A giant tunnel will be bored under ?ód?. Quite like a tube. An underground stop right in the city centre

This year the company PKP PLK will sign a contract for construction of a giant tunnel running beneath the centre of ?ód?. The project, which is supposed to change the image of the city traffic, will cost PLN 1.6 bln.

Soon PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, the company managing railway lines, and the Consortium of Energopol Szczecin and Przedsi?biorstwo Budowy Dróg i Mostów from Mińsk Mazowiecki are to enter the contract for construction of a cross-city tunnel running beneath ?ód?. According to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, the agreement is supposed to be concluded in December this year. The project will cost PLN 1.59 bln and shall be completed by 2021.

Adjudication of the tender for construction of the ?ód? cross-city tunnel in fact took place in September this year, but two companies which had lost the tender appealed to the National Appeals Chamber (KIO) against its results. KIO rejected both applications at the beginning of November.

Beside the tunnel, also two new underground three-level railway stops will be built. ?ód? Centrum will be located near the junction of streets Zielona and Ko?ciuszki, in the proximity of Piotrkowska Street - one of the most important streets in the city. The second stop - Ogrodowa - will be built near the shopping mall Manufaktura. The project will allow ?ód? Fabryczna to gain an underground connection with ?ód? Kaliska. Some parts of the project will be executed using the cut-and-cover method. 

Trains will run through the tunnel at the speed of 100 km/h. It is supposed to change the image of the city traffic. Number of trains coming to and from Warsaw will increase, and long-distance trains will be able to go through ?ód? faster. According to the web portal transport-publiczny.pl, opening of the cross-city tunnel may result in increasing the frequency of trains of ?ód? Municipal Railway on some distances.

In the construction period residents may expect significant impediments. There will be also many challenges, as the project site is built-up densely. Still, analyses by PKP PLK show that the construction shall not endanger any buildings or other facilities under which the tunnel will be excavated. 

Huge investments in ?ód?

The cross-city tunnel construction is not the only investment project related to the city centre. In February, the city announced an enormous revitalization. It is supposed to cost one billion zlotys. Half of this amount will come from the city budget, the other PLN 500 mln will be financed by European Union. ?ód? municipal office has just completed the process of preparing applications for EU subsidies. 

Plans include renovation of over 20 streets and over 100 buildings in the area of Piotrkowska St., Sienkiewicza St. and Ko?ciuszki Ave. Broad roadways are to be replaced by wider pavements, lines of trees and benches. New greens and parks will be established. Furthermore, in cooperation with non governmental organisations, such projects as for instance women's professional activity support centres or civic centres to pursue local initiatives will be created. The centre of ?ód? shall gain “new cultural and entertainment functions”.

source: https://next.gazeta.pl/next/7,151003,22673118,beda-drazyc-gigantyczny-tunel-pod-lodzia-prawie-jak-metro.html