Expressway S61 (Poland)

Expressway S61 or express road S61 is a Polish highway running from Ostrów Mazowiecka (separating from express road S8) to the Polish-Lithuanian border near Budzisko (continuing as the Lithuanian A5 highway).

Expressway S61 shield}}
Expressway S61
Droga ekspresowa S61
Route information
Length200 km (120 mi)
213.5 km (133 mi) total planned length [1]
Major junctions
From S 8 near Ostrów Mazowiecka
To A 5 Budzisko, Polish-Lithuanian border
Location
CountryPoland
Highway system
S 52 S 74

Since September 2024, the whole route is open to traffic. On the 13 km (8.1 mi) long section serving as the bypass of Łomża, only the first carriageway is opened (serving bi-directional traffic with 1 lane per direction), while the second carriageway is to be finished in mid-2025.

The road is part of the strategically important Via Baltica, the segment from Tallinn to Warsaw of the European route E67 connecting the Baltic States with the rest of Europe through the exposed Suwałki corridor. Its north-eastern end is also part of the planned Via Carpathia. Across the Lithuanian border the preexisting A5 highway to Kaunas is being upgraded into a divided highway with grade-separated junctions, bringing it to the same standard as the S61 expressway.

Existing sections

edit

The first section forming the bypass of Stawiski (6.5 km long) was opened to traffic in December 2013 as a single carriageway road. The second carriageway was opened in August 2021.[2]

The second section to open was part of the bypass of Augustów (12 km), opened to traffic in November 2014 as a dual carriageway road.

The third section was the bypass of Szczuczyn (8 km) opened in November 2015 as a single carriageway road. The second carriageway was opened in May 2020.[3]

The fourth section was the bypass of Suwałki (13 km), opened in April 2019 as a dual carriageway road.[4]

The contracts for designing and building the expressway signed in 2017 and 2018 assumed the completion of the whole road by the end of 2021,[5] but parts of it got significantly delayed.

The fifth section (17 km long) was the connection between Śniadowo and Łomża (excluding the bypass of Łomża), opened to traffic in July 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The sixth section (53 km long) was the connection between Szczuczyn and Kolno, opened in July and August 2021 as a dual carriageway road (which also included reconstruction of the existing bypass of Stawiski and addition of the second carriageway).

The seventh section (20 km long) was the connection between Wysokie and Raczki, opened in December 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The eighth section (23 km long) was the connection between Szczuczyn and Ełk Południe, opened in September 2022 as a dual carriageway road.

The ninth section (24 km long) was the connection between Suwałki and the Lithuanian border at Budzisko, opened in December 2022 as a dual carriageway road.

The tenth section (24 km long) was the connection between Ełk Południe and Wysokie opened in August 2023 as a dual carriageway road,[6] completing the segment of the road running through the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship.

The eleventh section, a 19,46 km long segment from Ostrów Mazowiecka Północ with a junction with the S8 expressway to Śniadowo in the Masovian Voivodeship, opened in October 2023.[7]

Under construction

edit

The 2nd carriageway of the road remains under construction on a 12,92 km segment from Łomża Zachód to Kolno in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, which forms the bypass of Łomża. The first carriageway was opened on 30 September 2024,[8] while the second carriageway is planned to be finished in May 2025.[9]

Route history

edit

The expressway became part of the Poland's planned expressway network with the approval of the Council of Ministers of Poland of 20 October 2009.[10] Before that, express road S8 was planned to continue from Białystok north to the Lithuanian border, serving as Via Baltica route. In 2009, S61 was introduced instead, while S8 was decided to end in Białystok. The change provides a shorter route for Via Baltica than originally planned, and the new course is viewed as a way to minimize its environmental impact on protected areas of the wetlands of the Rospuda river valley and the Augustów Primeval Forest in northeastern Poland.[11]

Exit list

edit
CountryVoivodeshipLocationkmmiExitNameDestinationsNotes
PolandMazovian VoivodeshipGmina Ostrów MazowieckaPodborze  S 8(  E67) – Warsaw/BiałystokSouthwestern endpoint of motorway

Kilometrage starting point


Western terminus of E67 continues towards Warsaw
Komorowo  DW 627Ostrów Mazowiecka/Ostrołęka
  DW 677Łomża
Gmina Czerwin3Śniadowo  DW 677 – Ostrów Mazowiecka/ŁomżaExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Podlaskie VoivodeshipGmina Łomża4Łomża Południe  DK 63ZambrówSouth-west end of DK63 overlap
Exit number as part of "experimental signage"
Łomża Zachód  DK 61 – Ostrołęka/Łomża
Nowogród  DW 645Nowogród/Łomża
Łomża Północ  DK 64Białystok
8Kolno  DK 63KolnoNorth end of DK63 overlap
Exit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Stawiski9Stawiski  DW 647Stawiski/KolnoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Grabowo10GrabowoGrabowoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Szczuczyn11Szczuczyn  DK 58Szczuczyn/PiszExit number as part of "experimental signage"
12Guty  DW 665Grajewo/Augstów
Warmian-Masurian VoivodeshipGmina Ełk13Ełk Południe  DK 65Ełk/BiałystokOverlap with DK 65 starts
14Ełk Wschód   S 16 / DK 65Ełk/OlsztynOverlap with DK 65 ends, DK 16 starts
Gmina Kalinowo15Kalinowo  DK 16 – Ełk/AugustówOverlap with DK 16 ends
Podlaskie VoivodeshipGmina Raczki16Raczki  DK 8(  E67) – Białystok/Raczki
Gmina Suwałki17Suwałki Południe  DW 655Suwałki/OleckoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Suwałki18Suwałki Zachód  DW 653 – Suwałki/OleckoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Suwałki Północ  DW 662Suwałki
Gmina SzypliszkiSzypliszki  DW 651Gołdap/Sejny
Lithuania–Poland border  A 5Border with Lithuania
road continues as the Lithuanian A5
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Concurrency terminus
  •       Proposed
  •       Route transition

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Utrzymanie dróg ekspresowych i autostrad Droga ekspresowa S61 - 189+352 do 213+510
  2. ^ GDDKiA announcement
  3. ^ "Dwoma pasami obwodnicy Szczuczyna. Kolejny fragment S61 gotowy".
  4. ^ Via Baltica. Obwodnica Suwałk otwarta, Gazeta Wyborcza, 11 April 2019
  5. ^ "MI: Umowa na ostatni odcinek trasy Via Baltica podpisana! (Komunikat)".
  6. ^ "Via Baltica coraz bliżej ukończenia. S61 na Mazurach w komplecie". (in Polish)
  7. ^ S61 Podborze - Śniadowo
  8. ^ https://www.gov.pl/web/gddkia-bialystok/via-baltica-przejezdna-na-calej-dlugosci
  9. ^ S61 Łomża Zachód - Kolno
  10. ^ Dz.U. 2009 nr 187 poz. 1446 Polish government regulation on expressways network (in Polish)
  11. ^ Website of analysis project Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine conducted by Scott Wilson for the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (in Polish)

Sources

edit
edit