By the end of this year 204 km of motorways and category I roads will be under construction. Another 172 km are prepared for construction for 2019. Current and next year's most advanced sections are the Brno D1 motorway, the South-Bohemian D3, the Karlovy Vary D6, the Chomutov D7, the Hradec Králové D11 and the Frýdek-Místek bypass on D46 and D56, including the extension to the D48 and the Otrokovice bypass on D55.
The motorways where work has most progressed are the South-Bohemian D3, the D6 to Karlsbad, continuation of the D11 to Hradec Králové and construction of the Frýdek-Místek bypass on the D48. An extension to the D35 in section Časy – Ostrov and the Budweis bypass are also soon starting. Of the 177 km, 100 km are motorways and 67 are category I roads. The government today received information on these construction projects.
The transport minister Dan Ťok commenced the building season by tapping the base stone of Lubenec bypass on the D6 motorway. The 5km bypass will be created by rebuilding the existing I/6 road into a motorway. The new section will take transit traffic away from the municipality, reduce noise and smog and hence significantly relieve local residents. Work is already under way on ten kilometers of the continuation of the D6 Karlovy Vary motorway. Work is in progress on more than 140 kilometres of motorways and category I roads.
The European Commission has paid a total of CZK 150 billion to the Czech Republic for new motorways, roads and railway repairs from the Operational Programme Transport I. This programme is now therefore completely closed and the transportation sector managed to successfully draw down the funds without any loss. Another CZK 19 billion is being distributed to construction sites from the follow-up Operational Programme Transport II.
The continuation of the Karlovy Vary D6 motorway and the D35 motorway, connecting Hradec Králové and Olomouc, have the biggest chance regarding the possible start of construction work until the end of this year. Other construction projects such as the completion of the D1 motorway near Přerov, the continuation of the South Bohemian D3, the Hradec Králové D11 motorway or the connection of D56 to D48 and the Frýdek-Místek bypass are likely to start at the beginning and during the next year. This is the result of the current building preparation analyses which the government studied.