Located in the Zlín region in the east of the Czech Republic, the new motorway is an important road-transport link connecting northern Moravia with central Moravia and Slovakia. The project involves upgrading the original two-lane regional road to become a four-lane national road and creating additional infrastructure to ensure that other local transport routes are not obstructed.
- 13 April 2016
The main purpose of the project was to increase the capacity and the average speed of the existing road, diverting the transit traffic from the municipalities to the newly constructed bypass road. It is estimated that this will produce EUR 28.2 million in time savings for road users per year.
The road is 2.64 kilometres and is built to Q100 standards, which mean that it is particularly resistant to any flooding in the region. In addition to the road there will be three motorway bridges and two flyover junctions. The road is equipped with safety equipment, a weather station and a traffic counter; these features improve safety and help manage traffic systems. Some 41 jobs will be created during the project.
Road safety
According to Eurostat, the EU’s organisation for providing statistical information, the Czech Republic has an above-average number of road-traffic accident fatalities each year. Between 2003 and 2014, there has been a sharp decline in fatalities, from nearly 150 to 61 fatalities per million inhabitants. It is estimated that the total cost of road accident casualties – both fatalities and injuries – could cost more than EUR 48 billion. While much progress has been made, the fatality rate is still higher than the EU average.
The Czech Republic takes the issue of road safety very seriously; that is why the transport plan embeds this idea in all its actions. One of the overall objectives of the EU funded ‘Transport’ programme was to reduce the number of traffic accidents by 40 %. The plan identifies and tries to address parts of the network that might pose a risk to pedestrians and road users. By removing traffic from the nearby urban areas, the new road is likely to reduce the possibility of traffic accidents.
Link to Slovakia
This road is not part of the trans-European transport network, the TEN-T programme. Nevertheless, the road will help traffic flow through the eastern part of the Czech Republic to Slovakia. One of the EU’s key objectives in supporting transport projects is to facilitate the free movement of goods across the EU, helping all countries to expand into new markets and sell their goods.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project "Road I/57 – Semetín-Bystřička, 1st construction" is EUR 44 239 604, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 37 603 663 through the “Transport” Operational Programme for the 2007-2013 programming period.