Highway takes back seat

A new section of the D1 highway was christened in mid-July, and Prime Minister Petr Nečas insists the completion of the key artery remains one of his top priorities. However, budget cuts and past transgressions with European Union funds threaten to further delay a seamless connection between the country's three largest cities and business centers.

The recently completed D1 section has been dubbed the "Moravian Crossroads," connecting the Zlín and Olomouc regions through the towns of Hulín and Říkovice. Officially opened July 11, that stretch was originally scheduled for completion in 2008, but was delayed because of "adverse weather conditions" that would have pushed up building costs, according to the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD).

The Transport Ministry is now planning a timeline that runs through 2017 to complete the 377-kilometer highway that will create a direct connection between Prague, Brno and Ostrava, eventually extending further north to the Polish border. "However, this presupposes that the Finance Ministry won't decrease expense frames a few billion crowns for the D1 every year in comparison with what we have predicted," said Jakup Ptačinský, a Transport Ministry spokesman.

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek presented a controversial 2012 budget proposal July 14 that planned to cut funding for transport infrastructure budget some 14 billion Kč ($811.6 million). Already, funding shortfalls have forced the Transport Ministry to take funding from the upkeep of the D8 highway to fix parts of the D1.

Ptačinský said if all goes as planned, the next step for the D1 expansion would be a link-up to the A1 highway in Poland, scheduled for completion before kickoff of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

If the ministry manages to keep a total of 47 million Kč in funds under the new budget - which seems doubtful under Kalousek's latest proposal - construction of a new stretch of the D1 between Přerov and Lipník nad Bečvou is planned.

"The completion of the key connection between Prague, Brno and Ostrava is the most important as they are the economic centers of the Czech Republic," Ptačinský said. "Nowadays, transport between Brno and Ostrava is [on roads] not made for such high transport intensity."

When a new period of EU funding begins, running 2014 through 2020, the Transport Ministry hopes to launch construction on the last of the D1 highway, running from Říkovice to Přerov. However, at present, the ministry does not own any of the required land or possess the building permits for this stretch of road.

However, the ministry may not receive all the funds it hopes for from Brussels, as the European Commission has threatened on several occasions to reduce funding during this period because of transparency problems and the repeated inability of several government ministries to successfully draw on almost any funding at all.

"We are afraid," Ptačinský said. "But funds for the D1 completion are a priority."

One additional challenge to preserving any semblance of a schedule for upgrading infrastructure is the Transport Ministry's continued changes in leadership, exacerbated by ongoing clashes among the coalition parties.

Earlier this year, Vít Bárta (Public Affairs, VV) resigned from the post of transport minister after allegations of bribery (See story, Page A1). He was replaced on an interim basis by Radek Šmerda before a late-June deal between the VV and ODS led to Pavel Dobeš (VV) filling the position.

"Changes in personnel generally influence the operation of the whole office, not just building and planning processes," Ptačinský said. "If such a change takes place for the third time within a year, of course it means a weakening in our long-term conception and work."

- Filip Šenk contributed to this report.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com