Highways in Poland

Polish motorway and expressway network. Legend:

  Completed

  Opened, some works continue

  Construction

  Design-build contract (design phase)

  Tender

  Planned

Full planned network of motorways (red) and expressways (orange) from 2012

Development of the motorway and expressway network in Poland since 1932. Legend:

  Completed

  Under construction

  Planned

Development of the motorway and expressway network in Poland

Controlled-access highways in Poland are part of the national roads network and they are divided into motorways and expressways. Both types of highways feature grade-separated interchanges with all other roads, emergency lanes, feeder lanes, wildlife protection measures and dedicated roadside rest areas. Motorways differ from expressways in their technical parameters, like designated speed, permitted road curvature, lane widths or minimal distances between interchanges. Moreover, expressways might have single carriageway sections in case of low traffic densities (as of 2023, the single-carriageway sections constitute 5% of the controlled-access highway network).

Except for the single-carriageway expressways, both types of highways fulfill the definition of a motorway as characterized by OECD, WRA or Vienna Convention. Speed limits in Poland are 140 km/h on motorways and 120 km/h on dual-carriageway expressways.

As of January 2023, there are 4,887.1 km (3,037 mi) of motorways and expressways in operation (58% of the intended network), while contracts for construction of further 1,170 km (727 mi) of motorways and expressways (15% of the intended network) are ongoing.

A1 - A4 Gliwice-Sośnica Interchange

A1 - A2 Łódź Północ Interchange

A4 in Zabrze

A2 (Berlin - Poznań)

A8 in Wrocław

Express road S1 in Bielsko-Biała

Express road S5 near Bydgoszcz

Technical parameters

• Motorways are public roads with controlled access which are designated for motor vehicles only, and feature two carriageways with at least two continuous lanes each, divided by a median. They have no one-level intersections with any roads or other forms of land and water transport. They are equipped with roadside rest areas, which are intended only for the users of the motorway.

Some motorway stretches are tolled, others are free of charge. Motorways are the only roads in Poland which use blue background on road signs - others use green road signs.

• Expressways share most of the characteristics of motorways, differing mainly in that:

1. Expressways are designated for lower speed than motorways. For example, the road curvature can be higher and the lanes are usually narrower (3.5 m vs 3.75 m). Emergency lanes can also be narrower, and in exceptional situations expressways might not have them at all.
2. Expressways can have a single carriageway on sections with low traffic density.
3. Motorways can have interchanges only with main roads and the spacing between interchanges should not be less than 15 km (exceptionally 5 km); or not less than 5 km (exceptionally 3 km) within borders or near a big city or a group of cities. Expressways can have interchanges more often. In exceptional situations, expressways might not have dedicated feeder lanes on an interchange.

Technically, expressways are also allowed to admit a one-level junction with a minor public road in exceptional cases, however the last such remaining junction in Poland has been reconstructed into a two-level interchange by June 2020. The definitions and technical parameters of highways are defined in the Public Roads Act of 21 March 1985 (with later amendments), and the ministry ordinance of 2 March 1999 (with later amendments).

As of 2023, the operational sections of highways utilize the following cross-sections:

• 89% (4334 km) – motorways and expressways with 2x2 lanes,
• 6% (303 km) – motorways and expressways with 2x3 or (occasionally) 2x4 or 2x5 lanes,
• 5% (250 km) – single-carriageway sections, of which:
  • 3.5% (171 km) – single-carriageway expressways with 1+1 lanes, as well as under-construction sections of motorway A18 with 1+1 lanes available on the northern carriageway,
  • 1.25% (63 km) – single-carriageway expressways with 1+1 lanes and dual-carriageway fragments (2x2) around the interchanges,
  • 0.25% (16 km) – single-carriageway expressways with interchanging 2+1 lanes.

Note: All single-carriageway highways are constructed with allocated space for a possible upgrade to dual-carriageway and all bridges above such highways are prepared to accommodate the second carriageway. Most of those sections are planned to be widened to full profile by 2033, the exceptions being S1 (near the Slovak border) and S22 (near the Russian border) where widening is currently not expected.

Speed limits

Maximum speed (km/h)
Vehicle	Motorway	2-lane expressway	1-lane expressway
Private car, motorbike, van up to 3.5 t (does not apply if towing trailer)	140	120	100
Bus meeting additional technical requirements	100
Truck or van over 3.5 t, bus Vehicle signed as carrying e.g. dangerous, fragile articles Car, motorbike, van or bus towing trailer	80
Vehicle having equipment more than 1.5 m forward of the driver's seat	60
Motorbike (including towing trailer) carrying a child up to 7 years-old	40
Not allowed on motorways: pedestrians, bikes, mopeds, agricultural vehicles. Minimal speed on motorways is 40 km/h unless there are any extraordinary circumstances (e.g., snow, ice, or a car broken down). It is forbidden to stop except extraordinary situations, or travel backwards. Towing is not allowed on motorways, but is permitted on expressways. Roads are protected from animals crossing the road.

Substandard highways

Motorways and expressways constructed before 1999 do not have to fulfill technical parameters listed in the ordinance. As of 2022, one notable case of a substandard highway remains:

• A4 on the section Krzyżowa – Wrocław (103 km (64 mi)) was constructed in years 1934 – 1937 (then the territory of Nazi Germany) and renovated in years 2002 – 2006. The road received new high quality surface but the geometry was kept unchanged and many overpasses above the motorway were kept. In effect, this part has no emergency lanes (which by current standards is only occasionally allowed on expressways and never on motorways) and speed limit is decreased to 110 km/h. A contract for preparing technical documentation for the section's full reconstruction (and widening to three lanes per direction) was signed in 2019.

Notable historical cases are:

• S3 near Szczecin (19 km) was opened in 1979 and, until the reconstruction in years 2019 – 2020, featured two at-grade road intersections as the last such expressway section in Poland.
• A6 near Szczecin (29 km) was constructed by Nazi Germany and kept using the original surface made of concrete slabs until the reconstruction conducted in years 1996 – 1999 and (easternmost fragment) 2017 – 2021.
• A18 (70 km) had its southern carriageway constructed by Nazi Germany. The northern carriageway was constructed in 2004 – 2006, while southern carriageway kept using the original concrete slabs until the reconstruction started in 2020 / 2021. Currently, the high quality northern carriageway carries bidirectional traffic for the time of reconstruction. Section is not signed as a motorway.

Tolls

Motorways with tolled sections

A motorway sign with word Płatna warns that one will meet a tolled section if continuing along the motorway.

