D1 Motorway (Slovakia)

D1 motorway is an east-west motorway () in Slovakia. The D1 motorway is the oldest, longest and busiest motorway in Slovakia, which is connects Bratislava with Trnava, Trenčín, Žilina, Martin, Poprad, Prešov, Košice to the Slovak- Ukrainian border (border crossing with Uzhhorod), where it is connected to the Ukrainian road M08.

It is part of the European roads E50, E58, E75, E442, E571 and of the V.A Pan-European corridor (Trieste) - Bratislava - Žilina - Košice - Uzhhorod - Lviv. With the exception of sections in Bratislava, a vignette is required to use the motorway.

The motorway has been under construction since 1972 and by 2023, 395.9 km of the total planned length of 512.4 km were operational. Despite the various completion dates set in the past (1990, 2000, 2005, 2010 or 2013), the full length will not be passable until 2040 at the earliest. The construction of the motorway is particularly challenging in the hilly terrain between Žilina and Ružomberok.

Chronology

The first plans to connect Prague to Slovakia and Mukachevo in today's Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine, which was part of Czechoslovakia at that time, were in the 1930s. The construction of the motorway (freeway) began in the Czech part in the late 1930s, but in the Slovak part nothing was built. After the end of World War II, highway construction was abandoned, due to post-war reconstruction. But in the 1960s, traffic was growing very fast, and a new plan for a D1 highway was available soon, without the part in Zakarpattia Oblast, which became part of the USSR in 1945..

Construction began in 1973, by building the Ivachnová - Liptovský Mikuláš section, a segment in northern Slovakia. Construction on this section finished in December 1977 and costed CZK 241.3 million. In 1976, section created the southern bypass of Liptovský Mikuláš. The total cost of the construction amounted to CZK 368 million. The section between Liptovský Ján and Liptovský Hrádek with a length of kilometres was under construction from April 1975 to December 1983 and had once the longest road bridge in Slovakia - the 1,035-metre-long Podtureň Viaduct.

Between 1978 and 1982, a section was constructed between Trnava and Hlohovec. June 1980 saw the beginning of construction in a new section between Hlohovec and Piešťany which was put into operation in 1985.

A section between Horná Streda - Nové Mesto nad Váhom opened in half-profile as a D61 in 1998, and was finished as the motorway D1 in full profile in 2000. A section between Nové Mesto nad Váhom - Chocholná also opened in half-profile as a D61 in 1998, and was subsequently finished as the D1 in full profile in 2000.

The section of motorway in Bratislava did not begin until 20 March 2003. The construction was handed over for early use on 4 December 2005, while the gradual finishing works on the footbridges continued until June 2006. The total construction costs amounted to 1.908 billion CZK.

The section between Hričovské Podhradie - Lietavská Lúčka forms the first part of the southern bypass of Žilina and includes the ''Ovčiarsko'' and ''Žilina'' tunnels. The construction of the section began with the excavation of the exploratory tunnel of the Ovčiarsko tunnel back in 1996. After the completion of the exploratory tunnel, further construction of the section was postponed. Construction work has continued only since 2014. The contractual completion date was January 2018. This deadline could not be met and the section was not handed over for use until 29 January 2021. This section was financed through the European Union budget.

Section at Prešov was opened in late 2021. That also includes the ''Prešov tunnel'' with 2240 meters of length.

Future developments

The construction of the sections Hubová - Ivachnová (Ružomberok bypass), which should be completed in 2025, and Lietavská Lúčka - Dubná Skala with the Višňové tunnel (Žilina bypass), which, after delays, should be completed in 2026, is currently underway, with €125 million allocated from the European Union for the Hubová - Ivachnová section.

The construction of the Turany - Hubová section, which will be the last missing section on the Bratislava - Košice route, has not yet started, as after decades of planning no single route option has been selected. The commissioning of the motorway along the entire length of the route cannot be expected before 2040 in view of the current intentions of the Ministry of Transport.

Route description

Bridges and viaducts

This is a list of bridges and viaducts as seen when moving from west to east:

Tunnels

The twelfth Dargov tunnel is planned east of Košice and construction will start after 2030 at the earliest. Only four of these twelve tunnels are currently in operation - Branisko Tunnel (4,975 m), Lučivná Tunnel (250 m) and Bôrik Tunnel (999 m) and Šibenik Tunnel (635 m).

This is a list of tunnels as seen when moving from west to east:

Gallery

File:D1 pri Dubnici nad Váhom.jpg, D1 motorway near Dubnica nad Váhom
File:D1 pred Pov. Bystricou.jpg, D1 motorway exit Považská Bystrica
File:Križovatka Beluša.jpg, Junction Beluša
File:Slovak motorway D1.JPG, D1 near Sverepec
File:Otváranie viaduktu v Považskej Bystrici na D1.jpg, opening of the D1 motorway viaduct in Považská Bystrica
File:Otváranie viaduktu v Považskej Bystrici na D1 II..jpg, opening of the D1 motorway viaduct in Považská Bystrica
File:Otváranie viaduktu v Považskej Bystrici na D1 III..jpg, opening of the D1 motorway viaduct in Považská Bystrica
File:Diaľnica D1. Prešov západ 21 Slovakia.jpg, The D1 R4 intersection in Presov west

See also

* Motorway D61

External links

Exit list of Highway D1


National Motorway Company

References

Content in this edit is translated from the existing Slovak Wikipedia article at :sk:Diaľnica D1 (Slovensko); see its history for attribution.

{{SlovakHighways

Highways in Slovakia
Proposed roads
Proposed transport infrastructure in Slovakia