[SK] Slovak Highways • Slovenské diaľnice

[Qwert]

More info you can find in [Slovakia] Motorways thread in Slovakia subforum.

Useful sites about Slovak motorways:
www.ndsas.sk - official site of National Motorway Company
www.highways.sk - IMO the best page
www.dialnice.info - forum about highways in Slovak language


Map of planned motorway and expressway network:



The map above is a bit old. Here is more up-to-date one:

Orange - built, Green - U/C, Grey - Planned
(Dark Red - built/U/C/planned tunnels)


Terminology:

R (or RC) - rýchlostná cesta - expressway
D - diaľnica - motorway


There are built/under construction/planned motorways D1, D2, D3 and D4 and expressways R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8

• The longest is motorway D1 which connects the most important centres in the country with Bratislava.
  It starts in Bratislava and will end at Ukrainian border near Uzhorod.
• The only finished motorway is D2 which was completed in 2007 when tunnel Sitina was finished.
  It connects Bratislava with Prague, Vienna and Budapest.
• Motorway D3 will connect Žilina with Poland and Czech Republic. It's currently U/C.
  Some sections are built only in half profile (2x1 lines) due to very mountainous terrain which forces the designers to build it almost whole on bridges, estacades, embankments and tunnels.
• D4 is now only about 3 km long and connects motorway D2 with Austrian A6. When it will be finished it will create Bratislava bypass.
  It's still only in approval stage because it contains bridge above Danube and 8-9 km long tunnel under Malé Karpaty mountains.

• Expressway R1 connects important cities Nitra, Zvolen and Banská Bystrica with Bratislava and Trnava. Only one half is completed, whole expressway should be finished in 2011.
• In case of other expressways there are built only short parts, mostly 2x1 bypasses of some municipalities.

PPP

Our government wants to built highway D1 from Bratislava to the second biggest city Košice and whole expressway R1 till the end of the year 2013 (majority in 2011) using PPP projects.

Here is visualisation of the project:

Blue - 1st PPP (75.04 km)
Purple - 2nd PPP (51.53 km)
Pink - 3rd PPP (29.08 km)

Some pictures:
The beginning of highway D1 in Bratislava Petržalka:


Viaduct Podtureň (D1):


Tunnel Sitina (D2):




D2 in Bratislava:


D3 border crossing Skalité/Zwardon:



Heading to Poland:


Recent photos form construction sites:

Construction of D3 near Žilina:





Construction of the northern part of D3 near Skalité:






D1 Važec - Mengusovce:

[ChrisZwolle]

I hope to visit Slovakia next year, in a roadtrip i am gonna do in Poland, Slovakia and Czechia. We will stay mainly in the north, Tatra mts and heading for the Olomouc/Ostrava region in Czechia, so no Bratislava.

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by Chriszwolle

I hope to visit Slovakia next year, in a roadtrip i am gonna do in Poland, Slovakia and Czechia. We will stay mainly in the north, Tatra mts and heading for the Olomouc/Ostrava region in Czechia, so no Bratislava.

There is wonderful nature and many sightseeings, however in Bratislava is more fun. But, it's your trip.

[Qwert]

New motorway A6 between Bratislava and Vienna will be opened on November 20. It will be opened by Austrian and Slovak politicians.

Construction of this 22 km long highway which connects Austrian A4 to Slovak D4 was never-ending story, but now it's finished.

Map from Google. I wonder why there is highway A6 which is not opened and tunnel Sitina which is already in use is still missing:


Pictures of construction of A6 near Slovak border:



Entering Slovakia on D4:




D4 now ends at the interchange Jarovce (D4 x D2):


In the future it will continue above the Danube and than around whole Bratislava and under Malé Karpaty mountains. It will be Bratislava outer ring. (yellow variant will be built):


From more global point of view it will be part of huge bypass and connection of Vienna and Bratislava when Vienna ring S1, Marchfeld Schnellstrasse S8 and D4 will be finished.:

[Verso]

Oh great, another Slov**ian thread. Thank god I didn't write "Slovenske avtoceste".

Connecting Bratislava and Vienna looks like a great and successful project, in 2 weeks it will be brought to reality.

Other than that, I always like watching urban motorways winding their ways through Bratislava, and I have to express a special congratulations to the sexiest signage there is!

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by Verso

Oh great, another Slov**ian thread. Thank god I didn't write "Slovenske avtoceste".

Connecting Bratislava and Vienna looks like a great and successful project, in 2 weeks it will be brought to reality.

Other than that, I always like watching urban motorways winding their ways through Bratislava, and I have to express a special congratulations to the sexiest signage there is!

Thank you. Connection of Bratislava and Vienna is first form all very long project. We had to wait 15 years till construction end.

I also like looking at the urban highways in Bratislava. Driving on them is, however, not that cool. Mainly because they were build as 2x2 instead of 2x3. Now we have to wait when the outer bypass will be built. I "hope" again 2x2. Maybe you will like this picture from Bratislava Petržalka - the only and very short section of 2x4 highway in Slovakia:

[RawLee]

how much is that?300m?

