ecological organisations should be included in the Natura 2000 Network under the Habitats Directive.More information : Greenpeace CEE Bankwatch CMOK |
Alternative variant solutions
The authorities of Augustów and General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) have decided to build the Augustów Bypass (a part of the Via Baltica project) right through the planned Rospuda nature reserve. The decision has been made in spite of the existence of other projects going around this environmentally important area. The examination of the phases preceding the construction of the road revealed that it was not until April 2005 that the first analysis of the variant solutions for the Augustów Bypass was conducted. It was also the first time when the impact of the Augustów-Suwałki part of S8 Express Road on the environment was measured, including one of the variants going around the valuable areas of Natura 2000 network. Unfortunately, this variant, taken into consideration by the GDDKiA, was not the optimal solution as it went through highly urbanised areas and unnecessarily lengthened the route.
 The optimal solution - our alternative route |
There was a series of mistakes made during the preparation of the road network development plan in Suwałki and Augustów region starting from the approach adopted to the modernization of the route joining these two cities.
The construction of the Augustów Bypass should be started in a different way. Instead of being a new road laid between the junction with the National Road no. 16 and the environs of the Szczerbana village on the National Road no. 8. with no possibility of bypassing the Natura 2000 area stretching between these two points, the Augustów Bypass should be regarded in a macro scale.
The "big picture" analysis reveals that it is possible to join the Bypasses of Suwałki and Augustów in such a way that they go around the Natura 2000 area. At the request of ecological organisations, SISKOM designed the alternative route of the Augustów-Suwałki part of the Via Baltica project, which is shorter and cheaper than the GDDKiA project. It goes beyond the highly urbanised regions and minimally crosses the Natura 2000 areas. This solution proposed and accepted by NGOs has never been the subject of analyses conducted by GDDKiA Białystok Division. The 13-kilometre section of the alternative route partially uses the project no. 1 designed by the Transproject-Warszawa Ltd. Consulting Engineers, which was analysed by GDDKiA in 2005. It was shortened by 3 kilometres thanks to crossing Chodorki village and using the 10.8-kilometre section of the Suwałki Western Bypass variant. There are many advantages of the alternative route:
In comparison with other investments of a similar size, difficulty level and realisation time, the estimated completion time of the alternative route from the commissioning of projects to opening the road to public access amounts to 6 years. It is important to mention that in the case of receiving the EU subsidies the construction time of the alternative route has to be shortened to 2 years. Such a short construction time is completely real, which was proved by building 103 kilometres of the A2 Motorway (Konin-Stryków). In this case, the estimated completion time was 15 months, but due to some unforeseen circumstances and exceptionally severe winter, the realisation of the project took 22 months. |
Available materials:
SISKOMPresentation: the Augustów-Suwałki part of the S8 Express Road (in Polish)
2,8 MBAugust 2006
SISKOM
Alternative variant' photo documentation (in Polish)
July 2007
prof. Eckhart Kuijken
Construction of the Via Baltica Motorway: conflicts with nature values in protected areas (North-East of Poland)
180 kBReport of the on-the-spot appraisal (14-15.10.2003)
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