Expressway S61 (Poland)

Expressway S61 or express road S61 is a major planned road in Poland which is going to run from the Polish-Lithuanian border near Budzisko (connecting to Lithuanian A5) to Ostrów Mazowiecka (joining express road S8).

Expressway S61
Droga ekspresowa S61
Route information
Length39.5 km (24.5 mi)
33.0 km (21 mi) dual carriageway
14.5 km (9 mi) single carriageway
214.2 km (133 mi) total planned length
Major junctions
FromBudzisko, Polish-Lithuanian border
To S8 near Ostrów Mazowiecka
Highway system
National roads in Poland
← S52S74 →

As of 2020, the part opened to traffic consists of three separate sections, forming the bypasses of Suwałki/Augustów, Szczuczyn and Stawiski (single carriageway). The contracts for designing and building the rest of the road were signed in 2017-2018. The road will be a dual carriageway along its entire length, and thus the present single carriageway sections are being upgraded.

Majority of the route, 170 km (106 mi), is planned to be completed by the end of 2021[1]. Two delayed sections of 44 km (27 mi) length will be completed in 2022 or 2023[2].

Existing sections

The first section forming the bypass of Stawiski (6.5 km long) was opened to traffic in December 2013 as a single carriageway road.[3]

The second section to open was part of the bypass of Augustów, opened to traffic in November 2014. The extension of this section was the bypass of Suwałki opened in April 2019[1] (25 km in total).

The third section (8 km) was the bypass of Szczuczyn opened in November 2015 as a single carriageway road. The second carriageway was opened in May 2020.[4]

Route history

The expressway became part of the Poland's planned expressway network with the approval of the Council of Ministers of Poland of 20 October 2009.[5] Before that, express road S8 was planned to continue from Białystok north to the Lithuanian border, serving as Via Baltica route. In 2009, S61 was introduced instead, while S8 was decided to end in Białystok. The change provides a shorter route for Via Baltica than originally planned, and the new course is viewed as a way to minimise its environmental impact on protected areas in northeastern Poland.[6]


References
  1. Via Baltica. Obwodnica Suwałk otwarta, Gazeta Wyborcza, 11 April 2019
  2. https://tvn24bis.pl/z-kraju,74/suwalki-budzisko-sa-trzy-oferty-na-budowe-drogi-wszystkie-przekraczaja-miliard-zlotych-gddkia,979424.html
  3. GDDKiA announcement
  5. Dz.U. 2009 nr 187 poz. 1446 Polish government regulation on expressways network (in Polish)
  6. Website of analysis project Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine conducted by Scott Wilson for the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (in Polish)

Sources
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