Expressway S3 (Poland)

Expressway S3 or express road S3 (in Polish droga ekspresowa S3) is major road in Poland which is planned to run from Świnoujście on the Baltic Sea through Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zielona Góra and Legnica, to the border with the Czech Republic, where it will connect to the D11 motorway. The total planned length is 480.7 km (298.7 mi), of which 367.8 km (228.5 mi) is open to traffic (of which 7.3 km one carriageway) and 56.3 km (35.0 mi) is under construction (as of January 2020).

Expressway S3
Droga ekspresowa S3
Route information
Part of E65
Length367.8 km (228.5 mi)
480.7 km (299 mi) planned[1]
Major junctions
FromŚwinoujście
  merge with A6 east of Szczecin

separation from A6 south of Szczecin
A2 near Jordanowo

A4 near Legnica
To D11 border with Czech Republic
Location
RegionsWest Pomeranian Voivodeship
Lubusz Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Major citiesSzczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski,
Zielona Góra, Legnica
Highway system
National roads in Poland
S2 S5

Motorway A3 was planned to be built along this route before, but the decision was made to build a lower standard "express road" as the traffic density was judged too low to justify an autostrada. Nonetheless, S3 shares the crucial properties of an autostrada, including physical separation, restricted access, all but one interchange being grade-separated, and (upon completion) at least two continuous lanes in each direction as well as emergency lanes (hard shoulder).

The section from Szczecin (A6 motorway) to Jordanowo (A2 motorway) is completed since 2017. The section from Jordanowo (A2 motorway) to Legnica (A4 motorway) is completed except for a delayed fragment near Polkowice which is planned to open by mid-2020 as a dual-carriageway road and by mid-2021 as an expressway.

The section from Legnica to the Czech border is in realisation, with contracted completion by 2023. The section from Świnoujście to Szczecin is partially in realisation and partially under tender, with planned completion by 2024.[2]

Route

Motorway section Length Constructed Notes
ŚwinoujścieTroszyn 34.5 km (21.44 mi) Tenders ongoing Planned to complete in 2024
Troszyn bypass 5.1 km (3.17 mi) Constructed 2009 – 2011
Brzozowo – Miękowo 15.5 km (9.63 mi) Under construction Planned to complete by 2021
Miękowo bypass 4.8 km (2.98 mi) Constructed 2009 – 2012
Miękowo-Rzęśnica 21.8 km (13.55 mi) Constructed in the 1970s, reconstruction in progress Planned to be modernized by 2021
Rzęśnica-Dąbie(Szczecin) 4.6 km (2.86 mi) Constructed in the 1930s, reconstruction in progress Planned to be modernized by 2020
Dąbie(Szczecin)-Klucz 10.6 km (6.59 mi) Concurrency with
Klucz-Pyrzyce 28.2 km (17.52 mi) Constructed 18.02.2008-26.05.2010
Pyrzyce-Myśliborz 26.8 km (16.65 mi) Constructed 02.11.2007-22.10.2010
Myśliborz-Gorzów Wielkopolski 26.7 km (16.59 mi) Built 2008-2010
Gorzów Wielkopolski bypass 11.8 km (7.33 mi) Single carriageway constructed 2003–2007;

Second carriageway opened October 2017

Gorzów Wielkopolski-Międzyrzecz 37 km (22.99 mi) Constructed 14.07.2011-15.05.2014
Międzyrzecz bypass 6.37 km (3.96 mi) Single carriageway constructed 2004–2016;

Second carriageway opened October 2016

Międzyrzecz-Sulechów 43 km (26.72 mi) Constructed 2010–21.08.2013 Opened in 4 segments:
  • 27.05.2013 (from Jordanowo to Świebodzin Północ)
  • 17.06.2013 (from Świebodzin Południe to Sulechów)
  • 11.07.2013 (from Świebodzin Północ to Świebodzin Południe)
  • 21.08.2013 (from Międzyrzecz Południe to Jordanowo)
Sulechów-Nowa Sól 44 km (27.34 mi) Single carriageway constructed 1985 – 1995 and 2006 – 2008; Second carriageway constructed 2015 – 2018
Nowa Sól-Kaźmierzów 33.3 km (20.69 mi) Opened June 2018
Kaźmierzów-Polkowice 14.4 km (8.95 mi) Under construction Original contractor ejected from the construction for extensive delays.
Polkowice-Legnica 33.5 km (20.82 mi) Opened June 2018
Legnica-Bolków 35.84 km (22.27 mi) Opened October 2018
Bolków-Kamienna Góra Północ 16.2 km (10.07 mi) Design-and-build contract signed October 17, 2018 Planned completion in first half of 2023 [3]
Kamienna Góra Północ-Lubawka 15.3 km (9.51 mi) Design-and-build contract signed October 17, 2018 Planned completion in second half of 2021

History

Initial route plans (autostrada A3)

Autostrada A3
Route information
Part of E65
Time period1993–2001 (planned only)
Major junctions
FromSzczecin
  separation from A6 south of Szczecin

A2 near Jordanowo

A4 near Legnica
To D11 border with Czech Republic
Location
RegionsWest Pomeranian Voivodeship
Lubusz Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Major citiesSzczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski,
Zielona Góra, Legnica
Highway system
National roads in Poland

The autostrada A3 was a planned motorway from 1993[4][5] to 2001[6] that was supposed to be built in western Poland. It was planned to begin in Szczecin, link Zielona Góra, Bolków and end in Lubawka on Polish-Czech border.

