D5 motorway () is a highway in 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 ...

. It runs from

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 ...

through

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

into

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. D5 is long; a bypass of Plzeň includes the Valík Tunnel and the bridge over the River

Úhlava The Úhlava () is a river in the Czech Republic, a right tributary of the Radbuza River. It flows through the Plzeň Region to the city of Plzeň. It is long, making it the 19th longest river in the Czech Republic. Etymology The name is probabl ...

. From the Rozvadov- Waidhaus border crossing, the D5 continues as the A6, West, to the border with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The D5 is part of European route E50. All of D5 is the Czech part of ''Via Carolina''; the motorway from

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Chronology

Construction of the D5 began in 1976, with the first 5.8 km long segment opening in 1982. In 1985, another part, to Beroun was opened. The of the planned was already in use in 1989 from

to Bavoryně. The bypass

, in planning since 1988, faced various challenges. In 1991, the bypass' northern variant was changed to the southern variant that was supposed to use deep notch through the hill of Valík. This started court proceedings that lasted until November 2001, and the construction of the bypass including the tunnel under the hill Valík began after the disputes concluded. The last remaining long section around

, including the Valík tunnel opened on 6 October 2006, and is controlled by a Reliance SCADA system. This was the last part of the motorway to be constructed as the rest from Plzeň to the Rozvadov- Waidhaus border crossing was already in use since 1997. The final part was opened on 6 October 2006.

Future developments

The section between

and

Beroun Beroun (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the Berounka and Litavka rivers. Beroun creates a conurbation with Králův Dvůr, former part of Beroun. ...

is planned to be widened to three lanes in each direction.

Gallery

Beroun, dálniční most II.JPG, Bridge over

Rozvadov, dálnice D5, k hranicím.jpg, Near borders with

Rudná, dálnice D5 (16).jpg, Near Rudná

Exit list

References

Content in this edit is translated from the existing Czech Wikipedia article at :cs:Dálnice D5; see its history for attribution.

External links

Official information about the D5 / Valík at ŘSDOpening of the D5 motorway literally saved the traffic in Plzeň
D05 {{CzechRepublic-road-stub