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Autostrada A18 is a short, planned
motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
in southwestern
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
which is to run from the
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
/
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
border at
Olszyna Olszyna (german: Langenöls) is a town in Lubań County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its name means "alder wood" in Polish. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Olszyna. A settlement dati ...
/
Forst Forst may refer to: Communities In Germany *, in the district of Aachen *Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg *Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg * Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria * Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenk ...
-Bademeusel (connecting with the German
Bundesautobahn 15 is an autobahn in eastern Germany. It is one of the original Reichsautobahns and connected Breslau to Berlin, via Wrocław (Breslau) and Görlitz. It connects Germany and Poland. A 15 is part of European route E36. History The A 15 was initial ...
) to the Polish
Autostrada A4 The Autostrada A4, or Serenissima, is a motorway which connects Turin and Trieste via Milan and Venice. The city of Venice (or rather, Mestre which is the "land" part of Venice) originally formed a bottleneck on the A4, but is now bypassed by the ...
. The highway is part of the
European route E36 European route E36 is a west to east intermediate-category European route connecting Berlin in Germany with Bolesławiec in Poland. Important towns served by the E36 include: *Germany **Berlin ** Lübben **Lübbenau **Cottbus **Forst (Lausitz) ...
and the
Pan-European corridor IIIA Pan-European can refer to: * Pan-European identity * Pan-European corridors ** Pan-European Corridor X ** Pan-European Corridor Xa * Pan European Game Information * Pan-European Institute * Pan-European nationalism * Pan-European Oil Pipeline ...
from
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
. As of December 2021, is opened and signed as A18. The main part () is undergoing an upgrade: the motorway quality northern carriageway (constructed 2004 – 2006) carries bidirectional traffic. The southern carriageway is being reconstructed, with the concrete surface from the 1930s getting demolished. The road should be opened as dual carriageway on the full length in 2023. After completion, A18 should be long.


Construction


The 1930s (the southern carriageway)

The motorway had its beginning as a single-carriageway part of Reichsautobahn 9 (
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
- Breslau) built by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in the 1930s, completed between 1936 and 1938. This route had all the features of an autobahn, built according to the standards of the time, including all the exits, viaducts and bridges. However, only a single carriageway was constructed along most of its length and space was left for constructing the second carriageway at a later time. The road existed in this state until the early 1990s, when the first at its eastern end was rebuilt with new concrete carriageways and first signed A18 (later, in 2009, the section signed as A18 was shortened to 7 km, while the rest was re-signed as A4 when the connecting stretch of that motorway was opened). In 1995, a new stretch of the second carriageway was constructed on the section near the border crossing (7 km).


2004 – 2006 (the northern carriageway)

Between 2004 and 2006, the northern carriageway was constructed in the allocated space reserve and most of the overpasses and bridges were reconstructed. By June 2007, the road had two carriageways in use, but the older of the two (carrying eastbound traffic towards Wrocław) was in extremely poor shape, still using the surface made of concrete slabs laid in the 1930s. Due to bad road condition, the speed on that carriageway was limited to 70 km/h.Urwane koła, zgubiony na wertepach towar. Pseudoautostrada A18
wroclaw.gazeta.pl, February 26, 2014
Reconstruction of the southern carriageway was originally intended to proceed shortly afterwards, but did not start due to delays caused, in part, by changes in the motorway project required by new environmental protection rules (A18 passes through
Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...
protected areas). On 15 July 2010, the environmental decision for the revised project was issued,gorzow.rdos.gov.pl
/ref> which would have allowed for the contract bidding procedure to be completed and for construction to start in 2011. However, in December 2010, the Polish government announced significant cutbacks to its funding for road construction, which delayed the project. In 2014, when the National Program of Road Construction for 2014 – 2023 was created, the government did not envisage it starting in the near future.


2020 – 2023 (reconstruction of the southern carriageway)

In 2018, the ministry amended the National Program of Road Construction for 2014 – 2023 by including reconstruction of A18 on the primary list. The reconstruction started in 2020 and 2021. The 1930s carriageway was then closed on the whole length and the traffic in both directions was moved onto the high quality northern carriageway. Reconstruction is intended to finish in late 2023, and the full length will then be officially designated as an Autostrada.


Exits


External links


Webpage for current upgrade contract - section 1

Webpage for current upgrade contract - section 2

Webpage for current upgrade contract - sections 3 and 4

Gallery 3Gallery 4


See also

*
European route E36 European route E36 is a west to east intermediate-category European route connecting Berlin in Germany with Bolesławiec in Poland. Important towns served by the E36 include: *Germany **Berlin ** Lübben **Lübbenau **Cottbus **Forst (Lausitz) ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A18 Autostrada (Poland) Motorways in Poland Proposed roads in Poland