Poland has signed four agreements worth over €792 million to build 61.3 kilometers of road for the north-south European link for the Via Carpahtia project. Drivers are currently able to use over 75 kilometers of the Via Carpathia highway in Poland.
The whole Polish project’s length is set to be around 700 kilometers and currently, 257.2 kilometers of the highways are in progress, 112.6 kilometers are in tender and a further 258.9 kilometers are being prepared. The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) spokesman Szymon Piechowiak noted that the Via Carpathia section whose main element is the Polish expressway S19 will be the GDDKiA’s main priority for the upcoming years. “In 2021, we plan to sign an additional eleven agreements for the S19 section of a combined length of almost 170 kilometers. When it comes to the next completed sections, in 2021, we would like to make an additional 70 kilometers of road accessible,” said the spokesman. sejm.gov.pl Via Carpatia highway is planned to run through Europe from Baltic States to Bulgaria and Greece. According to GDDKiA estimates, the entire Via Carpathia section which runs through the eastern part of Poland will be almost fully complete by the end of 2026. One section, which will be completed in 2029, will require the construction of two tunnels; one of which will be three kilometers long. The cost of the whole route will be over €660 million.
Piechowiak pointed out, however, that it is hard to approximate the cost of the entire investment due to the fact that a decision concerning the final course of some sections of the Via Carpathia has still not been made. The idea to create the Via Carpathia was initiated in 2006 in Polish town of Lancut by Lithuanian, Polish, Slovakian, and Hungarian ministers. The project was under the patronage of then Polish President Lech Kaczyński. The route is planned to run from Baltic States through Białystok, Lublin, Rzeszów in Poland and then from Kosice (Slovakia) to Debrecen (Hungary) and finally though Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Title image:The whole Polish project’s length of Via Carpathia construction is to be around 700 kilometers, source: GDDKiA.
