Opatov near Svitavy has a new bypass
After enduring years of heavy private car and truck traffic, the residents of Opatov can breathe easy. The Czech Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD) is opening a new 4.2-km bypass on highway I/43 around town. The I/43 connects the town of Lanškroun with Svitavy and continues to Klodzko in Poland.
“The completed project is a great boon for the entire municipality of Opatov, in particular for residents living near the highway, which passed through a built-up part of town along a narrow, winding, up-and-down road, for the most part without any sidewalk. And motorists passing through town will feel relief as well,” says Alfred Brunclík, the ŘSD’s director.
In a nationwide traffic survey performed in 2000, an average 5,160 vehicles passed through Opatov in both directions, of which 1,320 were heavy vehicles. By diverting the route of the I/43 mostly out of town, the above-described negative impacts of road traffic on the residents of Opatov and on drivers passing through town will for the most part be removed. In the town’s outlying neighborhoods, where the rerouted road will pass close to built-up areas, the effects of traffic noise will be reduced by nine sound walls at a total length of 408 m.
The project also includes measures for preventing possible groundwater contamination. Green spaces were catalogued and trees felled as part of construction were replaced by planting new ones. The rerouted road passes through a bio-corridor, which had to be connected via an overpass.
The project has been co-financed by the European Union’s Cohesion Funds, in particular the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as part of the Operational Programme Transport. The non-returnable European Union contribution was provided as part of Priority 4 in the area of “Modernization of Class I Roads Outside of TEN-T” up to 85% of qualified expenses.
Project information:
Project name: I/43 Opatov - bypass
Location: Pardubice region, Svitavy county
Price without VAT: CZK 399,0707,448
Project commencement: 03/2008
Opening date: 11/2009
Date: 11.11.2009
