A18 autostrada (Poland)

The motorway had its beginning as a single-carriageway part of Reichsautobahn 9 (Berlin-Breslau) built by Nazi Germany in the 1930s,[2] completed between 1936 and 1938. This route had all the features of an autobahn, built according to the standards of the time, including all the exits, viaducts and bridges, except that only a single carriageway was actually constructed along most of its length and space was left for constructing the second carriageway at a later time.

The road existed in this state until the early 1990s, when the first 17 km (11 mi) at its eastern end was rebuilt with new concrete carriageways and first signed A18 (later, in August 2009, the section signed as A18 was shortened to 7 km, while the other 10 km of the road were re-signed as A4 after the completion of a missing stretch of that motorway[3]). In 1995, the second carriageway was constructed on the 7 km stretch at the western end.[4]

Between 2004 and 2006, the missing, northern (now westbound) carriageway was completed on its whole length[5] and most of the overpasses and bridges were reconstructed. By June 2007, the road had two carriageways in use. However, the older of the two (carrying eastbound traffic towards Wrocław) is in a very poor shape, as it still has a surface made of concrete slabs laid in the 1930s. Due to poor road conditions, the speed on that carriageway is limited to 70 km/h.[6]

Reconstruction of the southern carriageway was originally intended to proceed shortly afterwards, but did not start due to delays caused, in part, by changes in the motorway project required by new environmental protection rules (A18 passes through Natura 2000 protected areas).[7] On 15 July 2010, the environmental impact decision for the revised project was issued,[8] which would have allowed for the contract bidding procedure to be completed and for construction to start in 2011. However in December 2010, the Polish government announced significant cutbacks to its funding for road construction, which delayed the project for some years. In 2014, when the National Program of Road Construction for 2014 – 2023 was created, the government did not envisage it starting in the near future.

In 2018, the ministry amended the National Program of Road Construction for 2014 – 2023 by including reconstruction of A18 on the primary list. The whole stretch is planned to be reconstructed to modern standards by 2023, and it will then be officially designated as an Autostrada in its entirety.[1]