Motorways A1, A2 and A4 are planned as tolled, and some of their sections are already such (see the full list below). The other highways are free of payment for vehicles up to 3.5 tons (Note: The permissible maximum weight of a vehicle is considered; in case of a passenger car with a trailer, the joint permissible maximum weight of the car and the trailer must not exceed 3.5 tons). There are two systems of collecting tolls:

Electronic Toll Collection System

The e-toll system has been introduced on 1 December 2021. The drivers need to buy tickets in advance or use one of the available mobile apps: Autopay supporting all motorway sections with electronic toll collection (i.e. all tolled sections except for privately-owned sections of A2), or dedicated apps of each motorway operator. The mobile application should be running while the motorway is being used.

The police can fine a driver who is using the motorway without a valid ticket or a mobile application, and the motorway operator can send a fine to the car owner if the motorway cameras catch the license plates of a car not registered in the system. As an emergency option, a person who have used a state-owned tolled section while unaware of the new toll collection system can buy a back-dated ticket on the e-toll website to avoid the latter type of fine. Such a ticket should be bought no later than 3 days (i.e. 72 hours) after the drive. (Note: The tickets are valid for 48 hours and as of 2022, the e-toll website allows one to buy a back-dated ticket with the expiration hour set within the last 72 hours, which effectively might give one a possibility to cover a drive which had begun up to 5 days prior; this information is possibly subject to change without notice, as the regulation only asserts the possibility of buying a ticket up to 72 hours after the drive and it is therefore advisable to stick to this official period).

Manual Toll Collection System

The toll booths and toll stations are located at the ends of privately-owned motorway sections. In the open system, two toll stations are located at the ends of the section. A person driving the whole distance pays at both gates, while a person entering or leaving the motorway mid-section pays only at one gate. In the closed system, there are toll stations on every interchange both entering and exiting the tolled section. The driver receives a ticket upon entering the motorway and pays on the exit, with the price dependent on the distance driven.

In case of sections additionally supporting the electronic toll collection, a driver must choose between a "fast gate" for e-toll and a regular gate with manual toll collection.

Tolled sections

The following list of tolled sections is valid as of 2022, and only applies to vehicles up to 3.5 tons of maximum permissible weight. The prices listed apply to passenger cars driving the section's whole length.

• Motorway A1:
  • Tolled: 152 km (94 mi) Gdańsk – Toruń (managed by Gdańsk Transport Company): both electronic and manual (closed) systems available, 30 PLN ($8)
  • Free: 415 km (258 mi) Toruń – Czech border

• Motorway A2:
  • Free: 20 km (12 mi) German border – Rzepin
  • Tolled: 133 km (83 mi) Rzepin – Poznań (managed by Autostrada Eksploatacja S.A.): manual (closed) system only, 38 PLN ($10)
  • Free: 26 km (16 mi) Poznań bypass
  • Tolled: 85 km (53 mi) Poznań – Sługocin (managed by Autostrada Eksploatacja S.A.): manual (open) system only, 40 PLN ($10)
  • Free: 19 km (12 mi) Sługocin – Konin
  • Tolled: 103 km (64 mi) Konin – Łódź (managed by the state): electronic system only, 10 PLN ($3)
  • Free: 166 km (103 mi) Łódź – Warsaw (including S2) – Mińsk Mazowiecki
  • Under construction / design: 135 km (84 mi) Mińsk Mazowiecki – Belarusian border

• Motorway A4:
  • Free: 153 km (95 mi) German border – Wrocław,
  • Tolled: 163 km (101 mi) Wrocław – Gliwice (managed by the state): electronic system only, 16 PLN ($4)
  • Free: 34 km (21 mi) Gliwice – Mysłowice,
  • Tolled: 52 km (32 mi) Mysłowice – Kraków-Balice (managed by Stalexport Autostrada Malopolska S.A.): both electronic and manual (open) systems available, 20 PLN ($5)
  • Free: 268 km (167 mi) Kraków-Balice (including Kraków bypass) – Ukrainian border
• Motorway A6 (28 km (17 mi)): Free
• Motorway A8 (23 km (14 mi)): Free
• Motorway A18 (77 km (48 mi)): Free, of which over half of the length (49 km (30 mi)) has only the first motorway carriageway constructed, carrying bidirectional traffic with 1 lane per direction, while the second carriageway is under reconstruction (these sections are not signed as a motorway)
• All expressways: Free

A sign put on roads tolled (for vehicles over 3.5 tons) with viaTOLL.

viaTOLL payment system (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes)

From 1.07.2011 all vehicles weighting more than 3.5 tons are obliged to have a special viaTOLL apparatus. On the chosen roads (some motorways, expressways and national roads) the special electronic readers are installed. They connect to the apparatus in the vehicle in a wireless way, and they also count the toll the vehicle has to pay. It is possible to buy it on some petrol stations or at the special points of selling.

If the apparatus isn't at the place, fines are applied:

• 1500 PLN if the car is heavier than 12 tons
• 750 PLN if the car is heavier than 3.5 tons but lighter than 12 tons.

List of Polish motorways and expressways with progress of construction

In May 2004, the Council of Ministers of Poland published a document including the planned highway network, the length of which was about 7,200 km (4,474 mi) and contained most of the highways in plans today. More notable among the changes introduced in later amendments include re-routing S8 and adding S61 instead (2009, a change related to the Rospuda Valley conflict), introducing S16 (2015, 2016), S52 (2016) and A50/S50 (2019), as well as extending S5 to Ostróda (2015) and to Bolków (2019), S10 to Wołomin (2015) and S8 to Kłodzko (2019). The planned network consists of 16 major highways (over 200 km of intended length): A1, S3, S5, S7, S11, S17, S19 and S61 running north to south, and A2, A4, S6, S8, S10, S12, S16 and S74 running west to east. 4 shorter motorways and 9 expressways complete the planned network.

