Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa

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Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa (DTŚ, can be translated as inner relief Road) is an expressway in Silesia, Poland. It is one of the most important roads of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region. The DTS runs most of its course parallel to the A4 Highway but, unlike A4, the DTS provides access to the congested centers of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. Currently, the DTŚ runs from Katowice, through Chorzow and Swietochlowice, to Ruda Śląska. An extensions to Zabrze is currently under construction, and a continuation to Gliwice is planned.

The road results in a considerable improvement in the traffic of the highly urbanized area of Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. The construction of the DTS shortens the road distance between Katowice and Gliwice by 26%, travelling time by 76%, consumption of gasoline by 47%, the number of road accidents by 82%, exploitation costs by 39%, and air pollution by 50%.

The DTS is the largest road investment ever carried out by a local government in Poland. It has been mostly financed using Silesian regional and the local city budgets. Once completed, DTS will have 26 junctions (for comparison, the motorway A4 running in parallel has only 6 junctions in the same area)^[1].

[edit] Construction history

The construction started in 1986. In 1990, due to financial problems, the work practically halted. Since 1994 the budget for construction increased thanks to the European Investment Bank (EIB) that provided a guarantee of funding. Since 1999, the construction of the DTS is a shared responsibility of the local government of the Silesian region and of the cities through which the road runs, and work progresses steadily. So far, 11.5 km were completed (out of the total planned 31.3 km).

[edit] References

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