Every minute counts

Monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the Motorway never sleeps. Although packed with technology, it is under the watchful eye of hundreds of people who constantly care about its smooth operation.

Several interrelated systems of quick and professional response for the travelers’ safety operate on Autostrada Wielkopolska. However, advanced technologies would be of no use without the involvement of over 500 extremely competent and closely cooperating people. Among them are the employees of the Operation and Management Center (OMC), motorway patrols and interventions and garage employees who take care of the equipment in the Operation and Management Center.
The motorway is not like an ordinary road. There are characteristic markings, different speed limits, wider lanes, minimum two lanes in each direction. Drivers using the motorway notice barriers, fencing of the route, animal crossings or emergency roadside telephones. The so-called MOPs, i.e. Rest and Service Areas with toilets, gas stations, picnic areas, playgrounds for children or infrastructure related to toll collection. It’s a complex system which requires knowledge, competence and technology to run effectively.

Operation and Management Center

The operators of the Operation and Management Center (OMC) are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are the ones who receive out calls at the emergency number on Autostrada Wielkopolska. OMC also receive road alerts and reports of collisions or accidents0
– Sometimes we receive several dozen notifications a day. Since the beginning of the year, we have already conducted over 300 hours of interviews. We have a lot of stories with a happy ending, for example about passports left in a motorway parking lot by travelers returning from abroad, which we and our patrol colleagues quickly found and handed over to the owners. – says Krzysztof Golis, head of the Operation and Management Center.
Mr. Krzysztof, like other employees of OMC, has at his disposal a modern traffic management system, radio and telephone exchange, emergency roadside telephone (ERT) system and other devices for collecting information located along the entire Wielkopolska Autostrada. It is thanks to the actions of OMC employees that drivers can count on quick help, know the situation on the route and whether the traffic runs smoothly.

They look at what other drivers cannot see

Patrols check the situation on the motorway 24 hours a day. Their task is to efficiently and professionally handle all unforeseen events and help travelers safely reach their destination. Patrol and intervention vehicles travel over 2 million km in a year.
During the shift, motorway patrol employees make control detours. They are at every point of Autostrada Wielkopolska every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. When help is needed, they reach the place of incident in about 15 minutes. In the event of an accident or collision, they secure the cars and passengers as well as the place of incident. They closely cooperate with the relevant services.
During the detour, motorway security employees check the condition of the road – markings and signage, barriers, service gates and fences. Any deviation from the standard can be dangerous for travelers, which is why constant control and quick intervention are so important.
– We also check the technical condition of Rest and Service Areas, we collect dangerous objects from the road. Even a piece of tire can be a hazard to other road users. If the object found on the route is larger, we pass the information on to the OMC and the colleagues from the intervention team come to pick it up. – says Mariusz Miliński, an employee of the Kotowo OMC patrol.

On-site service and workshop

Patrol cars are constantly in motion and are heavily exploited. During the day, they cover a total of approximately 5,500 km. For patrols to perform their tasks, the equipment must always be 100% operational. Every week, all cars undergo a general technical inspection.
– During the routine inspection, we replace quickly wearing parts and operating fluids. We constantly monitor the technical condition of our vehicles. If a car requires more in-depth intervention, e.g. the on-board computer or gearbox light comes on, the car is sent for service. In addition to patrol cars, our workshop takes care of over 130 other equipment and devices: mowers, excavators, trucks, salt spreaders, which we also service so that they are ready for action – explains Andrzej Czechowski, workshop manager at Kotowo OMC, one of the 5 located on the Autostrada Wielkopolska.
Autostrada Wielkopolska is a 255 km section of the A2 between Świecko and Konin, including the 16-kilometer, three-lane Poznań bypass between the Poznań Zachód and Poznań Krzesiny interchanges. It is one of the most important communication routes in the country. On average, 9 million vehicles use it annually, and at any time of the day or night they can count on the support of Autostrada Eksploatacja employees.

Films about the work of OMC and Motorway Patrols are found on our FB:
https://www.facebook.com/AutostradaWielkopolska/videos/4690214321017573
https://www.facebook.com/AutostradaWielkopolska/videos/577076076733351

and YouTube: