Highways in Poland

[[File:HighwaysMapPoland.svg|thumb|Polish highway network:

]]

thumb|Planned network defined by the ministry ordinance

[[File:Historia budowy autostrad i dróg ekspresowych.gif|thumb|Development of the highway network in Poland since 1932:

]]

thumb|Total length of highways by year

thumb|[[Autostrada A1 (Poland)|A1/A2 Łódź Północ interchange]]

thumb|[[Autostrada A1 (Poland)|A1/A4 Gliwice Sośnica interchange]]

Controlled-access highways in Poland are part of the national roads network and they are divided into motorways and expressways. Both types of highways feature grade-separated interchanges with all other roads, emergency lanes, feeder lanes, wildlife crossings and dedicated roadside rest areas. Motorways differ from expressways in their technical parameters like designated speed, permitted road curvature, lane widths or minimal distances between interchanges. Moreover, expressways might have single-carriageway sections in case of low traffic densities (as of 2026, such sections constitute 3% of the highway network).

The development of modern highways began in the 1970s, but proceeded very slowly under the communist rule and for the first years afterwards: between 1970 and 2000 only 434 km of highways (5% of the planned network) were constructed in total. Further 1050 km (13% of the network) were opened from 2001 to 2010, followed by 2773 km (34% of the network) constructed between 2011 and 2020. It is planned to open about 2450 km (30%) in the 2020s, while the last about 1500 km (18%) would be completed in the 2030s. of motorways and expressways in operation (66% of the intended network), while contracts for construction of a further 1112 km

frameless|38x38px Expressways share most of the characteristics of motorways, differing mainly in that

Expressways are designated for lower speed than motorways. For example, the road curvature can be more severe and the lanes are usually narrower (3.5m vs 3.75m). Emergency lanes are also narrower (2.5m vs 3m) and in exceptional situations expressways might not have them at all.
Expressways can have a single carriageway on sections with low traffic density.
Motorways can have interchanges only with main roads, and the distance between interchanges is typically not less than 15 km (or 5 km near major cities), while expressways typically have more frequent interchanges. In exceptional situations, expressways might not have dedicated feeder lanes on interchanges. Notable changes introduced in later amendments include re-routing S8 and adding S61 instead (a change related to the Rospuda Valley conflict), introducing S16, S52 and A/S50, as well as extending S5, S8 and S10, raising the total length to about . i.e. each common section is attributed to the road with the lower number (in case of two expressways overlapping) or to a motorway (in case of a motorway and an expressway overlapping), except for S12/S17 west of Lublin which is recorded as S17 in the sources.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; align:center; text-align:center;"

|+34px34px 1) Completed highways

!Sign

!Route

!Location

!Total length

!colspan="2" | Existing

!Years of opening

| 40px|A1|link=A1 autostrada (Poland)

| Gdańsk (S6) - Grudziądz (S5) - Toruń (S10) - - - -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |566.6 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |566.6 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |

|40px|S3|link=Expressway S3 (Poland)

| - - - A2 - Zielona Góra - Legnica (A4) -

|100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |454.9 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |454.9 km of which 3 km near the Czech border remain closed until connecting D11 is constructed

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |2010 – 2025

| 40px|A4|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| - - - Opole - - - - -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |669 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |669 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |1983 – 2016

| 40px|S14|link=Expressway S14 (Poland)

| Łódź western bypass

| Łódź

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |40.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |40.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| 2012 – 2023

| 40px|A18|link=A18 autostrada (Poland)

| –

| 50px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |76.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |76.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| 2006, 2022/2023

| 40px|S22|link=Expressway S22 (Poland)

| 25px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 52.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | single carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 50%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 2008

| 40px|S51|link=Expressway S51 (Poland)

| Olsztyn (S16) – Olsztynek (S7)

| 25px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 20.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 20.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 2012, 2019

| 40px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)

| Kraków northern bypass

| Kraków

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5"|18.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5"|18.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5"|100%

| 1986 – 2024

| 40px|S61|link=Expressway S61 (Poland)

| Ostrów Mazowiecka (S8) - Łomża - Ełk (S16) - Suwałki - (Via Baltica)

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |213.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |213.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| 2019 – 2025

| 40px|S79|link=Expressway S79 (Poland)

| Warsaw

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 4.8 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 4.8 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 2013

| 40px|S86|link=Expressway S86 (Poland)

| Upper Silesia

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 5.9 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 5.9 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | 1985

! colspan="7" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" |34px34px 2) Major completed sections

| 40px|A2|link=A2 autostrada (Poland) 40px|S2|link=Expressway S2 (Poland)

| Main section: - S3 - Poznań - -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |489.7 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |18px 454.9 km 18px 34.8 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |mainly

| 40px|S5|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)

| Main section: -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |340.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |340.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |2012 – 2022

| 40px|S8|link=Expressway S8 (Poland) 40px|A8|link=A8 autostrada (Poland)

| Main section: Wrocław (A4) - Łódź (A1) - - Warsaw -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |548.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |18px 525.5 km 18px 22.7 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |2008 – 2019

| 40px|S17|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)

| Main section: Warsaw (A2) – Lublin (S12/S19)

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |150 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |150 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |100%

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |2013 – 2020

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; align:center; text-align:center;"

! colspan="13" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" |34px34px 3) Highways under construction

! scope="col" width="3%" | Sign

! scope="col" width="18%" | Route

! scope="col" width="8%" | Location

! scope="col" width="4%" | Total length

! scope="col" width="17%" colspan="2" | Existing

! scope="col" width="12.5%" | Construction commenced

! scope="col" width="12.5%" | Of which under active construction

! scope="col" width="7%" colspan="2" | Scheduled years of opening

! scope="col" width="9%" | Tender

! scope="col" width="9%" colspan="2" | In preparation

| rowspan="2" | 40px|S1|link=Expressway S1 (Poland)

| rowspan="2" | Katowice Airport (A1) - Mysłowice (A4) - Bielsko-Biała (S52) -

| rowspan="2" | 100px

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |144 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |83.9% (91%)

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |12.9 km (new route)

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | 2026, 2027

| colspan="2" |

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(+ 39.5 km)

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(100%)

| colspan="2" |

| 40px|A2|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)

| Eastern section: - -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |168.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |72.1 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |42.9%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" colspan="2" |63.8 km

| colspan="2" | 2026, 2029?

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |25.5 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#155f6a" |6.8 km

| rowspan="2" | 40px|S6|link=Expressway S6 (Poland) 40px|A6|link=A6 autostrada (Poland)

| - Szczecin - Goleniów (S3) - Koszalin (S11) - Słupsk - Gdańsk (A1)

| rowspan="2"|100px

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |412 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |18px 276.8 km 18px 28.1 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |82%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |56.3 km

| colspan="2"|2026

| colspan="2" |

| Szczecin western bypass

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |50.8 km

| colspan="2" |

| rowspan="6"|40px|S7|link=Expressway S7 (Poland)

| rowspan="2"|Gdynia - Gdańsk (A1) - Elbląg (S22) - Olsztynek (S51) -

| rowspan="6"| 100px

| rowspan="6" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |approx. 750 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |93.9%

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |9 km ( are open to traffic on the whole length of the reconstruction site)

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |2027, 2032?

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" bgcolor="#155f6a" | (reconstruction

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(+ 22 km)

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(100%)

| rowspan="2" |Warsaw - Radom (S12) - Kielce (S74) - Kraków (A4)

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | + 3.4 km 1st carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |98%

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |2.3 km + 3.4 km 2nd carriageway

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" |2026

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" |

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(+ 12.5 km)

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(100%)

| rowspan="2"|Kraków (A4) - Rabka-Zdrój -

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |34.6%

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |partial reconstruction to grade-separated are open to traffic)

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |2030?, 2032?, 2040?

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(+ 25 km)

| bgcolor="#C2D0C1" |(62%)

|40px|S8|link=Expressway S8 (Poland)

|Southern section: Wrocław (A8) - Kłodzko -

|75px

|bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |approx. 127.4 km

|bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |5.1 km

|bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |4%

|bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |68.8 km

|bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |32 km

|colspan="2"|2027, 2028, 2029, 2033?, 2040?

|colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |approx. 53.5 km

| 40px|S10|link=Expressway S10 (Poland)

| Main section: - Bydgoszcz (S5) -

| 100px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |297 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | + 17.5 km 1st carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |19.8%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |153 km + 17.5 km 2nd carriageway

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |45.4 km

| colspan="2" |2027, 2028, 2030?, 2031?

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |37.8 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" |39.5 km

| rowspan="2"|40px|S11|link=Expressway S11 (Poland)

| rowspan="2"| -

| rowspan="2"|100px

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |556.5 km

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |154.4 km + 10.5 km 1st carriageway

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |28.7%

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |122.1 km + 4.2 km 2nd carriageway

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |25 km

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | 2026, 2028, 2029, 2031?, 2033?

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |78.4 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#2491a3" |36 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" | + 6.3 km 2nd c/w

| 40px|S12|link=Expressway S12 (Poland)

| Eastern section: Lublin (S17/S19) - Chełm -

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |103.7 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |29.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |28.2%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |68.8 km

| colspan="2" |2027, 2028, 2032?

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |5.7 km

| 40px|S17|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)

| Eastern section: Lublin (S12/S19) - Zamość -

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |126 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |9.6 km + 2 km 1st carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |8.4%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |92 km

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |47.7 km

| colspan="2" | 2027, 2028, 2030?, 2nd c/w: 2032?

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |22.3 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |2 km 2nd carriageway

| rowspan="3"|40px|S19|link=Expressway S19 (Poland) Via Carpatia

| - Białystok (S8) - -

| rowspan="3"|100px

| rowspan="3" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |572.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |31.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |12.7%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |198.7 km 2nd carriageway

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |122.6 km 2nd carriageway

| colspan="2"|2026, 2027, 2028, 2030?, 2031?

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |32 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#2491a3" |37.4 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |141.7 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |94.8% (100%)

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |16.3 km 2nd carriageway

| colspan="2" |2026

| colspan="2" |

| Rzeszów (A4) –

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |32.1 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |33.2%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |64.5 km

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |38.8 km

| colspan="2" |2026, 2027, 2028

| colspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |40px|S74|link=Expressway S74 (Poland)

| rowspan="2" |Łódź (A1) - Sulejów (S12) - Kielce (S7) - Nisko (S19)

| rowspan="2" |100px

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | approx. 261 km

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 16.7 km

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 6.4%

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" | 98.6 km

| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" | 18.7 km

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |2027, 2028, 2032?, 2035?

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#2491a3" | 92 km

|colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |+ approx. 54 km

! colspan="13" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" |34px34px 4) Planned highways

! scope="col" width="2%" | Sign

! scope="col" width="17%" | Route

! scope="col" width="8%" | Location

! scope="col" width="4%" | Total length

! scope="col" width="15%" colspan="2" | Existing

! scope="col" width="9%" | Construction commenced

! scope="col" width="9%" | Of which under active construction

! scope="col" width="5%" | Tender

! scope="col" width="5%" | complete

! colspan="2" scope="col" width="10%" | In preparation

! scope="col" width="4%" | Planned

| rowspan="2" | 40px|S5|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)

| Eastern section:

| rowspan="2" | 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |101.8 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |14.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |14%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" |87.5 km

|2033

| Western section: Bolków (S3) – Świdnica – S8

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |50.2 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |0 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |0%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" |50.2 km

|2032

| 40px|S10|link=Expressway S10 (Poland)

| Eastern section: -

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |120.4 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" |

| 2033

| 40px|S12|link=Expressway S12 (Poland)

| Western section: - Radom (S7) - Lublin (S17)

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |185 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |16.4 km + 6.0 km 1st carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |10.7%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |29.1 km

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |13.2 km

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#2491a3" |120.3 km + 6.0 km 2nd c/w

| 2033

|rowspan="2"| 40px|link=Expressway S16 (Poland)

|rowspan="2"| Olsztyn (S51) - Ełk (S61) -

| rowspan="2" | 75px

|rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |approx. 245 km

|rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |46.2 km 1st carriageway

|rowspan="2" bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |23%

|rowspan="2" bgcolor="#FFCBCB" |19.7 km + 20.1 km 2nd carriageway

|rowspan="2" |

|colspan="2" bgcolor="#4fcde3" |77.5 km

|rowspan="2" | 2037

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |+ approx. 81.5 km

| 40px|S17|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)

| Warsaw eastern bypass

| Warsaw

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" |17.3 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |3.5 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" |20.2%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |13.8 km

| 2036

| 40px|A50|link=A50 autostrada (Poland) 40px|A50|link=Expressway S50 (Poland)

| Warsaw (2nd ring road)

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | approx. 265 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 0%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccf8ff" |

|2040

| 40px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)

| -

| 75px

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5"|98 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5"|37 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5"|37.8%

| colspan="2" bgcolor="#155f6a"|61 km

| 2032

! colspan="13" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" | 34px34px In total

! scope="col" width="12%" colspan="4" | Planned length

! scope="col" width="18%" colspan="2" | Existing

! scope="col" width="10%" | Construction commenced

! scope="col" width="10%" | Of which under active construction

! scope="col" width="10%" | Tender

! scope="col" width="10%" | Predesign complete

! scope="col" width="10%" colspan="2" | In preparation

! scope="col" width="8%" | No progress

|- style="font-weight:bold;"

| Total

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" | approx.

| bgcolor="#F5F5F5" colspan="2" | 18px approx. 6164 km

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 5305.2 km 1st carriageway

| bgcolor="#B9FFC5" | 65.21%

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" | 1049.4 km 2nd carriageway

| bgcolor="#FFCBCB" | 501.3 km 2nd carriageway

| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" | 265.6 km

| bgcolor="#339966" | 0 km

| bgcolor="#2491a3" colspan="2" | approx. 1532.7 km 2nd carriageway

| bgcolor="#808080" | 2nd c/w

Cross-sections

thumb|A4 in [[Zabrze: ]]

thumb|[[Expressway S5 (Poland)|S5 near Bydgoszcz with 2×2 lanes: ]]

thumb|[[Expressway S22 (Poland)|S22 near Kaliningrad Oblast border: space reservation for the 2nd carriageway can be seen on the right]]

As of 1st January 2026, the operational sections of highways utilize the following cross-sections:

7% (398 km) – motorways and expressways with 2×3 or (occasionally) 2×4 or more lanes,
90% (4913 km) – motorways and expressways with 2×2 lanes,
3% (157 km) – single-carriageway expressways, of which 55 km with dual-carriageway fragments (2×2) around the interchanges.

All single-carriageway expressways are constructed with allocated space for a possible upgrade to dual-carriageway and all bridges above such highways are prepared to accommodate the second carriageway. Most of those sections are planned to be widened to full profile by 2033, the exceptions being S1 (near the Slovak border) and S22 (near the Kaliningrad Oblast border) where widening is currently not expected.

Notable historical cases are:

<div style="line-height:1.6;border:0.6px solid grey;"><div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto;">Historical cases

Expressways were formerly allowed to admit an at-grade intersection with a minor public road in exceptional cases. The last such section which remained operational past 1999 was S3 near Szczecin (19 km), opened in 1979, which featured two at-grade road intersections until the reconstruction conducted in years 2019 – 2020. Since 2020, all expressways (as well as motorways) in Poland have only grade-separated intersections. In 2022, the provision allowing at-grade intersections to exist on expressways was formally removed from the ordinance.
A18 (70 km) had its southern carriageway constructed by Nazi Germany. The northern carriageway was constructed in 2004 – 2006, while the southern carriageway kept using the original concrete slabs until the reconstruction conducted in years 2020 – 2023.

</div></div></div>

Speed limits

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan=2| Maximum speed (km/h) by vehicle type

! rowspan=2| 22x22px|frameless Motorway

! colspan=2| frameless|22x22px Expressway

! dual-carriageway

! single-carriageway

| Private car, motorbike, van up to 3.5t (does not apply if towing trailer)

| style="text-align:center;" | 140

| style="text-align:center;" | 120

| style="text-align:center;" | 100

| Bus meeting additional technical requirements

| colspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 100

| Bus; a vehicle over 3.5t or towing trailer or carrying dangerous materials

| colspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 80

| Vehicle having equipment more than 1.5m forward of the driver's seat

| colspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 60

| Motorbike (including towing trailer) carrying a child up to 7 years old

| colspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 40

Other restrictions

Pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds, and agricultural vehicles are not allowed on motorways.
Minimum speed on motorways is 40 km/h except in extraordinary circumstances (e.g. snow, ice, or a car broken down).
It is forbidden to stop except in extraordinary circumstances, or to travel backwards.
Towing is not allowed on motorways, but is permitted on expressways.

