Alghough all documents necessary to start building the secion of A1 highway are ready, the investment gets complicated because of problems over Rospuda. The European Tribunal of Justice will decide whehter the road may go via the Rospuda river valley. The decision will be key for all projects prepared many years ago and according to old requirements.
The Grudziac-Torun section may cost EUR 350-600m. Gdansk Transport Company was supposed to build the section, however the government decided that state-owned General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA) would do it better. The documents prepared so far may turn out to be unnecessary.
“The variant analysis should be repeated and the variant not colliding with Natura 2000 network considered. Taking into account the experience in that matter in order to get EU sources and avoid problems with ecology organizations, it is necessary to include in the report a description and comparison of alternative roads”, the Ministry of Environment wrote in a letter to GDDKiA.
Jerzy Polaczek, the Minister of Transport believes that the case has already been agreed on with the Ministry of Environment and in autumn a tender may be announced to choose the construction company.
However, the Ministry of Environment believes that ETS decision over Rospuda should be made first. Lawyers agree.
“We will know than whether we may implement projects prepared before Natura 2000 came into force. If we start the Grudziac-Torun section, it may turn out there will be problems similar to those over Rospuda. Why taking such a risk”, Tomasz Tatomir from Chalas i Wspolnicy lawyers’ office believed.