Extension of Hungary’s busiest motorway in danger: traffic jams between Budapest and Vienna?

The widening and capacity extension of Hungary’s busiest motorway should have started this year. The M1 project will now be delayed by at least two years.

Hungary’s busiest motorway, the M1 (E60) won’t be upgraded for at least two years, RTL reports. Construction works between Bicske and Tatabánya, west of Buda, should have started this year, but the project is pushed back to 2025.

As we have recently reported, a surprising statement was released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. The statement said that after “reviewing” the concession contracts for motorways, the Hungarian government decided to make changes to cut costs.

However, at that time, it was not clear exactly what kind of cuts the government was planning and how exactly those would affect the development and service of Hungarian motorways.

The affected road

The first concrete information came from László Szimicsku, Communication Director of the Hungarian Concession Infrastructure Development firm. He confirmed that projects that were originally part of the “levelling” projects aimed to raise the level of the Hungarian motorway system will be delayed until 2025.