Expressway S1 or express road S1 is a Polish highway under construction with a planned length of 130 km, located in the Silesian Voivodeship. Upon completion, it will connect the A1 motorway near the Katowice International Airport in Pyrzowice with the border of Slovakia in Zwardoń, linking to the D3 motorway. The route is expected to be completed in the 2nd half of 2026.

Route

The section from A1 motorway to A4 motorway and further to Tychy forms the Eastern beltway of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region. This section is open to traffic, except that the interchange in Dąbrowa Górnicza is under reconstruction to modern standard, set to be finished by the end of 2024. For the time of reconstruction, only one lane per direction is open to traffic, causing major traffic disruptions. From Tychy to Bielsko-Biała, the existing dual-carriageway national road 1 serves the traffic. New parallel expressway route is under construction, planned to be finished in the 2nd half of 2026. From Bielsko-Biała to Żywiec, the expressway is completed. The section from Żywiec to the Slovak border in Zwardoń is a single-carriageway expressway, which is partially completed and partially under construction, set to be finished in the 2nd half of 2025. At the border it connects to the partially completed D3 motorway in Slovakia.

Road numbering

The S1 originally was routed from Bielsko-Biała via Cieszyn to the Czech border. This section was renumbered to Expressway S52 in 2016 and the S1 was rerouted over the former Expressway S69.

Expressway route description

Pyrzowice-Tychy

Kosztowy-II – Bielsko-Biała

As of the end of May 2016 six options for the route were proposed. Route variants Five of them were already available by June 2008. At first option IV(D) was preferable. It would have gone parallel to Brzeszcze – Oświęcim railway tracks (PKP rail line 93). However, UNESCO protested against the choice, as, in their opinion, the traffic would have disrupted the zone of silence around the former German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, and, as the result, UNESCO would have put the camp onto the endangered list. At the beginning of August 2009, the head of Miedźna county has announced to the media his option of the S1 (option VI), that would have gone through a forest on the borders of the Miedźna and Bojszowy county. In November 2009, it was accepted by all the local counties. However, GDDKiA turned down this option due to environmental issues. The road would have passed through the "Stawy w Brzeszczach" reserve for birds conservation, which was not acceptable. Counties through which the road would have passed according to the option V: Counties through which the road would have passed according to the option VI: In 2013 a new option, presented by the mining companies "SILESIA" and "Brzeszcze" and by Miedźna, Brzeszcze and Bestwina counties, was proposed. The option "H"(or hybrid), as it is known, was an initial compromise between the companies and counties and GDDKiA. However it wasn't implemented. The project was expected to cost approximately 1.437 bln złotych.

Interchanges

Bielsko-Biała-Zwardoń

Route description