Expressway S3 (Poland)

Expressway S3
Droga ekspresowa S3
Route information
Part of E65
Length	404.7 km (251.5 mi) 470.6 km (292 mi) planned[1]
Major junctions
From	Świnoujście
Major intersections	merge with A6 east of Szczecin separation from A6 south of Szczecin A2 near Jordanowo A4 near Legnica
To	D11 border with Czech Republic
Location
Regions	West Pomeranian Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Major cities	Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zielona Góra, Legnica
Highway system
National roads in Poland Voivodeship roads
← S2 → S5

Expressway S3 or express road S3 (in Polish droga ekspresowa S3) is a major road under development in Poland, which is planned to run from Świnoujście on the Baltic Sea through Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zielona Góra and Legnica, to the border with the Czech Republic, where it will connect to the planned D11 motorway. The total intended length is 470.6 km (292.4 mi), of which 404.7 km (251.5 mi) is open to traffic and 65.9 km (40.9 mi) is under construction (as of November 2021).

The main section from Szczecin (A6) through Jordanowo (A2) to Legnica (A4) was constructed mainly in years 2008 – 2021, and is completed on the whole intended length.

The sections from Legnica (A4) to the Czech border and from Świnoujście to Szczecin (A6) are partially finished and partially in development, with contracted completions in 2023 and 2024, respectively.^[2]

Motorway A3 was planned to be built along this route before, but the decision was made to build a lower standard "express road" as the traffic density was judged too low to justify an motorway.^{[citation needed]} Nonetheless, S3 shares the crucial properties of an autostrada, including physical separation, restricted access, all interchanges being grade-separated, and (upon completion) at least two continuous lanes in each direction as well as emergency lanes (hard shoulder).

Route[]

Motorway section	Length	Constructed	Notes
Świnoujście – Troszyn	33.0 km (20.51 mi)	In realization	To be completed in April 2024
Troszyn, Parłówko, Ostromice bypass	4.2 km (2.61 mi)	Constructed 2009–2012
Ostromice – Miękowo	22.1 km (13.73 mi)	Constructed 2017–2021
Miękowo bypass	4.8 km (2.98 mi)	Constructed 2009–2012
Miękowo – Rzęśnica	21.8 km (13.55 mi)	Constructed in the 1970s with at-grade intersections, reconstructed 2019–2020
Rzęśnica – Dąbie (Szczecin)	7.7 km (4.78 mi)	Constructed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany, reconstructed 2017–2020	Concurrency with
Dąbie – Klucz	10.6 km (6.59 mi)	Constructed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany, mostly reconstructed; short fragment near Kijewo interchange remains under reconstruction
Klucz – Pyrzyce	28.2 km (17.52 mi)	Constructed 2008–2010
Pyrzyce – Myślibórz	26.8 km (16.65 mi)	Constructed 2007–2010
Myśliborz – Gorzów Wielkopolski	26.7 km (16.59 mi)	Constructed 2008–2010
Gorzów Wielkopolski bypass	11.7 km (7.27 mi)	Single carriageway constructed 2001–2007 Second carriageway constructed 2014–2017
Gorzów Wielkopolski – Międzyrzecz	37 km (22.99 mi)	Constructed 2011–2014
Międzyrzecz bypass	6.4 km (3.98 mi)	Single carriageway constructed 2004–2006 Second carriageway constructed 2014–2016
Międzyrzecz – Sulechów	43 km (26.72 mi)	Constructed 2010–2013[a]
Sulechów – Nowa Sól	44 km (27.34 mi)	Single carriageway constructed 1985–1995 and 2006–2008 Second carriageway constructed 2015–2018
Nowa Sól – Polkowice	33.3 km (20.69 mi)	Constructed 2014–2018
Polkowice – Lubin	14.4 km (8.95 mi)	Constructed 2014–2021
Lubin – Legnica – Bolków	69.7 km (43.31 mi)	Constructed 2015–2018
Bolków – Kamienna Góra	16.1 km (10.00 mi)	Under construction	Planned completion in September 2023.[3] The section includes two tunnels – one 2300 meters long and one 320 meters long.
Kamienna Góra – Lubawka	15.3 km (9.51 mi)	Under construction	Planned completion in August 2022

History[]

Initial route plans (autostrada A3)[]

Autostrada A3
Route information
Part of E65
Time period	1993–2001 (planned only)
Major junctions
From	Szczecin
Major intersections	separation from A6 south of Szczecin A2 near Jordanowo A4 near Legnica
To	D11 border with Czech Republic
Location
Regions	West Pomeranian Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Major cities	Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zielona Góra, Legnica
Highway system
National roads in Poland Voivodeship roads

The autostrada A3 was a motorway planned from 1993^[4][5] to 2001^[6] that was supposed to be built in western Poland. It was planned to begin in Szczecin, link Zielona Góra, Bolków and end in Lubawka on the Polish-Czech border.

Some road maps published in 1990s had an approximate route of the motorway, which in some places were different from the final route of S3, most notably the motorway was supposed to form north-eastern bypass of Legnica^[7] while S3 was constructed as its western bypass.

One legacy of the road having been planned as an autostrada is that from the beginning it was being constructed on a completely new alignment (some distance away from the old route of the DK3 road). This is akin to how most expressways in Poland are constructed nowadays, but in contrast to the standards of the 2000s when most of the expressways were constructed by upgrading existing roads.

Świnoujście – Szczecin[]

One section of S3 east of Szczecin (19 km) was constructed in the 1970s in an expressway standard of those times, featuring some one-level intersections. It was reconstructed in 2019–2020 to meet contemporary standards.

S3 south of Szczecin overlaps with A6 motorway (see History of construction).

Szczecin – Legnica[]

A single carriageway was constructed in years 1985–1995 on the section Sulechów–Zielona Góra (27 km). Three short sections were constructed in years 2001–2008, also with the first carriageway only.

The first large section of S3 was the stretch from Szczecin to Gorzów Wielkopolski (82 km), opened to traffic in 2010,^[8] followed by the stretch from Gorzów Wielkopolski to Sulechów (80.6 km), opened to traffic in 2013/2014. The new sections had two carriageways, separated by the older stretches (Sulechów–Nowa Sól, Gorzów Wielkopolski bypass and Międzyrzecz bypass) which still remained as single-carriageway.

In 2014–2017/2018, the expressway between Nowa Sól and Legnica (junction with A4)^[9] was constructed, and the second carriageway was added on the three older stretches.^[10] The exception was the section Polkowice - Lubin, which was also contracted to be completed in the first half of 2018, but the deal with Salini Impregilo was terminated in 2019 due to extensive delays in construction.

Legnica – border with Czech Republic[]

Signing the contracts for construction of all four stretches between A4 at Legnica and the Czech border was planned for 2014, however in 2013 it was announced that the section will not enter construction before 2017. As the reason, the officials cited delays in preparations in the Czech Republic, which meant that the connecting motorway on the Czech side of the border might enter into construction in 2018 at the earliest^[11][12] (currently, it is expected that the section will enter into construction in 2024/2025 rather than 2018^[13]). Some of the money allocated for it has been re-purposed to build the S2 expressway in Warsaw.

Later the decision was partially reversed, and in 2014 two tenders were opened for the section between Legnica and Bolków. This part (35.8 km) was constructed in years 2015–2018.^[14]

Two remaining contracts for the section from Bolków to the Czech border were signed in October 2018, with the completion dates of November 2021 and June 2023.^[15]

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Expressway S3 (Poland).

See also[]

• Highways in Poland
• European route E65