Full planned network of motorways (red) and expressways (orange)
Development of the highway network in Poland since 1932:
Completed
Under construction
Planned
Total length of highways by year
Controlled-access highways in Poland are part of the national roads network and they are divided into motorways and expressways. Both types of highways feature grade-separated interchanges with all other roads, emergency lanes, feeder lanes, wildlife protection measures and dedicated roadside rest areas. Motorways differ from expressways in their technical parameters, like designated speed, permitted road curvature, lane widths or minimal distances between interchanges. Moreover, expressways might have single carriageway sections in case of low traffic densities (as of 2023, the single-carriageway sections constitute 5% of the highway network).
As of May 2023[update], there are 4887 km[1] of motorways and expressways in operation (58% of the intended network), while contracts for construction of further 1170 km[2] of motorways and expressways (15% of the intended network) are ongoing.
Except for the single-carriageway expressways, both types of highways fulfill the definition of a motorway as characterized by OECD, WRA or Vienna Convention. Speed limits in Poland are 140 km/h on motorways and 120 km/h on expressways (100 km/h in case of single-carriageway expressway sections).
Motorways are public roads with controlled access which are designated for motor vehicles only, and feature two carriageways with at least two continuous lanes each, divided by a median. They have no one-level intersections with any roads or other forms of land and water transport. They are equipped with roadside rest areas, which are intended only for the users of the motorway.
Some motorway stretches are tolled, others are free of charge. Motorways are the only roads in Poland which use blue background on road signs - others use green road signs.
Expressways share most of the characteristics of motorways, differing mainly in that:
Expressways are designated for lower speed than motorways. For example, the road curvature can be higher and the lanes are usually narrower (3.5m vs 3.75m). Emergency lanes can also be narrower, and in exceptional situations expressways might not have them at all.
Expressways can have a single carriageway on sections with low traffic density.
Motorways can have interchanges only with main roads and the spacing between interchanges should not be less than 15 km (exceptionally 5 km); or not less than 5 km (exceptionally 3 km) within borders or near a big city or a group of cities. Expressways can have interchanges more often. In exceptional situations, expressways might not have dedicated feeder lanes on an interchange.
Technically, expressways are also allowed to admit a one-level junction with a minor public road in exceptional cases, however the last such remaining junction in Poland has been reconstructed into a two-level interchange by June 2020.[3][4][5] The definitions and technical parameters of highways are defined in the Public Roads Act of 21 March 1985 (with later amendments),[6] and the ministry ordinance of 2 March 1999 (with later amendments).[7]
As of 2023, the operational sections of highways utilize the following cross-sections:
89% (4334 km) – motorways and expressways with 2x2 lanes,
6% (303 km) – motorways and expressways with 2x3 or (occasionally) 2x4 or 2x5 lanes,
5% (250 km) – single-carriageway sections, of which:
3.5% (171 km) – single-carriageway expressways with 1+1 lanes, as well as under-construction sections of motorway A18 with 1+1 lanes available on the northern carriageway,
1.25% (63 km) – single-carriageway expressways with 1+1 lanes and dual-carriageway fragments (2x2) around the interchanges,
0.25% (16 km) – single-carriageway expressways with interchanging 2+1 lanes.
All single-carriageway highways are constructed with allocated space for a possible upgrade to dual-carriageway and all bridges above such highways are prepared to accommodate the second carriageway. Most of those sections are planned to be widened to full profile by 2033, the exceptions being S1 (near the Slovak border) and S22 (near the Russian border) where widening is currently not expected.[8]
Speed limits
Maximum speed (km/h)
Vehicle
Motorway
2-lane expressway
1-lane expressway
Private car, motorbike, van up to 3.5t (does not apply if towing trailer)
140
120
100
Bus meeting additional technical requirements
100
Truck or van over 3.5t, bus
Vehicle signed as carrying e.g. dangerous, fragile articles
Car, motorbike, van or bus towing trailer
80
Vehicle having equipment more than 1.5m forward of the driver's seat
60
Motorbike (including towing trailer) carrying a child up to 7 years-old
40
Not allowed on motorways: pedestrians, bikes, mopeds, agricultural vehicles. Minimal speed on motorways is 40 km/h unless there are any extraordinary circumstances (e.g., snow, ice, or a car broken down). It is forbidden to stop except extraordinary situations, or travel backwards. Towing is not allowed on motorways, but is permitted on expressways. Roads are protected from animals crossing the road.
