To: A8 near Wrocław | ||
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Length: 80 km (50 mi)
400 km (249 mi) planned From: S7 near Ostróda (under construction) Major cities Poznań, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz | ||
Expressway S5 or express road S5 (Polish: droga ekspresowa S5) is a limited-access road in Poland which has been planned to run along the route Ostróda – Grudziądz – Bydgoszcz – Poznań – Wrocław. As of June 2012, about 80 km (50 mi) of the road has been completed (not all signed as S5 yet; a 22 km (14 mi) section shares the route with A2 motorway; two sections of total length of 10.5 km (6.5 mi) are single carriageway and they will be amended with the second carriageway), out of total planned length of about 400 km (250 mi).
Map of S5, Poland
The construction of the road received higher priority after Poland was selected as one of the hosts of the Euro 2012 championships, since it would serve as a direct connection between three of the four Polish cities hosting matches: Poznań, Wrocław and (in part) Gdańsk. However, plans to finish the whole road by championships have proven too optimistic, and only a section between A2 motorway and Gniezno has been completed by that time. The 35 km (22 mi) section has been opened on the 4th of June 2012. This part of the S5 expressway serves as the eastern bypass of Poznań.
Other existing parts of the road are the bypass of Świecie (14 km (8.7 mi)), the bypass of Szubin (5 km (3.1 mi), single carriageway) and the bypass of Śmigiel (5.5 km (3.4 mi), single carriageway).
The 29 km bypass of Bojanowo and Rawicz section fully opened to traffic in September 2014.
In October 2015 the expressway has been extended from Nowe Marzy junction (near Grudziądz) to Ostróda. In November 2015 contracts were signed for the Gniezno-Grudziadz section in total of approx. 150 km.