I Project description
The geographical scope of the project

The planned investment consisting in the construction and reconstruction of road and rail infrastructure in the eastern part of the Port of Gdynia is located along the Port Basin IV, in the northern part of Gdynia Downtown. The project is planned in the area of ul. Polska, Passenger Terminal and the zone II of the Polish Quay. As a result of the investment, based on the following system of roads and routes: ul. Polska - ul. Janka Wiśniewskiego - the Kwiatkowski Route - Tri-City Ring - A1 motorway - the connection of the East Port to the international communication system via the A1 motorway will be modernized. The project titled "infrastructure of road and rail access to the eastern part of the Port of Gdynia" consists of two stages:
Phase I: Road Access
Phase II: Rail Access (including road construction elements)

The objective scope of the project

The following tasks were the subject of the already completed Phase I, where construction works were accepted on 29th December 2009:

1. Rebuilding and extension of ul. Polska in Gdynia:

• rebuilding of ul. Polska and construction of a new road – section of 1.49 km including 4 crossroads (on the section from the Węzeł Ofiar Grudnia (junction) to the crossroad with ul. Chrzanowskiego),

• rebuilding of the existing and construction of new tracks - section of 1.49 km including 12 rail turnouts caused by new grade-separated road system,

• rebuilding of one railway crossing,

• reconstruction of SRK (signalling) equipment,

• adaptation of existing green areas and replanting,

• rebuilding of fences,

• implementation of the new elements ofsmall architectural objects – stairs, porches, walls,

• reconstruction of underground utilities: street lighting, el. grids, water supply, rain water drainage, sewage, tele-technical systems, CH systems, including elimination of conflicts with other elements of infrastructure,

• erection of engineering structures: retaining walls, rainwater system outlets, protection of the existing CH system,

• construction of a parking lot for 31 passenger cars at ul. Polska 39 A;

• demolition of 7 cubature objects that interfere with the project,

2. Rebuilding of ul. Chrzanowskiego, ul. Wendy and the parking lot for passenger cars:

• rebuilding of ul Chrzanowskiego and ul. Wendy within the existing road lane of 0.57 km and the parking lot for 69 passenger cars,
• rebuilding of two railway crossings,
• reconstruction of underground utilities: street lighting, el. grids, water supply, rainwater drainage, tele-technical systems,

3.Construction of a parking lot for trucks at ul. Chrzanowskiego:

• construction of a parking lot for 128 trucks,

• reconstruction of railway tracks consisting in demolition of two sidings and liquidation of two turnouts and replacement of the scissors crossover with the ordinary turnout;

• reconstruction of underground utilities: parking lot lighting, water supply, sewage, storm water drainage, el. grids, tele-technical systems,

• demolition of 11 cubature objects that interfere with the construction of the parking lot,

• reconstruction of the building for social and office purposes,

• clearance of trees that interfere with the new layout.

The following tasks shall be completed in Phase II:

1. Rebuilding of ul. Polska - the section from traffic circle from ul. Chrzanowskiego to the Gombrowicz Square including the square, and the construction of road pavement and track structure beginning at the overpass at the Solidarity Avenue and ending at the traffic circle at ul. Polska and ul. Chrzanowskiego:
- rebuilding of ul. Polska – the section from the traffic circle at ul. Chrzanowskiego to the Gombrowicz Square of the length of 0.51 km, including the square,
- reconstruction of the railway line of the length of 1.48 km on the section that begins 200 meters from the overpass being a part of the Solidarity Avenue and ends in the area of ul. Polska and ul. Chrzanowskiego traffic circle;
- construction of the road pavement and track structure - adjusted to handling of cargo with the use of heavy port equipment at the length of 0.92 km, covering the section from the crossing at ul. Rotterdamska to the area of ul. Polska and ul. Chrzanowskiego traffic circle, including the reconstruction of the fence of the protected port area along ul. Polska;
- construction of the parking lot for 210 cars between the lanes of ul. Polska (in the area ​​No. 9 and No. 13) and a communication path connecting the two lanes of ul. Polska (in the area where the buildings planned for demolition are located);
- reconstruction of underground utilities: street lighting, water supply, sewage, rainwater drainage, el. grid, CH system, telecommunications network;
- demolition of 3 cubature buildings.

2. Construction of the parking lot for 33 passenger cars at ul. Celna 5 together with the reconstruction of underground utilities.

II. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The realization of the project became part of the series of strategic documents and objectives included therein at the Community, national, regional and local levels. The project should fit in with individual goals in order to be eligible for EU funding.
One of the main objectives that this project meets is the enhancement of the attractiveness of Poland, Pomerania and the city of Gdynia by the improvement of accessibility, provision of adequate quality and level of services as well as preservation of the environmental potential. This is one of the goals of the Community Strategic Guidelines.
Another objective is to enhance the investment attractiveness of Poland and its regions through the development of technical infrastructure while protecting and improving the environment, health, preserving cultural identity and developing territorial cohesion. This is the main objective of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment, under which the PGA SA is going to apply for EU funding.
The Project is part of the specific goal of the OPIE, No. 2 „Increasing accessibility of the major economic centres in Poland by linking them with the help of the network of motorways and expressways and transportation means alternative to road transport”.
The investments that are carried out in the transport sector under the Strategy of Transport Development 2007 - 2013 and the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007 - 2013, focus, inter alia, on realization of the following objectives:

• improvement of the communication accessibility of Poland and interregional connections within the TEN-T network through the development of road and air TEN-T network;
• development of modes of transport alternative to road transport through the expansion of rail TEN –T network, as well as infrastructure of the sea ports and  investments in intermodal transport;
• 
  improvement of transport safety and improvement of the interregional connections through investments that increase safety and improve traffic flow (intelligent transport systems, in particular), as well as the development of road networks and the sea-river corridors supplementing the  investments realized within the TEN –T network

The project fits with all the three goals listed above through the reconstruction and development of roads within the port, intended for cargo transportation outside the port, and which s as urban public roads as well. At the same time those roads are part of the infrastructure of the seaport. The road and railway TEN –T network is being developed. This investment will also increase safety and improve traffic flow.
The realization of the project will contribute to the fulfilment of the goal of the Priority VII " Environment-friendly transport”, i.e. „increase in the share of ecological  transport, which constitutes an alternative to road transport (rail, sea transport, public transport in metropolitan areas, intermodal transport, inland waterways), in the total carriage of passengers and cargo by increasing the competitiveness of Polish seaports within the Baltic Sea Region and increasing the share of intermodal transport in the total carriage of cargo”. Thanks to the realization of those plans the adverse effect of transport on the environment will be significantly reduced.
The project will contribute to the creation of „motorways of the Sea” connections starting in the Polish ports included in the TEN –T network, including the Port of Gdynia, taking into account the guidelines contained in the plan of development of motorways of the sea in the Baltic Sea.
The project fits with the goal of Measure 7.2. "The development of maritime transport": “Increasing competitiveness of Polish ports in the Baltic Sea Region” through the construction, reconstruction and modernization of roads and railways connecting the sea ports with the national transport network as well as road and rail infrastructure within the port area.

Possible bottlenecks and other issues that must be solved:

• Difficulties in car traffic along the entire length of the "old" ul. Polska. It was a narrow, one-line street, with the road surface in very poor condition, partially made from paved stone. It should be noted that this road is accessible to public transport, although it is located within the port area. It is frequently used by the residents of northern districts of the city. The traffic volume is quite significant there. Therefore, the traffic jams were common and the surface was devastated by heavy transport.
• Difficulties in automobile traffic at the crossroad of ul. Wiśniewskiego and ul. Polska that is, at the junction of two streets with significant traffic volume. The street (ul. Polska)  was in this case, literally a "bottleneck", as far as the access to the port from the outside is concerned.
• Poor condition of the road pavement and track structure in the II zone of the Polish Quay. Currently there is no proper pavement for the planned handling of cargo from /to railway vehicles, which will be connected with the ferry transport after construction of the ferry terminal at the Polish Quay. The current pavement does not meet the standards of bearing capacity and strength. Direct transhipment from the ship to the train and vice versa is impossible at present. It is therefore necessary to adjust the system of tracks and roads for cargo handling with the use of crane on rubber wheels. It is not possible to operate any kind of crane at present. Parallel to the redevelopment and expansion of the railway tracks, in the zone II of the Polish Quay, the road pavement consisting of two paths for the future gantry crane and load and return technological paths have also been designed. The paths of 678 m for the future wheel-crane shall start at the existing gate near the refrigerated warehouse.
• Lack of sufficient parking spaces for trucks and passenger cars now and with regard to the planned erection of a ferry terminal in the eastern part of the Port of Gdynia. There were four yards in this part of the port serving as parking lots including parking for trucks serving the port cargo - before the commencement of the implementation of the project. These yards were used for various purposes and therefore could not provide enough parking spaces at all times.
• The road system in the eastern part of the port, including two-way streets with two traffic lanes, capacity of posts of loading at the individual terminals and their handling capacity did not allow for the smooth functioning without retention parking lots at the entrance to the port. In fact, the rail transport is more and more often replaced by road transport and the number of cars is increasing. Moreover, the intensity of heavy transport is not distributed in time evenly. The essential figure which determines the necessity of the existence of parking lots is the extreme volume of handled vehicles. This results mainly from the seasonal character of cargo handling and accumulation of cargo vehicles when handling high-capacity vessels, handled directly and cyclical handling of ships in individual days of the week. In many cases the accumulation of handling of cargo vehicles would have caused complete blockage of the port road system, if it was not for the use of the B XXVII yard as a parking lot. It happens that about 120 vehicles are waiting for loading / unloading in this part of the port at once. Occasionally, there were situations, that during the handling of a ship that took several days, several hundred to several thousand cars were handled, and the slow traffic of vehicles and waiting vehicles blocked ul. Indyjska, ul. Rotterdamska, ul. Celna and ul. Polska.
  