The following table summarizes the progress of construction of the motorway and expressway network:

1) Highways and major sections completed
Sign	Route	Location	Total length	Existing		Years of construction
	Gdańsk (S6) - Grudziądz (S5) - Toruń (S10) - Łódź (A2/S8) - Gliwice (A4) - / (Ostrava)		566.6 km	566.6 km	100%	2005 – 2022
	Main section: / (Berlin) - S3 - Poznań (S5/S11) - Łódź (A1/S14) - Warsaw (S7/S8/S17)		489.7 km	454.9 km 34.8 km	100%	mainly 2001 – 2013
	Main section: Szczecin (A6) - Gorzów Wlkp. - Jordanowo (A2) - Zielona Góra - Lubin - Legnica (A4)		301.9 km	301.9 km	100%	2008 – 2021
	/ (Dresden) - Legnica (S3) - Wrocław (A8) - Opole - Gliwice (A1) - Katowice (S1) - Kraków (S7) - Rzeszów (S19) - / (Lviv)		669 km	669 km (of these, 103 km substandard: no hard shoulder)	100%	1976 – 2016
	Main section: Grudziądz (A1) - Bydgoszcz (S10) - Poznań (A2/S11) - Wrocław (A8)		340.3 km	340.3 km	100%	2009 – 2022
	Main section: Wrocław (A4) - Łódź (A1) - Piotrków T. - Warsaw (A2/S7) - Ostrów M. (S61) - Białystok (S19)		548.2 km	525.5 km 22.7 km	100%	2008 – 2019
	Main section: Warsaw (A2) – Lublin (S12/S19)		150 km	150 km	100%	2010 – 2020
	Elbląg – /Kaliningrad Oblast		52.2 km	52.2 km single carriageway	50%	2006 – 2008
	Olsztyn (S16) – Olsztynek (S7)		20.3 km	20.3 km	100%	2009 – 2019
	Warsaw – airport – S2	Warsaw	4.8 km	4.8 km	100%	2009 – 2013
	Katowice – Sosnowiec	Upper Silesia	5.9 km	5.9 km	100%	1978 – 1985
2) Highways in development
Sign	Route	Location	Total length	Existing		In realisation	Of which under active construction	Scheduled year(s) of opening	Tender	In predesign
	Pyrzowice (A1) - Mysłowice (A4) - Bielsko-Biała (S52) - Zwardoń - / (Žilina)		144 km	72 km + 17 km single carriageway	55.9% (61.8%)	4.8 km + 3.7 km single carriageway		2024
				(+ 44 km) dual carriageway road	(94.1%)	+ 7 km (reconstruction)		2023
						+ 39.5 km (new route)	+ 27 km (new route)	2024, 2025
	Eastern section: Warsaw (S17) – / (Minsk)		168.2 km	35.1 km	20.9%	100.8 km	51.6 km	2024, 2028?		32.3 km
	Northern section: Świnoujście – Szczecin (A6)		85.4 km	50.9 km + 5.4 km 1st carriageway	62.8%	29.1 km + 5.4 km 2nd carriageway		2024
	Southern section: Legnica (A4) – / (Prague)		66.8 km	35.7 km	53.4%	31.1 km		2023
	Main section: / (Berlin) - Szczecin - Goleniów (S3) - Koszalin (S11) - Słupsk - Gdańsk (A1)		402.4 km	28.1 km   217.2 km + 9.4 km 1st carriageway	62.2%	147.7 km + 9.4 km 2nd carriageway	57.8 km	2023, 2025
	Gdańsk (A1) - Elbląg (S22) - Olsztynek (S51) - Warsaw (S8)		ca. 674 km	276 km	82.7%	35.9 km (reconstruction of the 2x2 road to a highway; on the whole length, 2 lanes per each direction are open to traffic)		2024, 2025, 2027?, 2030?	9.1 km (reconstruction)	13 km (reconstruction + new route)
				(+ 58 km) dual carriageway road	(100%)
	Warsaw (S2) - Radom (S12) - Kielce (S74) - Kraków (A4)			215.1 km	76.4%	42.3 km		2023, 2024
				(+ 24.3 km) dual carriageway road	(85%)	24.3 km (new route)		2023
	Kraków (A4) – Rabka-Zdrój (planned extension to /)			31.8 km	56%			(2030?), 2038?		ca. 25 km (new route)
				(+ 25 km) dual carriageway road	(100%)
	S8 - Pabianice - Zgierz - A2	Łódź (western bypass)	40.2 km	25.7 km	64%	14.5 km		2023
	/ (Berlin) – Krzyżowa (A4)		76.5 km	27.5 km + 49 km 1st carriageway	68.9% (100%)	49 km 2nd carriageway (reconstruction of the southern carriageway from the 1930s; 1 lane per each direction on the new carriageway is open to traffic)		2023
Via Carpatia	/ (Minsk) - Białystok (S8) - Lublin (S12/S17)		572.5 km	18.5 km 1st carriageway	2.9%	187.6 km + 13.7 km 2nd carriageway	15.5 km	2024, 2025, 2026, 2027?		111.7 km + 4.8 km 2nd c/w
	Lublin (S12/S17) – Rzeszów (A4)			141.7 km + 16.3 km 1st carriageway with interchanging 2+1 lanes	94.8% (100%)	16.3 km 2nd carriageway		2026
	Rzeszów (A4) – / (Košice)			11.4 km	11.8%	73.6 km	10.3 km	2025, 2026 tunnels: 2026, 2029?	11.6 km
part 2	Kraków-Balice (A4) – Kraków‑Mistrzejowice (S7)	Kraków (northern bypass)	18.3 km	5.8 km	31.4%	12.5 km		2024
Via Baltica	Ostrów Mazowiecka (S8) - Łomża - Ełk (S16) - Suwałki - / (Kaunas)		210.7 km	151.3 km	71.8%	59.5 km		2023, 2024/2025

3) Highways partially in development
Sign	Route	Location	Total length	Existing		In reali­sation	Of which under active construction	Tender	Predesign complete	In predesign	Planned comple­tion
	Szczecin (A6) - Piła (S11) - Bydgoszcz (S5) - Toruń (A1) - Płock - S7		ca. 417 km	50.2 km + 17.5 km 1st carriageway	14.1%	40 km + 10.9 km 2nd carriageway				109 km	2032
										+ 80.3 km
										+ ca. 120 km + 6.6 km 2nd c/w
	Koszalin (S6) - Piła (S10) - Poznań (A2/S5) - Ostrów Wlkp. - Kępno (S8) - Tarnowskie Góry - A1		ca. 556.5 km	83.4 km + 12.2 km 1st carriageway	15.8%	72.5 km			70.1 km + 4.2 km 2nd c/w	157.3 km	2029
										+ ca. 161 km + 7 km 2nd c/w
	Eastern section: Lublin (S17/S19) - Chełm - / (Kyiv)		103.7 km	29.2 km	28.2%	14 km		54.8 km		5.7 km	2030, mainly 2026
	Eastern section: Lublin (S12/S19) - Zamość - / (Lviv)		126 km	11.6 km 1st carriageway	4.6%	47.7 km + 9.6 km 2nd carriageway	9.6 km 2nd carriageway	44.3 km		22.3 km	2028
										+ 2 km 2nd c/w
	Sulejów (S12) - Kielce (S7) - Sandomierz - Nisko (S19)		ca. 207 km	6.7 km	3.2%	31.5 km	9.7 km	77.1 km		92 km	2030

