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The completion of the Görbeház junction will rectify a nearly two-decade-old mistake, creating a high-speed link between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza.
The final phase of the Görbeház motorway interchange, which took just over a year and a half to complete, has been handed over.
From the M3 motorway connecting Budapest and Nyíregyháza, the M35 motorway leads to Debrecen. The 35-kilometre motorway was opened in December 2006, but the junction of the two motorways at Görbeháza was not completed.
For the past 17 years, the branches that would have carried traffic from one motorway to the other in the Debrecen-Nyíregyháza and Nyíregyháza-Debrecen directions have been missing. Before the junction, the two directions were accessible by national road only, and the completion of the junction has now changed this.
The Nyíregyháza-Debrecen route has been shortened by 25 kilometres with the construction of an overpass.
It is still ten kilometres longer than the distance between the two duchies on Highway 4, but the expressway link could significantly benefit transit and freight traffic. It is also safer in bad weather.
At the inauguration ceremony, Tünde Szabó, the government commissioner responsible for the complex development of the North-Eastern Hungary Economic Development Zone, said that the direct high-speed link between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza would bring a new level of cooperation opportunities.
MP Lajos Kósa stressed the responsibility of the socialist governments for not having built the junction entirely, although it was planned to be so; however, at the request of the Socialist-led county government, the money was spent elsewhere on a pointless investment. As previously mentioned, socialists have had problems with road junctions. Lajos Kósa believes this development could also reduce the congestion on the main road 4.
László Papp, Mayor of Debrecen, said the project was of great importance for the region’s development. He noted that the Debrecen-Miskolc-Nyíregyháza area is the new development centre of the country, and thanks to the ongoing processes, Eastern Hungary is entering an entirely new dimension in terms of economic power. He added that the region’s economic development will lead to a significant increase in freight traffic, and it is important that it avoids the cities, with trucks using the motorways for the most part.
Zoltán Nyul, deputy state secretary for civil engineering at the Ministry of Construction and Transport, said that the planning for the four-lane motorway 4 between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza is also underway and that the environmental permit will be granted by spring.
The final stage of the Görbeház motorway junction was built by Zemplénkő Kelet-magyarországi Építőipari Fővállalkozó és Bányászati Kft. for HUF 4.9 billion from state funds.
Source: debrecen.hu
