National motorway upgrades to start in 2025

Motorway renovations, expansions and construction are also expected over the next ten years, according to the CEO of Magyar Koncessziós Infrastruktúra Fejlesztő Zrt. in Világgazdaság. MKIF September 2022, MKIF was awarded a 35-year contract by the Hungarian state to operate, maintain and expand a significant part of the expressway network. For this purpose, the state allocated a gross amount of HUF 200 billion (net HUF 156 billion) to the company for 2024. Their budget for 2023 was HUF 182 billion gross, but according to the company's CEO, the actual amount was several billion forints less.

Renovations will start as early as March this year

As for the renovations, he said that so far 19 per cent of all road sections, about 3.6 million square metres, have been replaced with new asphalt. This year, 3.9 million square metres are planned, which represents another 20 per cent of the total main carriageway.

The aim is to be fully up to speed in a maximum of three years, i.e. by 2025. The renovation work will start after the long weekend of 15 March this year.

"We're mostly done with M1, but there's still a little bit left. The biggest renovations will be on the M3 and the M7, but there will be on the M30, M35, M70, M15, basically everywhere. The detailed daily breakdown of the renovations will be published in due time, so all travellers will know what to expect," the CEO assured.

There is already a timetable for the extensions

The CEO also outlined the timetable for the motorway extensions. The development cycle is approximately ten years. The first phase of the M1 motorway will start in 2025 and is planned to be completed in four years, by 2029. The next extension will not wait until the end of this period, but will start work on the M7 as early as 2027. Here, the extension to 2×3+ITS (waiting traffic) lanes will be completed as far as Szabadbattyán. Lastly, the M3 will be widened to Gyöngyös, starting in 2031 and scheduled to be completed in 2034.

New motorways are also being built

It has also been revealed that the M200 (former M81) will run from Komárom to Sárbogárd, with construction starting between 2027 and 2030. And the M8 from Sárbogárd to Kecskemét, when completed, could have a decisive impact on congestion on the M0. In the same period, the missing section of the M4 between Kisújszállás and Berettyóújfalu will be completed. The M3 will be extended to the border and a new Tisza bridge will be built on the motorway.