EU funding has made possible the construction of a new section of Poland’s S5 express road. The road connects the city of Poznań with an already existing section of the S5 road Kaczkowo-Korzeńsko, and further south with the city of Wrocław, The newly constructed section is entirely situated in the Wielkopolskie region.
- 02 October 2017
The stretch of road built under the project is 79.15 km in length and meets stringent safety specifications. It is a dual carriageway with two lanes running in both directions, either side of a central reservation.
Beginning from the junction with the A2 motorway on the outskirts of Poznań, the new part of the S5 runs as far as an existing section of the road between Kaczkowo and the village of Korzeńsko in the Dolnośląskie region.
Elimination of bottlenecks and addition of infrastructural elements that are missing on the existing national road 5 – which runs along a similar route to the S5 – will ensure that the technical and operational parameters of the road enable it to cope with forecasted rises in traffic levels in the years to come.
Better links within Poland and with southern Europe
When completed, the S5 express road will be 400 km long and run from the junction with the A8 motorway near Wrocław, capital of the Dolnośląskie region and Poland’s fourth largest city, and the junction with the S7 express road close to the town of Ostróda in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie region.
Between the A8 and the junction with the A1 motorway at the city of Grudziądz in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region – the majority of its planned length – the S5 is to form part of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor of the core Trans-European Transport network.
The project thus contributes to strengthening road connections between Poland and the south of Europe, as well as links with the A1 motorway, which will in time run the full length of the country, from the junction with the S6 express road near Gdańsk on the Baltic coast to the border with the Czech Republic. In this way, key project aims of providing adequate links between the new road and the existing road network and improving the accessibility of the Trans-European Transport network will be met.
Greater economic competitiveness thanks to smoother traffic flows
On completion of the works, travellers will have access to a safe section of express road with a high speed limit, which will enhance comfort levels for transit and long-distance traffic. The road will help to make transport more efficient, leading to smoother flows of people and freight both within the region and beyond and strengthening economic, social and territorial coherence. Such improvements will help to make the Wielkopolskie region and west-central Poland as a whole more competitive in terms of both business and tourism.
The new road will take traffic away from the centres of cities situated along its route, such as Leszno and Kościan. This will result in lower levels of congestion and emissions, leading to a cleaner environment and improved living conditions for residents of those cities.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Construction of S5 express road Poznań-Wrocław, section Poznań-Kaczkowo” is EUR 543 195 973, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 285 411 484 through the “Infrastructure and Environment” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.