Contract signed for motorway stretch near Prešov

The National Highway Company (NDS) on Thursday signed a contract with the D1 Prešov Consortium for building the Prešov West-Prešov South D1-motorway section with the Transport and Construction Minister Árpád Érsek (Most-Híd) in attendance, according to the TASR press agency. The consortium, comprised of Eurovia SK, Eurovia CS, Doprastav, Metrostav and Metrostav Slovakia, will build this almost eight-kilometre stretch of motorway for over €356 million. It will begin the construction work in June and should complete it by June 30, 2021. Prešov will thus finally obtain a motorway bypass that will divert transit transport away from the city. Érsek said that 'tough negotiations' preceded the mutual agreement. The price was revised downwards by €15.2 million when compared to the original bid. The minister considers it to be a fair contract. The Prešov bypass is an extraordinarily complicated construction project, with one third of the road set to go over bridges and another third through tunnels. It also includes two large motorway intersections. The project will be co-financed from the EU's Cohesion Fund within the Integrated Infrastructure Operational Programme. The financing is still subject to negotiations.