Tolls

thumb|Motorways with tolled sections

thumb|right|120x80px|E-toll sign for

Since 2023, all state-owned highways are free for vehicles up to 3.5 tons of permissible maximum weight (for a passenger car with a trailer, the joint permissible maximum weight of the car and the trailer must not exceed 3.5 tons). On some sections, old inactive infrastructure for toll collection is still in place.

The privately owned sections of A1, A2 and A4 are tolled. These sections are indicated by the motorway sign accompanied by the word Płatna.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; align:center; text-align:left; font-size: 90%;""

|+Tolled sections

!colspan="2" |Sign

!Section

!Manager

!Length

!Price

!Manual toll collection

!Electronic toll collection

!Notes

| rowspan="4" | 55xpx

| 40px|A1|link=A1 autostrada (Poland)

| Gdańsk – Toruń

| 152 km

| 30 PLN (€)

| rowspan="2" | Closed system: there are toll stations on every interchange; the driver receives a ticket upon entering the motorway and pays on the exit, with the price dependent on the distance driven.

| Electronic toll collection through the Autopay mobile app allows one to choose the "fast gates" instead of waiting in the queue to the regular gates.

| The gates are occasionally opened during the peaks of tourist traffic if the waiting time for the gates would have otherwise exceeded 25 minutes. In such circumstances no payment is collected neither by the manual nor the electronic system.

| rowspan="2" | 40px|A2|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)

|Rzepin – Poznań-West

| rowspan="2" |

| 133 km

| 50 PLN (€)

| rowspan="2" | , including the common sections with S5 and S11, is free.

| Poznań-East – Sługocin

| 85 km

| 64 PLN (€)

| rowspan="2" | Open system: two toll stations are located at the ends of the section; a person driving the whole distance pays at both gates, while a person entering or leaving the motorway mid-section pays only at one gate.

| rowspan="2" | Electronic toll collection through the Autopay mobile app

Traffic volumes

thumb|right|S8 in [[Warsaw]]

Traffic volumes in Poland note rapid increase since the fall of communism in 1989: the annual average daily traffic recorded on the national roads network in 2025 is 14'880 vehicles per day, which amounts to 395% of the average traffic recorded in 1990. With the increasing traffic, the length of overburdened single-carriageway national roads had also been steadily increasing until reaching the maximum of 1389 km in 2010. Due to the large number of highway sections opened after 2010, the length of overburdened roads has starated falling down for the first time in history, from 1389 km in 2010 to 1121 km in 2020.

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 80%; font-size:100%; text-align:left;"

! colspan="4" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" | Busiest highways in Poland

! scope="col" | No

! scope="col" | Section

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Notes

| 1

|S8 in Warsaw

| 196,000

| 2

| 161,000

| .

| 3

| A2 west of Warsaw

| 111,000

| Widening to 4 lanes is planned to start in 2026.

The other highest and lowest recorded volumes were:

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 80%; font-size:100%; text-align:left;"

! scope="col" | Category

! scope="col" | Section

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Notes

! colspan="4" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" | Busiest highways by road profile

| Busiest highway with 2x5 or more lanes

|rowspan="3"|S8 in Warsaw

| 196,000

| Busiest highway with 2x4 lanes

| 163,000

| Busiest highway with 2x3 lanes

| 165,000

| It is planned to repurpose the hard shoulders as the 4-th lanes in 2026.

| rowspan="2"|

| S6 Gdańsk bypass

| 94,000

| Additional measurements to be performed since the Tricity Outer Bypass (S7) was completed in late 2025.

| 94,000

| Some decrease in traffic on A4 is expected after Kraków eastern bypass (S7) is completed in late 2026. Widening to 3 lanes per direction is planned in the future (after 2030).

| S19 north of Rzeszów

| 24,000

| Second carriageway is under construction.

| S1 Żywiec bypass

| 18,000

| Additional measurements to be performed since S1 towards the Slovak border was completed in late 2025.

! colspan="4" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" | Busiest regular national roads Note: Measurements are not performed on national roads within the borders of major cities

| Busiest dual-carriageway national road

| DK7 north of Warsaw

| 62,000

| New parallel route of S7 is planned to be opened in the future (around 2032).

| 33,000

| Widening to 2 lanes per direction is planned in the future (after 2030).

| DK74 west of Kielce

| 29,000

| S74 is under construction, expected to be opened in 2028.

! colspan="4" style="background-color:#E0E0E0;" | Least busy highways

| Least busy single-carriageway highway

| 1,300

| rowspan="2"|Restrictions in crossing the border apply since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

| Least busy dual-carriageway highway

| S19 near

| 1,600

| 3,500

| The utilisation of the bypass is expected to increase after the remaining stretches of S11 are completed around 2031.

History

Before World War II

thumb|right|The network planned prior to WWII

thumb|right|Pre-WWII surface on A6 before the reconstruction (photo from 2009)

thumb|right|Pre-WWII surface on the southern carriageway of A18 before the reconstruction (photo from 2012)

The first plans of creation of a national highway network in Poland were conceived in the interwar period:

<div style="line-height:1.6;border:0.6px solid grey;"><div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto;">Plans<div class="mw-collapsible-content mw20-collapsed-content">

The main promoter of this concept was Professor Melchior Wladyslaw Nestorowicz of the Warsaw University of Technology, who organized three Road Congresses, during which a group of specialists discussed the creation of the network. On 5 March 1939, in the trade magazine Drogowiec, Professor Nestorowicz proposed a very ambitious plan for the construction of almost 5,000 kilometres of category I and II roads, based on similar programmes in Germany and Italy. Nestorowicz sketched a map of the future system with the following routes:

First class roads would, according to the plans, consist of the following motorways (totalling some :

