Highway D1 (Czech Republic)
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| Length: | 264.8 km (165 mi) |
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| Planned length: | 376 km |
| From: | MO in Prague |
| Major junctions: |
 R1 near Dobřejovice (planned) R52 near Brno
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| To: |  A1 border with Poland |
| Countries: | Czech Republic |
| Regions: | Praha, Central Bohemian Region, Vysočina Region, South Moravian Region, Zlín Region, Moravian-Silesian Region |
| Major cities: | Praha, Jihlava, Brno, Přerov, Ostrava |
Highway D1 (Czech: Dálnice D1) is the main highway of the Czech Republic. Currently it connects the two biggest Czech cities, Prague and Brno, in the future it will link Ostrava and the border with Poland (motorway A1). As of December 2007 it is 265 km long, but the planned length is 347 km.
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[edit] History
The increasing automobile traffic in 1930s in Czechoslovakia speeds up the discussion about the construction of new roads designed to carry a large volume of traffic. The plan dealt with a backbone road from Bohemia, through Moravia and Slovakia to Carpathian Ruthenia in many variants. Successful was the plan of a Cheb – Plzeň – Německý Brod – Brno – Žilina - Užgorod – Chust highway, sponsored by the Bata Shoes company owner Jan Antonín Baťa in 1937. A year later the detailed project was ready to be realized.
The Munich Agreement in 1938 deprived the country of some fundamental road and rail routes. The government hurries works for a preparation of three major infrastructure projects to the new borders, the Německý Brod - Brno railway, the Plzeň - Ostrava road and a 4-lane highway Prague - Velký Bočkov (on the Czechoslovak - Romanian border). The project of the first segment Prague - Lužná is ready in January 1939, while construction begins on 24 January in Chřiby on the Zástřizly - Lužná segment.
The German occupation of Czechoslovakia brought only small technical changes to the project and the construction of another segment Prague - Humpolec began in May 1939. The increasing demands of World War II slow down the construction, the works are completely halted in 1942. After the war the works are resumed mainly on major bridges in 1946, but only with a small workforce. The segment in Chřiby is abandoned in 1949, the segment Prague - Humpolec one year later. All 77 km remain abandoned.
[edit] Segments
In the 1960s, traffic was growing very fast, and a new plan for a D1 highway Prague - Soviet Union border was formulated. Work on the Prague - Brno section started in 1967 using mainly the old highway route. The 21 km long Prague - Mirošovice segment was completed in 1971, and the 205 km long route to Brno in 1980.
In the Slovak part, it began in 1973 with the construction of the part Ivachnová - Liptovský Mikuláš, a 14 km long section, along with the construction of the Liptovská Mara dam. The 19 km Prešov - Košice motorway was added in 1980. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 19 km long Brno - Vyškov segment was built and another 20 km from Liptovský Mikuláš to Hybe in the Slovak part.
After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia route changes, construction was no longer planned to Slovakia, but instead to Lipník nad Bečvou (replacement of planned route is the Expressway R49). Due to growing traffic near Prague, the first segment to Mirošovice was widened from 4 lanes to 6 lanes and there are similar plans for widening around Brno as well. After the dissolution, no new sections were built. In 2002, construction of an 18 km long extension from Vyškov eastwards started and it was opened in 2005. Currently, segments around Kroměříž are under construction. The segment from Lipník nad Bečvou to Ostrava and further to the Polish border is being planned and constructed (due to historical reasons) as Highway D47, but it will be opened as part of Highway D1. The first part of this segment was opened in December 2007 (Ostrava-Rudná - Bohumín, 17 km).
[edit] Highway altitude
- Maximum: 640 metres above sea level (km 97)
- Minimum: 210 metres above sea level (km 196)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Exit list of Highway D1
- Info on ceskedalnice.cz (Czech)
- Info on dalnice-silnice.cz (Czech)
- Info about pre-war bridges on dalnice.com
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