[Verso]

Hehe, collectors. But it still looks fascinating. What fascinates me even more is the outer bypass along the D1 in BA, similar to those in Italy (Bologna, Verona, Udine). You don't see it often, especially in cities with just 500 k. inhabitants and in the old "Eastern" Europe. In fact, I can't recall any!

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by RawLee

how much is that?300m?

According to Google maps about 430-440 metres.

Originally Posted by Verso

Hehe, collectors. But it still looks fascinating. What fascinates me even more is the outer bypass along the D1 in BA, similar to those in Italy (Bologna, Verona, Udine). You don't see it often, especially in cities with just 500 k. inhabitants and in the old "Eastern" Europe. In fact, I can't recall any!

Well, Bratislava doesn't have outer bypass. It's only planned. Now exists only short part from Austrian border to highway D2. Problem is this project is extremely expansive because construction of bridge over Danube and it's inudation, 10 km long tunnel under Malé Karpaty and shorter tunnel under future runway of Bratislava airport is needed. It should be finnished in 2015. Maybe PPP will save us.

[x-type]

Originally Posted by Verso

Hehe, collectors. But it still looks fascinating. What fascinates me even more is the outer bypass along the D1 in BA, similar to those in Italy (Bologna, Verona, Udine). You don't see it often, especially in cities with just 500 k. inhabitants and in the old "Eastern" Europe. In fact, I can't recall any!

well if Udine can have it, why not BA? and it is very usefull for urban motorways to avoid jams for transit traffic

[Verso]

^ Yes, but you still don't see it often.

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by x-type

well if Udine can have it, why not BA? and it is very usefull for urban motorways to avoid jams for transit traffic

Yes, what traffic around and inside Bratislava really needs is Bratislava outer ring and upgrading of highway D1 from Bratislava to Trnava on 2x3 lanes.

[pmaciej7]

Originally Posted by Qwert

Maybe PPP will save us.

Does PPP mean Private-Public Partneship? In Poland it doesn't work...

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by pmaciej7

Does PPP mean Private-Public Partneship? In Poland it doesn't work...

Yes, that't PPP. Our govrenemt wants to start enormous PPP project and build 150 km of highways in 3 years and sections in tunnels in 5 years. Their goal is to connect Bratislava with Košice by D1 and Bratislava with Banská Bystrica using R1. Will it work? I hope yes, but in my opinion they should spend more time planing the project. They want to start the construction next year. It can create debt 300 billion SKK (9 billion EUR) what is quite considerable amount of money For example all incomes of next year national budget should be 348,2 billion SKK (10.5 billion EUR).

[ChrisZwolle]

Bratislava has 425.000 inhabitants. That are about 200.000 households, which produces about 5 traffic-movements per day, about 1 million movements in the future. Ofcourse, only a part of that will go actually on a distance longer than 3km, or on the Dial'nice.

A typical Dutch city of 425.000 inhabitants produces around 180.000 vehicles a day on a motorway. That is not happening today in Bratislava, however, when the country gets more developed overtime, traffic will increase, even if the population doesn't. That's just a sign of welfare.

There may also be some commuting from outside Bratislava to the city. Generally no more than 20 - 30kms away, however longer commuting distances can occur.

Since Bratislava is close to the Hungarian border, there will be very few to marginal commuting on the D2 from the south.

Commuting can increase on the D1 from national road 63, but i don't think much further as Šamorín. There may be large commuting in the future from the Senec/Trnava direction. From the north, commuting will be taking place from the D2 as far als Malacky.

Not all commuting takes place by car ofcourse. A lot of people may take the trains, however, Western Europe shows car usage will increase with welfare-growth.

So i think, a 2x2 motorway is not enough in the future, i surely hope they reserved some space to a widening to 2x4 lanes on the D1 and D2 in the Bratislava area. You might think it's too much now, but we know better now in the Netherlands, i hope you guys won't make the same mistake as we did.

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by pmaciej7

Does PPP mean Private-Public Partneship? In Poland it doesn't work...

Doesnt?We just issued a ~145 km long motorway construction in PPP. It works very well around here,and I suspect it will work fine in Slovakia too.

Originally Posted by Chriszwolle

Since Bratislava is close to the Hungarian border, there will be very few to marginal commuting on the D2 from the south.

I think it will be much bigger between Bratislava and Vienna.

[cernoch]

Originally Posted by Qwert

Our govrenemt wants to start enormous PPP project and build 150 km of highways in 3 years and sections in tunnels in 5 years. Their goal is to connect Bratislava with Košice by D1 and Bratislava with Banská Bystrica using R1.

In my personal opinion, this project will be quite unnecessary because the existing highways and first-class motorways are nearly empty even during the busiest days (e.g. D2). If Slovakian government do not know what to do with the huge state budget, it should improve the national health service (partly at least).

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by cernoch

In my personal opinion, this project will be quite unnecessary because the existing highways and first-class motorways are nearly empty even during the busiest days (e.g. D2). If Slovakian government do not know what to do with the huge state budget, it should improve the national health service (partly at least).

