A4 autostrada (Poland)

Autostrada A4
Route information
	Part of E40
Length:	444 km (276 mi); 670 km (416 mi) planned
Major junctions
From:	A4 - border with Germany at Zgorzelec
	A18 near Krzyżowa; S3 near Legnica (planned); A8 near Wrocław; A1 near Gliwice; S1 near Mysłowice; S7 near Kraków; S19 near Rzeszów (planned)
To:	border with Ukraine at Korczowa - M10
Location
Major cities:	Wrocław, Katowice, Kraków, Rzeszów
Highway system
	National roads in Poland; Voivodeship roads

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The autostrada A4 in Poland is a motorway which runs from west to east through southern Poland, from the Polish-German border in Zgorzelec (connecting to the German A4 autobahn), through Wrocław, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, and Rzeszów to the Polish-Ukrainian border at Korczowa. The motorway is a part of the European route E40. As of December, 2009 about 444 km (276 mi) of the motorway have been completed, out of the planned total length of 670 km (420 mi). The section already completed, essentially the western two-thirds of the motorway, runs continuously from the border with Germany to Szarów, located just east of Kraków. The construction of the remaining section has started in 2010 and should finish in the first quarter of 2013.^[1]

[edit] History of construction and plans for the future

Inscription made by Russian soldiers in 1945: Водрузим над Берлином знамя победы (We shall hoist the flag of victory over Berlin); A4 west of Wrocław.

A4 west of Wrocław with repaved concrete surface

Gliwice-Sosnica A1 and A4 motorways and national road 44 junction near Gliwice - the largest motorway junction in Central-Eastern Europe, opened 2009-2010

A4 in Zabrze, opened 2005

A4 near Kraków (Zalas), opened 1980

A4 near Kraków, opened 2002-2003

Large stretches of this motorway were initially built as a Reichsautobahn by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. After the war, when the new borders placed them in Poland, they received minimal maintenance and upgrades, becoming notorious for the bad quality of their road surfaces, a phenomenon similar to that observed in East Germany. Extensive reconstruction, especially of the section between Legnica and Wrocław, has removed all traces of the old concrete road surface, but some aspects of 1930s standards of construction remain; for example, the aforementioned stretch does not have an emergency lane, a feature that is to be added in the future.

The section between Kraków and Katowice was built from the 1980s to 1996 and the section from Wrocław to Katowice between 2000 and 2005. In August 2009 construction of the last western part of the motorway from the border with Germany to the junction with A18 motorway was completed. Also, in 2009 the first part of the motorway east of Kraków (ending on national road 75 junction, near Szarów) was finished.

The original plan was to finish the motorway by about 2013, but because of the UEFA decision to host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine and the resulting need for better road infrastructure connecting the two countries, the date was moved up to 2012. This target is ambitious and may not be attained if there are any unexpected delays encountered during construction.^{[citation needed]} An additional 57 km (35 mi) from Szarów to Tarnów should be finished in the second half of 2011; currently^[when?] the companies that will build it are being selected in a bidding process.^[2] The section from Tarnów to the border with Ukraine has been in various stages of planning, with its route finalized and preparations for setting up bidding for contracts underway. The contracts for designing and building the 47 km (29 mi) long section from Jarosław to the border of Ukraine (divided into two segments, with different companies building each) were signed in the fall of 2009, with completion scheduled for April 2012.^[3]^[4]

Route
	A 4 E 40
(1)	Border crossing PL-DE Jędrzychowice
(2)	Zgorzelec 30 94
(3)	Godzieszów 296
(4)	Wykroty 94
(5)	Bolesławiec 297
(6)	Krzyżowa A18 E 36
(7)	Krzywa 94
(8)	Chojnów 324
(9)	Złotoryja 364
(10)	Nowa Wieś Legnicka 3 S3
(11)	Budziszów
(12)	Kostomłoty 5
(13)	Kąty Wrocławskie
(14)	Pietrzykowice 35
(15)	Bielany Wrocławskie 5 8
(16)	Krajków
(17)	Brzezimierz
(18)	Owczary 39
(19)	Przylesie
(20)	Prądy 46
(21)	Dąbrówka 45
(22)	Krapkowice
(23)	Gogolin
(24)	Olszowa
(25)	Nogowczyce 88
(26)	Łany 40
(27)	Kleszczów 88
(28)	Gliwice - Ostropa
(29)	Gliwice - Bojków 78
(30)	Gliwice - Sośnica 44 A1
(31)	Ruda Śląska - Wspólna
(32)	Ruda Śląska - Wirek
(33)	Chorzów - Batorego
(34)	Katowice - Os. Witosa
(35)	Katowice - Bocheńskiego
(36)	Katowice - Mikołowska 81
(37)	Katowice - Francuska
(38)	Katowice - Murckowska 86
(39)	Mysłowice
(40)	Mysłowice - Brzęczkowice S1
(41)	Jaworzno - Jeleń
(42)	Chrzanów I 79
(43)	Chrzanów II
(44)	Chrzanów III 79
(45)	Rudno
(46)	Balice I S7
(47)	Balice II
(48)	Kraków - Mirowska
(49)	Kraków - Tyniec
(50)	Kraków - Sidzina 44
(51)	Kraków - Opatkowice 7 S7
(52)	Kraków - Łagiewniki (ul. Sapiehy)
(53)	Kraków - Wielicka 4
(54)	Kraków - Bieżanów S7
(55)	Szarów 75

()	Bochnia (planned)
()	Brzesko (planned) 75
()	Wierzchosławice (planned)
()	Krzyż (planned) 73
()	Dębica - Żyraków (planned)
()	Dębica - Pustynia (planned)
()	Ropczyce - Sędziszów (planned)
()	Rzeszów - Zachód (planned) 9
()	Rzeszów - Centrum (planned) 9
()	Rzeszów - Wschód (planned) 19
()	Łańcut (planned)
()	Przeworsk (planned)
()	Jarosław - Wierzbna (planned) 4
()	Jarosław - Pawłosiów (planned)
()	Radymno (planned) 77
()	Border checkpoint PL-UA Korczowa
	M10 E 40