Highways in Poland

Motorways and expressways constructed before 1999 do not have to fulfill technical parameters listed in the ordinance. There are four notable cases of substandard highways in Poland:

• A4 on the section Krzyżowa – Wrocław (103 km (64 mi)) was constructed in years 1934 – 1937 (then the territory of Nazi Germany) and renovated in years 2002 – 2006. The road received new high quality surface but the geometry was kept unchanged and many overpasses above the motorway were kept. In effect, this part has no emergency lanes (which by current standards is only occasionally allowed on expressways and never on motorways) and speed limit is decreased to 110 km/h. A contract for preparing technical documentation for the section's full reconstruction (and widening to three lanes per direction) was signed in 2019.[8]
• A6 near Szczecin was constructed by Nazi Germany and while most of it was reconstructed in years 1996 – 1999, its easternmost section (5 km (3.11 mi)) still kept using the original surface from the 1930s until a reconstruction in years 2017 – 2020. As of June 2020, the last short fragment of about 800 m (875 yd) of the pre-WWII surface remains.[9][10]
• A18 (70 km (43 mi)) had its southern carriageway constructed by Nazi Germany. A high quality northern carriageway was constructed in 2004 – 2006, but southern carriageway still has the original surface made of concrete slabs. Due to very low quality of this carriageway, the route is marked as national road 18 and will only receive a status of A18 after reconstruction scheduled for years 2020 – 2023.[11]
• S3 near Szczecin (19 km (12 mi)) was opened in 1979 and has kept its expressway status despite having two at-grade road intersections. They have been reconstructed to interchanges by June 2020, which marks the moment when no more expressways with at-grade intersections have been left in Poland.[3][5]

In this system money is only paid at the toll booths put across the road. Different payment is due according to the type of the vehicle. It is relatively cheap to operate, but it forces drivers to stop at each toll booth, thus lowering the capacity of a motorway. For example, the Greater Poland part of A2 has all of its toll booths spaced approx. 50 km apart.

In this system, there are toll stations on every interchange both entering and exiting the motorway, as well as toll booths on the motorway at the ends of the tolled section. In this case the driver receives a ticket upon entering the motorway and pays at either toll station while exiting the motorway or at the toll booth at the end of the tolled section, with the price dependent on the distance driven. This system is more expensive at building and maintenance, but allows much larger distances between toll booths across the motorway.

The following list of tolled sections is valid as of January 2020, and only applies to vehicles up to 3.5 tons. The prices listed apply to passenger cars driving the section's whole length.

Motorway with toll areas

Tolled motorways are indicated by the word 'Płatna'. Such a sign warns that one will meet a toll station if continuing along the motorway.

• Motorway A1:
  • Tolled: 152 km (94.45 mi) Gdańsk – Toruń (managed by Gdańsk Transport Company, closed system, 30 PLN ($8))
  • Free: 197 km (122.41 mi) Toruń – Piotrków Trybunalski
  • Under construction: 81 km (50.33 mi) Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa
  • Free: 134 km (83.26 mi) Częstochowa – Gorzyczki

• Motorway A2:
  • Tolled: 133 km (82.64 mi) Rzepin – Poznań (managed by Autostrada Eksploatacja S.A., closed system, 38 PLN ($10))
  • Free: 26 km (16.16 mi) Poznań bypass
  • Tolled: 85 km (52.82 mi) Poznań – Sługocin (managed by Autostrada Eksploatacja S.A., open system, 40 PLN ($10))
  • Free: 19 km (11.81 mi) Sługocin – Konin as so-called "buffer zone" between two different systems
  • Tolled: 103 km (64.00 mi) Konin – Stryków (Łódź) (managed by the state, closed system, 10 PLN ($3))
  • Free: 94 km (58.41 mi) Stryków (Łódź) – Warsaw
  • Free: 36 km (22.37 mi) Warsaw – Mińsk Mazowiecki
  • Planned: 135 km (83.89 mi) Mińsk Mazowiecki – Kukuryki

