Ołowianka footbridge, 2017
Motława River
ulica Rycerska
Gdańsk, September 2018
“As part of the regeneration of the old centre of Gdansk a series of bridges are being built to reconnect the Granary Island and Olowianka to the main city. In centuries past the Olowianka island would have been connected to the main town by a series of small ferries with records showing that at least one was operating as far back as the 1390s on a route between the island and what was then a Teutonic fort on today’s ul. Grodzka. That ferry ran up until the 1880s. Both sides of the river would have been thriving centres of industry and commerce but despite the islands proximity to the centre they have recovered slowly from the destruction of WWII. While new development of Granary Island will see a bridge appear close to the Crane, another is already in place. The island will now have a permanent connection with the main town linking the island with the bank at ul. Rycerska and allowing pedestrians from ul. Szafarnia to reach the part of the city next to the Museum of the Second World War much more quickly and simply. Measuring 70.5 metres in length and varying in width from 6.76 to 10.56 metres and costing PLN 10 million, the new bridge connects the river bank next to the Prologue and Kubicki restaurants near the Hilton with the Polish Baltic Philharmonic building opposite on Olowianka. The bridge is designed to be able to swing upwards to open to allow shipping to pass through and this process takes as little as 2 minutes. The official opening took place on June 17, 2017 and has already markedly improved the flow of people through the island and opened up a part of the city which had felt cut off for many years.” (Reconnecting Olowianka, In Your Pocket)
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