Some road maps published in 1990s had an approximate route of the motorway, which in some places was different than planned nowadays route S3, most notably the autostrada was supposed to form north-eastern bypass of Legnica[7] while S3 was constructed as its western bypass.

One legacy of the road having been planned as an autostrada is that it was being built on a completely new alignment some distance away from the parallel DK3 road from the beginning. This is akin to how most expressways in Poland are constructed nowadays, but in contrast to the standards of the 2000s when most of the expressways were constructed by upgrading existing roads.

Świnoujście – Szczecin

One section of S3 east of Szczecin (19 km) was constructed in the 1970s in an expressway standard of those times (e.g. some one-level interchanges). As of 2019, this section is under reconstruction to meet contemporary standards.

S3 south of Szczecin overlaps with A6 motorway (see History of construction).

Szczecin – Legnica

A single carriageway was constructed in years 1985 – 1995 on the section Sulechów – Zielona Góra (27 km). Several short sections (bypasses of towns) were constructed in years 2001 – 2008. The first large section of S3 was the 82.0 km from Szczecin to Gorzów Wlkp. This stretch was opened to traffic in 2010.[8] The stretch between Gorzów Wlkp. and Sulechów (80.6 km) was completed in 2013 / 2014.

In August 2013 tenders for the expressway between Nowa Sól and Legnica (junction with A4)[9] were announced, as well as for adding second carriageway on the remaining stretches (SulechówNowa Sól and Gorzów Wlkp. bypass).[10] They were completed in 2017 / 2018.

Legnica – border with Czech Republic

Signing the contracts for construction of all four stretches between A4 at Legnica and the Czech border was planned for 2014, however in 2013 it was announced that the section will not enter construction before 2017. As the reason, the officials cited delays in preparations in the Czech Republic, which meant that the connecting motorway on the Czech side of the border might enter into construction in 2018 at the earliest[11][12] (currently, it is expected that the section will enter into construction in 2024/2025 rather than 2018[13]). Some of the money allocated for it has been re-purposed to build the S2 expressway in Warsaw.

Later the decision was partially reversed, and in 2014 two tenders were opened for the section between Legnica and Bolków. This part (35.8 km) was constructed in years 2015 – 2018.[14]

Two remaining contracts for the section from Bolków to the Czech border were signed in October 2018, with the completion dates of November 2021 and June 2023.[15]

References

  1. Of these 15.2 km shared with A6 motorway.
  2. https://www.gov.pl/attachment/b5bf6875-68fb-44d4-85b0-fa6ef771427d
  3. www.gddkia.gov.pl: Ostatni fragment S3 połączy Świnoujście z polsko-czeską granicą.
  4. Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 28 września 1993 r. w sprawie ustalenia kierunkowego układu autostrad i dróg ekspresowych [Decree of the Council of Ministers on September 28, 1993 on establishing a directional arrangement of motorways and expressways], Dz. U. z 1993 r. Nr 92, poz. 424
  5. "Map of planned network of motorways and expressways in Poland in 1993". Archived from the original on 13 January 2014.
  6. Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 29 września 2001 r. w sprawie ustalenia sieci autostrad, dróg ekspresowych oraz dróg o znaczeniu obronnym [Decree of the Council of Ministers on September 29, 2001 on establishing a network of motorways, expressways and roads of defensive importance], Dz. U. z 2001 r. Nr 120, poz. 1283
  7. Mapa samochodowa Polski 1:700 000 [Road map of Poland 1:700 000] (in Polish). Szczecin: Wydawnictwo Kartograficzne KOMPAS. 1996–1997. ISBN 83-904373-2-5.
  8. www.gddkia.gov.pl
  9. http://www.ceeconstruction.com/news/194512/Tenders-called-for-S3-expressway-in-Dolnoslaskie-region.shtml
  10. http://thebestinpoland.com/budimex-mirbud-and-mostostal-warszawa-bid-in-tender-for-s3-ring-road/
  11. Południowa obwodnica Warszawy zamiast trasy S3 do Czech , Gazeta Wyborcza, Dec. 9, 2013
  12. https://gazetawroclawska.pl/zamiast-s3-bedzie-obwodnica-warszawy-rzad-zabral-nam-pieniadze-a-wina-obarcza-czechow/ar/1019597
  13. https://zdopravy.cz/revize-slibu-ministru-za-ano-d11-do-polska-bude-hotova-o-ctyri-roky-pozdeji-nez-sliboval-tok-37609/
  14. Polish Council of Ministers decision from March 4, 2014
  15. https://www.gddkia.gov.pl/pl/a/30617/Wybor-najkorzystniejszej-oferty-S3-Bolkow-Lubawka-granica-panstrwa

See also

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