Warsaw - Łódź - 100 km
Warsaw – Poznań - Polish-German border - 350 km
Warsaw beltway - 130 km
Poznań beltway - 80 km
Gdynia – Bydgoszcz – Łódź – 500 km
Łódź beltway - 90 km
Bytow - Free City of Danzig border - 50 km
Katowice – Kraków – Lwów - 375 km
Warsaw – Lublin - Lwów – Sniatyn - Polish-Romanian border - 550 km
Puławy – Sandomierz – Przemyśl - 175 km

Second class roads would consist of the following motorways, totalling another :

Piotrków Trybunalski - Kielce - Sandomierz - 180 km
Warsaw – Kielce – Kraków - 180 km
Łódź - Kalisz - Polish-German border north of Wrocław - 130 km
Warsaw – Grodno – Vilnius – Polish - Lithuania - Latvian border near Daugavpils - 575 km
Grodno - Nowogrodek - Polish-Soviet border near Minsk - 190 km
Bydgoszcz – Poznań – Częstochowa - 350 km
Katowice – Cieszyn – Polish-Czechoslovak border - 60 km
Ostrołęka - Polish-East Prussian border - 50 km
Grodno - Polish-Lithuanian border - 40 km
Grodno - Brzesc nad Bugiem - Krasnystaw - 300 km
Warsaw – Brzesc nad Bugiem - 170 km

</div></div></div>

In 1934, Nazi Germany started the construction of their motorway system, parts of which today form A18 and A4 to Wrocław (Breslau), as well as A6 (Szczecin bypass) and S22 (parts of the planned motorway to Königsberg). About half of them were constructed as single-carriageway with the intention of adding a second carriageway in later years. However, after 1938, warfare expenses meant little money would be invested into any infrastructure and only one 9 km single-carriageway piece west of Gliwice (now A4) was constructed.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="6" style="font-size: 110%" |

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

! Notes

| rowspan="5" | frameless|40x40px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| Krzyżowa (frameless|26x26px|link=A18 autostrada (Poland)) – Krzywa

| rowspan="3" |

| Krzywa – Wrocław

| Wrocław – Brzeg (Owczary)

| rowspan="3" | Southern carriageway only

| Ujazd (Nogowczyce) – Łany

| Łany – Kleszczów (Gliwice)

| rowspan="2" | frameless|40x40px|link=A6 autostrada (Poland)

| frameless|32x32px – Szczecin-Zachód

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="3" | frameless|40x40px|link=A18 autostrada (Poland)

| frameless|32x32px – Iłowa

| rowspan="2" | Southern carriageway only

| Iłowa – Golnice

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S22 (Poland)

| Elbląg – Grzechotki

| Western carriageway only

| colspan=2 | Total

| of which single carriageway

| colspan="3" |Note: Signage of the roads at the time of opening was different.

In Poland, a 28 km stretch between Warlubie and Osiek (now DW214) was constructed in 1937 – 1939 in the motorway standard of the time (today not considered a highway) with a concrete surface, which was designed by Italian engineer Piero Puricelli. The motorway was planned to reach Gdynia, but the outbreak of the Second World War halted the plans.

1945 – 1972

The aforementioned fragments of the Third Reich motorways (about half of them with only the first carriageway constructed) became part of the territory of the communist Poland after the Potsdam conference in 1945. Most of the motorway bridges had been destroyed by the warfare, but only a few were repaired or rebuilt in the first post-war years. The bridge over Ina river was reconstructed in 1972, and those on S22 only between 1996 and 2003. Apart from the bridges, almost all the motorways were left in the same condition as they were in 1945 until the mid-1990s. The only road left from Nazi times that was completed by the People's Republic of Poland was a one-carriageway small section between Łęczyca and Lisowo (15 km of what is now DW142), which was built on the previous works of Nazis.

<div style="line-height:1.6;border:0.6px solid grey;"><div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto;">Plans<div class="mw-collapsible-content mw20-collapsed-content">

At the post-war year there were very ambitious plans to make a motorway network for the whole Poland. For example, engineer Eugeniusz Buszma has published his propositions to the network in the magazine "Drogowiec" (1946, issue 1):

East – West (Słubice – Warsaw – Białystok) – 680 km
North – South (Gdynia – Warsaw – Balkans) – 650 km
Silesia – Baltic I (Gdańsk – Łódź – Katowice) – 460 km
Pomeranian (Gdańsk – Szczecin) – 280 km
Silesian (Wrocław – Katowice – Kraków) – 190 km
Mazurian (Kaliningrad – Elbląg – Malbork) – 20 km
Silesia – Baltic II (Bydgoszcz – Wrocław) – 260 km
Łódź – Wrocław – (Prague) – 310 km
Katowice – (Vienna) – 60 km
Poznań – Szczecin – 200 km
Radom – Lublin – (Lviv) – 220 km

In total, the mileage, according to the proposal, would total more than .

After the addition of the sections built by the Third Reich the total network length had to be approx. 3700 km. In 1963 the Motorization Council at the Council of Ministers had presented the similar plan plus the motorways: Warsaw-Kraków-Zakopane, Kraków-Przemyśl, Warsaw-Bydgoszcz-Koszalin, Poznań-Koszalin i Warsaw-Terespol (approx. 1250 km).

</div></div></div>

Despite announcing such pompous plans, no motorway was opened in the meantime.

In the 1970s

thumb|right|[[Expressway S6 (Poland)|S6 in Gdynia, part of Tricity bypass: the oldest expressway in Poland (1st carriageway opened in 1977).]]

Only in the 1970s the construction of the first highways started.