• Motorway A4:
  • Free: 153 km (95.07 mi) Zgorzelec – Bielany Wrocławskie,
  • Tolled: 163 km (101.28 mi) Bielany Wrocławskie – Gliwice-Sośnica (managed by the state, closed system, 16 PLN ($4))
  • Free: 34 km (21.13 mi) Gliwice-Sośnica – Mysłowice,
  • Tolled: 52 km (32.31 mi) Mysłowice – Kraków-Balice (managed by Stalexport Autostrada Malopolska S.A., open system, 20 PLN ($5))
  • Free: 268 km (166.53 mi) Kraków-Balice – Korczowa

This sign shows the cars weighing over 3.5 tons are obliged to pay on this road using the viaTOLL system

From 1.07.2011 all vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons are obliged to have a special viaTOLL apparatus. On the chosen roads (some motorways, expressways and national roads) the special electronic readers are installed. They connect to the apparatus in the vehicle in a wireless way, and they also count the toll the vehicle has to pay. It is possible to buy it on some petrol stations or at the special points of selling. If the apparatus isn't at the place, fines are applied:

• 1500 PLN if the car is heavier than 12 tons
• 750 PLN if the car is heavier than 3.5 tons but lighter than 12 tons.

In 2014 the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development has uncovered the plans to imply the Electronical Toll Collection System. The new plans were made because of the big problems concerning the Manual Toll Collection System. At the time while there is a huge flow of traffic (especially in the holiday period), there are long queues to the toll booths, which, according to some reports, reached up to 10 km. Drivers in these cases are forced to wait 2 hours to pay the toll at the toll booths. That was the reason the works to construct the toll booths on A4 were suspended, even though there were some stages of construction in progress.

The situation wasn't much relieved even after the toll booths had separated a special lane for those vehicles that have been registered into the ViaAuto system. It came out even worse. A lot of experts tell it is one lane less for those paying traditionally.

At those times a few simple solutions were introduced, for example the cashiers themselves giving the tickets. Next solution came from the Council of Ministers, which claimed that the motorway will be free from the day they gave out the decision (06.08.2014) to the end of the summer holidays (it only concerned the period from 4.00 p.m. on Friday to midnight from Sunday to Monday).

Now the ministry is working on a new electronic system. According to different concepts, there are two options - either the full liquidation of the toll booths or their reconstruction. The reconstructed toll booths had then the toll applied via the viaTOLL system, so every vehicle must have had the viaTOLL apparatus, as the cars and trucks heavier than 3.5 tons have. Taking into account that not every driver drives regularly on the motorway, there must have been an online registration for light cars introduced. After that, when any car would arrive to such a toll booth, the registration plate will be scanned in order to recognise the car. The implication, however, will become true after signing of agreements with private concessionaires first.

The latest general measurement of annual average daily traffic in Poland was conducted in 2015.

Traffic volumes in Poland note rapid increase since the fall of communism in 1989: the average volumes recorded in 2015 amount to 297% of the average volumes recorded in 1990.[24][25] With the increasing traffic, the length of overburdened regular national roads has also increased (the measurement analysis defines a regular single carriageway country road as overburdened if recorded average annual traffic exceeds 15'000 vehicles per day[25]). In 2015, 956 km of such national road sections, excluding sections within the borders of large cities, were observed (against 497 km in 2000). Due to large number of highway sections opened between 2010 and 2015, however, in the 2015 measurement this figure fell down compared to the preceding measurement for the first time in history.[25]

The following highways recorded highest and lowest traffic volumes in 2015:[26]