Substandard highways
Motorways and expressways constructed before 1999 do not have to fulfill technical parameters listed in the ordinance. As of 2023, one notable case of a substandard highway remains:
A4 on the section Krzyżowa – Wrocław (103 km (64 mi)) was constructed in years 1934 – 1937 (then the territory of Nazi Germany) and renovated in years 2002 – 2006. The road received new high quality surface but the geometry was kept unchanged and many overpasses above the motorway were kept. In effect, this part has no emergency lanes (which by current standards is only occasionally allowed on expressways and never on motorways) and speed limit is decreased to 110 km/h. A contract for preparing technical documentation for the section's full reconstruction (and widening to three lanes per direction) was signed in 2019.[9]
Notable historical cases are:
S3 near Szczecin (19 km) was opened in 1979 and, until the reconstruction in years 2019 – 2020, featured two at-grade road intersections as the last such expressway section in Poland.[3][5]
A6 near Szczecin (29 km) was constructed by Nazi Germany and kept using the original surface made of concrete slabs until the reconstruction conducted in years 1996 – 1999 and (easternmost fragment) 2017 – 2021.[10]
A18 (70 km) had its southern carriageway constructed by Nazi Germany. The northern carriageway was constructed in 2004 – 2006, while southern carriageway kept using the original concrete slabs until the reconstruction started in 2020 / 2021. Currently, the high quality northern carriageway carries bidirectional traffic for the time of reconstruction. Section is not signed as a motorway.
Tolls
Motorways A1, A2 and A4 are planned as tolled, and some of their sections are already such (see the full list below). The other highways are free of payment for vehicles up to 3.5 tons (Note: The permissible maximum weight of a vehicle is considered; in case of a passenger car with a trailer, the joint permissible maximum weight of the car and the trailer must not exceed 3.5 tons[11]). There are two systems of collecting tolls:
Electronic Toll Collection System
The e-Toll system has been introduced in 2021. A driver needs to buy a ticket in advance[12] or use one of the available mobile apps: Autopay[13][14] supporting all motorway sections with electronic toll collection (i.e. all tolled sections except for privately-owned sections of A2), or dedicated apps of each motorway operator. The mobile application should be running while the motorway is being used.
The police can fine a driver who is using the motorway without a valid ticket or a mobile application, and the motorway operator can send a fine to the car owner if the motorway cameras catch the license plates of a car not registered in the system.[14] As an emergency option, a person who have used a state-owned tolled section while unaware of the new toll collection system can buy a back-dated ticket on the e-toll website[15] to avoid the latter type of fine. Such a ticket should be bought no later than 3 days (i.e. 72 hours) after the drive. (Note: The tickets are valid for 48 hours and as of 2023, the e-toll website allows one to buy a back-dated ticket with the expiration hour set within the last 72 hours, which effectively might give one a possibility to cover a drive which had begun up to 5 days prior; this information is possibly subject to change without notice, because the legal regulation only asserts the possibility of buying a ticket up to 72 hours after the drive, therefore it is advisable to stick to this official period[12]).
Manual Toll Collection System
The toll booths and toll stations are located at the ends of privately-owned motorway sections.
In the open system, two toll stations are located at the ends of the section. A person driving the whole distance pays at both gates, while a person entering or leaving the motorway mid-section pays only at one gate. In the closed system, there are toll stations on every interchange both entering and exiting the tolled section. The driver receives a ticket upon entering the motorway and pays on the exit, with the price dependent on the distance driven.
