Expressway S1 (Poland)
Expressway S1 or express road S1 is a Polish highway under construction with a planned length of, located in the Silesian Voivodeship. Upon completion, it will connect the A1 motorway near the Katowice International Airport in Pyrzowice with the border of Slovakia in Zwardoń, linking to the D3 motorway.
The route is expected to be completed in 2027.
Route
The section from A1 motorway to A4 motorway and further to Tychy is open to traffic. It forms the eastern beltway of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region.From Tychy to Bielsko-Biała, the existing dual-carriageway national road 1 serves the traffic. New parallel expressway route is under construction, planned to be finished in 2027.
From Bielsko-Biała to the Slovak border in Zwardoń, the expressway is completed. The section from Żywiec to Zwardoń is a single-carriageway expressway, with the exception of the 5-kilometer long fragment including two pairs of tunnels, which was already constructed in a dual-carriageway profile to avoid lost costs in case of adding the second carriageway in the future. At the border the road connects to the single-carriageway D3 motorway in Slovakia.
Road numbering
The S1 originally was routed from Bielsko-Biała via Cieszyn to the Czech border. This section was renumbered to Expressway S52 in 2016 and the S1 was rerouted over the former Expressway S69.Expressway route description
Kosztowy-II – Bielsko-Biała
As of the end of May 2016 six options for the route were proposed.Route variants
Five of them were already available by June 2008. At first option IV was preferable. It would have gone parallel to Brzeszcze – Oświęcim railway tracks. However, UNESCO protested against the choice, as, in their opinion, the traffic would have disrupted the zone of silence around the former German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, and, as the result, UNESCO would have put the camp onto the endangered list.
At the beginning of August 2009, the head of Miedźna county has announced to the media his option of the S1, that would have gone through a forest on the borders of the Miedźna and Bojszowy county. In November 2009, it was accepted by all the local counties. However, GDDKiA turned down this option due to environmental issues. The road would have passed through the "Stawy w Brzeszczach" reserve for birds conservation, which was not acceptable.Option A would have run through the following counties:
The project was expected to cost approximately 1.437 bln złotych.
Five of them were already available by June 2008. At first option IV was preferable. It would have gone parallel to Brzeszcze – Oświęcim railway tracks. However, UNESCO protested against the choice, as, in their opinion, the traffic would have disrupted the zone of silence around the former German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, and, as the result, UNESCO would have put the camp onto the endangered list.
At the beginning of August 2009, the head of Miedźna county has announced to the media his option of the S1, that would have gone through a forest on the borders of the Miedźna and Bojszowy county. In November 2009, it was accepted by all the local counties. However, GDDKiA turned down this option due to environmental issues. The road would have passed through the "Stawy w Brzeszczach" reserve for birds conservation, which was not acceptable.Option A would have run through the following counties:
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Imielin
- * Bieruń
- * Bojszowy
- * Miedźna
- * Bestwina
- * Wilamowice
- * Bielsko-BiałaOption B would have run through the following counties:
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Imielin
- * Bieruń
- * Bojszowy
- * Oświęcim
- * Bestwina
- * Brzeszcze
- * Wilamowice
- * Bielsko-BiałaOption C would have run through the following counties:
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Imielin
- * Bieruń
- * Bojszowy
- * Oświęcim
- * Bestwina
- * Brzeszcze
- * Wilamowice
- * Bielsko-BiałaOption D would have run through the following counties:
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Imielin
- * Bieruń
- * Bojszowy
- * Oświęcim
- * Bestwina
- * Brzeszcze
- * Wilamowice
- * Bielsko-Biała.
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Bieruń
- * Międzyrzecze
- * Gilowice
- * Miedźna
- * Bestwinka
- * Kaniów
- * Dankowice
- * Stara Wieś
- * Bielsko-Biała
- * Mysłowice
- * Lędziny
- * Bieruń
- * Oświęcim
- * Brzeszcze
- * Dankowice
- * Stara Wieś
- * Bielsko-Biała In 2013 the Economical, Technical and Environmental Institution has proposed 4 choices, of which choices A and C were preferred. However, the mining company "Brzeszcze" was against choice C, and "SILESIA" mining enterprise against A. As a compromise, GDDKIA promised to work on the additional option "E". Preparatory works for DŚU were done by 7 January 2015. In March 2015 choice "E" was chosen as preferred. In June the same year Regional Directorate of the Environment Protection in Katowice has asked GDDKiA to give out the environmental decision for the section.
The project was expected to cost approximately 1.437 bln złotych.
| Number of exit | Kosztowy-II | 0 km | With environmental decision | Connection with S1 to Tychy |
| 2) | Lędziny | ca. | With environmental decision | |
| Bieruń | ca. | With environmental decision | ||
| With environmental decision | ||||
| With environmental decision | ||||
| With environmental decision |
Interchanges
- „Kosztowy II"
- „Lędziny"
- „Bieruń"
- „Oświęcim"
- „Wola”
- „Brzeszcze"
- „Stara Wieś"
- „Hałcnów"