No	Section	Vehicles / day	Notes
Most busy highways in Poland
1	S8 in Warsaw	142k	S8 serves both the transit and local traffic, and long traffic jams form on it during rush hours. Section with 3 lanes per direction. The average traffic has risen to 201k in 2018.[27]
2	S86	112k	S86 serves mainly local traffic between Sosnowiec and Katowice and is not part of Poland's transit network. 3 lanes per direction.
3	A4 in Katowice	101k	A4 serves both the transit traffic (2 lanes per direction) and local traffic (2 lanes per direction).
Least busy highways in Poland
1	S1 near / (12 km)[28]	1.0k – 2.4k	Single carriageway section, not intended for widening due to low traffic. Note: Until 2017, when the Svrčinovec - Skalité section of D3 on the Slovak side was completed, all heavy traffic was banned from using the border crossing, which additionally decreases the densities recorded in the measurement.
2	A4 from / to Jarosław-Zachód (47 km)	1.9k – 4.0k
3	S22 (whole, i.e. from / to Elbląg, 48.6 km)	2.6k – 5.8k	Single carriageway expressway, not intended for widening due to low traffic.
4	bypasses (or parts thereof) of Słupsk (S6), Stargard (S10), Wyrzysk (S10), Kock (S19) and Międzyrzec Podlaski (S19)	5.8k – 6.5k	Single carriageway bypasses constructed with allocated space for widening in the future, Stargard bypass constructed as dual carriageway.

The following single carriageway national roads recorded highest traffic volumes in 2015:[26]

Next general measurement was to be conducted throughout 2020, but had to be partially delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.[29][30]

The first plans of creation of a national highway network in Poland were conceived in the interwar period:

In 1934, Nazi Germany started the construction of their motorway system, parts of which today form A18 and A4 to Wrocław (Breslau), as well as A6 Szczecin bypass and S22 (parts of the planned motorway to Königsberg). About half of them were constructed as single-carriageway with the intention of adding a second carriageway in later years. However, after 1938, warfare expenses meant little money would be invested into any infrastructure and only one 9 km single-carriageway piece west of Gliwice (now A4) was constructed.

In Poland, a 28 km stretch between Warlubie and Osiek (now DW214) was constructed in 1937 – 1939 in the motorway standard of the time (today not considered a highway) with a concrete surface, which was designed by Italian engineer Piero Puricelli. The motorway was planned to reach Gdynia, but the outbreak of the Second World War halted the plans.

Highway sections in service before 1976

Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Krzywa-Bielany Wrocławskie	91 km (56.5 mi)	1934	27 September 1936
	Krzyżowa-Krzywa	12.3 km (7.6 mi)		17 October 1937
	Bielany Wrocławskie-Brzeg(Owczary)	34.1 km (21.2 mi)		1938	Southern carriageway only
	Ujazd(Nogowczyce)-Łany	9.1 km (5.7 mi)	1940	1942
	Łany-Kleszczów	8.8 km (5.5 mi)	1936	1938
	-Szczecin-Zachód	2.6 km (1.6 mi)	1934	27 September 1936
	Szczecin-Zachód-Rzęśnica	26.6 km (16.5 mi)		1938
	Iłowa-Golnice	32 km (19.9 mi)	1935	17 October 1937	Southern carriageway only
	-Iłowa	37.2 km (23.1 mi)	1936	1938
	Golnice-Krzyżowa	5.9 km (3.7 mi)	1936	1938
	Elbląg-Grzechotki	51.4 km (31.9 mi)	1934	1938	Western carriageway only
Total		316.9 km (196.9 mi) of which 178.5 km (110.9 mi) single carriageway	Note: Signage of the roads at the time of opening was different.

The Potsdam conference defined the borders for communist Poland, which were very different from the pre-1939 ones. It received the so-called Regained Territories from the former Third Reich with the aforementioned motorway sections (some of them with first carriageway only). Most of the motorway bridges were destroyed by the warfare, but only a few were repaired or rebuilt in the first post-war years. The bridge over Ina river was reconstructed in 1972, and those on S22 only between 1996 and 2003.

Apart from the bridges, almost all the motorways were left in the same condition as they were in 1945 until the mid-1990s. The only road left from Nazi times that was completed by the People's Republic of Poland was a one-carriageway small section between Łęczyca and Lisowo (15 km of what is now DW142), which was built on the previous works of Nazis.

Despite announcing such pompous plans, no motorway was opened in the meantime.

Express road S6 in Gdynia, part of Tricity bypass which was opened (at first as single carriageway) in 1977, making it the oldest expressway in Poland.

