The A8 motorway () or Wrocław Motorway Bypass (, ) is a motorway
bypass of the city of
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. The motorway includes the high
Rędziński Bridge over the
Oder
The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
river.
Outside of Wrocław, A8 continues in an expressway standard as
Expressway S8.
The motorway opened to traffic on 31 August 2011. It is not planned to be subject to tolling.
Route description
Route history
Initial plans had the A8 motorway ran the entire route between
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
and
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
, with a southern portion of the road continuing towards the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
to provide access to
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. In 2000, the motorway was truncated to its current length bypassing the western and northern portions of Wroclaw, while the rest of the route was decided to be completed in an expressway standard as
Expressway S8. During the campaign for the
2007 parliamentary elections, the
Civic Platform
The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...
party pledged to upgrade the connection to motorway standard, thus extending the A8 motorway. However, after forming a government following its victory, the party abandoned the idea, explaining that the required changes in planning would unacceptably delay the construction by many years.
On 1 September 2011, the
Ministry of Infrastructure published draft regulation on the motorway's tolling. According to the ministry, the A8 motorway will not be subject to tolling for motorists, however the entire route of the motorway is subject to electronic toll collection system mandatory for vehicles heavier then 3.5
tons, known as
e-TOLL.
Images
File:Most-Redzinski-zza-kierownicy.jpg, Rędziński Bridge
File:MostRedzinski07.JPG, Rędziński Bridge
File:Most-Redzinski-z-mostu-Milenijnego.jpg, Rędziński Bridge
File:New bridge (Rędziński).jpg, Rędziński Bridge
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (125886).jpg
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (150432).jpg
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (239268).jpg, Wrocław Stadion junction
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (239269).jpg, 500 m before Wrocław Lotnisko junction
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (239270).jpg, 3300 m before Wrocław Zachód junction
File:Wrocław, Autostradowa obwodnica Wrocławia A8 (AOW) - fotopolska.eu (239278).jpg, Wrocław Zachód junction
See also
*
European route E67
European route E 67 is an E-road running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Estonia and by ferry to Finland. It goes via Prague, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki.
The route is known as the Via Baltica ...
References
External links
Official page of the projectRoute map on the official project page(low resolution)
Map of the motorway (high resolution, pdf format)
{{Polish highways
Motorways in Poland
Proposed roads in Poland