Driving

[Marek K]

It was always a pleasure to drive trough Poland

What???

...except for the lack of a well built Highway.

Oh. Right.

Actually, there is a well-built highway. Or two or three. Like the A4 autostrada (Autobahn) between Wroclaw and Gliwice (OK OK, Breslau and Gleiwitz), soon to be extended westward almost to the German border. A world-class highway. If only they could figure out how to build more of them... *sigh*

Anyway, I'll pass on your compliment to my Polish friends.

They still won't believe you.

--Marek

 

[jonnythan]

How about handing out big tickets for speeding and weaving in and out of traffic?

Instead, let's pass laws that basically make it OK to drive as fast and aggressively as you want!

 

[aquaoren]

sorry

 

[Marek K]

How about handing out big tickets for speeding and weaving in and out of traffic?

Instead, let's pass laws that basically make it OK to drive as fast and aggressively as you want!

What kind of medication are you on again, jonnythan?

By the way... How ya doin'?

 

[jonnythan]

What kind of medication are you on again, jonnythan?

By the way... How ya doin'?

I'm not on any anymore, which may explain quite a bit.

The arm is still there, so I guess I'm doing ok. Thanks

 

[aquaoren]

Actually, there is a well-built highway. Or two or three. Like the A4 autostrada (Autobahn) between Wroclaw and Gliwice (OK OK, Breslau and Gleiwitz), soon to be extended westward almost to the German border. A world-class highway. If only they could figure out how to build more of them... *sigh*

--Marek

It was only about 40km (or was it 70?) long to my times . Did it get extended? :06:

 

[Marek K]

It was only about 40km (or was it 70?) long to my times . Did it get extended? :06:

Yeah... I'm not sure which part you're thinking of. The stretch between Wroclaw and Gliwice is brand-new and continuous now... only 2 lanes in each direction, but there's not much traffic and you can cruise an illegal 160 km/h all the way, with not a Policjant to be seen. Very nice.

West of Wroclaw is still a problem. You may remember that this was still the concrete-slab Autobahn built by Adolf... ka-bump, ka-bump, ka-bump... Folks, we're talking teeth-jarring shocks, hitting the out-of-alignment slabs twice a second.

They're been working on that stretch a lot, and it's almost finished. There's still a lot of narrowing down and shifting from one side to the other as they finish stretches and bridges; but there's only one short piece of ka-bump left, about 5 km, just before the road branches off toward Zgorzelec/Görlitz. What a relief. I'm not familiar with the autostrada continuing on toward Cottbus, but I don't think it's complete yet.

They're now going to be working on pushing the autostrada through the Katowice mess -- I mean the Katowice megalopolis region -- to join the other new stretch of the A4 between there and Kraków. They plan to have like 15 km of new construction done there this year. Woo-hoo!

*sigh*

And I'll bet you thought Germany was building new Autobahns slow.

--Marek

 

[Kim]

You may remember that this was still the concrete-slab Autobahn built by Adolf... ka-bump, ka-bump, ka-bump... Folks, we're talking teeth-jarring shocks, hitting the out-of-alignment slabs twice a second.

Ah.....memories! I remember those slabs from when I was a kid. Probably the German version ones were built a little better than in Poland so they weren't bone jarring - just a monotonous thumping that sent me to sleep on the long journeys! :07:

 

[Marek K]

Ah.....memories! I remember those slabs from when I was a kid. Probably the German version ones were built a little better than in Poland so they weren't bone jarring - just a monotonous thumping that sent me to sleep on the long journeys! :07:

Glad to help with the memories.

These were the same 1930s Autobahns... remember this part of Poland was German Silesia at the time they were built.

I think the ones in Germany after WWII, even if left over from the 1930s, were probably much better maintained than the ones in commie Poland -- plus they were, um, somewhat newer when you were a kid.

Nothing about these that would put you to sleep.

When we were moving here, we were driving from Munich with two cars. Had a kid and a cat (in carrier) in each car. That was the only place in two days of driving where the cat I had in my car raised her head and gave a pitiful "meow."

--Marek

 

[Kim]

plus they were, um, somewhat newer when you were a kid.

uuumm....yes...that's probably true! LOL