Czech highway connection finally gets go-ahead

A long running land dispute in the Czech Republic has finally been settled, which will allow a key road link to be built after years of delay.
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A long running land dispute in the Czech Republic has finally been settled, which will allow a key road link to be built after years of delay. Work on the 2.5km section of the D11 highway is now commencing in 2012 and the construction work will cost €61.6 million. Building this link will take around 18 months and the road is expected to be open to traffic by 2014.

The Czech Transport Ministry Roads and Motorways Directorate (RSD) had been trying to buy the rights to the land to allow the construction for 17 years but had been continually blocked by the owner. However, a hiccup with regard to funds at RSD may hold up the project further. The RSD does not have immediate access to the €3.72 million necessary to purchase the land.

The Czech Transport Ministry has insisted that the money is in the RSD account which is used for the land purchases. The transaction may be further complicated also by the Land Fund, which has to give approval for the deal. Meanwhile the Transport Ministry hopes to boost the budget for the State Transport Infrastructure Fund (SFDI) by at least €410.6 million.

The transport Ministry says that the current funding is barely sufficient for completing the ongoing road construction projects. If further financing is not granted, the Czech Republic will not be able to use all available funds from the EU Operational Programme Transport.

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