300px|thumb|Map of D1 motorway

The D1 motorway () is the longest motorway in the Czech Republic linking Prague, Brno, and Ostrava, the three largest cities in the country, and once reaching the Polish border, it continues as the A1 autostrada (Poland). Its length is since its completion in December 2025,. It is the busiest motorway in the Czech Republic, with a maximum AADT of 99,000 vehicles per day near Prague.

Chronology

First attempt

The Munich Agreement in 1938 deprived the country of some fundamental road and rail routes. The government rushed to prepare three major infrastructure projects: the Německý Brod – Brno railway; the Plzeň – Ostrava road; and a 4-lane highway from Prague to Velký Bočkov (on the Czechoslovak – Romanian border). On 23 December 1938 the government issued Decree no. 372/1938 Coll. concerning the construction of motorways, establishing the General Motorway Directorate. This decree called for construction of an east-west motorway within four years.

As of January 1939, the General Motorway Directorate had 108 employees. On 13 January 1939, the Prague – Jihlava – Brno – Slovak border motorway project was approved, and construction was started on two segments: Chodov (now part of Prague) – Humpolec; and Zástřizly – Lužná. The prime minister of Carpathian Ruthenia, Avgustyn Voloshyn, requested that the Slovak border – Chust segment be added to the plan as well. Construction began on the Zástřizly – Lužná segment on 24 January in Zástřizly in the Chřiby mountains.

In Slovakia, construction started in 1973 with the 14-km long Ivachnová – Liptovský Mikuláš section, together with the construction of the Liptovská Mara dam. The 19-km Prešov – Košice motorway was added in 1980. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s the 19-km long Brno – Vyškov segment was built, along with another 20 km from Liptovský Mikuláš to Hybe in Slovakia.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, construction was no longer planned to Slovakia, but instead to Lipník nad Bečvou (the replacement of the planned route is the R49 expressway). Due to growing traffic near Prague, the first segment to Mirošovice was widened from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, and there are similar plans for widening around Brno as well. After the dissolution, no new sections were built. In 2002, construction of an 18-km long extension from Vyškov eastwards started. It was opened in 2005. More extensions eastwards were opened in 2008, 2009 and 2010; in 2011, the motorway reached the junction with the R55 expressway and the R49 expressway near Hulín, and the route curved north to Přerov (and Lipník nad Bečvou).

The segment from Lipník nad Bečvou to Ostrava was constructed from 2004 – 2009. Due to historical reasons it was named the Motorway D47; however, it was opened as part of the D1. The segment from Ostrava to the Polish border (and Autostrada A1) opened in late 2012, but only for cars under 3.5 tonnes, because the Polish side had problems with the bridge at Mszana village. From 2014 the bridge is open, and it is possible to drive from Ostrava to the Polish border and on to Katowice. The Přerov – Lipník nad Bečvou segment opened in December 2019.

Recategorisation of the Prague section

In 2022, the re-categorisation of the section from the zero kilometre at Chodov across the Prague border (km 5.2) to the crossing with the Prague ring road (km 10.2) as a local road, together with the transfer of the Prague section (including buildings and land by a donation contract) to the ownership of the City of Prague was prepared. On 4 February 2022, ŘSD and Prague concluded a future donation agreement. The city council approved the plan on 17 May 2022, and the city council by resolution No. 37/42 on 26 May 2022.

The donation contract, by which the state, through ŘSD, donated the first 5.2 km of the motorway to the capital city of Prague, was concluded on 29 June 2022 and published on 19 December 2022; the contract quantified the book value of the donated property at CZK 4,793,160,294. The Prague section of the motorway (km 0 - 5.2) was re-categorised as a local first class road. In the contract, Prague undertook the task of modifying the traffic signs on the date of the Prague ring road's commissioning in the section between Běchovice, and the D1 motorway.

As of 1 January 2023, it was announced that the section km 0.0-5.2 would be transferred to the ownership of the City of Prague and removed from the toll network. The section was re-designated as a road for motor vehicles. In its Twitter message, ŘSD mistakenly informed about the transfer of the section to a Class I road, but later corrected the message that it was a transfer to a local Class I road, the spokeswoman of TSK hl. However, the Prague TSK spokesperson Barbora Lišková reportedly continued to mystify that it was a Class I road.

Final stretches

The final section to be completed was the Říkovice – Přerov segment. Construction on this segment started in 2022, and was opened to drivers on 19 December 2025.

Furthermore, in April 2025, the widening works (to three lanes in each direction) on the long section in Brno should conclude.

Route description

Highway elevation

  • Maximum: 655 meters above sea level (km 104)
  • Minimum: 197 meters above sea level (km 370)