<div style="line-height:1.6;border:0.6px solid grey;"><div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto;">Plans<div class="mw-collapsible-content mw20-collapsed-content">

In 1972 it was planned to build:

the Gliwice-Kraków motorway (now A4)
the second carriageway of the Wrocław-Gliwice motorway (also A4)
the Warsaw-Katowice motorway (so-called "Gierkówka", now the S8/A1 road), in the near future

The plans were expanded in 1976 by the following sections:

Tarnów – Kraków (now A4),
eastern GOP (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy) bypass (now S1, northern part),
Bielsko-Biała – Cieszyn (now S52, southern part),
Warszawa – Poznań (so-called Olimpijka, now A2),
Łódź – Piotrków Trybunalski (now A1).

</div></div></div>

In 1973 – 1976, "Gierkówka" dual carriageway from Warsaw to Katowice () was built. Originally planned as a motorway, it was in the end constructed by adding another carriageway to the existing road, hence going through many villages and crossing with local roads. The part from Piotrków Trybunalski to Częstochowa (78 km) was constructed as a new route on a motorway alignment, but the crossings between the highway and other roads were constructed as one-level intersections with pedestrian crossings and no viaducts or overpasses.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Highway sections opened in the 1970s

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

| style="font-size: 110%" | frameless|40x40px|link=National road 1 (Poland)

| Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa substandard (multiple at-grade intersections), constructed on motorway alignment, not signed as a highway

| rowspan="2" |frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland)

| Tri-city bypass (eastern carriageway) substandard (two at-grade intersections, then reconstructed when adding a second carriageway in the 1980s)

| Szczecin-Rzęśnica (end of post-German A6 motorway) – Goleniów substandard (two at-grade intersections)

| colspan="2" | Total

| colspan="3" | of which single carriageway

In the 1980s

thumb|A4 near Jaworzno, opened in 1983

Near the end of the 1970s the first construction of motorways started and continued to the next decade. The roads opened in the 1980s were the first motorways and expressways which generally meet the contemporary standards (at least with respect to their more important attributes), although in multiple cases the poor quality of their construction forced major renovations to be performed as soon as within the first 20 years of operation.

The major routes planned as motorways were A1, A2 and A4, while other main routes were planned as expressways. The implementation of these plans, however, came at a very slow pace: throughout the 1980s, only an average of of highways in the whole country were being opened per year.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="6" style="font-size: 110%" | average: 21 km / year

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

! Notes

| frameless|40x40px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland)

| Reconstructed 2019 – 2021

| rowspan="2" |frameless|40x40px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="2" |Września - Konin

| rowspan="2"| Renovated 2002 – 2003

| rowspan="3" |frameless|40x40px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="3"|Jaworzno - Kraków (Tyniec)

| rowspan="2"| Renovated 1999 – 2000

| (Jaworzno - Chrzanów)

| (1st section of Kraków bypass:

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S1 (Poland)

| Dąbrowa Górnicza - Tychy

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland)

| Tri-city bypass (to Straszyn)

| Second carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland)

| Kielce bypass

| First carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)

| Kraków northern bypass: fragment Balice - Zabierzów

| Then signed as motorway A4a

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S86 (Poland)

| Katowice - Sosnowiec

| First completely done expressway

| colspan=2 | Total

| colspan=4 | of which single carriageway, second carriageway

In the 1990s

thumb|The highway network in 1990

In the III Republic of Poland, planned S3 was promoted to motorway A3 (the decision was later reversed) and a plan was introduced (also later reversed) of constructing motorway A8 Łódź – Wrocław – Bolków (now S8/A8/S5). Szczecin bypass (A6) and section Olszyna – Krzywa (then named A12, now A4/A18) were promoted to motorways, even though at that time the majority of their lengths was in bad shape, laid with the original concrete surface from the 1930s with no significant works having been performed on any of them throughout the whole communist period.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="6" style="font-size: 110%" | average: 15 km / year

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

! Notes

| rowspan="7" | frameless|40x40px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="3" | Katowice - Jaworzno

| (Mysłowice - Jaworzno)

| Northern carriageway was opened on

| (in Katowice)

| ?

| rowspan="2"| Kraków bypass (section Tyniec - ul.Kąpielowa)

| (to Skawina)

| A4 had a crossroad with ul. Kąpielowa till 2002, when the bridge was built over it.

| frameless|40x40px - Zgorzelec

| Krzyżowa - Krzywa

| ?

| Renovated

| frameless|40x40px|link=A6 autostrada (Poland)

| frameless|40x40px - Podjuchy

| Renovated

| rowspan="2" | frameless|40x40px|link=A18 autostrada (Poland)

| Olszynaframeless|40x40px - Królów

| rowspan="2" | ?

| Northern carriageway added

| Golnice - Krzyżowa

| Renovated both carriageways

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S3 (Poland)

| Sulechów - Zielona Góra

| Western carriageway only

|frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)

| Świecie bypass

| Single carriageway; dual carriageway near the interchanges

| rowspan="2" |frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland)

| Miłomłyn bypass

| Eastern carriageway only

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S8 (Poland)

| Radzymin bypass

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)

| Flag of the Czech Republic|border|40x40px - Cieszyn-East

| Then signed S1

| colspan=2 | Total

| colspan=4 | of which reconstructed, single carriageway

In the 2000s

thumb|The highway network in 2000

As of the beginning of 2000, the vast majority of national and international traffic routes were served by regular national roads with at-grade intersections and pedestrian crossings, most of them leading through the centres of cities, towns and villages, and most of them single carriageway. Only the following number of highways was present:

:* about of modern dual-carriageway motorways and expressways (3.5% of the network as planned nowadays),

:* about of single-carriageway expressways,

:* about of not-resurfaced Nazi German motorways from the 1930s,

:* about of not-resurfaced Nazi German motorways on sections where only the first carriageway had been constructed.

