A tender for preparatory work on a bypass of Strzelce Opolskie along national road DK94 has been announced by the Opole branch of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA). The procedure could be launched because an agreement on financing the preparations was signed with the Strzelce Opolskie commune, and it is the Opole branch that will pick the design office.
The future route is planned to measure about 9 kilometres. Its main task is to pull transit traffic away from the stretch of DK94 that cuts through the town, where vehicles pile up instead of simply passing by.
GDDKiA identifies the layout of the motorway network as the root of the problem. The Krapkowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Strzelce Opolskie junctions lie close to one another, so each time the A4 motorway is closed, drivers are diverted straight through Strzelce Opolskie. The effect is paralysis in the centre of the town, whose population runs well into the tens of thousands.
Study first, environmental decision later
Under the tender, the winning contractor will begin with a Study of Technical, Economic and Environmental Conditions (STEŚ). The core of that document is a multi-criteria comparative analysis.
– Based on a range of technical, environmental, social and economic criteria, we will analyse in detail several feasible variants of the future route. One of them will then be recommended in the application for an environmental decision – the road agency’s statement reads.
The variant selected in that way would then form the basis for obtaining the environmental decision, a required step before any construction could start. The announcement gives neither a schedule nor a value for the preparatory stage or for the road itself.
Agreement opened the way to the tender
The preparatory phase became feasible after the commune and the state road agency reached a deal covering how the work would be paid for. That agreement also settles who runs the procurement: the design office will be chosen by the Opole branch of GDDKiA.
The bypass is intended for DK94, a national road that carries both local and long-distance traffic. Until the new alignment exists, every motorway shutdown on the A4 translates into congestion in Strzelce Opolskie, with vehicles funnelled towards the junctions at Krapkowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Strzelce Opolskie.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Strikernia / Shutterstock
