The D11 and D35 motorways by Hradec Králové and D48 by Frýdek-Místek will be free of charge23/10/2018|Press releasesThe Ministry of Transport accommodated some remarks and proposes the free-of-charge use of three motorway sections in a total length of 13 km in its new regulation. Starting from next year, drivers could be using the sections D11 Sedlice – Kukleny (exits 84 – 90), D35 Sedlice – Opatovice nad Labem (exits 126 – 129) and D48 Frýdek-Místek – Dobrá (km 50 – exit 54) without the motorway sticker. A total of 199 km of motorways are already free of charge – mostly city bypasses or those crossed by category I roads. The exemption of these motorways sections did not have any impact on the sales of motorway stickers. "In 2018 we decided to accommodate the requirements of the Hradec Králové Region and the Ministry of the Environment to exempt parts of the motorway from paid sections, because they are bypass roads. To be specific, these are Frýdek-Místek – Dobrá on D48, Sedlice – Kukleny on D11 and Sedlice – Opatovice on D35. Starting next year, this will add another 13 km to the existing 186 km where drivers pay nothing," said the transport minister Dan Ťok. The Hradec Králové Region and the City of Hradec Králové argued in their main remark that the sections of motorways D11 and D35 are actually the south-west city bypass and are heavily used by local traffic as well. "These motorway sections are a suitable route for long-distance transit as well. Specifically, I mean the direction from Náchod and Trutnov (access to Hradce Králové on road I/33), from Jičín (access to Hradce Králové on road I/35) and from Nový Bydžov (on road II/324) for drivers who continue to Pardubice (on road I/37) and the other way round. In the current state, these vehicles transiting without the motorway sticker and subject to this fee must use roads in the city of Hradec Králové (I/35, I/31 and I/37) and/or road II/324 on the municipal land of Opatovice nad Labem," the city and region remarked. The Ministry of the Environment requested in their remark to exempt a part of the D48 in section Frýdek-Místek – Dobrá from paid motorways. "The reason why we argue this way is very poor air quality in municipality Dobrá arising from heavy traffic on road II/648 (which passes through the city centre), because drivers are avoiding the paid section of the D48 motorway by taking road II/648 instead," the ministry said. Since the start of 2018, no sticker has been required on the D3 around Veselí nad Lužnicí, the D6 between Cheb and Karlovy Vary, the D55 around Otrokovice, the D52 near Pohořelice or part of the D46 motorway near Hněvotín thanks to the free use of the Olomouc bypass on the D35 motorway. In the past, sections of the D1 around Brno, the D3 motorway around Tábor, the D6 near Cheb and the D10 around Mladá Boleslav were exempt from charges. In the next round, the ministry enabled free-of-charge access to Prague for the inhabitants of surrounding municipalities near Prague, i.e. sections on the D6, D7, D10 and D11. Sales of motorway stickers have been growing "These changes did not show in the sales of motorway stickers – on the contrary, their sales have been rising every year. Last year CZK 5.027 billion were collected, which is CZK 268 million more than in 2016 and 561 million more than in 2015," says minister Ťok. In 2014, when no section was excluded from the fees, a total of 5.446 million motorway stickers were sold and in 2016 it was almost 841 000 more. And in 2017 the figures grew by another 343 000 stickers. Sales were growing in 2018 as well. The sales of one-year motorway coupons for 2019 for weight category up to 3.5 tonnes will start no later than on December 1. Coupons with a validity period of one month or ten days will be available for sale with the arrival of the new year. Coupon prices for 2019 remain the same as this year. The one-year coupon for 2019 is valid from December 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020, and its price is CZK 1,500. The price of the one-month coupon is CZK 440 and the price of the 10-day coupon is CZK 310. New motorway stickers will again be provided with security features due to their increased counterfeit protection.