Before the EU membership

thumb|A4, [[Kraków southern bypass, opened in 2003]]

At the beginning of the 21st century, the tempo of highway construction started to increase. The main focus was on the west–east motorways A4 and A2. In 2002, a long-awaited renovation of the A4 from Krzywa to Wrocław (93 km) has started, which included laying new high quality surface in place of the Nazi German concrete slabs, reconstruction of all the pre-WWII bridges on the motorway and renovation of the viaducts above the motorway.

This is also the period when Poland started introducing motorway tolls, first in 2000 for the A4 section between Mysłowice and Kraków.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="6" style="font-size: 110%" | average: 57 km / year

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

! Notes

| rowspan="2" | frameless|40x40px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="2" | Poznań Komorniki - Września

| rowspan="6" | frameless|40x40px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="4" | Wrocław (Bielany) -

| (to Brzeg)

| rowspan="3" |

| rowspan="2" |

| (to Opole-East)

| (to Kleszczów)

| Chorzów - Katowice Mikołowska

| Kraków bypass (section ul.Kąpielowa - Wieliczka)

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)

| Śmigiel bypass

| ?

| First carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland)

| Straszyn - Rusocin

| Second carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland)

| Białobrzegi bypass

| rowspan="2" |

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S8 (Poland)

| Ostrów Mazowiecka bypass

| colspan=2 | Total

| colspan=4 | of which single carriageway

In European Union

thumb|The highway network in 2010

1 May 2004 was a crucial day for the history of motorway construction and that is when the length of highway constructions started to increase the most. One of the major advantages of signing the European Union access document was that Poland could get access to large funds for co-financing the construction of new roads and upgrades of the existing road infrastructure. Overall, the co-financing funds amounted to about 43% of the road construction costs during the first 20 years of the EU membership.

At this time, the existing scattered pieces of highways began to converge into the basis of the future network:

until 2004, Katowice and Kraków (linked by A4) were the only pair of Poland's largest cities connected by a highway;
in 2005, A4 connected Wrocław with Katowice and Kraków, while in 2009 – with Germany;
in 2006, A2 connected Poznań with Łódź.

A large number of expressway bypasses of towns were also constructed at this time. On many of them, only one carriageway was built, with the allocated space prepared for easy construction of the second carriageway later.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="6" style="font-size: 110%" | average: 151 km / year

! Signage

! Section

! Length

! Start of construction

! Opening

! Notes

| rowspan="4" | frameless|40x40px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland)

| rowspan="2"|

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2"| Sośnica - Żory

| 2007

| rowspan="2"|frameless|40x40px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)

| Nowy Tomyśl - Poznań Komorniki

| Konin - Łódź (Stryków)

| rowspan="5" | frameless|40x40px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)

| Krzywa - Wrocław (Bielany)

| –2006 (in sections)

| Renovated both carriageways

| Gliwice (Sośnica) - Chorzów Batory

| Gliwice bypass (Kleszczów - Sośnica)

| Zgorzelec frameless|36x36px - Krzyżowa

| Wieliczka - Targowisko

| frameless|40x40px|link=A6 autostrada (Poland)

| Szczecin Klucz - Szczecin Kijewo

| Renovated both carriageways

| frameless|40x40px|link=A18 autostrada (Poland)

| Olszyna frameless|36x36px - Golnice

| Constructed the northern carriageway alongside the pre-WWII southern carriageway

| rowspan="3"| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S1 (Poland)

| border|36x36px - Zwardoń - Milówka

| 2002 - 2007

| 2004 - 2010

| rowspan="2"| then signed S69

| Żywiec - Przybędza

| 2005

| 2007

| Pyrzowice airport - Podwarpie

| 2005

| 2006

| Single carriageway

| rowspan="4" | frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S3 (Poland)

| Szczecin – Gorzów Wielkopolski

| rowspan="3" | Single carriageway

| Międzyrzecz bypass

| Nowa Sól bypass

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)

| Szubin bypass

| Single carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland)

| Słupsk bypass

| Single carriageway; dual carriageway near the interchanges

| rowspan="10" | frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland)

| Jędrzejów bypass

| Partially (2.7 km) single carriageway

| Nowy Dwór Gdański bypass

| Elbląg bypass

| Grójec bypass

| Białobrzegi - Jedlińsk

| Myślenice - Lubień

| Kielce bypass (northern part)

| Płońsk bypass

| Skurów – Białobrzegi

| Kraków eastern bypass (first fragment)

| rowspan="4" |frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S8 (Poland)

| Oleśnica bypass

| Wyszków bypass

| Wyszków - Radzymin

| Wrocław - Kobierzyce

| rowspan="5" |frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S10 (Poland)

| Toruń bypass (fragment)

| Single carriageway

| Kobylanka bypass

| Partially (7 km) single carriageway

| Stargard bypass

| Bydgoszcz bypass (fragment)

| Wyrzysk bypass

| Single carriageway

| rowspan="2" |frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S11 (Poland)

| Poznań - Kórnik

| Ostrów Wlkp. bypass (northern part)

| Single carriageway

| rowspan="2"|frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S12 (Poland)

| Piaski bypass

| Puławy bypass

| Partially (8.7 km) single carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S16 (Poland)

| Barczewo – Biskupiec

| Single carriageway

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)

| Garwolin bypass

| frameless|40x40px|link=Expressway S19 (Poland)

| Międzyrzec Podlaski bypass

| Single carriageway

| frameless|39x39px|link=Expressway S22 (Poland)

| Elbląg - Grzechotki / Kaliningrad Oblast

| Single carriageway; constructed in place of a partially destroyed motorway from the 1930s

| frameless|39x39px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)

| Cieszyn frameless|36x36px - Bielsko-Biała (Komorowice)

| 2002 - 2005

| 2005 - 2007

| Then signed S1

|colspan="2"|Total

| colspan=4 | of which single carriageway, reconstructed

2011 – 2015

thumb|right|Rędziński bridge on A8, [[Wrocław bypass, opened in 2011]]