Only in the 1970s did any works start. In 1972 it was planned to build:

In 1973 – 1976, "Gierkówka" dual carriageway from Warsaw to Katowice (281 km (175 mi)) was built. Originally planned as a motorway, it was in the end constructed by adding another carriageway to the existing road, hence going through many villages and crossing with local roads. However, the part from Piotrków Trybunalski to Częstochowa (78 km (48 mi)) was constructed on a new route in a semi-motorway standard: the road was constructed on a motorway alignment but majority of the intersections between the highway and the other roads were constructed as one-level with no viaducts or overpasses.

Highway sections opened in the 1970s

Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening
	Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa semi-motorway standard (one-level intersections)	78 km (48 mi)	1973	1976
	Tri-city bypass (eastern carriageway) substandard (two one-level intersections, then reconstructed when adding a second carriageway in 1980s)	37.7 km (23.4 mi)	1973	1977
	Rzęśnica – Goleniów substandard (one-level intersections)	19.3 km (12.0 mi)	1976	1979
Total		57 km (35.4 mi) of which 37.7 km (23.4 mi) single carriageway

A4 near Zalas, opened in 1983

Near the end of 1970s the first construction of motorways started and continued to the next decade. The roads opened in the 1980s were the first motorways and expressways which generally meet the contemporary standards, at least with respect to their more important attributes.

In 1985 the government already planned to build the expressways apart from the motorways. The major routes planned as motorways were A1, A2 and A4. The realization of these plans however came at a very slow pace: throughout the 1980s, only an average of 20 km (12 mi) of highways in the whole country were being opened per year.

Highway sections opened in the 1980s average: 20.5 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Tuszyn-Piotrków Trybunalski	16.1 km (10.0 mi)	1978	18 December 1989	Section under reconstruction 2019 – 2021
	Września-Sługocin (Golina)	35.7 km (22.2 mi)	1977	9 October 1985
	Sługocin - Konin West	13.5 km (8.4 mi)	1986	10 November 1988
	Chrzanów - Kraków (Balice I)	29.6 km (18.4 mi)	1976	3 January 1983
	Jaworzno - Chrzanów	6.1 km (3.8 mi)	1978	22 November 1986
	Kraków bypass (section Balice I - Tyniec)	7.8 km (4.8 mi)	1979	8 December 1988
	Dąbrowa Górnicza - Tychy	34.7 km (21.6 mi)	1978	1983
	Tri-city bypass (to Straszyn)	32.4 km (20.1 mi)	1978	1984	Second carriageway
	Kielce bypass	22.9 km (14.2 mi)	1974	1984	First carriageway
	Katowice - Sosnowiec	6.8 km (4.2 mi)	1978	1985	First completely done expressway
Total		205.6 km (127.8 mi) of which 55.3 km (34.4 mi) single carriageway

In the III Republic of Poland the plans started to change again. Planned S3 was promoted to a motorway standard as A3 (the decision was later reversed) and a plan was introduced (also later reversed) of constructing the highway Łódź – Wrocław – Bolków in a motorway standard as A8. Szczecin bypass (A6) and Olszyna – Krzywa (then named A12, now A4/A18) were promoted to motorways, even though at that time majority of their lengths was in bad shape, laid with the original concrete surface from the 1930s with no significant works having been performed on any of them throughout the communist period.

