Poland place Via Carpatia on list of priorities

The Polish government has put the planned 570km Via Carpatia – Expressway S19 – on a priority list and wants it finished by 2023.

The government also increased the budget for building roads by €6.7 billion to €32.1 billion.

The announcements are part of the National Road Construction Programme (PBDK).

The S19 road will run from the border with Belarus in Kuznica through Sokolka, Bielsk-Podlaski to Chlebczyn.

According to Polish media, a 60km shorter route is under consideration, with the road passing through Czarna Bialostocka and Sokolka instead of Knyszyn and Korycin.

A first phase of building the road will include a small northern ring road of Bialystok Sochonie-Dobrzyniewo-Choroszcz to connect with the S8. The estimated cost for building the 248km road will reach €2.85 billion.

Meanwhile, the 1054 European Investment Bank has granted Poland a €325 million loan for three dual carriageway sections totalling 110km of the S7 and S8 dual. The roads will run through the Mazowieckie voivodeship. Poland’s state-owned development bank Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego will distribute the loan.

Also, the European Regional Development Fund recently awarded the city of Katowice €107 towards a €127 million road investment programme.

Work includes rebuilding two major road junctions in the district of Giszowiec, where national roads 86 and 81 intersect.