On Tuesday 17 December 2024, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Transport Minister Martin Kupka launched the operation of the key section of the D4 motorway between Příbramí and Písek. This is the first successful PPP project in the Czech Republic, i.e. a cooperation between the public and private sectors. It will bring drivers a fast and safe journey and relieve municipalities from heavy traffic.
The open section offers a faster connection between central and southern Bohemia. In total, 32 kilometres of completely new road were built and another 16 kilometres of older sections were upgraded. Construction took 43 months. The new motorway will be maintained by the private company Via Salis Operations for the next 25 years. The state remains the owner of the infrastructure and will take full control of the motorway in 2049. The state will pay the concessionaire a regular 'availability payment'.
"The construction of the D4 motorway, which is the first large PPP project in the Czech Republic, has shown that this model of cooperation between the state and the private sector as one of the tools to ensure the construction of transport infrastructure works. The construction will not only speed up the journey from Prague to the south of Bohemia and vice versa, but it will also be much safer. Drivers will not have to pass through the dangerous Lety crossroads near Písek and will also get rid of the traditional Friday and Sunday traffic jams around Milín," said the Prime Minister.
The PPP D4 project was implemented by the state together with the association Via Salis composed of the French companies VINCI Highways and Meridiam. The contractor of the construction works were companies from the VINCI Construction CS group. The D4 motorway will significantly speed up the connection between Prague - Příbram - Strakonice - Písek and further towards the border with Germany, which will also help the economic development of the regions it connects. A modern and, above all, safe road has been created, which will make the traffic in the sections clearer and significantly relieve traffic complications and reduce the accident rate.
"We need to invest trillions of crowns in the development of transport infrastructure over the next ten years. To secure these funds, we are also counting on greater involvement of private capital in further projects on motorways and railways," added Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who also thanked Transport Minister Martin Kupka and his predecessors for their persistent efforts and work on the preparation and implementation.
All information transmitted from cameras, sensors and sensors located along the entire D4 route converges at the D4 operations centre.The 100% coverage of the motorway allows the operator's teams to react quickly to any incidents on the motorway. The D4 project also stood out for its ambitious approach to environmental protection. For example, almost one hundred percent of the milled asphalt on the D4 has been recycled. All the soil that was removed from the future route of the motorway was used to cover the embankments, while the topsoil was given to the farmers. Aggregates were used to build the base layers of the motorway, mainly from local sources, thus reducing emissions from long-distance traffic in particular.
Government of the Czech Republic/ gnews - RoZ
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