New stretches of highway to be completed this year – and next

Soon in the Czech Republic it should be a little easier to get from the proverbial A to B: the country is set to increase its network of highways by 15.6 kilometres, a big jump from 2015 when highways were not increased at all, according to the Czech News Agency.

Photo: ŠJů, CC BY-SA 3.0

In actual fact, there were changes in 2015 but they were strictly administrative, adding primary roads to the country’s motorways on paper to reach a final number of 1,228 kilometres. Over the course of the coming year, construction should begin to complete a full 15.6 kilometres of highway include long unfinished stretches which until now ended short of their destination, the classic example being the D11 in the direction of Hradec Králové. That should be completed next August. After that, sections of the D4 from Skalka – Haje near Příbram should be finished and in the autumn a stretch of road between Borek and Úsilné at České Budejovice.

Completed newer highways are well appreciated by motorists – ask anyone who regularly uses the D5 between Prague and Plzeň and beyond: largely completed in the 1990s it is in many ways a far more pleasant drive than the country’s D1 from Prague to Brno, parts of which, despite ongoing renovation each year, are far from pleasant. Next year, renovation on the D1 will continue as well, namely three areas: Měřín and Velké Meziříčí, Velká Bíteš and Devět Křížů and Psáře and Soutice. With it long traffic delays, no question, but in the long run it should all be worth it.

According to the Czech News Agency, new sections of highway could still be completed by the end of the year: the Transport Ministry is still estimated that a section of the D8 between Lovosice and Řehlovice will be finished, increasing the network by 16.4 kilometres. Transport Minister Dan Ťok promised that Czechs would be able to drive to Dresden on the finished road in time to visit the Christmas markets but whether the Christmas pledge will be fulfilled is not clear yet.