Hungary’s M4 motorway to improve international road links

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Similarly to the M35, the new section of the M4 will be a paved dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction, a design speed of 130 km/h and a width of 26.6 m on river bridges along the route. Grade-separated junctions with three other roads – main road number 47 and two lower-class roads – are to be built as part of the section.One rest area (at Körtvélyes, near Berettyóújfalu) and one border crossing point (at Nagykereki) will also be set up. When Romania joins the Schengen Area, the latter can be turned into a service area, with a petrol station and high-capacity car and lorry park.Ancillary facilities and an intelligent transport systemOther ancillary facilities developed under the project include an axle-load weighing station, a motorway operation and maintenance centre, and a police station for both the M4 and the M35. These will be located around Berettyóújfalu.In addition, a state-of-the-art intelligent transport system will be installed to cover the entire section of road. It will encompass a traffic counting system, meteorological stations, traffic information boards with digital displays and a video camera network.Efficient drainageAs the land on which the motorway is being built is flat, and given the high groundwater levels observed during the design and preparation phase, the extensive presence of inland waterways and poor natural drainage of precipitation, most of the road will on top of an embankment of at least 2 m high. This will allow for efficient drainage, especially in the event of heavy rain, a stable road base and resilience to the effects of climate change.When it is complete, the M4 will have a total length of 233 km, running from the junction with the M0, the ring road around Hungary’s capital, Budapest, past the city of Szolnok, seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, where it will include a junction with the M8 motorway, to the Romanian border.At the border, it will connect with Romania’s A3 motorway, which is planned to run for 603 km past a number of major cities, including Oradea, Zalău, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Sighișoara, Făgăraș, Brașov and Ploiești, as far as Bucharest. The project thus makes an important contribution to ensuring a modern and fast road transport link between the two capitals.Total investment and EU fundingTotal investment for the project “M4 motorway between Berettyóújfalu and Nagykereki, country border” is EUR 424 341 403, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 264 965 201 through the “Integrated Transport” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Network infrastructures in transport and energy”.