In the five years from 2011 to 2015, 1563 kilometers of motorways and expressways were opened – about as much as in the whole prior history of highway construction combined. The main

focus was on developing connections between Poland's largest cities, especially those serving as host venues of UEFA Euro 2012, as well as on extending A4 towards Ukraine.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"

|+Length of highways opened in 2011 – 2015

! Year

! Length

! Notes

| 2011

| 2012

| style="text-align: left;" | Of which were opened before Euro 2012 championship

| 2013

| 2014

| 2015

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" | Total

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" |

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" style="text-align: left;" | Of which 26 km first carriageway, 23 km second carriageway

The sections opened in 2011 – 2015 belonged to the following highways:

frameless|x18px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland): + 273 km (A1 on the section Gdańsk – Łódź was completed in 2014)
frameless|x18px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)frameless|36px|link=Expressway S2 (Poland): + 234 km (A2 on the section Germany – Warsaw was completed in 2012)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S3 (Poland): + 88 km (S3 on the section Szczecin – A2 – Zielona Góra was completed in 2013, except that its older single-carriageway parts remained so until 2017)
frameless|x18px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland): + 183 km
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland): + 138 km
frameless|x18px|link=A8 autostrada (Poland)frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S8 (Poland): + 365 km (S8 on the section Wrocław – Łódź was completed in 2014)
frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S1 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S11 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S12 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S19 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S51 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S61 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S74 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S79 (Poland): + 282 km in total

2016 – 2020

thumb|right|Bridge over Vistula on S7, [[Kraków eastern bypass, opened in 2017]]

thumb|The highway network in 2020

After the peak of investments before Euro 2012, very few new contracts for road construction were signed in 2012 and 2013. This resulted in a small number of sections being opened in 2015 and 2016, a large share of which were the last delayed fragments originally scheduled for a Euro 2012 opening. In particular:

In 2016, the last delayed fragment of frameless|x18px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland) between Kraków and Ukraine was opened, making A4 the first major Polish highway completed on its whole length, as well as the first complete border-to-border highway connection.
Also in 2016, the delayed bypass of Łódź was finished, making frameless|x18px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland) completed on its whole route except for those sections where national road 1 had already been a dual carriageway (see In the 1970s), allowing for a significantly lower priority of constructing the remaining stretch compared to other highways.

Since 2014, the number of signed contracts has risen again, resulting in the number of road openings having risen again since 2017.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"

|+Length of highways opened in 2016 – 2020

! Year

! Length

! Notes

| 2016

| 2017

| 2018

| 2019

| 2020

| style="text-align: left" |

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" | Total

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" |

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" style="text-align: left;" | Of which 13 km first carriageway, 81 km second carriageway

The sections opened in 2016 – 2020 belonged to the following highways:

frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S3 (Poland): + 173 km
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland): + 227 km (S5 on the section Poznań – Wrocław was completed in 2019)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland): + 128 km (S6 on the section Szczecin – Koszalin was completed in 2019)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland): + 213 km
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S8 (Poland): + 128 km (S8 on its originally intended route from Wrocław to Białystok was completed in 2019; an extension to Kłodzko was later added to the plans)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S17 (Poland): + 97 km (S17 on the section Warsaw – Lublin was completed in 2020)
frameless|x15px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S2 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=A4 autostrada (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S11 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S12 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S19 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S51 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S61 (Poland): + 315 km in total (A4 was completed in 2016)

2021 – 2025

thumb|right|The tunnel section of S2 in [[Warsaw, opened in 2021]]

thumb|right|The highway network in 2025

The high tempo of highway development continued in the 2020s. The main focus was on construction of new highways in the less populated eastern Poland, including the international routes Via Carpatia and Via Baltica.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"

! Year

! Length

! Notes

| 2021

|

| style="text-align: left" |

| 2022

| style="text-align: left" |

| 2023

| style="text-align: left" |

| 2024

| style="text-align: left" |

| 2025

| style="text-align: left" |

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" | Total

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" |

| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" style="text-align: left;" | Of which 7 km first carriageway, 94 km second carriageway

The sections opened in 2021 – 2025 belonged to the following highways:

frameless|x18px|link=A1 autostrada (Poland): + 81 km (A1 was completed in 2022)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S3 (Poland): + 104 km (S3 was completed in 2025)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland): + 108 km
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S7 (Poland): + 222 km (S7 on the section Warsaw – Kraków was completed in 2024; a temporary detour through Kraków north-western bypass is in use until Kraków eastern bypass gets completed in 2026)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S11 (Poland): + 80 km
frameless|x18px|link=A18 autostrada (Poland): + 70 km (reconstruction of the pre-WWII southern carriageway of A18 was completed in 2023)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S19 (Poland): + 186 km (S19 "Via Carpathia" on the section Lublin – Rzeszów was completed in 2022, except that its older fragment with 2+1 lanes remains so until 2026)
frameless|x18px|link=Expressway S61 (Poland): + 183 km (S61 "Via Baltica" was completed in 2025)
frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S1 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=A2 autostrada (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S2 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S14 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S16 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S17 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S52 (Poland)frameless|x15px|link=Expressway S74 (Poland): + 249 km in total (S5 was completed in 2022 except its newly planned extensions to Ostróda and Bolków)

2026 – present

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"

! Year

! Length

! Notes

| 2026

| style="text-align: left" | Opened sections and scheduled openings

| 2027 – 2030

| style="text-align: left" | Planned completion of ongoing contracts)

|- style="background-color:#D8D8D8;"

| 2036 || approx. 8000 km (plans