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NEW PARKING LOT ANNOUNCED FOR AUSCHWITZ II-BIRKENAU SITE. CONDITIONS TO BE IMPROVED WITHIN 2 YEARS

Tuesday, 18 July 2006
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=8

July 18, Bielsko-Biała (PAP—Polish Press Agency) – A new parking lot is planned for the Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp site. Oświęcim village commune wójt Andrzej Bibrzycki announced on Tuesday that the plan is aimed, above all, at diverting traffic from the immediate vicinity of the Museum. The existing parking lot directly adjacent to the historical main gate of the Birkenau site will be closed once the new lot is finished.


"The new parking lot is included in the special utilization [zoning] plan," said Bibrzycki. "It is now scheduled to be built with funds appropriated for the third Stage of the Government Oświęcim Strategic Program. Excavation will begin next year. Blueprints will also be drawn up."

Preliminary plans envisage parking for 140 cars and 16 busses. There are indications that some of the parking spaces for cars may be replaced by spaces for busses. There will also be a bypass to divert traffic from streets running directly past the camp fence. Bibrzycki estimates that the parking lot and bypass will cost between 3 and 4 million złotych.



The Government Oświęcim Strategic Program

The GOSP was promulgated in 1996 in the wake of a dispute over commercial premises being erected next to the walls of the Auschwitz site by the Maja company of Oświęcim. Provisions of the program include the regulation and utilization of the buffer zone around the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the modernization of the transport infrastructure.

In 2002, the Polish Council of Ministers accepted the second part of the document, covering the years 2003-2006. Priority tasks include the regulation and utilization of the area around the Museum, improving transport access to the city for pilgrims, tourists, and investors, and enhancing the attractiveness of Oswiecim and the vicinity. The third stage will begin in 2007.