Nearly 140 km of motorways under construction, another 114 km at the tender stage

Ten post dostępny jest także w języku: polski

Currently, the length of expressways in Poland is 4,269 km, of which 1,712 km are motorways. There are plans for the construction of the new roads.

The general condition of the motorways

At the moment, the works are underway on the sections of the A1, A2 and A18 motorways. The extension of the A4 motorway is planned, and there are preparations of the new infrastructure for the roads A6 and A8. Up to 139 km of motorways are currently under reconstruction, and there is a tender for over 114 km. After the completion of the A50 motorway, which is in the process of planning, the length of motorways in Poland is expected to be approx. 2100 km.

In Poland, most of the motorways consist of two lanes on the opposite driving directions. The increased number of lanes occurs only in the sections that pass through the urban agglomerations or in their vicinity. These include: the A1 motorway in the Silesian Voivodeship, the Poznań bypass and the Pruszkow – Konotopa section (entry to Warsaw) on A2, the passage through the Upper Silesian conurbation on the A4, a small part of the ring road of Krakow, and Wrocław Motorway Bypass on the A8.

The A1 section, which is currently under construction, will be the longest section of the motorway with a three-lane route section. However, it is A2 that has the chance for the longest section, after adding an additional lane between Lodz and Warsaw. All two-lane motorway sections that have been put into use in recent years have a reserve of land in the event of a possible construction of an additional lane.

Over 712 km of toll roads

Out of the six motorways operating in Poland, three of them (A1, A2, A4) have sections where tolls are collected. They apply to some sections managed by GDDKiA: the A2 motorway on the Konin – Strykow section and the A4 motorway on the Wrocław section (Bielany Wrocławskie junction) – Sosnica (Sosnica junction), and on the sections managed by concessionaires, which are the A1 Rusocin – Nowa Wieś motorway section, A2 from Konin to Świecko, as well as A4 Kraków – Katowice. The total length of the motorways managed by GDDKiA is 1,244 km, of which 261.4 km are toll roads. Up to 468 km of motorways are managed by licensees, of which 451 km are tolled.

The A1 motorway

On the 81-kilometer section between the city of Tuszyn and the Czestochowa bypass, the section of the A1 motorway under construction has been divided into five contracts. Four of them are located in the Lodz Voivodeship and one in the Silesian Voivodeship. It is a complicated investment, as evidenced by the work with uninterrupted car traffic.

Along the entire length of the four sections, Tuszyn – Piotrkow Trybunalski, Kamiensk – Radomsko, Radomsko along with the border of the Silesian and Lodz Voivodeships, and from the border of two voivodeships to the beginning of the ring road of Czestochowa, a new concrete roadway is available. It is a 57 km section of two lanes in each direction. On the initial part of the Piotrkow Trybunalski – Kamiensk section, i.e. the next four kilometers of the route, there is one lane available in each direction. The driving conditions on the motorway that is under construction have been improved by the changes in traffic organisation. These included, in particular, the removal of the temporary roundabout at the Piotrkow Trybunalski South junction, the commissioning of the overpass at the Piotrków Trybunalski West junction and the Radomsko junction. Because of the introduced changes, the demolition of the last fragments of the old DK1 road was made possible.

The completion of the A1 motorway construction in the Silesian and Lodz voivodeships is scheduled for 2022. In 2021, 39.6 km of the route is planned to be commissioned: 5.9 km on the section Tuszyn – Piotrków Trybunalski South, 16.7 km on the section Kamieńsk – Radomsko, and Radomsko to the border of the Lodz and Silesia voivodeships – 7 km. There will be two three-lane roadways, and at least one road with two lanes in the next two sections. Three lanes along the entire section of Tuszyn – Częstochowa bypass will be available in 2022.

On the Czestochowa bypass and at the WA352 motorway overpass, located at the junction of the bypass with the motorway section currently under construction, finishing work is underway.

Up to 483.4 km of A2 are in operation, of which 331 km are managed by GDDKiA (General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways), and 152 km are managed by the concessionaire Gdansk Transport Company, on the section Gdansk (Rusocin) – Torun (South Torun). There are 80.7 km of roads under construction, which gives a total of 564.1 km.

The A2 motorway

In 2020, 15 km of the A2 motorway from the Lubelska junction to the Mińsk Mazowiecki bypass were commissioned. Overall, the motorway east of Warsaw is already 36 km. Further communication links at the Lubelska junction, which connects the A2 motorway and the S2 and S17 expressways, have been made available for use. The contracts were signed for the construction of two sections of this route, between the Kaluszyn and Groszki junction, as well as Grezow and West Siedlce. The completion of the works is planned for 2023. In the tender for the design and construction of a 13 km section between the Groszki and Grezow junctions, the winning bid was selected at the beginning of December 2020. The tender for the construction of the A2 section from Siedlce to Biala Podlaska is in progress. 

