The first works contract for the reconstruction of the section of Via Baltica highway from Marijampolė to the Polish border has been entered into
The contract of the SE Lithuanian Road Administration for the reconstruction of the section of the highway A5 Kaunas-Marijampolė-Suwałki (Via Baltica) from the kilometre 72.50 to the kilometre 79 has become effective. It is planned that the construction work on this road section will start this year and will be completed in the autumn of next year. The value of the contract is about 55.8 million euros.
There are plans to reconstruct the road in this section by equipping four lanes, to equip the first in the country “green bridge“ (for animal migration), a tunnel passage, intersection, connecting roads and other road elements.
Via Baltica, which connects the Baltic countries with Poland and other European countries, is strategically important for Lithuanian and international road communication. Therefore, its modernization is one of the priority projects of the road communication infrastructure of the country. Already in the near future, real work will start in the road section between Marijampolė and the Lithuanian-Polish border. We are planning to reconstruct this 40-kilometre-long road section, as well as the bridges, overpasses and connecting roads located on it, by rapidly carrying out the work, by the end of 2024, which is two years earlier than planned“, – says Marius Skuodis, Minister of Transport and Communications.
“Currently, the large part of the section of Via Baltica from Marijampolė to the Polish border has only to lanes. The ever-increasing traffic volume, especially of goods vehicles, leads to a high number of accidents and difficult traffic conditions.
“It is likely that after the reconstruction of the road, all these elements will reduce the number of traffic accidents by half“, – says Remigijus Lipkevičius, director of the SE Lithuanian Road Administration.
This is one of the most intensive traffic sections in Lithuania. The average annual daily traffic volume on this 40-kilometre-long road section is 10 thousand cars per day (24 hours), of which as many as 60 percent is freight transport.
Public procurement procedures for the work of reconstruction of other section of Via Baltica from the kilometre 79 to the kilometre 85 are currently in progress. Upon completion of the design, this year, the call for tenders for contract work for the road section from the kilometre 56.83 to the kilometre 72.50 km is also planned to be launched this year. The tender procedure of contract work of the fourth section of this highway from the kilometre 85 to the kilometre 97.06 is planned to be launched at the end of this year – in the first half of 2023.
At the end of 2019, after the Government has approved the special plan of the reconstuction of the section of Via Baltica (of the section of the highway A5 Kaunas-Marijampolė-Suwałki from the kilometre 56.83 to the kilometre 97.06), the land expropriation procedures and design work have been started.
The contract work of the entire section of Via Baltica, which is about 40 kilometres long (from the kilometre 56.83 to the kilometre 97.06) is planned to be completed in December 2024.
After the reconstruction of the section of Via Baltica from Marijampolė to the Polish border, it will meet the international standards of infrastructure safety and traffic operation.
It is planned that by 2030 the entire Via Baltica highway, which passes through the territory of Lithuania, will be reconstructed in such a way as to meet the requirements for traffic operation and safety that apply to the international road network.
Currently, the analysis of pre-project solutions on the roads for the road A8 Panevėžys – Aristava – Sitkūnai and for the road A10 Panevėžys – Pasvalys – Latvian border (*Riga) is also in progress.