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North–south motorway in Poland

The autostrada A1, officially named Amber Highway (Autostrada Bursztynowa) in Poland is a north–south motorway that runs through central Poland, from Gdańsk (on the Baltic Sea) through Łódź and the Upper Silesian Industry Area (to the west of Katowice) to the Polish Czech border in Gorzyczki/Věřňovice, where it is connected with the Czech motorway D1. Its total length is Except for its southernmost section, A1 is a part of European route E75. The motorway was constructed between 2005 and 2022. The section from Gdańsk to Toruń is tolled (see Tolls).

The construction of the A1 motorway has been a highly politicized issue in Poland, as it is perceived to be an economically vital road that would connect the country's major ports on the Baltic coast with both central and southern Poland. One short fragment (17 km) was constructed in years 1978 – 1989, one of the first motorway stretches built under communist regime. Since 1989 various governments and political parties have supported an accelerated construction schedule for this motorway, without results. After many delays, caused mainly by lack of funding, construction started in 2005. The main part of the motorway was constructed in years 2005 – 2014: about 395 km (70% of the route's length) have been built within this period. By July 2016 (when a delayed Łódź bypass section was finished), the route has been completed except for those sections where the old national road 1 had already been a dual carriageway, allowing for a significantly lower priority of constructing a motorway on this remaining stretch compared to construction of other highways. The section from Częstochowa to Pyrzowice was constructed in years 2016 – 2020. The remaining section from Tuszyn to Częstochowa was constructed in years 2019 – 2022, which also included an upgrade of the 17 km long pre 1989 stretch.

This section was built in stages between 2005 and 2014. First, a section was opened on 22 December 2007, near Gdańsk, extending the S6 bypass expressway, and a remaining opened on 17 October 2008. The 62 km extension of the motorway to Toruń opened on 14 October 2011. In November 2012 a long section from Kowal to Łódź Północ interchange in Stryków was opened, followed by extension from Toruń to Włocławek in December 2013. Missing Włocławek Kowal section was completed in April 2014.

The oldest section of this segment, a stretch as the Piotrków Trybunalski bypass, was built between 1978 and 1989. This was one of the very few stretches of motorway built in Poland under the Communist regime. In addition, the section from Częstochowa to Piotrków Trybunalski was built in the 1970s as a dual carriageway road on a motorway alignment. However, it lacked motorway interchanges, and instead had standard intersections with no grade separation, regulated by traffic lights. On 22 January 2009 a contract was signed for the construction of the section from Stryków (junction with motorway A2) to Pyrzowice. Under the terms of the contract, the segment from Stryków to Częstochowa was to be finished by May 2012, while the remaining segment from Częstochowa to Pyrzowice was to be finished by January 2014 (60 months after the signing of the contract). The motorway was to be built within a Private Public Partnership framework by company Autostrada Południe. The contract included the rebuilding of an already existing stretch of A1 motorway (opened in 1989) as well as the upgrade of the existing dual carriageway road between Piotrków Trybunalski and Częstochowa. On 23 January 2010 the contract was cancelled as the company was not able to secure financing. It carried out the design project of the motorway however, which according to the Polish government was to make it possible for construction to begin in 2010 by new contractors, and be finished by 2012. However, the design project turned out to be full of flaws and needed to be redone. The section from Łódź Północ interchange to Tuszyn interchange was opened in 2016. The section from Pyrzowice to Częstochowa began construction in 2016, and was finished in 2020. Reconstruction of the remaining dual carriageway stretch from Częstochowa to Piotrków Trybunalski began in 2019 and finished in 2022.

At the southern end of the motorway, construction of a section from Gliwice Sośnica to Bełk, part of the southernmost section from the junction with the A4 motorway at Sośnica district of Gliwice to the Czech border, began on 26 March 2007 and was completed in December 2009. The remainder of the long section from A4 to the border was opened in different stages from 2009 till 2014. Construction of the section from Pyrzowice to Gliwice Sośnica began in 2009 and was fully completed by June 2012. The section from Pyrzowice to Piekary Śląskie has quickly deteriorated into very poor condition due to the materials used for its foundation, and is planned to be repaired. On 15 December 2009 the Polish government announced the cancelling of the contract for building the Świerklany Gorzyczki (Czech border) section, citing the unacceptably slow pace of construction by Alpine Bau GmbH. The government solicited new bids for this section in April 2010 It was finally opened in May 2014.

Motorway section Length Constructed NoteGdańsk Grudziądz90 km2005 – 2008Opened October 17, 2008; toll motorway. Grudziądz Toruń62 km2008 – 2011Opened October 14, 2011; toll motorway. Toruń Kowal64 km2010 – 2014Construction interrupted in September 2012, as companies involved have been ejected from the contract. (the ejected companies have sued the Polish authorities). New contractors have been selected in April 2013 and the road opened to traffic in December 2013 (45 km) and April 2014 (19 km). Kowal Łódź Północ75 km2010 – 2012Opened November 13, 2012.Łódź bypass (Stryków Tuszyn)37.3 km2012 – 2016Design build contract signed in December 2010, completion originally planned in 32 months, then delayed to June 2014, then later plans had it completed in Summer of 2015. However, the contractor abandoned the contract in January 2014. New contractors have been appointed fall 2014. Opened July 2016. Tuszyn Piotrków Trybunalski16 km1978 – 1989;2019 – 2021Reconstruced and widened to 3 lanes per direction in years 2019 – 2021. Piotrków Tryb. Kamieńsk24 km2019 – 20223 lanes per direction. Built by reconstructing a national road from the 1970s with 2 lanes per direction. Kamieńsk Częstochowa41 km2019 – 2021Częstochowa bypass20.3 km2015 – 2019Contract signed in October 2015. In April 2019, Salini Impregilo was ejected from the contract for extensive delays. In August 2019, completion of the section was awarded to Budimex, Strabag and Bud Pol. The section was opened to traffic on 23 December 2019, while the construction works continued till June 2020. Częstochowa Pyrzowice36.6 km2015 – 2019Opened 2 August 2019. The fragment from "Częstochowa Blachownia" to "Częstochowa Południe" remained closed to traffic until 23 December 2019, when the adjacent section was opened. Pyrzowice "Zabrze Północ”31 km2009 – 2012Opened 1 June 2012. "Zabrze Północ” "Gliwice Sośnica"14.1 km2009 – 2011Opened in September / December 2011. 3 lanes per direction. "Gliwice Sośnica" Bełk15.5 km2007 – 2009Opened in December 2009. 3 lanes per direction. Bełk Świerklany14.1 km2008 – 2011Bełk Rowień opened in December 2010. 3 lanes per direction. Rowień Świerklany opened in April 2011 (delayed because of floods).Świerklany [[Gorzyczki, Silesian Voivodeship18.4 km2007 – (2012 / ) 2014Construction interrupted in late 2009 due to contract dispute, in October 2010. Was to be opened in July 2012, but a problem with one of the bridges then moved the planned opening until August, 2013. Section Mszana Gorzyczki was opened in November 2012, but only light vehicles were allowed to use it until completion of the remaining fragment. In May, 2013 the contractor abandoned the project, citing disagreement with Polish government agencies. A new contractor to finish the bridge was selected in June 2013, and the road fully opened to traffic on May 23, 2014.