S8 rethink as elections loom

Five years after the route of the S8 Warsaw-Wrocław road was set, the General Directorate of National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA) has decided to reconsider the plans. The section that is causing the most problems is between Kępno and Wieruszów, some 70-80 km from Wrocław, and Bełchatów and Piotrków Trybunalski, on the A1 highway.

The official GDDKiA statement says that the section was set without a proper analytical and comparative study of Route 14 between Łódź and Wrocław. GDDKiA has decided to supplement the study with a comparative analysis of three options concerning the location of the route by September 30.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, the new idea was brought up by Jacek Bojarowicz, deputy director of GDDKiA, a Kielce resident and a member of Law and Justice (PiS). He has the support of Przemysław Gosiewski, a PiS bigwig in the Świętokrzyskie voivodship, and Marek Jurek, the Speaker of the Sejm, who was elected in Piotrków Trybunalski.

Civic Platform is against the proposal, which is making the S8 a political rather than an economic matter, in the run up to local elections.

The new route would not touch Łódź, which was meant to become the logistics center of Poland, with a number of highways meeting at there. The Łodzkie voivodship expects to receive EU funds for this purpose. Without the S8 and S14 roads, this project will be redundant. Now, local authorities claim that if the ring-road designs are not completed they will not receive funding. However, GDDKiA insists that the ring roads will be built regardless of the new S8 route.