In case of sections additionally supporting the electronic toll collection, a driver must choose between a "fast gate" for e-toll and a regular gate with manual toll collection.
Motorways with tolled sections
The word Płatna indicates a tolled motorway.
Tolled sections
The following list of tolled sections is valid as of 2023, and only applies to vehicles up to 3.5 tons of maximum permissible weight. The prices listed apply to passenger cars driving the section's whole length.
Tolled: 52 km (32 mi) Mysłowice – Kraków-Balice (managed by Stalexport Autostrada Malopolska S.A.): both electronic and manual (open) systems available, 20 PLN ($5)
Motorway A18 (77 km (48 mi)): Free, of which over half of the length (49 km (30 mi)) has only the first motorway carriageway constructed, carrying bidirectional traffic with 1 lane per direction, while the second carriageway is under reconstruction (these sections are not signed as a motorway)
All expressways: Free
A sign of road toll for vehicles over 3.5 tons.
Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and buses
Using e-Toll is obligatory for buses as well as all vehicles with maximum permissible weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes (including the trailer) while driving on any Polish roads (not just the highways). More details can be found on the e-Toll website.[16]
List of Polish motorways and expressways with progress of construction
In May 2004, the Council of Ministers of Poland published a document including the planned highway network, the length of which was about 7,200 km (4,474 mi) and contained most of the highways in plans today.[17] More notable among the changes introduced in later amendments include re-routing S8 and adding S61 instead (2009, a change related to the Rospuda Valley conflict),[18] introducing S16 (2015, 2016), S52 (2016) and A50/S50 (2019),[19] as well as extending S5 to Ostróda (2015) and to Bolków (2019), S10 to Wołomin (2015) and S8 to Kłodzko (2019).[20][19]
The planned network consists of 16 major highways (over 200 km of intended length): A1, S3, S5, S7, S11, S17, S19 and S61 running north to south, and A2, A4, S6, S8, S10, S12, S16 and S74 running west to east. 4 shorter motorways and 9 expressways complete the planned network.
The following table summarizes the progress of construction of the motorway and expressway network:[a][b][23][24][25][26][27]
35.9 km (reconstruction of the 2x2 road to a highway;2+2 lanes are open on the whole length, except for Vistula bridge where 2+1 lanes are available with the middle lane's direction changing based on the times of day)
^ abMajor changes in the network (e.g. opening new fragments of roads, signing all contracts for a planned road section) are accounted continuously, while a general update including all the details is done once per year (last: 1 July 2022). 'In total' length statistic is kept consistent as of the last general update, and might hence not be the exact sum of the current state of the table.
^Some highways can overlap. The table shows data without overlapping sections such that each fragment is counted exactly once, in accordance with how they are attributed in the ministry ordinance,[21] i.e. each common section is attributed to the road with the lower number (in case of two expressways overlapping) or to a motorway (in case of a motorway and an expressway overlapping), except for S12/S17 west of Lublin which is recorded as S17 in the sources.[22]
^First sections constructed in 1973 – 1976 as a dual carriageway road with at-grade intersections and pedestrian crossings (65 km) and 1978 – 1989 as a short motorway fragment (17 km). In 2019 – 2022, they were reconstructed into a modern motorway.
^Aggregate length for A2: 622.1 km (Completed: 78%, in realisation: 16%)
^First 48 km constructed 1977 – 1988, reconstructed to modern standard 2002 – 2003. Eastern half of S2 in Warsaw constructed 2017 – 2021.
^Aggregate length for S3: 454.9 km (Completed: 85.8%, in realisation: 14.2%)
^The 1st carriageway on three sections (62 km in total) constructed 1985 – 2008.
^Aggregate length for S5 including Ostróda and Bolków extensions (added to the plans in 2015/2019): 508 km (Completed: 61.5%, in realisation: 8.8%)
^The 1st carriageway on three short sections (some bypasses of towns) constructed 1994 – 2006.
