New stretch of the Hungarian highway eases travel for Slovaks

The date of completion of the Bratislava-Košice highway is unknown.

Drivers from Košice and the surrounding areas can now take a new route to get to Slovakia’s capital Bratislava. However, this new route doesn’t involve any new highway stretch in Slovakia, but a new 1.7-kilometre stretch of the Hungarian M30 highway opened on January 16th. It is linked to the Slovak R4 dual carriageway connecting Milhosť and Košice-Šebastovce, both in the Košice Region, the Pravda daily reported.

The new stretch, which the Hungarians built for €14.1 million, will get drivers to Miskolc (Hungary) faster and from there they can continue on the Hungarian highway directly to Bratislava.

“It’s only a short stretch, but I think it is becoming more and more beneficial to get to Bratislava or Vienna via Hungary,” driver Juraj Sabo told the daily. “On the one hand I’m glad, but on the other hand it’s sad that the motorway in a neighbouring country will help to improve the connection between the two largest Slovak cities.”

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Transport and Regional Development Ministry State Secretary, Viktor Stromček (Smer) said that the route through Hungary is not faster as all the stretches are not built yet. Simultaneously he admitted that Slovakia is facing problems with incomplete highways and dual carriageway stretches.

“It is true that some stretches should have been already completed,” said Stromček.

Hungary is continuing the construction of its stretch of the Via Carpathia connecting the Slovak-Hungarian border with Miskolc. It should be about 70 km long and be complete in 2022.

Slovakia does not plan to complete any stretch of highway or dual carriageway this year. The date for the opening of the D1 highway connecting Bratislava with Košice remains unknown and the Turany-Hubová stretch remains critical, wrote the Hospodárske Noviny daily.

18. Jan 2018 at 6:01 | Compiled by Spectator staff