Development of the military-civilian potential of the VIA CARPATIA on the territory of the Slovak Republic

ongoing

The project covers the construction of second stage of the north bypass of the city Prešov on the Expressway R4, with a total length of 10.2 km (km 4.3 – 14.5) and project preparation (design documentation) for the construction of the 58.8 km long new section of the Expressway R4 between Kapušany near the city Prešov and the state border with the Republic of Poland. The project is part of international route Via Carpatia and is located on the TEN-T comprehensive network. The construction of north bypass aims to interconnect Motorway D1 and Expressway R4 Kapušany - Giraltovce to relieve the traffic from the existing road network of the city Prešov by adding grade-separated interchanges and redistributing the origin and destination of transportation. The new section will comply with TEN-T standards i.e. 2- lane double carriageway motorway, with emergency line, separations of directions, grade separated junctions and a maximum speed of 130 km/h. The project preparation between Kapušany and the state border Poland addresses a cross-border road link and ensures the continuity of the corridor. It will perform the function of transferring freight transit between Poland and Hungary in this region and simultaneously improve the mutual accessibility of Košice and Prešov with Miskolc, Budapest and Rzeszów. The overall objectives of the project are to improve traffic capacity and traffic safety on the TEN-T comprehensive road network. The specific objective of this project is to ensure compliance with the following dual use requirements as defined in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1328: road classification (double flow ≥ 7,3 m); maximum cargo length (18,75 m up to 27,5 m) and maximum cargo height and width (4,5m), road and bridges gross weight up to 130 t with a maximum axle load of 12,23 t/axle. The project is part of the Via Carpatia global project intended to connect seven EU countries - Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece.