Port of Gdansk signed agreements for EU grants to finance huge investments

In October 2016, the Port of Gdansk Authority SA signed three agreements for EU grants that will make it possible to finance planned infrastructure investments to be completed at the port by the end of 2020.

The first project called “Expansion and modernisation of the road and railway network at the Outer Port in Gdansk” is a project estimated at more than EUR 28.7 million (with a subsidy of EUR 24.4 million), which will include a total of 6 km of tracks and 10 km of roads. The execution of the project will involve as many as 12 tasks, 7 road- and 5 railway-related ones, and two of them will not be executed with the use of EU grants, but will be fully funded by the port.

The new facilities will include two flyovers along Kontenerowa street and the newly designed Nowa Portowa street, which will run parallel to the main line of communication at the Outer Port, i.e. the Sucharskiego Route. Both flyovers will enable separated road and railway traffic to the DCT container terminal and towards the other deepwater terminals located in this part of the port.

The modernisation will also cover the other two flyovers providing traffic to terminals located at the Outer Port. One of them is the flyover along Portowa street running over railway tracks, providing car traffic to the bulk terminal of the Port Polnocny company, the newly built PERN oil terminal, and the LPG Pier. The other one is the flyover along Kapitana Witolda Poinca street, located over a pipeline network, providing traffic to the Liquid Fuel Terminal.

Both flyovers are class C engineering structures built in the mid-1970s and designed for a maximum load capacity of up to 30 tonnes. The technical class of the flyovers will be upgraded to level A, i.e. a load capacity of up to 50 tonnes. Such parameters were also adopted for the flyovers under construction, providing traffic to other parts of the Outer Port. The existing streets along which these flyovers are located will be also thoroughly modernised. These roads will be linked to the Sucharskiego Route, including the conversion of the existing intersections.

Additionally, the project will involve comprehensive expansion of Kontenerowa street providing traffic to the DCT container terminal, the Pomeranian Logistics Centre, and the planned agricultural type bulk cargo terminal of the OT Logistics company. The project involves widening of the street by adding the second roadway. Ultimately, there will be a dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction.

The investment will also involve undertakings aiming at improving the quality and capacity of railways. On account of the planned construction of the agro-terminal of the OT Logistics company, also the railway tracks leading to the terminal will be modernised. The greatest change, however, will affect the railway system leading to the container terminal. Increasing the capacity of the railway route and improving traffic safety is ultimately planned, as the second track will be laid along the entire length of the first one, so as to provide the possibility of simultaneous two-way train traffic along this section, separated from road traffic.

Additionally, the construction of three storage tracks enabling train parking while waiting for handling at the deepwater terminals was planned within the port premises.

The entire undertaking will be complemented by investments planned by the Gdansk Municipality, which will focus solely on the improvement of road accessibility. As part of this undertaking, the Municipality is planning the construction of two streets, i.e. Nowa Portowa street and current Andruszkiewicza street, running perpendicularly to it, the course of which is to be extended to the container terminal, along the Pomeranian Logistics Centre.

These projects will also be correlated at the contact points with the project of the railway track administrator, PKP PLK S.A. (the project called “Improvement of railway access to the Port of Gdansk”), involving the modernisation of the stations serving the Port of Gdansk – the PKP Gdansk Port Polnocny station in this case.

This huge undertaking will also complement the whole system already completed by the Gdansk Municipality (the Slowackiego and Sucharskiego Routes), the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (the Southern Ring Road and the A1 motorway), and PKP PLK (railway line no. 226). The hub created this way will constitute the primary transport axis for traffic running across the Port of Gdansk and leading to it.

GL, rel (Port of Gdansk)