Expressway S61 (Poland)

Expressway S61 or express road S61 is a major planned road in Poland which is going to run from the Polish-Lithuanian border near Budzisko (connecting to Lithuanian A5) to Ostrów Mazowiecka (joining express road S8).

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Expressway S61
Droga ekspresowa S61
Route information
Length46.6 km (29.0 mi)
50.1 km (31 mi) dual carriageway
14.5 km (9 mi) single carriageway
214.2 km (133 mi) total planned length
Major junctions
FromBudzisko, Polish-Lithuanian border
To S8 near Ostrów Mazowiecka
Location
CountryPoland
Highway system
← S 52→ S 74

As of 2022, the part opened to traffic consists of three separate sections, forming the bypasses of Suwałki/Augustów, Szczuczyn and Stawiski. There is a complete expressway from Śniadowo to Łomża, from Łomża to Ełk and from Raczki to the Lithuanian border near Budzisko. The contracts for designing and building the rest of the road were signed in 2017-2022. The road will be a dual carriageway along its entire length, although the Łomża bypass will be opened as a single-carriageway road at first, the second carriageway being due to open to traffic a year later. 129.8 km (80.7 mi) of the route are open to traffic as of 2022, with the remaining 83.3 km (51.8 mi) mostly due to open to traffic in 2023, while the delayed Łomża bypass will not be fully complete until 2025.

Existing sections

The first section forming the bypass of Stawiski (6.5 km long) was opened to traffic in December 2013 as a single carriageway road.[1]

The second section to open was part of the bypass of Augustów, opened to traffic in November 2014. The extension of this section was the bypass of Suwałki opened in April 2019[2] (25 km in total).

The third section (8 km) was the bypass of Szczuczyn opened in November 2015 as a single carriageway road. The second carriageway was opened in May 2020.[3]

The fourth section (17.1 km long) was the connection between Śniadowo - Łomża Południe interchanges, opened to traffic in July 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The fifth section (18 km long) was the connection between Szczuczyn and Stawiski, opened in July 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The sixth section (35 km long) was the connection between Stawiski and Kolno, opened in August 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The seventh section (20 km long) was the connection between Wysokie and Raczki, opened in December 2021 as a dual carriageway road.

The eighth section (23 km long) was the connection between Szczuczyn and Ełk Południe, opened in September 2022 as a dual carriageway road.

The ninth section (24 km long) was the connection between Suwałki and the Lithuanian border at Budzisko, opened in December 2022 as a dual carriageway road.

Route history

The expressway became part of the Poland's planned expressway network with the approval of the Council of Ministers of Poland of 20 October 2009.[4] Before that, express road S8 was planned to continue from Białystok north to the Lithuanian border, serving as Via Baltica route. In 2009, S61 was introduced instead, while S8 was decided to end in Białystok. The change provides a shorter route for Via Baltica than originally planned, and the new course is viewed as a way to minimise its environmental impact on protected areas in northeastern Poland.[5]

Exit list
CountryVoivodeshipLocationkmmiExitNameDestinationsNotes
PolandMazovian VoivodeshipGmina Ostrów Mazowiecka—Podborze S 8 / E67 – Warsaw/BiałystokSouthwestern endpoint of motorway

Kilometrage starting point

Western terminus of E67 continiues towards Warsaw
—Komorowo DW 627 – Ostrów Mazowiecka/Ostrołęka
DW 677 – Łomża
Gmina Czerwin3Śniadowo DW 677 – Ostrów Mazowiecka/ŁomżaExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Podlaskie VoivodeshipGmina Łomża4Łomża Południe DK 63 – ZambrówSouth-west end of DK63 overlap
Exit number as part of "experimental signage"
—Łomża Zachód DK 61 – Ostrołęka/Łomża
—Nowogród DW 645 – Nowogród/Łomża
—Łomża Północ DK 64 – Białystok
8Kolno DK 63 – KolnoNorth end of DK63 overlap
Exit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Stawiski9Stawiski DW 647 – Stawiski/KolnoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Grabowo10GrabowoGrabowoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Gmina Szczuczyn11Szczuczyn DK 58 – Szczuczyn/PiszExit number as part of "experimental signage"
12Guty DW 665 – Grajewo/Augstów
Warmian-Masurian VoivodeshipGmina Ełk13Ełk Południe DK 65 – Ełk/Białystok
—Ełk Wschód S 16 – Ełk/Olsztyn
Gmina Kalinowo15Kalinowo DK 16 – Ełk/Augustów
Podlaskie VoivodeshipGmina Raczki16Raczki DK 8 / E67 – Białystok/RaczkiSouth-west end of temporary DK8 overlap
Gmina Suwałki17Suwałki Południe DW 655 – Suwałki/OleckoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
Suwałki18Suwałki Zachód DW 653 – Suwałki/OleckoExit number as part of "experimental signage"
—Suwałki Północ DW 662 – Suwałki
Gmina Szypliszki—Szypliszki DW 651 – Gołdap/Sejny
—Lithuania–Poland border A 5Border with Lithuania
road continues as the Lithuanian A5
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Concurrency terminus
  •       Proposed
  •       Route transition

References
  1. GDDKiA announcement
  2. Via Baltica. Obwodnica Suwałk otwarta, Gazeta Wyborcza, 11 April 2019
  3. "Dwoma pasami obwodnicy Szczuczyna. Kolejny fragment S61 gotowy".
  4. Dz.U. 2009 nr 187 poz. 1446 Polish government regulation on expressways network (in Polish)
  5. Website of analysis project Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine conducted by Scott Wilson for the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (in Polish)

Sources
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