^Aggregate length for S8 including Kłodzko extension (added to plans in 2019): 616 km (Completed: 87.5%)
^ abShort fragments (some bypasses of towns) constructed earlier in the 2000s.
^Aggregate length for S17: 322.5 km (Completed: 57%, in realisation: 2.6%)
^In place of a largely destroyed Nazi German motorway (also single-carriageway) from the 1930s.
^ abSections under active construction and sections under a joint Design & Build contract.
In design (tender included), if it is being conducted as part of the predesign process rather than as part of a design-build contract.
In the late predesign phase, i.e. after having obtained environmental decision (0–2 years to finish).
In the process of obtaining environmental decision (including if a non-final decision has been issued and is being appealed from).
In the early predesign stage (Polish: STEŚ).
Preliminary works (an analysis determining the optimal corridor for the planned highway – Polish: Studium Korytarzowe).
^ abThe national road 6 is currently routed through the Szczecin Southern Bypass (motorway A6) and then through expressway S6. Ultimately, after completion of the Szczecin Western Bypass, this new route will become S6 (it is not clear if A6 then retains its number and there will be two parallel routes with number 6, or if renumbering takes place). Until S6 gets rerouted, the existing route 6 is accounted jointly in the table.
^ abAccording to the ordinance, a fragment of S6 (1st Tricity bypass) is ultimately to become a section of S7 after 2nd Tricity bypass (S6) is constructed. Until the actual relabelling takes place, this fragment is being accounted to S6 and not to S7 in the table.
^Aggregate length for S6 including the alternative routes – 2nd (western) bypass of Szczecin and 2nd (outer) bypass of Gdańsk: 425 km (Completed: 43%)
^Section Kraków – Myślenice. By 2030, the existing dual-carriageway DK7 is planned to get upgraded with removing all at-grade intersections and pedestrian crossings. A 2x3 expressway (on a new route alignment) would be constructed around 2038, as the last section of the currently-planned highway network.[29]
^Or later, depending on the status of revocation of the environmental decision.
^Single carriageway expressways which are currently not planned for widening to dual carriageways: 52.2 km of S22, 20.8 km of S1
Traffic volumes on Polish highways
Traffic volumes in Poland note rapid increase since the fall of communism in 1989: the average annual average daily traffic recorded in 2020 amounts to over 360% of the average traffic recorded in 1990.[31][32] With the increasing traffic, the length of overburdened single-carriageway national roads[33] had also been steadily increasing until reaching the maximum of 1389 km in 2010.[34] Due to the large number of highway sections opened between 2010 and 2020, in that decade the length of overburdened roads has fallen down for the first time in history, from 1389 km in 2010 to 1121 km in 2020.[32]
The latest general measurement was conducted in 2020, although some measurement days were moved to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which would have caused the results from 2020 to be unreliable.[35] The following highways recorded the highest traffic volumes:[36]
S8 on section of Warsaw southern bypass (joint with S2, S7)
198'000
114'000
Highest AADT on sections with 5 lanes per direction: 198k (S7/S8), 114k (S2).
Highest AADT on sections with 3 lanes per direction: 179k (S7/S8), 97k (S2).
S8 in Warsaw serves both the transit and local traffic, and long jams form on it during rush hours.
Widening to 3 lanes per direction is planned in the future (after 2030). Some decrease in traffic on A4 is expected after Kraków north-eastern bypass (S7/S52) is opened in late 2024.
The other highest and lowest recorded AADT values were:
The results cannot be considered fully reliable, because the measurement has been conducted while major restrictions in entering European Union via its external border were in force because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[32]
S19 is in realization (design-build), expected to be opened in late 2025.