4) Planned highways
Sign	Route	Total length	Existing		In realisation	Of which under active construction	Tender	Predesign complete	In predesign	Preliminary works	Planned comple­tion
	Eastern extension: Ostróda (S7) – Grudziądz (A1)	ca. 104.3 km	14.3 km	13.7%					ca. 90 km		2032
	Western extension: Bolków (S3) – Świdnica – S8	ca. 50 km	0 km	0%					ca. 50 km		2030
	Western extension: Szczecin western bypass	50.8 km	0 km	0%				1.5 km	49.3 km		2030
	Southern extension: Kłodzko – Wrocław (A8)(planned extension to /)	ca. 82.4 km	5.1 km	6.2%				29.5 km	39.3 km		2031, mainly 2027
									+ ca. 8.5 km
	Western section: Piotrków Tryb. (A1) - Sulejów (S74) - Radom (S7) - Lublin (S17)	185 km	16.4 km + 6.0 km 1st carriageway	10.7%					162.6 km + 6.0 km 2nd c/w		2030
	Olsztyn (S51) - Ełk (S61) - Białystok (S19)	ca. 245 km	29.7 km + 20.1 km 1st carriageway	16.2%	16.5 km		11.1 km + 20.1 km 2nd c/w		77.5 km		2030
									+ ca. 90 km
	Warsaw eastern bypass	17.3 km	3.5 km	20.2%					13.8 km		2030
	Warsaw 2nd ring road: CPK (A2) - Mińsk M. (A2) - CPK	ca. 100 km 165 km	0 km	0%						ca. 265 km	2033
	/ (Brno/Ostrava) - Cieszyn - Bielsko-Biała (S1) - Wadowice - Głogoczów (S7)	98 km	37 km	37.8%					61 km		2030

In total Note: Figures are kept consistent as of the last full update, 1 July 2022
Highway type	Planned length	Existing		In realisation	Of which under active construction	Tender	Predesign complete	In predesign	Pre­li­minary works	No progress
	ca. 2,086 km (1,296.2 mi)	1761 km + 92 km 1st carriageway	86.62%	100.8 km + 92 km 2nd carriageway	24.6 km + 92 km 2nd carriageway			32.3 km	ca. 100 km
	ca. 6,030 km (3,746.9 mi)	2728.7 km + 214.5 km 1st carriageway	47.03%	906.8 km + 3.7 km 1st c/w + 66.4 km 2nd c/w	495.7 km + 3.7 km 1st c/w + 43.3 km 2nd c/w	229.3 km + 27.2 km 2nd carriageway	116 km + 20.1 km 2nd carriageway	ca. 1543.5 km + 31.6 km 2nd carriageway	ca. 310 km	73 km 2nd carriageway
Total	ca. 8,116 km (5,043.0 mi)	4489.7 km + 306.5 km 1st carriageway	57.21%	1007.6 km + 3.7 km 1st c/w + 158.4 km 2nd c/w	520.3 km + 3.7 km 1st c/w + 135.3 km 2nd c/w	229.3 km + 27.2 km 2nd carriageway	116 km + 20.1 km 2nd carriageway	ca. 1575.8 km + 31.6 km 2nd carriageway	ca. 410 km	73 km 2nd carriageway

Annual average daily traffic on Polish highways

The latest general measurement of annual average daily traffic in Poland was conducted in 2020. It was partially extended to 2021 because some measurements had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic which would make their results unreliable.

Traffic volumes in Poland note rapid increase since the fall of communism in 1989: the average volumes recorded in 2020 amount to over 360% of the average volumes recorded in 1990. With the increasing traffic, the length of overburdened regular national roads (the measurement analysis defines a regular single carriageway country road as overburdened if recorded average annual traffic exceeds 15'000 vehicles per day) had also been steadily increasing until reaching the maximum of 1389 km in 2010. Due to large number of highway sections opened between 2010 and 2020, the number of overburdened roads in that decade has fallen down for the first time in history, and is equal to 1121 km in the 2020 measurement.

The following highways recorded the highest traffic volumes in 2020:

No	Section	Vehicles / day	Notes
Most busy highways in Poland
1	S8 in Warsaw (partially joint with S7) S8 on section of Warsaw southern bypass (joint with S2, S7) S8 west of Warsaw (joint with S7 until late 2022)	198'000 114'000 115'000	Highest AADT on sections with 5 lanes per direction: 198'000 (S7/S8), 114'000 (S2). Highest AADT on sections with 3 lanes per direction: 179'000 (S7/S8), 97'000 (S2). S8 in Warsaw serves both the transit and local traffic, and long jams form on it during rush hours. Traffic on the section west of Warsaw (joint with S7) is expected to fall when the new route of S7 is opened (late 2022).
2	S86	113'000	S86 serves mainly local traffic between Sosnowiec and Katowice and is not part of Poland's transit network. 3 lanes per direction.
3	A4 in Katowice	105'000	A4 serves both the transit traffic (2 lanes per direction) and local traffic (2 lanes per direction).
4	S6, Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia bypass	97'000	Highest AADT on sections with 2 lanes per direction: 93'000 – the most busy 2x2 highway in Poland.
5	A8, Wrocław western bypass	86'000	3 lanes per direction.
6	A4, Kraków western bypass	85'000	2 lanes per direction.

The other highest and lowest recorded AADT values were:

Category	Section	Vehicles / day	Notes
Least busy highways in Poland
Least busy single-carriageway highway	S22 near /	800	The results cannot be considered reliable, as the measurement has been conducted while major restrictions in crossing the external border of European Union were in force because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Least busy dual-carriageway highway	A4 near /	1'800
Least busy highway excluding near-border sections	S11 Szczecinek bypass	3'900 – 6'400
Most busy regular national roads in Poland Note: Measurements are not performed on national roads within the borders of major cities
Most busy dual-carriageway national road	DK7 north of Warsaw	63'000	2 lanes per direction with at-grade intersections and traffic lights. New parallel route of S7 is planned.
Most busy single-carriageway national road	DK44 west of Kraków	36'000	Widening to 2 lanes per direction is planned in unspecified future (around 2030).
Most busy single-carriageway national road within the planned highway network	DK19 north of Lublin	28'500	S19 is in realization (design-build).