Highway sections opened in the 1990s average: 15 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Mysłowice - Jaworzno	15.9 km (9.9 mi)	1986	29 November 1990	Northern carriageway only
				4 September 1991	Southern carriageway only
	Kraków bypass (section Tyniec - Skawina)	3.5 km (2.2 mi)	1988	1993
	Kraków bypass (section Skawina - ul.Kąpielowa)	5.4 km (3.4 mi)	1993	27 October 1995	A4 had a crossroad with ul. Kąpielowa till 2002, when the bridge was built over it.
	Jędrzychowice - Zgorzelec	1.8 km (1.1 mi)	1992	15 July 1994
	Katowice Francuska - Mysłowice	11.1 km (6.9 mi)	1989	30 October 1996
	Katowice Mikołowska - Katowice Francuska	1.9 km (1.2 mi)	?	10 November 1999
	Krzyżowa - Krzywa	10.2 km (6.3 mi)		1995	Renovated
	-Podjuchy	12.7 km (7.9 mi)	1996	1999	Renovated
	Olszyna-Królów	9.6 km (6.0 mi)	?	1993	Northern carriageway added (+ 350 m (383 yd) renovated southern carriageway at the border)
	Golnice - Krzyżowa	5.9 km (3.7 mi)		1995	Renovated both carriageways
	Cieszyn-Cieszyn-East	5.2 km (3.2 mi)	1991	1995
	Sulechów - Zielona Góra (Niedoradz)	26.8 km (16.7 mi)	1985	1995	Western carriageway only
	Świecie bypass	13 km (8.1 mi)	1994	1998	Single carriageway; dual carriageway near the interchanges
	Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki bypass	14.6 km (9.1 mi)	1990	1999
	Miłomłyn bypass	5.1 km (3.2 mi)	1995	1997	Eastern carriageway only
	Radzymin bypass	8.1 km (5.0 mi)	1996	1998
Total		151.8 km (94.3 mi) of which 28.8 km (17.9 mi) reconstructed, 48.4 km (30.1 mi) single carriageway

Express road S7 near Białobrzegi, opened in 2003

As of the end of 1999, vast majority of national and international traffic routes were served by regular national roads, most of them leading through the cities, towns and villages, and most of them single carriageway. Only the following number of highways was present:

• about 275 km (171 mi) of modern dual carriageway motorways and expressways (3.5% of the network as planned nowadays),
• about 90 km (56 mi) of single carriageway expressways,
• about 125 km (78 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways from the 1930s,
• about 150 km (93 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways on sections where only first carriageway was constructed.

A4 (Kraków southern bypass), opened in 2003

Express road S8 near Oleśnica, opened in 2006

A few years before Poland entered the EU the tempo of motorway construction increased significantly. The main focus was on the east–west motorways A4 and A2. In 2002, a long-awaited renovation of the A4 from Krzywa to Wrocław (93 km) has started, which included laying new high quality surface in place of the Nazi German concrete slabs, reconstruction of all the pre-WWII bridges on the motorway and renovation of the viaducts above the motorway.

This is also a period when Poland started introducing motorway tolls, first in 2000 for the A4 section between Mysłowice and Kraków.

Highway sections opened in 2000 – 2003 average: 57 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Poznań Komorniki - Poznań Krzesiny	11.2 km (7.0 mi)	1998	13 September 2003
	Poznań Krzesiny - Września	37.3 km (23.2 mi)	2002	27 November 2003
	Bielany Wrocławskie - Brzeg (Owczary)	34.1 km (21.2 mi)	1997	16 December 2000	Southern carriageway reconstructed, northern carriageway constructed
	Brzeg (Owczary) - Dąbrówka Górna	56.6 km (35.2 mi)
	Dąbrówka Górna - Nogowczyce	34.3 km (21.3 mi)		26 July 2001
	Nogowczyce - Kleszczów	17.9 km (11.1 mi)	2001	4 December 2003	Southern carriageway reconstructed, northern carriageway constructed
	Chorzów - Katowice Mikołowska	4.4 km (2.7 mi)	1998	2001
	Kraków bypass (section ul.Kąpielowa - Wieliczka)	7 km (4.3 mi)	2000	3 September 2003
	Śmigiel bypass	4.1 km (2.5 mi)	?	2002	First carriageway
	Straszyn-Rusocin	5.4 km (3.4 mi)	2000	2001	Second carriageway
	Białobrzegi bypass	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2001	2003
	Ostrów Mazowiecka bypass	7.6 km (4.7 mi)	2000
Total		227.6 km (141.4 mi) of which 9.5 km (5.9 mi) single carriageway

1 May 2004 was a crucial day for the history of motorway construction, and that is when the highway boom started. One of major advantages of signing the European Union access document was that Poland could get access to large funds for co-financing the construction of new roads and upgrades of the existing road infrastructure.