History
The network planned prior to WWII
Before World War II
The first plans of creation of a national highway network in Poland were conceived in the interwar period:
Plans
The main promoter of this concept was Professor Melchior Wladyslaw Nestorowicz of the Warsaw University of Technology, who organized three Road Congresses, during which a group of specialists discussed the creation of the network. On March 5, 1939, in the trade magazine Drogowiec, Professor Nestorowicz proposed a very ambitious plan for the construction of almost 5,000 kilometres of category I and II roads, based on similar programmes in Germany and Italy.[38] Nestorowicz sketched a map of the future system with the following routes:
First class roads would, according to the plans, consist of the following motorways (totalling some 2,500 km (1,553.4 mi):
In 1934, Nazi Germany started the construction of their motorway system, parts of which today form A18 and A4 to Wrocław (Breslau), as well as A6 Szczecin bypass and S22 (parts of the planned motorway to Königsberg). About half of them were constructed as single-carriageway with the intention of adding a second carriageway in later years. However, after 1938, warfare expenses meant little money would be invested into any infrastructure and only one 9 km single-carriageway piece west of Gliwice (now A4) was constructed.
In Poland, a 28 km stretch between Warlubie and Osiek (now DW214) was constructed in 1937 – 1939 in the motorway standard of the time (today not considered a highway) with a concrete surface, which was designed by Italian engineer Piero Puricelli. The motorway was planned to reach Gdynia, but the outbreak of the Second World War halted the plans.
316.9 km (196.9 mi) of which 178.5 km (110.9 mi) single carriageway
Note: Signage of the roads at the time of opening was different.
1945 – 1972
The Potsdam conference defined the borders for communist Poland, which were very different from the pre-1939 ones. It received the so-called Regained Territories from the former Third Reich with the aforementioned motorway sections (some of them with first carriageway only). Most of the motorway bridges were destroyed by the warfare, but only a few were repaired or rebuilt in the first post-war years. The bridge over Ina river was reconstructed in 1972, and those on S22 only between 1996 and 2003.
Apart from the bridges, almost all the motorways were left in the same condition as they were in 1945 until the mid-1990s. The only road left from Nazi times that was completed by the People's Republic of Poland was a one-carriageway small section between Łęczyca and Lisowo (15 km of what is now DW142), which was built on the previous works of Nazis.
Plans
At the post-war year there were very ambitious plans to make a motorway network for the whole Poland. For example, engineer Eugeniusz Buszma has published his propositions to the network in the magazine "Drogowiec" (1946, issue 1):
In total, the mileage, according to the proposal, would total more than 3,300 km (2,050 mi).
After the addition of the sections built by the Third Reich the total network length had to be ca. 3700 km. In 1963 the Motorization Council at the Council of Ministers had presented the similar plan plus the motorways: Warsaw-Kraków-Zakopane, Kraków-Przemyśl, Warsaw-Bydgoszcz-Koszalin, Poznań-Koszalin i Warsaw-Terespol (ca. 1250 km). None of those plans were realized, however.
Despite announcing such pompous plans, no motorway was opened in the meantime.
In the 1970s
Express road S6 in Gdynia, part of Tricity bypass which was opened (at first as single carriageway) in 1977, making it the oldest expressway in Poland.
Only in the 1970s did any works start. In 1972 it was planned to build:
In 1973 – 1976, "Gierkówka" dual carriageway from Warsaw to Katowice (281 km (175 mi)) was built. Originally planned as a motorway, it was in the end constructed by adding another carriageway to the existing road, hence going through many villages and crossing with local roads. However, the part from Piotrków Trybunalski to Częstochowa (78 km (48 mi)) was constructed on a new route in a semi-motorway standard: the road was constructed on a motorway alignment but majority of the intersections between the highway and the other roads were constructed as one-level with no viaducts or overpasses.
