Czech motorists can look forward to a special Christmas gift this year. The highway directorate announced that by December 21 at the latest, 28 new kilometers of the D3 motorway, including the České Budějovice bypass section, will be opened. This was confirmed by Radek Mátl, the head of the ŘSD, during a site inspection. Mátl detailed that by December 21, 2024, the 28-kilometer section of the D3 motorway from the Úsilné intersection to Kaplice railway station, including the Pohůrka tunnel, will be operational. Currently, work is also underway on other sections of the South Bohemian part of the D3, leading towards the Austrian border, expected to be completed by 2027. The opening of the new section is justified by the delay in the construction of the České Budějovice motorway bypass. This consists of two parts: the section between Úsilné – Hodějovice (7.2 km) and Hodějovice – Třebonín (12.5 km). In addition to the redesign of the Pohůrka tunnel and the elimination of illegal dumping sites, material shortages caused by the Covid pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict also contributed to more than a two-year delay in construction. According to the original plans, the bypass should have been completed by September 2022, as stated by the then Minister of Transport, Dan Ťok.
Due to the construction delay, the connected Třebonín – Kaplice railway station (8.5 km) section will also be completed concurrently, with its construction starting in February 2022. Currently, 70 kilometers of the D3 motorway are in operation, stretching from the Central Bohemian and South Bohemian border to the northern edge of České Budějovice. The additional 44 kilometers under construction reach from Budějovice to the Austrian border, with 28 new kilometers to be opened this December. The completion of South Bohemian works is expected by 2026, while the entire Praha – Linz motorway is planned to be finished by 2031. Similar joy might be experienced by those motorists using the D4 motorway.
In December, another 32 kilometers will be opened between Příbram and Písek, though its exact date has not yet been determined. The construction is carried out as part of the PPP project by the Via Salis consortium, and its operation will also be their responsibility, thus not falling under the supervision of the ŘSD. 50 comments
