Poland map roads plans 2007 2012 A1 A2 A18 A4 S3 S5 S7 S8 S19I often visited Poland by car, driving from The Netherlands through Germany. The first time was when the Berlin wall was still standing and we had to wait hours at the Polish border. When we drove into Poland heading to Warsaw we left Western Europe behind us and with it … all highways….

The quality of roads in Poland was terrible in those times and most haven’t improved much since then. Poland is the largest country in central or Eastern Europe but it’s civil infrastructure belongs the worst. Only 3% of the roads meet standards set by the European Union. In short: travelling by car in Poland is not advised for the unexperienced driver.

There is hope however!

In 2012 Poland and Ukraine will be hosting the UEFA euro 2012. If Poland wants to be able to handle the thousands of visitors, the infrastructure has to be massively improved. That’s why the government has announced the plans to construct about 1000km of highway and approximately 1500km of other main roads to connect the most important cities and neighbour countries.

Some parts have already been completed for the most part, like the A4, but others like the A1 exist for the the most part only on paper.

The EU will invest € 60 billion for the next 5 years to improve the transport infrastructure in Poland. A part of that amount - probably around € 20 billion - will be used specifically for roads.

Not everybody is convinced the plans will become reality on time. Between 2005 and 2006 only 174km of highway was build so the building speed has to go up fast, but if it gets done it will give visitors much better ways to explore Poland!