Highway sections opened in the 1970s
Signage
Section
Length
Start of construction
Opening
Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa semi-motorway standard (one-level intersections)
78 km (48 mi)
1973
1976
Tri-city bypass (eastern carriageway) substandard (two one-level intersections, then reconstructed when adding a second carriageway in the 1980s)
57 km (35.4 mi) of which 37.7 km (23.4 mi) single carriageway
In the 1980s
A4 near Zalas, opened in 1983
Near the end of the 1970s the first construction of motorways started and continued to the next decade. The roads opened in the 1980s were the first motorways and expressways which generally meet the contemporary standards (at least with respect to their more important attributes), although in several cases their poor quality forced major renovations to be performed as soon as within the first 20 years of operation, in order to adhere to the contemporary standards.[39][40]
In 1985 the government already planned to build the expressways apart from the motorways. The major routes planned as motorways were A1, A2 and A4. The realization of these plans however came at a very slow pace: throughout the 1980s, only an average of 20 km (12 mi) of highways in the whole country were being opened per year.
Highway sections opened in the 1980s average: 20.5 km / year
205.6 km (127.8 mi) of which 55.3 km (34.4 mi) single carriageway
In the 1990s
In the III Republic of Poland the plans started to change again. Planned S3 was promoted to a motorway standard as A3 (the decision was later reversed) and a plan was introduced (also later reversed) of constructing the highway Łódź – Wrocław – Bolków in a motorway standard as A8. Szczecin bypass (A6) and Olszyna – Krzywa (then named A12, now A4/A18) were promoted to motorways, even though at that time the majority of their lengths was in bad shape, laid with the original concrete surface from the 1930s with no significant works having been performed on any of them throughout the communist period.
Highway sections opened in the 1990s average: 15 km / year
As of the end of 1999, the vast majority of national and international traffic routes were served by regular national roads with at-grade intersections and pedestrian crossings, most of them leading through the centres of cities, towns and villages, and most of them single carriageway. Only the following number of highways was present:
about 275 km (171 mi) of modern dual carriageway motorways and expressways (3.5% of the network as planned nowadays),
about 90 km (56 mi) of single carriageway expressways,
about 125 km (78 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways from the 1930s,
about 150 km (93 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways on sections where only the first carriageway was constructed.
Before Poland received the EU membership
A few years before Poland entered the EU the tempo of motorway construction increased significantly. The main focus was on the east–west motorways A4 and A2. In 2002, a long-awaited renovation of the A4 from Krzywa to Wrocław (93 km) has started, which included laying new high quality surface in place of the Nazi German concrete slabs, reconstruction of all the pre-WWII bridges on the motorway and renovation of the viaducts above the motorway.
This is also a period when Poland started introducing motorway tolls, first in 2000 for the A4 section between Mysłowice and Kraków.
Highway sections opened in 2000 – 2003 average: 57 km / year
227.6 km (141.4 mi) of which 9.5 km (5.9 mi) single carriageway
Poland in European Union
1 May 2004 was a crucial day for the history of motorway construction, and that is when the highway boom started. One of major the advantages of signing the European Union access document was that Poland could get access to large funds for co-financing the construction of new roads and upgrades of the existing road infrastructure.
These years, the existing scattered pieces of highways began to converge into the basis of the future network:
until 2004, Katowice and Kraków (linked by A4) were the only pair of Poland's largest cities connected by a highway;
A large number of expressway bypasses of towns were also constructed at this time. On many of them, only one carriageway was built, with the allocated space prepared for easy construction of the second carriageway later.
