Expressway S86 (Poland)
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Expressway S86 (, abbreviated as S86) – built from 1978 to 1986 section of
national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
86 with a length of , connecting
Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...
(Roździeńskiego Avenue, Murckowska Street and Bagienna Street junction) with
Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...
(''Pogoń'' junction). In Katowice the road is a part of Walentego Roździeńskiego Avenue. The route has two carriageways, each with three lanes. In 2010 it was the busiest national road in Poland, and continuously since 2015 it is the second busiest national road in Poland behind the bypass of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. At the same time it was the expressway with the highest number of traffic collisions and accidents in 2016. Since 1999 it is maintained by
General Directorate for National Roads and Highways A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...
(). On September 13, 2015, the government changed the ordinance of the motorways and expressways, officially including the S86 expressway in it, making it the shortest of all expressways in Poland. It is also one of the few expressways that at present time are not connected with the rest of the network of motorways and expressways.


Traffic

Being the main route of traffic between
Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Zagłębie in Polish means coalfield. It can refer to: * Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, a mining region * Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, a mining region * Zagłębie Sosnowiec, an association football club * Zagłębie Lubin, an association footbal ...
and Upper Silesian part of
Katowice urban area The Katowice urban area (, ), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area (, ), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voivodeship. The Katowice urban area is the largest urban are ...
, expressway S86 is a high traffic road, which is known for frequent traffic jams. According to General Traffic Measurement conducted by
GDDKiA The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways () is the central authority of national administration set up to manage the national roads and implementation of the state budget in Poland. The GDDKiA was established on 1 April 2002 by the ...
in 2010, it carries heaviest traffic in Poland with average of 104339 vehicles daily and from 2015, second with the heaviest traffic in Poland, following Warsaw section of expressway S8, with 112212 vehicles daily and similar number in 2020 and following years. According to Robert Tomanek, professor at
University of Economics in Katowice University of Economics in Katowice (former Karol Adamiecki Academy of Economics in Katowice) is a public higher education institution in Katowice, Poland. History The University of Economics in Katowice was founded in December 1936 (by ...
, 100000 vehicles daily is an absolute limit of road's capacity. He points also that the widening of the route is impossible due to the neighboring buildings. It is one of the three expressways in Poland on which the traffic movement freedom index () in 2017 was classified as the lowest one, with a C mark (very exceeded). According to General Traffic Measurement maps, the most generated traffic was from Zagłębie cities adjacent to Katowice: Sosnowiec,
Czeladź Czeladź () is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic Lesser Poland), in southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistula), it is the oldest urban center ...
,
Będzin Będzin (; also seen spelled ''Bendzin''; ) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula River, Vistula). Even though part of Silesian Voivodeship ...
, but 80% of that traffic consists of passenger cars. Professor Jerzy Runge at
University of Silesia The University of Silesia in Katowice () is an autonomous state-run university in Katowice, Silesia Province, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degree programs, ...
connects the excessive traffic load on the route with the polycentric model of the labor market in the region, where Katowice clearly dominates the local market, which had redirected the stream of people moving towards Katowice from adjacent cities. Over eight imes more people travel from Sosnowiec to Katowice for work than in the opposite direction, and it is a record on national scale. On a working day, according to KZK GOP (), 44,000 people travel by buses running via S86 from Sosnowiec and Dąbrowa. On Saturdays, 19,000, and on Sunday, 13,000. The bottleneck at the connection with national road 79 leading from Mysłowice is also indicated as the cause of road congestion.


Alternative connections

Because of the impossible to be resolved problems with road's capacity and traffic characteristics, where the basis is local traffic related to commuting to work, ways of redirecting part of the traffic to alternative transport are being sought.


Public transport

The
public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
between Sosnowiec and Katowice is assessed as poor. The bus lines do not make an alternative, because they run on S86 and the excessive traffic makes significant delays of buses at the times of the heaviest passenger load. Bus line 15 has an alternative route, but is criticized for the travel time and costs, which make it much less attractive than transport by car.


Fast tram

In 2017, there was a concept of building a second, faster than line 15, tram connection between Sosnowiec and Katowice, which would run parallel to S86. However, in 2020 the project was stuck at the level of selecting the company that would prepare a design study for
Tramwaje Śląskie Silesian Trams () is one of the largest tram systems in the world and the largest and longest tram system in Poland, located entirely within the Silesian Voivodeship. Started as a part of the German Empire in 1894, the system currently has 677 st ...
.


Bus lanes

In 2022, Kazimierz Karolczak, the chairman of the
Metropolis GZM The Metropolis GZM (, formally in Polish (Upper Silesian-Dąbrowa Basin Metropolis)) is a metropolitan association () composed of 41 contiguous gminas, with a total population of over 2 million, covering most of the Katowice metropolitan area i ...
board, suggested creation of
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...
s on S86. Earlier, in 2018, the same concept was proposed by Arkadiusz Chęciński, president of Sosnowiec. The idea was rejected by GDDKiA as impossible for realization, mostly because of the road's capacity, "
bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...
" on junction with road 79 and the expressway status.


Bicycle routes and bicycle highways

Katowice do not have a consistent, uniform connection with Sosnowiec by
bike path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses '' shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or ...
s and the system of planned bike ways do not guarantee the fastest connection of the cities. In 2016, a concept of building fast bike way from Sosnowiec to Katowice on the former route of sand railway emerged. In 2019, thanks to Metropolis GZM, the concept took on the actual shape of ''velostrada'', with the route parallel to S86 as an alternative connection that allows to travel by
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
in 25–30 minutes, and by
electric bicycle An electric bicycle, e-bike, electrically assisted pedal cycle, or electrically power assisted cycle is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fa ...
and
motorized scooter A motorized scooter is a stand-up Kick scooter, scooter powered by either a small internal combustion engine or electric Wheel hub motor, hub motor in its front and/or rear wheel. Classified as a form of micromobility, they are generally designed ...
even in 20 minutes.


Traffic accidents and collisions

Among the expressways, S86 is in the first place as the most dangerous road in Poland: on average, 113 collisions and accidents were reported per 1 km of road in almost entire year, which gives an average of almost 2 collisions daily for the entire stretch. In 2016, 599 collisions and accidents occurred there, which was the highest result for all of roads in Katowice. An important factor mentioned in connection with the collision on the S86 route is the fact that any collision on this route can paralyze the region.


References


Bibliography

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External links


Actual view from the traffic camera on S86
– from the site near Grota Rowieckiego Street in Sosnowiec
Actual view from the traffic camera on S86
– form the site near Baczyńskiego Street in Sosnowiec {{coord, 50.130412, 19.025046, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Expressways in Poland