This paper discusses various problems and conflicts arising in the development of the Polish motorway network; it includes route maps. It first outlines the main framework of the motorway proposals, and their traffic and environmental aspects. The evaluation and updating of plans prepared in the 1970s and 1980s culminated in new proposals and corresponding legislation in 1994. The proposed network of 2600km will have two main east-west routes, two north-south routes, and a few other sections; only a small part of it has yet been built. It is being built as tolled motorways, with mainly private finance and build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts. The paper then focuses on Poland's economic development issues, and how far they can support calls to bypass normal evaluation criteria. The results of recent research, based on British experience, are used to evaluate the validity of development claims. The paper examines some issues surrounding what will probably be the first completed motorway, the Berlin-Moscow A2, and especially the controversy about its development around Warsaw. Although there are no easy answers to Polish motorway problems, the probable economic impact of motorways on specific regions needs to be analysed more, because most studies have focused on environmental issues.
Abstract