On 23 December 2020, offers were presented for the design and construction of a 19-kilometer section of the A2 motorway, between the Siedlce West junction and the town of Malinowiec, and on 15 January this year, there was an announcement about the offers for the construction of a 12.5-kilometer section of the route between the Lukowisko junction and the village of Swory.

GDDKiA (General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways) is currently looking for the designer of the section of the A2 motorway east of Warsaw, approximately 32 kilometers long, from the Biała Podlaska junction to the border with Belarus.

The volume of traffic on the A2 motorway between Lodz and Warsaw increased significantly, which led to the decision to build about 89 km of additional traffic lane on this section for each road. In Lodz and Warsaw, the administrative proceedings are conducted by the Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection, regarding the issue of environmental decisions on the widening of the road. From the Konotopa junction to the Pruszkow junction, the motorway will have four lanes on one road. In turn, the section to the Lodz North junction will have three lanes each. After obtaining the funds, the next stage will be the announcement of a tender for the implementation of the investment in the Design and Build system. The planned construction period will last approximately two years and will be carried out without taking the section out of service. The works are expected to be completed in 2025.

A total of 487.5 km of the motorway is in operation, of which approximately 232.5 km are managed by GDDKiA, where the 99 km Konin-Stryków section is tolled; while about 255 km of the motorway, of which 238 km is tolled, is managed by the Autostrada Wielkopolska concessionaire on the Konin – Świecko section. 24.5 km are under construction, 76.3 km in the tender, and 32.3 km in preparation. The total length of the motorway will be 620.6 km.

The A4 motorway

On the stretch of the A4 motorway in Lower Silesia, preparatory works have been started to improve driving conditions. On December 29, 2020, tenders were announced for the development of documentation for the construction of the A4 motorway on the Krzyzowa – Wrocław section, as well as for the construction of the S5 Sobotka – Bolkow expressway. These actions relate to the study of the development of the technical, economic and environmental elements together with the concept of the program (STES-R), and the functional and operational program.

The first tender will be held on the preparation of documentation for approx. 36km section of the A4 motorway from the Krzyżowa junction to the Legnica South junction. In terms of the STES-R documentation, variants of the A4 motorway extension for a given section will be considered. The next tender will concern 80 km of the A4 section from the Legnica Południe junction to the Wrocław Wschód / Stary Sleszów junction, and 50 km of the S5 expressway Bolków-Sobótka, due to the interaction of the S5 road with the A4 motorway. Three variants of A4 reconstruction and construction of S5 will be considered as part of the STES-R documentation.

In December, a contract was signed for the design and implementation of an additional 900 m long right roadway lane on the A4 section, from the Krakow South junction to the overpass at Kapielowa Street, which is part of the Southern Krakow Motorway Bypass. The investment will be carried out by Przedsiębiorstwo Drogowo-Mostowe (Road and Bridge Company) from Debica, according to which all works will amount to PLN 14.48 million.

On December 22, a tender was announced for the development of documentation for the expansion of the Krakow South junction, at the intersection of the A4 motorway with the national road No. 7 (Zakopianka), as well as for obtaining administrative decisions and author’s supervision. The section of the Krakow Południe and Balic junction and the section managed by Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska are still not included in expansion projects.

There are 667 km of A4 in operation, including approx. 606 km managed by GDDKiA, of which 162.4 km are tolled on the section Wrocław (Bielany Wrocławskie junction) – Sosnica (Gliwice Sosnica junction), and approx. 61 km are managed by the Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska SA concessionaire.

The A6 and A8 motorways

At the beginning of September, as the first stage of expansion, a contract was signed for the Regional Implementation Project in the field of the National Road Traffic Management System on the TEN-T transport network. As part of the project, the Wroclaw Motorway Bypass (A8) will gain an intelligent ICT system that will enable ITS services to be launched. New acoustic screens will be built along selected sections of the A8.

The approval of the Investment Program by the Minister of Infrastructure has enabled the funding for the preparation and construction of an overpass with access roads and turning yards on the A6 motorway, located west of the Kolbaskowo MOP (Motorway Service Area), near the border with Germany. 

On 9 December 2020, a 3.5 km section of the A6 motorway Szczecin Dabie – Rzesnica was opened for traffic, which until now had been marked as an expressway.

Currently, 22.7 km of the A8 motorway and 28.8 km of the A6 motorway are in operation.

The A18 motorway

Since 2006, the roadway of the future A18 motorway has been in use between Olszyna and Golnice. The 70 km old southern roadway will be removed, and as part of the road adaptation to the motorway parameters, junctions, MOP switching on and off lanes and animal crossings will be built.

Two sections of the road No. 18 from the state border to the Iłowa junction are under construction, while the subsequent sections to the Golnice junction, located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, are in the final stage of the tender procedure. The signing of contracts for both sections is planned for the first quarter of 2021.

Up to 33.6 km are under construction, 37.8 km in the tender, and the total length is 71.4 km.