How does a 1-km-long motorway section cost EUR 112 million in Hungary!?

The new segment of the M0 motorway going around Budapest will cost EUR 112 million (HUF 40 billion) per kilometre. The construction works will start in 2026 at the earliest, and the contractor will build 8 kilometres of the new motorway between main roads number 10 and 11. That construction is currently in the planning phase.

András Zsilák Makra, a Hungarian expert in motorway building, told Magyar Építők that nobody compares the price per kilometre in the case of motorways. That is because the price depends on many variables, for example, the number of tunnels, bridges, and intersections.

He said that in the case of motorways built in the plains, the cost per kilometre is four bn forints (EUR 11.2 mn). However, that sum applies only if, for example, the technical content is average. In the case of M100, an expressway connecting Esztergom with Budapest, there are 4 valley bridges, 6 tunnels, 6 intersections, so the cost goes up to HUF 14 bn per kilometre.

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He added that building the new segment of the M0 motorway would be even more difficult. Multiple intersections and a 5.2-kilometre-long tunnel are planned. Moreover, this new segment of the motorway will have 2X3 lanes. That is why one kilometre will cost more than HUF 40 bn.

Of course, this would not be the first time that a motorway, an expressway or a simple bicycle road cost an incredible amount of money in Hungary. As we reported before, a 1.1-km-long bike road was built in Szendehely (Nógrád County) in 2015 for EUR 556,000 from EU funds. According to Magyar Narancs, it is not strange that road-building is very expensive in Hungary. For example, one km of the M6 motorway is built for HUF 4.5 billion (EUR 12.5 million). Between Ságvár and Som (Somogy County, near Lake Balaton), 5.6 km cost 627 million, which means that one km was HUF 111 million (EUR 308,000).