These years, the existing pieces of the motorways started to converge into the basis of the future network: in 2005, A4 connected Wrocław with Katowice and Kraków, while in 2009 – with Germany; in 2006, A2 connected Poznań with Łódź. A large number of expressway bypasses of towns were also constructed at this time (on some of them only one carriageway was built with the allocated space prepared for adding a second one later).

Highway sections opened in 2004 – 2009 average: 150 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Gdańsk (Rusocin) - Swarożyn	24.2 km (15.0 mi)	2005	2007
	Swarożyn - Grudziądz	64.7 km (40.2 mi)		2008
	Sośnica - Rybnik (Bełk)	15.6 km (9.7 mi)	22 January 2007	20 October 2009
	Nowy Tomyśl - Poznań Komorniki	50.4 km (31.3 mi)	2002	October 2004
	Konin - Łódź (Stryków)	103.7 km (64.4 mi)	2004	July 2006
	Krzywa - Bielany Wrocławskie	93 km (57.8 mi)	2002	2004–2006 (in sections)	Renovated both carriageways
	Sośnica - Chorzów Batory	15.7 km (9.8 mi)	2002	January 2005
	Kleszczów - Sośnica	19.1 km (11.9 mi)	2003	October 2005
	Zgorzelec - Krzyżowa	49.7 km (30.9 mi)	2006	August 2009
	Wieliczka - Targowisko	19.5 km (12.1 mi)	2007	2009
	Szczecin Klucz - Szczecin Kijewo	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2005	2007	Renovated both carriageways
	Olszyna - Golnice	71.5 km (44.4 mi)	2004	2006	Constructed the northern carriageway alongside the pre-WWII southern carriageway
	- Zwardoń - Milówka	10.0 km (6.2 mi)	2002 - 2007	2004 - 2009 (in sections)	Single carriageway; then signed S69
	Żywiec - Przybędza	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2005	2007
	Pyrzowice airport - Podwarpie	12.0 km (7.5 mi)	2005	2006	Single carriageway
	Gorzów Wielkopolski bypass	11.9 km (7.4 mi)	2003	2007	Single carriageway
	Międzyrzecz bypass	6.3 km (3.9 mi)	2004	2006
	Nowa Sól bypass	18 km (11.2 mi)	2006	2008
	Szubin bypass	4.5 km (2.8 mi)	2004	2006	Single carriageway
	Jędrzejów bypass	5.8 km (3.6 mi)	2003	2005	Partially (2.7 km) single carriageway
	Nowy Dwór Gdański bypass	2.5 km (1.6 mi)	2005	2007
	Elbląg bypass	4.2 km (2.6 mi)	2005	2007
	Grójec bypass	8.3 km (5.2 mi)	18 October 2006	19 September 2008
	Białobrzegi - Jedlińsk	15.7 km (9.8 mi)	6 July 2006	30 June 2008
	Myślenice - Lubień	16.2 km (10.1 mi)	2004	2009
	Kielce bypass (northern part)	7.1 km (4.4 mi)	2007	2009
	Płońsk bypass	4.7 km (2.9 mi)	28 September 2007	3 June 2009
	Oleśnica bypass	7.2 km (4.5 mi)	2004	2006
	Wyszków bypass	12.8 km (8.0 mi)	27 February 2006	14 November 2008
	Wyszków - Radzymin	17.3 km (10.7 mi)	8 December 2006	31 July 2009
	Toruń bypass (fragment)	12.4 km (7.7 mi)	2004	2005	Single carriageway; later incorporated into A1
	Kobylanka bypass	13.8 km (8.6 mi)	2005	2007	Partially (7 km) single carriageway
	Stargard bypass	13.5 km (8.4 mi)	2008	2009
	Bydgoszcz bypass (fragment)	10.4 km (6.5 mi)	2008	2009
	Wyrzysk bypass	7.8 km (4.8 mi)	2008	2009	Single carriageway
	Poznań - Kórnik	14.1 km (8.8 mi)	2006	2009
	Ostrów Wlkp. bypass (northern part)	6.1 km (3.8 mi)	2008	2009	Single carriageway
	Piaski bypass	4 km (2.5 mi)	2002	2004
	Puławy bypass	12.7 km (7.9 mi)	2005	2007	Partially (8.7 km) single carriageway
	Garwolin bypass	12.8 km (8.0 mi)	2005	2007
	Międzyrzec Podlaski bypass	6.3 km (3.9 mi)	2005	2008	Single carriageway
	Elbląg -	51.6 km (32.1 mi)	April 2006	December 2008	Single carriageway. Constructed in place of a partially destroyed motorway from the 1930s.
	Cieszyn - Bielsko-Biała (Komorowice)	28 km (17.4 mi)	2002 - 2005	2005 - 2007 (in sections)	Then signed S1
Total		900.5 km (559.5 mi) of which 244.5 km (151.9 mi) single carriageway, 100.7 km (62.6 mi) reconstructed