  The increase in the volumes of cargo delivered to and collected from the port by road vehicles associated with the planned development of the port, the limited capacity of road systems inside the port, posts of loading and handling capacity of the terminals determined the necessity of existence of the parking lots located at the entrance to the port. It is also determined by the fact that parking of heavy duty trucks in the city outside the designated parking lots is prohibited. Actually, Gdynia has no such parking lots.

The project aims to fill all those gaps in road and rail access infrastructure. This will be achieved through:

• reconstruction and expansion of roads,
• reconstruction and expansion of the railway tracks,
• construction of parking lots for trucks and passenger cars.

The goals of the socio – economic aspect could also be mentioned here, as the quality objectives (immeasurable) and quantitative (measurable) of the project.
Quality Objectives (immeasurable):

• improved road and rail access to the port from the land
• improvement of roads and railways’ traffic capacity
• increase in realizable speeds in both road and rail transport
• improved quality of operation of both road and rail vehicles within the port area
• replacement of road transport of goods to/from the port with rail transport, at least in part
• optimal use of existing potential of access to the port in order to handle bigger and bigger vessels, which will call at the port following the deepening of the port channel, and to handle the sea ​​ferries calling at the planned ferry terminal at the Polish Quay in the future
• increase in the attractiveness of the port and competitiveness of businesses operating in the port,
• winning new operators and new cargo,
• creating conditions for new jobs related to the port operations in general
• The quantitative objectives (measurable):
• widening of ul. Polska – two additional lanes at almost its entire length
• improvement of the technical condition of the following streets: Polska, Chrzanowskiego and Wendy - 2.99 km, including change in traffic volume category to category KR 5 for the Chrzanowskiego and Wendy streets and category KR 4 for Polska str. – road with an asphalt pavement for medium and heavy traffic.
• The analysis of archival documents, such as the design documentation from 1957 and 1963 and the comparison of sections of wells made for redevelopment purposes shows, that the street main construction has not been changed since major repairs of ul. Polska carried out in the 50's and 60's. Taking into account the life of this type of pavement, i.e., 20-25 years, ul. Polska has been used for a longer period without significant reconstruction. It is difficult to relate the presented structural sections to currently applicable structures for heavy traffic.
• improvement of the technical condition of rail structure at a total distance of 2.97 km, in zone II of the Polish Quay and the section from ul. Rotterdamska to the viaduct area at Solidarity Avenue, reconstruction of the rail system will improve rail access to terminals located at the Polish Quay and shall enable cargo handling from/to railway cars with the use of heavy port equipment, to allow intermodal cargo handling systems, change of track capacity from 20 t / axle to 22.5 t / axle, assembly of signalling devices; in addition, the number of turnouts on the section from the viaduct at Solidarity Avenue to the railway crossing at ul. Rotterdamska shall be reduced which will simplify the rail system, and thus lower maintenance costs and easier handling; the penetrating drainage system will be implemented in the same section in the form drain pipes;
• increase in the port handling capacity by 1 million tonnes.

This investment is directly connected with the motorways of the sea program, as well as with the short distance shipping. It has been identified as a priority in the Interreg III program, where it obtained a grant for the initial concept design and feasibility study (SEBTrans-Link Project, 2005).

III EU Funding
The investment with the status of a basic project was placed on the list of individual projects under OPIE 7.2-2, Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2007 - 2013, Priority VII - Environment Friendly Transportation, Measure 7.2 - Development of Maritime Transport.

IV Basic technical data

• Built / rebuilt roads within the transport systems of the sea ​​port of Gdynia: 2.99 km
• Built / rebuilt railway lines within the transport systems of the sea ​​port of Gdynia: 2.97 km
• 5 crossroads
• road pavements and railway structures: 12,600 Sq m
• 1 new parking lot for trucks: 23,175 Sq m
• 4 new and rebuilt parking lots for passenger cars: 11,925 Sq m

V Activities within the project

• The schedule of works provides for the construction of road access (Phase I) in the years 2008 – 2009, and rail access (with road construction elements) (Phase II) in the years 2011 - 2013.
  
  According to the original detailed schedule of works, the planned completion of the implementation of works in Phase I of the project was to take place by June 2010 and then the construction works under Phase II were supposed to begin. The works however were completed much earlier - in December 2009. The acceptance of the completed Phase II of the project took place on 29th December, 2009. So far, Polska Street has been expanded by the second two-lane roadway located behind the warehouses of the Zone II of the Polish Quay. 5 crossroads were rebuilt, and the redevelopment of ul. Chrzanowskiego and Wendy and part of ul. Celna was completed. The construction of the external car parking lot for trucks at ul. Chrzanowskiego was completed. This parking, which can provide parking spaces for 125 cars trucks, was opened in May 2009.  Additional two parking lots for passenger cars were built at ul. Chrzanowskiego and at ul. Polska. A building permit for Phase II of the investment was obtained in July 2010. Unfortunately, the commencement of construction work was delayed for formal reasons and is scheduled in November 2011, at the earliest.

• Deadlines for action, preparing documents and obtaining decisions.