Regional features and national road infrastructure development on the example of the A4 motorway

Abstract

The author attempts to describe factors determining the development of the national road infrastructure. Motorways and expressways are one of the most severe forms of interference in ecosystems and landscape. Poland is diversified in respect of climate, geology, culture, fauna and flora, population, economic development, level of agricultural development, industry, natural resources, archeological excavations, water areas, fragmentation of farms, attachment to land, etc. As a result, roads are built differently in the northern part of the country dominated by lowlands, with greater number of water basins, than in the upland areas of southern Poland. Due to regional diversity, various unexpected problems occur during construction of roads in different parts of the country, which slows down the works and multiplies the costs. to regional diversity, various unexpected problems occur during construction of roads in different parts of the country, which slows down the works and multiplies the costs. Based on the selected example related to construction of the A4 motorway’s section from Cracow to Tarnów, the author presents a variety of factors, including regional, environmental and social ones, which influenced the duration and quality of the works. The most important regional features of Małopolska voivodeship, which determine the individual nature of construction works in this region, include high fragmentation of farms, abundance of nature reserves, existence of ‘double legal documentation’ in property dealing, unregulated legal status of a great number of properties, attachment to land, the so called ‘patrimony’, low mobility of inhabitants, frequent floods, cold winters, archaeological wealth, numerous monuments.