Slovakia’s two largest cities linked by Hungarian motorway – EURACTIV.com

Slovaks have been promised for years that the construction of a motorway connecting Bratislava and Košice, the two largest cities in the country, will be completed. Hungary has now built its own highway from west to east, which means that the two Slovak cities are now connected.

Last week the final 57 kilometer section between eastern Hungary Miskolc and the Slovak border was completed. There the road joins the short Slovak motorway leading to Košice.

“I am very happy that with the help of the Hungarian government we were able to deliver what many former Slovak prime ministers, especially Robert Fico, promised. Although not in 2010, as he said, Hungary managed to connect Košice to Bratislava. For many people in the east, this will considerably shorten the journey to our capital, ”said the mayor of Košice, Jaroslav Polaček, during an opening ceremony.

The Slovak D1 highway connecting Bratislava to Košice via northern Slovakia is a bitter subject in the country. The earliest date for its completion was 1990, and a series of deadlines have since been missed. Currently, there are still around thirty kilometers of road missing. In the case of a section, an environmental impact assessment process is still ongoing. Department of Transportation officials have suggested 2030 would be the earliest possible completion date.

(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)