Lublin closer, quicker and safer than ever

Communication accessibility with a well- -developed road infrastructure is a key factor determining the socio-economic development of cities and regions, but also one of the main criteria influencing the decision to locate a particular investment. Proper connectivity means shorter delivery times and lower costs of approaching customers.

For many years Eastern Poland could only dream of motorways and express roads like those existing in western provinces of Poland. However, thanks to huge investments with the participation of EU funds, the inhabitants of Lublin and the whole region, as well as people travelling to the capital of the Lublin Region, can now travel much faster and more comfortably from any place in the country.

The most important road investment for Lublin is S17 expressway, which connects Lublin with Warsaw and, from the east, with the border crossing with Ukraine in Hrebenne. On July 17, 2020, another 24 km of the express road were put into operation, including the ring road of Kołbiel (about 8.7 km of a two-lane road) and the section from this ring road to the Lubelska nod (about 15 km). This is a great relief for travellers, as the constantly busy roundabout in Kołbiel meant a long waiting time. Drivers now have a total of 142 kilometres of a two-lane road between Lublin and Warsaw at their disposal.

It’s not the end of the good news for both the drivers and the city of Lublin. The General Directorate of State Roads and Highways has launched a tender procedure for the next stage of S19 expressway, the second major communication route for Lublin, which will allow convenient traffic from the north to the south of Poland. This will put Lublin on the route of the Via Carpatia Corridor, which runs from northern Europe through the Lithuanian port city Klaipėda to Thessaloniki by the Black Sea. The southern section of the S19 between Lublin and Rzeszow is already a major construction site. From there you can take the A4 motorway in the direction of Krakow and continue on to Germany. The tendering procedure for the investment announced in June 2020 concerns the northern section of the S19 between Lublin and Lubartów towards Białystok. The investment is planned for 2022-2025.

Not only will the distance and travel time from Lublin to other cities in Poland be shortened, but also the safety and quality of travel on newly built roads will be improved. Lublin itself can boast the title of the most driver-friendly city, awarded in the 2019 ranking of the country's cities by the Oponeo distribution company and the Yanosik navigation application.

What is important, the survey was not based on the opinions of the inhabitants of individual cities, who are sometimes biased, but on hard data about the largest Polish cities in various categories: • parking, • number of collisions, • fuel prices, • average speed, • the cost of changing tyres, • the price of liability insurance, • ecological driving, • car sharing.

For the second year in a row, Lublin proved to be the best city for motorists. This proves that the road investments in Lublin in recent years and the city administration’s smart transport and communication policies are producing the intended results.

To prepare the ranking, the authors of the survey gave each city a score in a spe - cific category, with 9 points for the best city and 1 point for the weakest city. The survey covered two groups of cities in Poland: those with up to 300,000 inhabitants (scores on a scale from 1 to 10) and cities with over 300,000 inhabitants. In the latter group, behind Lublin, which scored 46 out of 61 possible points, Szczecin and Gdańsk came second with 40 points.

The data collected from municipalities, city road management offices and the mobile navigation application Yanosik showed that Lublin performs best in the country in terms of average speed, calculated as speed both in the city centre and within city limits. This result shows that the traffic jams and congestion rate in Lublin are one of the lowest in Poland, especially considering cities such as Krakow and Wrocław, which have been struggling with high congestion for many years. Moreover, Lublin offers the lowest annual cost of car insurance, which was PLN 536, followed by Krakow (PLN 599) and Byd - goszcz (PLN 611). To calculate the insurance tariff in this category, the authors of the study created a fictional character of a 35-year-old married man with two children driving the three most popular car models. As could be expected, the last places in this category of the ranking were occupied by Wrocław, Gdańsk and Warsaw.

As far as the average cost of tyre fitting is concerned, Lublin once again took first place in the ranking (PLN 20.14). The data also show that motorists in Lublin can be satisfied with the level of parking fees, which are among the lowest (3 rd place) of all the cities studied (PLN 2.89 per hour, ex-aequo with Wrocław). Moreover, Lublin takes the second place in the category of fuel prices, and only Łódź can boast of cheaper fuel. However, it must be honestly said that there are also criteria where Lublin lags behind its competitors, such as traffic safety, ecological driving and Park & Ride infrastructure. Nonetheless, with recently completed P&R investments in the suburbs (Choiny Street, Abramowicka Street), planned P&R and K&R infrastructure at other major entry/exit points throughout the city, and a growing number of charging stations for electric cars, Lublin is well on its way to improving its position in these categories in next year's survey.

Finally, as the tenth largest city in Poland, Lublin has the sixth largest car sharing fleet (149 cars). Only Warsaw, Tricity, Kraków, Wrocław and Poznań have more cars in the system, but they are all much larger locations. In the group of cities with up to 300,000 inhabitants, Gliwice left the competition behind with an excel lent result of 51 out of 68 points, followed by Kielce (50) and Sosnowiec (48).

Lithuanian Square (Plac Litewski) in Lublin.

Interestingly, for the second year in a row, Lublin proved to be the best city for motorists. In 2018 the podium positions were almost equal, with Szczecin and Gdansk taking second and third places. This proves that the road investments in Lublin in recent years and the city administration's smart transport and communication policies are producing the intended results.

Lublin is also the safest city in Poland – this is the conclusion from the second edition of a nationwide Ranking of Districts 2020 prepared by real estate portal Otodom. Authors of the compilation also checked which neighbourhoods are recommended for living, and where the overall safety should be improved.

This year’s study was carried out by the IQS research agency for Otodom among over 120,000 residents of 12 major Polish cities. They were ranked from 1 to 5 in various aspects, including safety, communication, availability of attractions, stores and healthcare, costs of living, as well as infrastructure for children and animals.

In the category of safest cities, Lublin topped the ranking with a score of 3.92, followed by Białystok and Gdańsk (both 3.91). Third on the list of safest cities is Szczecin (3.85), and the next positions were taken by Warsaw (3.84), Gdynia (3.81) and Poznań (3.78).

As part of the study, Lublin’s residents were asked about their opinions on the safest and most dangerous places to live in the city. According to them, the safest districts are Sławin (4.38 out of 5 points), Szerokie (4.37) and Abramowice (4.33). Interestingly, these are all peripheral districts with quick transport links into the city centre, dominated by low-rise single-family development. These used to be suburban areas and villages which were successively integrated into the expanding agglomeration. This phenomenon is observed in almost all cities under scrutiny.

It can be concluded that all aspects evaluated for the purposes of the above rankings constitute what is commonly referred to as the quality of life and reflect how positively Lublin is perceived as a city that is friendly for both its citizens and for the people who visit this largest business and cultural centre of Eastern Poland.

More information:

Director of Investor Relations Office Lublin City Hall Phone: +48 81 466 25 42 e-mail: lukasz.gos@lublin.eu