The sections opened in 2010 – 2014 belonged to the following highways:

• : + 356 km (221 mi) (S8 on the section Wrocław – Łódź was completed in 2014)
• : + 281 km (175 mi) (A1 on the section Gdańsk – Łódź was completed in 2014)
• : + 234 km (145 mi) (A2 on the section Germany – Warsaw was completed in 2012)
• : + 183 km (114 mi)
• : + 170 km (106 mi) (S3 on the section Szczecin – A2 – Zielona Góra was completed in 2013, except that older single-carriageway parts remained so until 2017)
• : + 159 km (99 mi)
• : + 281 km (175 mi) in total

After the peak of investments before Euro 2012, very few new sections have been contracted in 2012 and 2013, which resulted in a small number of sections opened in 2015 and 2016, large share of which were the last delayed fragments originally contracted for a Euro 2012 opening. In particular:

• In 2016, the last delayed fragment of from Kraków to Ukraine was opened, making A4 the first major Polish highway completed on its whole intended length, as well as the first complete border-to-border highway connection.
• Also in 2016, the delayed bypass of Łódź was finished, making completed on its whole route except for those sections where national road 1 had already been a dual carriageway (see In the 1970s), allowing for a significantly lower priority of constructing the remaining stretch compared to other highways.

Since 2014, the number of signed contracts has risen again, resulting in the number of road openings having risen again since 2017.

The sections opened in 2015 – 2019 belonged to the following highways:

• : + 205 km (127 mi)
• : + 194 km (121 mi) (S5 on the section Poznań – Wrocław was completed in 2019)
• : + 166 km (103 mi)
• : + 144 km (89 mi) (S8 was completed on its originally intended route from Wrocław to Białystok in 2019; an extension to Kłodzko was later added to the plans)
• : + 128 km (80 mi) (S6 on the section Szczecin – Koszalin was completed in 2019)
• : + 343 km (213 mi) in total (A1 and A4: see above)

The sections opened, or planned to get opened, in 2020 – 2024 belong to the following highways:

• : + 287 km (178 mi) (S19 "Via Carpathia" on the section Lublin – Rzeszów is scheduled to get completed in 2022)
• : + 187 km (116 mi) (S61 "Via Baltica" is scheduled to get completed in 2023)
• : + 177 km (110 mi) (S7 on the section Warsaw – Kraków is planned to get completed in 2024)
• : + 135 km (84 mi)
• : + 121 km (75 mi) (S3 is scheduled to get completed in 2024)
• : + 94 km (58 mi) (S5 on the section Grudziądz (A1) – Poznań is scheduled to get completed in 2022)
• , , , , : + ca. 70 - 80 km each (A1 is scheduled to get completed in 2022; reconstruction of the second carriageway of A18 is scheduled to get completed in 2023; S1 is planned to get completed in 2024)
• : + 130 km (81 mi) in total (S17 on the section Warsaw – Lublin is scheduled to get completed in 2020)