You have been probably in different Bratislava. D2 empty? During busy day? D2 is empty only when it's closed. It's important international corridor which connects Bratislava with Prague, Budapest and Vienna. It's also the only good connection between Prague and Budapest. In Bratislava it's often used by local traffic. It's extremely busy road. Bridge Lafranconi (2x2) on this highway is used by 100 000 cars a day.

Originally Posted by RawLee

Doesnt?We just issued a ~145 km long motorway construction in PPP. It works very well around here,and I suspect it will work fine in Slovakia too.

I think it will be much bigger between Bratislava and Vienna.

Traffic density is still growing from all directions. From Vienna it's higher than from Hungary.

Originally Posted by Chriszwolle

Bratislava has 425.000 inhabitants. That are about 200.000 households, which produces about 5 traffic-movements per day, about 1 million movements in the future. Ofcourse, only a part of that will go actually on a distance longer than 3km, or on the Dial'nice.

A typical Dutch city of 425.000 inhabitants produces around 180.000 vehicles a day on a motorway. That is not happening today in Bratislava, however, when the country gets more developed overtime, traffic will increase, even if the population doesn't. That's just a sign of welfare.

There may also be some commuting from outside Bratislava to the city. Generally no more than 20 - 30kms away, however longer commuting distances can occur.

Since Bratislava is close to the Hungarian border, there will be very few to marginal commuting on the D2 from the south.

Commuting can increase on the D1 from national road 63, but i don't think much further as Šamorín. There may be large commuting in the future from the Senec/Trnava direction. From the north, commuting will be taking place from the D2 as far als Malacky.

Not all commuting takes place by car ofcourse. A lot of people may take the trains, however, Western Europe shows car usage will increase with welfare-growth.

So i think, a 2x2 motorway is not enough in the future, i surely hope they reserved some space to a widening to 2x4 lanes on the D1 and D2 in the Bratislava area. You might think it's too much now, but we know better now in the Netherlands, i hope you guys won't make the same mistake as we did.

Actually, we did and we are still doing that mistake. Problem is that highway D2 and sections of D1 close to Bratislava are about 30 years old. In that times everybody expected their capacity is big enough for at least next 100 years. They were build without possibility of upgrading on 2x3. Now the D1 between Bratislava and Trnava is going to be extended on 2x3 lanes but overpasses must be demolished. The second variant is that emergency lane will end before the pillar of the overpass and after it it will continue. It's, however, quite dangerous. Reconstruction would start (I hope) next year.

Another problem is traffic inside Bratislava. Even recently build sections were build as 2x2 which is not enough. Other problem is Harbour bridge which is with 140 000 cars a day the busiest in Slovakia. It's about 22 years old two level bridge. First level is for railway, the second is motorway. It was designed for 50 000 cars a day what is almost three times less than current traffic volume. It cannot be upgraded on even on 2x3, not to mention at least 2x4 is needed. The only way is to build new bridge which must be done during full operation of present bridge. If there's crash on this bridge the traffic in whole city simply collapses. Last time when there was big crash, police had to stop all trucks arriving to Bratislava 12 km before the bridge to keep traffic in the city at least slowly moving.

Commuting to Bratislava is mainly from the north-east direction. Cars are using motorway D1 which is creating density about 50,000 vehicles a day between Bratislava and Trnava. In Trnava there is crossing with expressway R1 so behind this crossing the traffic is much better. However, between Bratislava and Senec where many international logistic centres are located there is even much higher traffic and full of trucks. That's why we need at least 2x4 lanes between Bratislava and Senec. I hope they will at least keep some reserve for additional lanes.

Another problem is that on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning some 150 000 people are arriving to the city who are leaving it on Friday afternoon. They are students, workers and citizens of Bratislava. There is such habit that during weekends there is little exodus to the Eastern parts of country for relax and family. So two times a week the D1 is completely jammed.

Bratislava seems to be small but its strategic location and other factors are creating enormous traffic which is not usual in other cities with the same number of citizens. That's why Bratislava needs extensive road network. The bad decisions in the past and which are still occurring cause permanent traffic problems.

[cernoch]

Originally Posted by Qwert

You have been probably in different Bratislava. D2 empty? During busy day? D2 is empty only when it's closed. It's important international corriodor which connects Bratislava with Prague, Budapest and Vienna. It's also the only good connetction between Prague and Budapest. In Bratislava it's often used by local traffic. It's extremely busy road. Bridge Lafranconi (2x2) on this highway is used by 100 000 cars a day.

e.g. means "for example" but I meant "especially" more.
I would like you to teach me geography because if this road really connects all the CE capitals as you've mentioned, I need much help from you.

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by cernoch

e.g. means "for example" but I meant "especially" more.
I would like you to teach me geography because if this road really connects all the CE capitals as you've mentioned, I need much help from you.

If you are not able to understand what is written it could be some disease. D2 connects Bratislava with Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Which part of that sentence you can't understand? Or do you know some different highway which is not in the maps?