Highway sections opened in 2004 – 2010 average: 148 km / year
1,035.5 km (643.4 mi) of which 256.5 km (159.4 mi) single carriageway, 100.7 km (62.6 mi) reconstructed
2011 – 2015
Length of highways opened in 2011 – 2015
Year
Length
Notes
2011
313 km (194 mi)
2012
639 km (397 mi)
Of which 195 km (121 mi) were opened before Euro 2012 championship
2013
298 km (185 mi)
2014
279 km (173 mi)
2015
34 km (21 mi)
Total
1,563 km (971 mi)
Of which 49 km (30 mi) first / second carriageway
The sections opened in 2011 – 2015 belonged to the following highways:
: + 273 km (170 mi) (A1 on the section Gdańsk – Łódź was completed in 2014)
: + 234 km (145 mi) (A2 on the section Germany – Warsaw was completed in 2012)
: + 88 km (55 mi) (S3 on the section Szczecin – A2 – Zielona Góra was completed in 2013, except that its older single-carriageway parts remained so until 2017)
: + 183 km (114 mi)
: + 138 km (86 mi)
: + 365 km (227 mi) (S8 on the section Wrocław – Łódź was completed in 2014)
: + 282 km (175 mi) in total
2016 – 2020
After the peak of investments before Euro 2012, very few new sections have been contracted in 2012 and 2013, which resulted in a small number of sections opened in 2015 and 2016, large share of which were the last delayed fragments originally contracted for a Euro 2012 opening. In particular:
In 2016, the last delayed fragment of from Kraków to Ukraine was opened, making A4 the first major Polish highway completed on its whole intended length, as well as the first complete border-to-border highway connection.
Also in 2016, the delayed bypass of Łódź was finished, making completed on its whole route except for those sections where national road 1 had already been a dual carriageway (see In the 1970s), allowing for a significantly lower priority of constructing the remaining stretch compared to other highways.
Since 2014, the number of signed contracts has risen again, resulting in the number of road openings having risen again since 2017.
Length of highways opened in 2016 – 2020
Year
Length
Notes
2016
123 km (76 mi)
2017
295 km (183 mi)
2018
318 km (198 mi)
2019
410 km (255 mi)
2020
135 km (84 mi)
Total
1,281 km (796 mi)
Of which 94 km (58 mi) first / second carriageway
The sections opened in 2016 – 2020 belonged to the following highways:
: + 173 km (107 mi)
: + 227 km (141 mi) (S5 on the section Poznań – Wrocław was completed in 2019)
: + 128 km (80 mi) (S6 on the section Szczecin – Koszalin was completed in 2019)
: + 213 km (132 mi)
: + 128 km (80 mi) (S8 was completed in 2019 on its originally intended route from Wrocław to Białystok; an extension to Kłodzko was later added to the plans)
: + 97 km (60 mi) (S17 on the section Warsaw – Lublin was completed in 2020)
: + 315 km (196 mi) in total (A4 was completed in 2016)
2021 – present
Length of highways opened, or to be opened, in 2021 – 2025 by the contract completion date
Of which 7 km (4 mi) first carriageway, 111 km (69 mi) second carriageway
The sections opened, or planned to get opened, in 2021 – 2025 belong to the following highways:
: + 106 km (66 mi)
: + 104 km (65 mi) (S3 is scheduled to get completed in 2024)
: + 200 km (124 mi) (S6 is scheduled to get completed in 2025 on its original route - partially as A6 - from Germany to Gdańsk; western bypass of Szczecin will be constructed later as an alternative parallel route)
: + 196 km (122 mi) (S7 on the section Warsaw – Kraków is scheduled to get completed in 2024)
: + 291 km (181 mi) (S19 "Via Carpathia" on the section Lublin – Rzeszów was completed in 2022, except that its older fragment with 2+1 lanes will remain so until 2026)
: + 183 km (114 mi) (S61 "Via Baltica" is scheduled to get completed in 2025)
, , , , : + ca. 60 – 80 km each (A1 was completed in 2022; S5 on the section Grudziądz (A1) – Poznań was completed in 2022; reconstruction of the second carriageway of A18 is scheduled to get completed in 2023; S1 is scheduled to get completed in 2025)
: + 110 km (68 mi) in total
Total length of motorways and expressways in Poland (end of the year)
Year
Highways, total length
1936 (then Nazi Germany)
92 km
1937 (then Nazi Germany)
104 km and 38 km first carriageway
1938–1945 (then Nazi Germany)
133 km and 135 km first carriageway (further below not considered as a motorway until addition of the second carriageway)
^The measurement analysis defines a regular single-carriageway road as overburdened if recorded average annual traffic exceeds 15'000 vehicles per day, see "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2020.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
