- The new ring road will make traffic easier and reduce congestion around the “Tri-City” area
- It will form part of the broader S6 expressway connecting cities in the north-west of Poland and which is part of the Trans-European Network of roads
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) have agreed to finance a new ring road that will help ease the traffic around Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot, the three neighbouring Polish cities on the Baltic coast, also called Tri-City. The EIB will lend €240 million to BGK for the construction of a 39 km beltway around the metropolitan area from Chwaszczyno in the north-west to the Gdansk Poludnie road junction in the southeast.
The project is essential for improving the road connections in the Tri-City, which is home to some 750.000 people in aggregate and easing access to the ports of Gdynia and Gdansk. It forms part of the broader S6 route development, connecting Szczecin (near the border with Germany) and Gdansk along the Baltic coastline of Poland with an expressway standard road. As part of the Trans-European Network of transport systems (TEN-T), the S6 allows the connection between the north of Poland with the multi-modal Baltic-Adriatic TEN-T corridor.
The EIB loan will contribute to the National Roads Fund (pl. Krajowy Fundusz Drogowy – KFD) managed by BGK. It finances the construction and reconstruction of national roads in Poland, primarily freeways and expressways as well as city beltways.
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska, who oversees EIB activities in Poland, Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, President of BGK, and Tomasz Robaczyński, Member of the Management Board of BGK, signed the agreement today on the sidelines of the conference Impact’21 in Poznan.
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska commented: “A well-functioning network of expressways is an important factor for economic growth and employment. The beltway will eliminate traffic bottlenecks near the Tri-City area, in particular on the existing congested bypass, allowing for better traffic flows and improving the quality of air in the three cities. This operation is part of the EIB’s substantial support to the modernisation programme of Polish roads within the Trans-European Network over the past decade”.
“Improving the quality of life of Poles is one of the key elements of BGK’s activity. We support sustainable, economic and social development of our country, including investments in infrastructure. The construction of the Tri-City beltway will increase safety and comfort of travel for the region's residents and tourists. It will also improve the international transit connection which is part of the Trans-European Network. By operating the National Roads Fund we have so far ensured smooth financing of road infrastructure worth nearly PLN 200 bln, which translated into construction of about 1,300 km of freeways and over 2,400 km of expressways" – said Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, President of BGK, Polish Development Bank.
The beltway will complement previous projects co-financed by the EIB, like the construction of a 41 km-long section of the S6 expressway between Bozepole Wielkie and the Tri-City.”
Background information
The EIB finances projects in four priority areas – infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, small and midi-sized companies (SMEs). In 2020, the EIB Group provided €5.2 billion in financing to projects in Poland.
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) is a state development bank, the only such institution in Poland. BGK supports and encourages the sustainable social and economic development of Poland. Measures taken by the Bank contribute to the creation of jobs, building of apartments, development of infrastructure and improvement of air quality. BGK ensures the well-being of future generations - it builds social capital, develops entrepreneurship and provides responsible financing. It is present in every region of Poland as well as abroad with its representative offices in Brussels, London, Frankfurt am Main and Amsterdam. It supports export and foreign expansion of Polish companies. BGK is the originator, co-founder and main shareholder of the Three Seas Fund which invests in transport, energy and digital infrastructure in the countries of the Three Seas region. BGK, through cooperation with business, the public sector and financial institutions, responds to economic needs and undertakes a number of initiatives promoting sustainable development.