Machines are returning to the Brno motorway, 127 km of D1 will be completed by the end of this year

“We expect this construction season to make a major step towards the completion of the D1 modernization in 2021. We are going to open another 37 km of the new D1 this year, so there will be the total of 127 kilometres finished, which is almost 80 percent of the D1 between Prague and Brno. There will be the last 34 km left in the next year,” says the Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček. The most visible work on modernisation will start on the weekend from 6 to 8 March, specifically in the section near Mirošovice and Velké Meziříčí.

The Ministry of Transport and the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD) will take all previously tested measures which support both the safety of drivers and the safety of workers carrying out construction works in close proximity to public traffic. In addition to temporary low crash barriers, highlighted traffic signs, section speed control, mobile information system, ŘSD will put particular emphasis on the reductions of two lanes into one. These are necessary during the construction of a long-term traffic restriction and now these short-term stages are already covered by contractual penalties in case of the set limits are not complied with.

This year will be very difficult for the drivers and according to the minister there is no choice but to ask for their patience. “During the modernization two lanes will be retained in both directions, albeit in a narrowed profile, which significantly helps to handle the situation. I also want to improve communication with drivers so that they have as much information as possible about the modernization process, so that they know what they can expect and could adapt to it, and of course, so that they are informed of any problems and their solutions in time,” says the Minister of Transport and points out the information line of the National Traffic Information Centre (NDIC) 800 280 281, web application www.dopravniinfo.cz and www.novaD1.cz. The National Traffic Information Centre shares the traffic data with Google's enhanced navigation apps, such as Maps or Waze.

The whole modernization of the 161 km of the D1 motorway between Mirošovice and Kývalka started in 2013 and will be finished in autumn 2021. The construction consists in complete removal of the original surface and subsoil and construction of a new motorway in the same track under full traffic, including all road overpasses.