History

The network planned prior to WWII

Before World War II

The first plans of creation of a national highway network in Poland were conceived in the interwar period:

Plans

The main promoter of this concept was Professor Melchior Wladyslaw Nestorowicz of the Warsaw University of Technology, who organized three Road Congresses, during which a group of specialists discussed the creation of the network. On March 5, 1939, in the trade magazine Drogowiec, Professor Nestorowicz proposed a very ambitious plan for the construction of almost 5,000 kilometres of category I and II roads, based on similar programmes in Germany and Italy. Nestorowicz sketched a map of the future system with the following routes:

First class roads would, according to the plans, consist of the following motorways (totalling some 2,500 km (1,553.4 mi):

• Warsaw - Łódź - 100 km
• Warsaw – Poznań - Polish-German border - 350 km
• Warsaw beltway - 130 km
• Poznań beltway - 80 km
• Gdynia – Bydgoszcz – Łódź – 500 km
• Łódź beltway - 90 km
• Bytow - Free City of Danzig border - 50 km
• Katowice – Kraków – Lwów - 375 km
• Warsaw – Lublin - Lwów – Sniatyn - Polish-Romanian border - 550 km
• Puławy – Sandomierz – Przemyśl - 175 km

Second class roads would consist of the following motorways, totalling another 2,295 km (1,430 mi):

• Piotrków Trybunalski - Kielce - Sandomierz - 180 km
• Warsaw – Kielce – Kraków - 180 km
• Łódź - Kalisz - Polish-German border north of Wrocław - 130 km
• Warsaw – Grodno – Vilnius – Polish - Lithuania - Latvian border near Daugavpils - 575 km
• Grodno - Nowogrodek - Polish-Soviet border near Minsk - 190 km
• Bydgoszcz – Poznań – Częstochowa - 350 km
• Katowice – Cieszyn – Polish-Czechoslovak border - 60 km
• Ostrołęka - Polish-East Prussian border - 50 km
• Grodno - Polish-Lithuanian border - 40 km
• Grodno - Brzesc nad Bugiem - Krasnystaw - 300 km
• Warsaw – Brzesc nad Bugiem - 170 km

In 1934, Nazi Germany started the construction of their motorway system, parts of which today form A18 and A4 to Wrocław (Breslau), as well as A6 Szczecin bypass and S22 (parts of the planned motorway to Königsberg). About half of them were constructed as single-carriageway with the intention of adding a second carriageway in later years. However, after 1938, warfare expenses meant little money would be invested into any infrastructure and only one 9 km single-carriageway piece west of Gliwice (now A4) was constructed.

In Poland, a 28 km stretch between Warlubie and Osiek (now DW214) was constructed in 1937 – 1939 in the motorway standard of the time (today not considered a highway) with a concrete surface, which was designed by Italian engineer Piero Puricelli. The motorway was planned to reach Gdynia, but the outbreak of the Second World War halted the plans.

Highway sections in service before 1976

Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Krzyżowa () – Krzywa	12.3 km (7.6 mi)	1934	17 October 1937
	Krzywa – Wrocław	91 km (56.5 mi)		27 September 1936
	Wrocław – Brzeg (Owczary)	34.1 km (21.2 mi)		1938	Southern carriageway only
	Ujazd (Nogowczyce) – Łany	9.1 km (5.7 mi)	1940	1942
	Łany – Kleszczów (Gliwice)	8.8 km (5.5 mi)	1936	1938
	– Szczecin-Zachód	2.6 km (1.6 mi)	1934	27 September 1936
	Szczecin-Zachód – Rzęśnica	26.6 km (16.5 mi)		1938
	– Iłowa	37.2 km (23.1 mi)	1936	1938	Southern carriageway only
	Iłowa – Golnice	32 km (19.9 mi)	1935	17 October 1937
	Golnice – Krzyżowa ()	5.9 km (3.7 mi)	1936	1938
	Elbląg – Grzechotki	51.4 km (31.9 mi)	1934	1938	Western carriageway only
Total		316.9 km (196.9 mi) of which 178.5 km (110.9 mi) single carriageway	Note: Signage of the roads at the time of opening was different.

1945 – 1972

The Potsdam conference defined the borders for communist Poland, which were very different from the pre-1939 ones. It received the so-called Regained Territories from the former Third Reich with the aforementioned motorway sections (some of them with first carriageway only). Most of the motorway bridges were destroyed by the warfare, but only a few were repaired or rebuilt in the first post-war years. The bridge over Ina river was reconstructed in 1972, and those on S22 only between 1996 and 2003.

Apart from the bridges, almost all the motorways were left in the same condition as they were in 1945 until the mid-1990s. The only road left from Nazi times that was completed by the People's Republic of Poland was a one-carriageway small section between Łęczyca and Lisowo (15 km of what is now DW142), which was built on the previous works of Nazis.

Plans

At the post-war year there were very ambitious plans to make a motorway network for the whole Poland. For example, engineer Eugeniusz Buszma has published his propositions to the network in the magazine "Drogowiec" (1946, issue 1):

1. East – West (Słubice – Warsaw – Białystok) – 680 km
2. North – South (Gdynia – Warsaw – Balkans) – 650 km
3. Silesia – Baltic I (Gdańsk – Łódź – Katowice) – 460 km
4. Pomeranian (Gdańsk – Szczecin) – 280 km
5. Silesian (Wrocław – Katowice – Kraków) – 190 km
6. Mazurian (Kaliningrad – Elbląg – Malbork) – 20 km
7. Silesia – Baltic II (Bydgoszcz – Wrocław) – 260 km
8. Łódź – Wrocław – (Prague) – 310 km
9. Katowice – (Vienna) – 60 km
10. Poznań – Szczecin – 200 km
11. Radom – Lublin – (Lviv) – 220 km

In total, the mileage, according to the proposal, would total more than 3,300 km (2,050 mi).

After the addition of the sections built by the Third Reich the total network length had to be ca. 3700 km. In 1963 the Motorization Council at the Council of Ministers had presented the similar plan plus the motorways: Warsaw-Kraków-Zakopane, Kraków-Przemyśl, Warsaw-Bydgoszcz-Koszalin, Poznań-Koszalin i Warsaw-Terespol (ca. 1250 km). None of those plans were realized, however.

Despite announcing such pompous plans, no motorway was opened in the meantime.

In the 1970s

Express road S6 in Gdynia, part of Tricity bypass which was opened (at first as single carriageway) in 1977, making it the oldest expressway in Poland.

Only in the 1970s did any works start. In 1972 it was planned to build:

Plans

• the Gliwice-Kraków motorway (now A4)
• the second carriageway of the Wrocław-Gliwice motorway (also A4)
• the Warsaw-Katowice motorway (so-called "Gierkówka", now the S8/A1 road), in the near future

The plans were expanded in 1976 by the following sections:

• Tarnów – Kraków (now A4),
• eastern GOP (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy) bypass (now S1, northern part),
• Bielsko-Biała – Cieszyn (now S52, southern part),
• Warszawa – Poznań (so-called Olimpijka, now A2),
• Łódź – Piotrków Trybunalski (now A1).

