EU Road Renewals in Progress in Pest County17 August 2009
The renewal of 5 subsidiary roads in Pest County is proceeding well, which roads will be upgraded to European standard within the framework of the Central Hungary Operational Programme (CHOP). An overview of these priority projects implemented with the help of EU funding and costing a total of 2.1 billion HUF was presented in Szigetszentmiklós on 14 August.
Over 30 four-digit and 5 five-digit roads are being renewed in Pest County during the course of 2008-2009 with the help of a total of 14 projects implemented within the framework of CHOP. The project host Hungarian Roads Management Company presented three of these projects at Szigetszentmiklós on 14 August, within the framework of which the renewal of 5 subsidiary roads is currently in progress. Mr László Varju State Secretary of the Ministry for National Development and Economy responsible for development attended the official ceremony where the copies of the assistance contracts certifying EU funding were handed over.
The feeling of comfort and safety of local residents is what primarily will improve through the renewal of these subsidiary roads. However, in the Central Hungary region there is a huge volume of transit traffic in settlements belonging to the agglomeration of Budapest – highlighted Mr László Varju in his official speech. Consequently, the five road sections that have just been renewed will effectively improve the quality of life of tens of thousand of residents by the end of the summer following the handing over of these roads, which is envisaged to take place in autumn – said the State Secretary.
The renewal of a 10.4-kilometre-long section of Road 3103 linking Isaszeg to Gödöllő is being carried out within the framework of the first project by investing 413 million HUF. In addition, new asphalt is being laid on the Sződ access road (Road 21112) and two bridges will also be renewed.
The second project allocated a budget amounting to 348 million HUF equally extends to include the renewal of 2 road sections along a total of 7.5 kilometres. Road 4606 in the region of Újlengyel and the section of the road between Szigetszentmiklós and Szigethalom linking Csepel and Szigetszentmiklós (Road 51101) will be renewed.
The third project allocated a budget amounting to 1.3 billion HUF is a key part of the national subsidiary road network: this is a single, nearly 33-kilometre long road stretch in the northern part of the County. The Szob-Hont byroad running adjacent to the Slovak border will also be renewed, which extends to include the renewal of the road stretch from Szob right down to Bernecebarát, including the entire border crossing section at Letkés, Ipolytölgyes, Vámosmikola and Kemence.
In his speech, the State Secretary of the Ministry for National Development and Economy responsible for development drew attention to how the renewal of the Hungarian subsidiary road network implemented within the framework of the Regional Operational Programme of the New Hungary Development Plan will, through many small, but strong strands, connect the country to the unified continent. "We still tend to think of Europe as a distant goal even though it is being built on our doorstep," said Mr László Varju.
The road renewal programme for 2007-2008 relying on funding granted by the European Regional Development Fund makes it possible to renew a total of 1100 kilometres of roads around the country within the framework of 79 projects. The total budget allocated for this programme amounts to 50 billion HUF.