The Slovak Republic (SR) is a small country with a transitional economy, lying in the centre of Europe. In light of its geographic position and dimensions, roads play a significant role here. Priorities for construction of roads come out of the basic strategic development documents passed by the SR Government. They are primarily aimed at society-wide economics, savings for road users, the securing of internationally agreed obligations and the protection of the environment. The highest national priority is European integration, joining Slovakia to trans-European corridors, addressing problems of road overcrowding, removing congestion and construction of main highways and motorways to improve access to country estates and regional territories. The planning and evaluation of road construction suitability on SR territory is based on valid legislation. Its basis is judging the suitability of a road project from the viewpoint of its effects on the environment, and at the same time the financial feasibility of the project must be appropriate. From 1994 in Slovakia the Act on the environmental impact assessment (the EIA process) has been in force. This law is fully compatible with EU legislation, which very strictly defines the needs and extent of the evaluation of transport constructions on the environment. From this follows a reciprocal relation between technical proposals, environmental protection and the evaluation of the suitability of road construction. The impact of road development is clearly in the area where it is a question of quality improvement of the road network by the construction of highways and motorways. The development and building-up of urban roads, in light of a depleted financial situation, has stagnated. The degree of motorization and automobilization has sharply increased, especially in large cities. This is also contributed to by a lessened demographic development in rural areas. Changes in the roads network have led to a change in life-style evidenced in changes of the time/space characteristics of road transport (mobility, trip purposes, imbalances in loading on the road network and vehicle usage). The most marked change has been in the transfer of a significant volume of travellers from public transport to the individual automobile transport. The appearance of congestion on the road network has increased, particularly in large urban areas and on the access routes to their feeder territories. The negative impact of road transport on roads' surroundings is also on the rise. Due to lacks of financing, research on transport has been limited, which worsens the flow of information to both decision-making spheres and to the public. The present state of roads in Slovakia still appears under-dimensioned. Therefore road construction is very well-received by the public. The increase in road loading has led to the adoption of a wide variety of measures for limiting the negative impact of roads on the environment. In many cases, the initiators of the preparation and implementation of these measures has been a petition action by citizens, who ever increasingly realize the value of a healthy and quality environment. The basic principle of the policy of implementation of long-term sustainable development of roads is contained in the document, "National Strategy for SR sustainable development", which was approved by the Government of the SR in 2001. A strategic goal is to improve the accessibility of regional and peripheral areas of the country by sustainable development of the road network. This trend has been gradually incorporated in legislative instruments for the planning and construction of the road network, while the basic law in this area remains the EIA Act. In the coming period, there will be consideration of seizing the transport applications of telematics for the road network, which would enable coordinated administration of transport processes on the territory and would contribute to a significant degree to the implementation of a policy of sustainable development and a higher level of quality of life. The formation of groups for projection of roads is based on the specialist capabilities of authorized engineers and architects, in the sense of Act no. 236/2000 Coll. The road design, as constructions in the public interest, is carried out in the form of public procurement, which is also strictly regulated by the relevant laws. For the needs of each project are formed implementation groups with the representation of all necessary specializations which a given project calls for. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135448.
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