At the recently concluded European Economic Congress, Minister Bieńkowska stated that we have until 2020 to “catch up” with the West in terms of the state of road infrastructure. Are the chances of this realistic, especially in light of the April European Commission report, in which the state of roads in Poland was presented as the worst in the entire Union?
– The results of the ranking published by the Commission can safely be called unpleasant, even shocking. As a country, we achieved very poor results against the background of the entire European Union in such key areas as the development of transport infrastructure, transport safety, or the environmental impact of transport – comments Wojciech Kobosz, Logistics Project Coordinator at Pall-Ex Polska. – However, the report compares data from 2012, and much has changed since then.
But has enough changed in two years for us to be satisfied? Experts from the “Initiative for Infrastructure” association estimate that in 2015, there will be 0.97 km of motorways and expressways per 100 square kilometers in Poland. At the same time, the EU average should be 1.8 km. This means we still have a long way to go.
– Not long ago, it took about 3 hours to drive from Łódź to Warsaw. Today, thanks to the opening of the A2 motorway, we can get to the center of Warsaw in 1.5 hours – emphasizes Maciej Żarys, Sales Manager at Pall-Ex Polska. – An important step has been taken. Now we are waiting for the next ones. We know that Łódź is not London and does not need 380 km of bypasses, but currently, there is not a single kilometer of them there.
Time savings are not the only benefit that can be achieved through better roads.
– The lack of sufficient infrastructure at an appropriate level is not only a brake blocking the development of the industry, but also, to some extent, a certain part of the economy. It is a significant obstacle, especially for the TSL sector – looking at its development – or the efficiency of the models used within it, especially when it comes to the branch that is distribution – explains Wojciech Kobosz.