M86 and M87 Expressways Set to Transform Western Road Network by 2030

The M86 expressway between Körmend and Szombathely, the section of the M87 between Szombathely and Kőszeg, and the missing section of the road bypassing the county seat of Vas County will be completed by the end of 2030, said State Secretary Péter Ágh, State Secretary in Szombathely on Thursday.

Péter Ágh announced that the implementation plans and the necessary construction permits are in place, the acquisition of the land is underway, and the contractor is being selected through a public procurement procedure. Information forums similar to the one in Szombathely (located in western Hungary near the Austrian border) are also being held on an ongoing basis in order to inform the local governments concerned about the details of the development.

The ministry is currently planning 115 investments, with a total cost of HUF 110 billion (about EUR 286 million), and the planned developments have an investment value of nearly HUF 4,000 billion (about EUR 10.3 billion), he said. The politician added that the planning of the M86 and M87 motorways and the acquisition of land will cost a total of HUF 7.5 billion (about EUR 19.5 million), and that the most important task in the current parliamentary cycle was to prepare the implementation plans.

It is very important that all the aspects that the local governments of the settlements have formulated as requirements have been incorporated into the plans. As a result, several minor roads will be renovated and new bicycle paths will be built.

Once the motorway between Szombathely and Kőszeg (northwestern Hungary) is built, transport links to Vienna will be significantly improved, and the construction of the section between Szombathely and Körmend (western Hungary) will create an important north-south transport corridor for the region, he said. There are plans to build an expressway between Körmend and Zalaegerszeg, as well as an expressway between Zalaegerszeg (western Hungary) and Nagykanizsa (southwestern Hungary), which will

make it faster to reach the sea in a southerly direction.

In his presentation, Zoltán Nyul, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, said that the current project combines three road developments of key importance for the region: the construction of the M86 and M87 expressways and the construction of a bypass road north of Szombathely.

According to his information,

traffic will be able to travel on two lanes in each direction on a significant part of the expressway between Szombathely and Kőszeg, as well as between Szombathely and Körmend, at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour, but no hard shoulder will be built alongside the road.

Several new roundabouts will be constructed along the M86 to improve local traffic flow, including connections near Körmend and the existing M80.

He also mentioned that a rest area will be built on the M87 near Gyöngyösfalu, which will also serve to measure axle weight, and there will be an exit to the planned campus on the section bypassing Kőszeg. In his presentation, Zoltán Nyul emphasized that, in addition to their economic significance, expressways primarily serve to increase safety, citing as an example

the 87 road between Szombathely and Kőszeg, whose accident statistics, in his words, are currently not very encouraging.

Thanks to the development, Puskás Tivadar Street in the inner city of Szombathely will be opened to the expressway, allowing the industrial zone to be further developed without disturbing the city’s residents and without truck traffic burdening the inner roads of Szombathely.

Via Világgazdaság; Featured photo: Hungary Today

The post M86 and M87 Expressways Set to Transform Western Road Network by 2030 appeared first on Hungary Today.

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