In 1973 – 1976, "Gierkówka" dual carriageway from Warsaw to Katowice (281 km (175 mi)) was built. Originally planned as a motorway, it was in the end constructed by adding another carriageway to the existing road, hence going through many villages and crossing with local roads. However, the part from Piotrków Trybunalski to Częstochowa (78 km (48 mi)) was constructed on a new route in a semi-motorway standard: the road was constructed on a motorway alignment but majority of the intersections between the highway and the other roads were constructed as one-level with no viaducts or overpasses.

Highway sections opened in the 1970s

Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening
	Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa semi-motorway standard (one-level intersections)	78 km (48 mi)	1973	1976
	Tri-city bypass (eastern carriageway) substandard (two one-level intersections, then reconstructed when adding a second carriageway in the 1980s)	37.7 km (23.4 mi)	1973	1977
	Rzęśnica – Goleniów substandard (one-level intersections)	19.3 km (12.0 mi)	1976	1979
Total		57 km (35.4 mi) of which 37.7 km (23.4 mi) single carriageway

In the 1980s

A4 near Zalas, opened in 1983

Near the end of 1970s the first construction of motorways started and continued to the next decade. The roads opened in the 1980s were the first motorways and expressways which generally meet the contemporary standards (at least with respect to their more important attributes), although in several cases their poor quality forced major renovations to be performed as soon as within the first 20 years of operation, in order to adhere to the contemporary standards.

In 1985 the government already planned to build the expressways apart from the motorways. The major routes planned as motorways were A1, A2 and A4. The realization of these plans however came at a very slow pace: throughout the 1980s, only an average of 20 km (12 mi) of highways in the whole country were being opened per year.

Highway sections opened in the 1980s average: 20.5 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Tuszyn-Piotrków Trybunalski	16.1 km (10.0 mi)	1978	18 December 1989	Section under reconstruction 2019 – 2021
	Września-Sługocin (Golina)	35.7 km (22.2 mi)	1977	9 October 1985
	Sługocin - Konin West	13.5 km (8.4 mi)	1986	10 November 1988
	Chrzanów - Kraków (Balice I)	29.6 km (18.4 mi)	1976	3 January 1983
	Jaworzno - Chrzanów	6.1 km (3.8 mi)	1978	22 November 1986
	Kraków bypass (section Balice I - Tyniec)	7.8 km (4.8 mi)	1979	8 December 1988
	Dąbrowa Górnicza - Tychy	34.7 km (21.6 mi)	1978	1983
	Tri-city bypass (to Straszyn)	32.4 km (20.1 mi)	1978	1984	Second carriageway
	Kielce bypass	22.9 km (14.2 mi)	1974	1984	First carriageway
	Katowice - Sosnowiec	6.8 km (4.2 mi)	1978	1985	First completely done expressway
Total		205.6 km (127.8 mi) of which 55.3 km (34.4 mi) single carriageway

In the 1990s

In the III Republic of Poland the plans started to change again. Planned S3 was promoted to a motorway standard as A3 (the decision was later reversed) and a plan was introduced (also later reversed) of constructing the highway Łódź – Wrocław – Bolków in a motorway standard as A8. Szczecin bypass (A6) and Olszyna – Krzywa (then named A12, now A4/A18) were promoted to motorways, even though at that time the majority of their lengths was in bad shape, laid with the original concrete surface from the 1930s with no significant works having been performed on any of them throughout the communist period.

Highway sections opened in the 1990s average: 15 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Mysłowice - Jaworzno	15.9 km (9.9 mi)	1986	29 November 1990	Northern carriageway only
				4 September 1991	Southern carriageway only
	Kraków bypass (section Tyniec - Skawina)	3.5 km (2.2 mi)	1988	1993
	Kraków bypass (section Skawina - ul.Kąpielowa)	5.4 km (3.4 mi)	1993	27 October 1995	A4 had a crossroad with ul. Kąpielowa till 2002, when the bridge was built over it.
	Jędrzychowice - Zgorzelec	1.8 km (1.1 mi)	1992	15 July 1994
	Katowice Francuska - Mysłowice	11.1 km (6.9 mi)	1989	30 October 1996
	Katowice Mikołowska - Katowice Francuska	1.9 km (1.2 mi)	?	10 November 1999
	Krzyżowa - Krzywa	10.2 km (6.3 mi)		1995	Renovated
	-Podjuchy	12.7 km (7.9 mi)	1996	1999	Renovated
	Olszyna-Królów	9.6 km (6.0 mi)	?	1993	Northern carriageway added (+ 350 m (383 yd) renovated southern carriageway at the border)
	Golnice - Krzyżowa	5.9 km (3.7 mi)		1995	Renovated both carriageways
	Cieszyn-Cieszyn-East	5.2 km (3.2 mi)	1991	1995
	Sulechów - Zielona Góra (Niedoradz)	26.8 km (16.7 mi)	1985	1995	Western carriageway only
	Świecie bypass	13 km (8.1 mi)	1994	1998	Single carriageway; dual carriageway near the interchanges
	Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki bypass	14.6 km (9.1 mi)	1990	1999
	Miłomłyn bypass	5.1 km (3.2 mi)	1995	1997	Eastern carriageway only
	Radzymin bypass	8.1 km (5.0 mi)	1996	1998
Total		151.8 km (94.3 mi) of which 28.8 km (17.9 mi) reconstructed, 48.4 km (30.1 mi) single carriageway

In the 2000s

Express road S7 near Białobrzegi, opened in 2003

As of the end of 1999, vast majority of national and international traffic routes were served by regular national roads, most of them leading through the cities, towns and villages, and most of them single carriageway. Only the following number of highways was present:

• about 275 km (171 mi) of modern dual carriageway motorways and expressways (3.5% of the network as planned nowadays),
• about 90 km (56 mi) of single carriageway expressways,
• about 125 km (78 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways from the 1930s,
• about 150 km (93 mi) of not-yet-resurfaced Nazi German motorways on sections where only the first carriageway was constructed.

Before Poland received the EU membership

A4 (Kraków southern bypass), opened in 2003

Express road S8 near Oleśnica, opened in 2006

A few years before Poland entered the EU the tempo of motorway construction increased significantly. The main focus was on the east–west motorways A4 and A2. In 2002, a long-awaited renovation of the A4 from Krzywa to Wrocław (93 km) has started, which included laying new high quality surface in place of the Nazi German concrete slabs, reconstruction of all the pre-WWII bridges on the motorway and renovation of the viaducts above the motorway.

This is also a period when Poland started introducing motorway tolls, first in 2000 for the A4 section between Mysłowice and Kraków.

