Roads and expressways in Poland

Poland has a poorly developed infrastructure of roads and expressways by Western European standards. There are very few main expressways ("autostrady", singular - "autostrada"), some "express roads" with lower speed limits than motorways but with many of their features, and an extensive network of roads (almost all of them single lane) connecting all major cities.

The quality of Polish transport infrastructure constitutes an important barrier to the country's development, especially in the context of the European integration. Although the total length of the roads is relatively high, Poland is missing minimum required density of motorways and expressways. The major routes connecting major cities total 18,036 km in length (2001 data). On December 31, 2001, only 398 km of these were expressways (mostly not up to modern standards), while 206.2 km were express roads. Large stretches of the expressways (about 140 km), especially those built by Germany before World War II, were in such bad shape as to require complete reconstruction. 4808 km of the routes were classified as part of TINA European transport corridors, but only 7% of these (346 km) were up to EU standards (i.e. able to handle loads of 11.5 tons per axle).

In the years 1990-2001 only 138 km of expressways and 33 km of express roads were built. At the end of 2001 only 38 km of new expressways were under construction. According to the latest data, during 2004 67 km of expressways were opened to traffic, while 284 km were under construction (or reconstruction) at the end of the year. 8.6 km of express roads were also completed during 2004.

In recent years, the situation has been improving and government spending on road construction recently saw a huge increase, due to the inflow of European Union funds for infrastructure projects.Currently three major expressways spanning the entire country are being planned or built, to be finished some time in the next decade. By 2009 most of the largest cities (Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź, Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice) will have an expressway connecting them with the expressway network of Western Europe. There are also plans to build a system of "express roads" which will not be expressways but will have many of their features.

History of Polish expressways

First ideas of creation of expressways in Poland were conceived in the interbellum period. Main promoter of this concept was Professor Melchior Wladyslaw Nestorowicz of the Warsaw Polytechnic, who organized three Road Congresses, during which a group of specialists discussed creation of Polish expressway network. On March 5, 1939, in a professional magazine Drogowiec, Professor Nestorowicz published an article, in which he proposed a very ambitious plan of construction of almost 5000 kilometers of motorways, I and II category. According to Nestorowicz, a nationwide program of expressways, based on similar programs in Germany and Italy, should be started in Poland, because otherwise "Poland will be beyond borders of civilized Europe" [ [http://www.nowedrogi.pl/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=93 Prof. M. W. Nestorowicz, Problem budowy dróg samochodowych (autostrad) w Polsce] ] . Professor sketched a map of future motorways of the Second Polish Republic.

First class roads consisted of the following expressways:
* Warszawa - Lodz - 100 km.,
* Warszawa – Poznan - Polish-German border - 350 km.,
* Warsaw beltway - 130 km.,
* Poznan beltway - 80 km.,
* Gdynia – Bydgoszcz – Lodz – 500 km.,
* Lodz beltway - 90km.,
* Bytow - Free City of Danzig border - 50 km.,
* Katowice – Kraków – Lwów - 375 km.,
* Warszawa – Lublin – Lwów – Sniatyn - Polish-Romanian border - 550 km.,
* Pulawy – Sandomierz – Przemysl - 175 km.Altogether - 2.400 km.

Second class roads consisted of the following expressways:
* Piotrkow Trybunalski - Kielce - Sandomierz - 180km.,
* Warszawa – Kielce – Kraków - 180 km.,
* Lodz - Kalisz - Polish-German border north of Wroclaw - 130 km.,
* Warszawa – Grodno – Wilno – Polish-Latvian border near Daugavpils - 575 km.,
* Grodno - Nowogrodek - Polish-Soviet border near Minsk - 190 km.,
* Bydgoszcz – Poznan – Czestochowa - 350 km.,
* Katowice – Cieszyn – Polish-Czech border - 60km.,
* Ostroleka - Polish-East Prussian border - 50 km.,
* Grodno - Polish-Lithuanian border - 40 km.,
* Grodno - Brzesc nad Bugiem - Krasnystaw - 300 km.,
* Warszawa–Brzesc nad Bugiem - 170 km.,Altogether - 2.295 km

Categories

Polish statutes define these categories of roads from 21 March 1985 [http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klasy_i_kategorie_dr%C3%B3g_w_Polsce] :

*National Roads – Classes A, S, GP and sometimes G
*Voivodship (Provincial) Roads – Classes G, Z and sometimes GP
*Powiat (County) Roads – Classes G, Z and sometimes L
*Gmina (Municipal) Roads – Classes L, D and sometimes Z

Expressways

An expressway is identified by the letter "A" followed by a number (e.g. A1). Under current plans, by 2015 three expressways will span the country, two along the East-West axis (A2, A4) and one along the North-South axis (A1). In addition, three shorter highway stretches (A6, A8, A18) are planned. All except the A8 are currently under construction, in various stages of completion:

* A3 was to run from Szczecin south to the Czech border, but plans to build it have for now been shelved. A lower standard "express road" designated S3 will now be built along this route.

Highways

Poland also has some two-lane and a few four-lane highways which connect all areas of the country not serviced by the main expressways. These are supplemented by a network of generally poorly maintained side roads and local paved routes.

Urban motorways

With the exception of Silesia and Warsaw, most of Poland's primary cities do not have a well developed motorway system within. As cities begin, most highways and expressways end and turn into ordinary urban streets. This is largely due to the density of city construction and importance of existing city transit systems: The destruction of either in order to construct an inner-city motorway network is not viewed as beneficial.

Legal

; 2000 Road Law Act : The Act provides for basic rules applicable to all public roads such as division of the roads into different categories and procedures for assigning the road into particular category. The Act also establishes the office of General Director for National Roads and Motorways ("GDDKiA") as well as determines its powers. The considerable part of the Act is dedicated to the rules of administration of the roads (including the obligations and rights of the administrator).; 1997 Public Roads Financing Act : The Act determines the basic rules in respect to financing of public roads (excluding motorways), among others the Act stipulates that at least 30% of income derived from the fuel excise duty is spent on the construction and maintenance of public roads.; 1994 Toll Motorways Act: The Act provides for a financial and legal framework for the construction of motorways (selecting locations, acquisition of property on which the motorways are to be built, tender procedures, concessions for the construction and operation of motorways).

ee also

* Country roads in Poland

External links and references

* [http://www.gddkia.gov.pl General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways] (in Polish, some information also in English)