Press Advisories

2. 9. 201012:05

Prime Minister: Threat of Traffic Collapse If Zlín Feeder Road Construction Is Not Completed

Prime Minister Petr Nečas' visit to the Zlín region culminated in a tour of construction on the I/49 highway between Malenovice and Zlín.

It has been one of the most closely-watched construction projects in the Czech Republic. In recent weeks it has also been discussed in connection with cuts in this year's transportation ministry budget. Nečas advocated that the construction continue without limits.

"The technical title of the construction, I/49 Otrokovice-Malenovice, actually hides the fact that it is a key feeder road from Highway I/55 into the center of Zlín. No one coming to Zlín from the west, from Brno or Prague, can avoid it. There is the threat of permanent traffic collapse if this highway is not expanded," Nečas explained. It is precisely for this reason that Nečas met with Transportation Minister Vít Bárta on continuing this construction.
This year the tempo of construction will in the end neither stop nor slow down. Up to CZK 100 million can be invested by the winter. "This construction should not be slowed even in coming years. We are assuming its completion in 2012. And that should remain," Prime Minister Nečas added.

"We expect that the motorway connection between Prague and Brno should be extended to Otrokovice. That could increase the load on this feeder road to Zlín. Expansion of the highway from Otrokovice to Zlín is unequivocally a priority for us," Zlín Mayor Irena Ondrová emphasised.