Highway sections opened in 2000 – 2003 average: 57 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Poznań Komorniki - Poznań Krzesiny	11.2 km (7.0 mi)	1998	13 September 2003
	Poznań Krzesiny - Września	37.3 km (23.2 mi)	2002	27 November 2003
	Bielany Wrocławskie - Brzeg (Owczary)	34.1 km (21.2 mi)	1997	16 December 2000	Southern carriageway reconstructed, northern carriageway constructed
	Brzeg (Owczary) - Dąbrówka Górna	56.6 km (35.2 mi)
	Dąbrówka Górna - Nogowczyce	34.3 km (21.3 mi)		26 July 2001
	Nogowczyce - Kleszczów	17.9 km (11.1 mi)	2001	4 December 2003	Southern carriageway reconstructed, northern carriageway constructed
	Chorzów - Katowice Mikołowska	4.4 km (2.7 mi)	1998	2001
	Kraków bypass (section ul.Kąpielowa - Wieliczka)	7 km (4.3 mi)	2000	3 September 2003
	Śmigiel bypass	4.1 km (2.5 mi)	?	2002	First carriageway
	Straszyn-Rusocin	5.4 km (3.4 mi)	2000	2001	Second carriageway
	Białobrzegi bypass	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2001	2003
	Ostrów Mazowiecka bypass	7.6 km (4.7 mi)	2000
Total		227.6 km (141.4 mi) of which 9.5 km (5.9 mi) single carriageway

Poland in European Union

1 May 2004 was a crucial day for the history of motorway construction, and that is when the highway boom started. One of major advantages of signing the European Union access document was that Poland could get access to large funds for co-financing the construction of new roads and upgrades of the existing road infrastructure.

These years, the existing scattered pieces of highways started to converge into the basis of the future network:

• in 2005, A4 connected Wrocław with Katowice and Kraków, while in 2009 – with Germany;
• in 2006, A2 connected Poznań with Łódź.

A large number of expressway bypasses of towns were also constructed at this time. On some of them, only one carriageway was built (with the allocated space prepared for easy construction of the second carriageway later).

Highway sections opened in 2004 – 2010 average: 148 km / year
Signage	Section	Length	Start of construction	Opening	Notes
	Gdańsk (Rusocin) - Grudziądz	24.2 km (15.0 mi)	2005	2007
		64.7 km (40.2 mi)		2008
	Sośnica - Żory	15.6 km (9.7 mi)	22 January 2007	20 October 2009
		7.5 km (4.7 mi)	2007	15 December 2010
	Nowy Tomyśl - Poznań Komorniki	50.4 km (31.3 mi)	2002	October 2004
	Konin - Łódź (Stryków)	103.7 km (64.4 mi)	2004	July 2006
	Krzywa - Bielany Wrocławskie	93 km (57.8 mi)	2002	2004–2006 (in sections)	Renovated both carriageways
	Sośnica - Chorzów Batory	15.7 km (9.8 mi)	2002	January 2005
	Kleszczów - Sośnica	19.1 km (11.9 mi)	2003	October 2005
	Zgorzelec - Krzyżowa	49.7 km (30.9 mi)	2006	August 2009
	Wieliczka - Targowisko	19.5 km (12.1 mi)	2007	2009
	Szczecin Klucz - Szczecin Kijewo	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2005	2007	Renovated both carriageways
	Olszyna - Golnice	71.5 km (44.4 mi)	2004	2006	Constructed the northern carriageway alongside the pre-WWII southern carriageway
	- Zwardoń - Milówka	12.0 km (7.5 mi)	2002 - 2007	2004 - 2010 (in sections)	Single carriageway; then signed S69
	Żywiec - Przybędza	7.7 km (4.8 mi)	2005	2007
	Pyrzowice airport - Podwarpie	12.0 km (7.5 mi)	2005	2006	Single carriageway
	Szczecin – Gorzów Wielkopolski	81.6 km (50.7 mi)	2008	2010
	Gorzów Wielkopolski bypass	11.9 km (7.4 mi)	2003	2007	Single carriageway
	Międzyrzecz bypass	6.3 km (3.9 mi)	2004	2006
	Nowa Sól bypass	18 km (11.2 mi)	2006	2008
	Szubin bypass	4.5 km (2.8 mi)	2004	2006	Single carriageway
	Słupsk bypass	16.3 km (10.1 mi)	2008	2010	Single carriageway; dual carriageway near the interchanges
	Jędrzejów bypass	5.8 km (3.6 mi)	2003	2005	Partially (2.7 km) single carriageway
	Nowy Dwór Gdański bypass	2.5 km (1.6 mi)	2005	2007
	Elbląg bypass	4.2 km (2.6 mi)	2005	2007
	Grójec bypass	8.3 km (5.2 mi)	18 October 2006	19 September 2008
	Białobrzegi - Jedlińsk	15.7 km (9.8 mi)	6 July 2006	30 June 2008
	Myślenice - Lubień	16.2 km (10.1 mi)	2004	2009
	Kielce bypass (northern part)	7.1 km (4.4 mi)	2007	2009
	Płońsk bypass	4.7 km (2.9 mi)	28 September 2007	3 June 2009
	Skurów – Białobrzegi	17.8 km (11.1 mi)	2007	2010
	Kraków eastern bypass (first fragment)	2.8 km (1.7 mi)	2007	2010
	Oleśnica bypass	7.2 km (4.5 mi)	2004	2006
	Wyszków bypass	12.8 km (8.0 mi)	27 February 2006	14 November 2008
	Wyszków - Radzymin	17.3 km (10.7 mi)	8 December 2006	31 July 2009
	Wrocław - Kobierzyce	7 km (4.3 mi)	2007	31 December 2010
	Toruń bypass (fragment)	12.4 km (7.7 mi)	2004	2005	Single carriageway; later incorporated into A1
	Kobylanka bypass	13.8 km (8.6 mi)	2005	2007	Partially (7 km) single carriageway
	Stargard bypass	13.5 km (8.4 mi)	2008	2009
	Bydgoszcz bypass (fragment)	10.4 km (6.5 mi)	2008	2009
	Wyrzysk bypass	7.8 km (4.8 mi)	2008	2009	Single carriageway
	Poznań - Kórnik	14.1 km (8.8 mi)	2006	2009
	Ostrów Wlkp. bypass (northern part)	6.1 km (3.8 mi)	2008	2009	Single carriageway
	Piaski bypass	4 km (2.5 mi)	2002	2004
	Puławy bypass	12.7 km (7.9 mi)	2005	2007	Partially (8.7 km) single carriageway
	Garwolin bypass	12.8 km (8.0 mi)	2005	2007
	Międzyrzec Podlaski bypass	6.3 km (3.9 mi)	2005	2008	Single carriageway
	Elbląg -	51.6 km (32.1 mi)	April 2006	December 2008	Single carriageway. Constructed in place of a partially destroyed motorway from the 1930s.
	Cieszyn - Bielsko-Biała (Komorowice)	28 km (17.4 mi)	2002 - 2005	2005 - 2007 (in sections)	Then signed S1
Total		1,035.5 km (643.4 mi) of which 256.5 km (159.4 mi) single carriageway, 100.7 km (62.6 mi) reconstructed

2011 – 2015

Length of highways opened in 2011 – 2015
Year	Length	Notes
2011	313 km (194 mi)
2012	639 km (397 mi)	Of which 195 km (121 mi) were opened before Euro 2012 championship
2013	298 km (185 mi)
2014	279 km (173 mi)
2015	34 km (21 mi)
Total	1,563 km (971 mi)	Of which 49 km (30 mi) first / second carriageway

The sections opened in 2011 – 2015 belonged to the following highways:

• : + 273 km (170 mi) (A1 on the section Gdańsk – Łódź was completed in 2014)
• : + 234 km (145 mi) (A2 on the section Germany – Warsaw was completed in 2012)
• : + 88 km (55 mi) (S3 on the section Szczecin – A2 – Zielona Góra was completed in 2013, except that the older single-carriageway parts remained so until 2017)
• : + 183 km (114 mi)
• : + 138 km (86 mi)
• : + 365 km (227 mi) (S8 on the section Wrocław – Łódź was completed in 2014)
• : + 282 km (175 mi) in total

2016 – 2020

After the peak of investments before Euro 2012, very few new sections have been contracted in 2012 and 2013, which resulted in a small number of sections opened in 2015 and 2016, large share of which were the last delayed fragments originally contracted for a Euro 2012 opening. In particular:

• In 2016, the last delayed fragment of from Kraków to Ukraine was opened, making A4 the first major Polish highway completed on its whole intended length, as well as the first complete border-to-border highway connection.
• Also in 2016, the delayed bypass of Łódź was finished, making completed on its whole route except for those sections where national road 1 had already been a dual carriageway (see In the 1970s), allowing for a significantly lower priority of constructing the remaining stretch compared to other highways.

Since 2014, the number of signed contracts has risen again, resulting in the number of road openings having risen again since 2017.

Length of highways opened in 2016 – 2020
Year	Length	Notes
2016	123 km (76 mi)
2017	295 km (183 mi)
2018	318 km (198 mi)
2019	410 km (255 mi)
2020	135 km (84 mi)
Total	1,281 km (796 mi)	Of which 94 km (58 mi) first / second carriageway

The sections opened in 2016 – 2020 belonged to the following highways:

• : + 173 km (107 mi)
• : + 227 km (141 mi) (S5 on the section Poznań – Wrocław was completed in 2019)
• : + 128 km (80 mi) (S6 on the section Szczecin – Koszalin was completed in 2019)
• : + 213 km (132 mi)
• : + 128 km (80 mi) (S8 was completed on its originally intended route from Wrocław to Białystok in 2019; an extension to Kłodzko was later added to the plans)
• : + 97 km (60 mi) (S17 on the section Warsaw – Lublin was completed in 2020)
• : + 315 km (196 mi) in total (A1 and A4: see above)

2021 – present

Length of highways opened, or to be opened, in 2021 – 2025 by the contract completion date
Year	Length	Notes
2021	375 km (233 mi)
2022	236 km (147 mi)	Sections already opened, ongoing constructions
2023	310 km (193 mi)	Ongoing constructions
2024	298 km (185 mi)	Ongoing constructions, ongoing design-build contracts
2025	336 km (209 mi)	Ongoing design-build contracts
Total	1,555 km (966 mi)	Of which 7 km (4 mi) first carriageway, 111 km (69 mi) second carriageway

The sections opened, or planned to get opened, in 2021 – 2025 belong to the following highways:

• : + 106 km (66 mi)
• : + 104 km (65 mi) (S3 is scheduled to get completed in 2024)
• : + 200 km (124 mi) (S6 on the section Koszalin – Gdańsk is scheduled to get completed in 2025)
• : + 196 km (122 mi) (S7 on the section Warsaw – Kraków is scheduled to get completed in 2024)
• : + 291 km (181 mi) (S19 "Via Carpathia" on the section Lublin – Rzeszów was completed in 2022, except that the older fragment with 2+1 lanes will remain so until 2026)
• : + 183 km (114 mi) (S61 "Via Baltica" is scheduled to get completed in 2025)
• , , , , : + ca. 60 – 80 km each (A1 is scheduled to get completed in 2022; S5 on the section Grudziądz (A1) – Poznań was completed in 2022; reconstruction of the second carriageway of A18 is scheduled to get completed in 2023; S1 is scheduled to get completed in 2025)
• : + 110 km (68 mi) in total

Total length of motorways and expressways in Poland (end of the year)

Year	Highways, total length
1936 (then Nazi Germany)	92 km
1937 (then Nazi Germany)	104 km and 38 km first carriageway
1938–1945 (then Nazi Germany)	133 km and 135 km first carriageway (further below not considered as a motorway until addition of the second carriageway)
1939–1945 (Poland)	28 km (today not considered as a highway)
1945–1976	133 km
1977	169 km
1978	169 km
1979	190 km
1980	190 km
1981	190 km
1982	190 km
1983	255 km
1984	278 km
1985	321 km
1986	327 km
1987	327 km
1988	348 km
1989	366 km
1990	381 km
1991	399 km
1992	399 km
1993	403 km
1994	405 km
1995	440 km
1996	453 km
1997	456 km
1998	490 km
1999	502 km
2000	592 km
2001	630 km
2002	639 km
2003	727 km
2004	781 km
2005	848 km
2006	1013 km
2007	1083 km
2008	1282 km
2009	1454 km
2010	1560 km
2011	1865 km
2012	2495 km
2013	2805 km
2014	3100 km
2015	3131 km
2016	3252 km
2017	3510 km
2018	3811 km
2019	4214 km
2020	4337 km
2021	4690 km
2022	4985 km (forecast)
2023	5266 km (forecast)
2024	5542 km (forecast)
2025	5944 km (forecast)
2030	ca. 7600 km (plans)
2033	ca. 8150 km (plans)
After 2035	ca. 8175 km – full planned network (plans)

See also

• Classes and categories of public roads in Poland
• Transport in Poland § Road transport
• List of controlled-access highway systems
• Evolution of motorway construction in European nations

External links

Media related to Highways in Poland at Wikimedia Commons

• General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (in Polish, some information also in English)