Four lanes to Győr and Szabadbattyán - M1 and then M7 expansion to start next year

Our newspaper has reported several times on Hungary's largest expressway renovation project to date. Most recently, we used we presented maps and photos showing which sections have been renovated since March this year by MKIF Zrt.. The Hungarian Concession Infrastructure Development Zrt. is bringing the expressways taken over from the Hungarian State for operation, maintenance and development to a uniform standard as part of a comprehensive programme.

Tamás Kertesi, Deputy Chief Technical Officer of MKIF Zrt., informed us about the current tasks of the Company, its future plans and the operation of the concession concept.

How did the MKIF Zrt. come to handle most of the motorways?

In May 2022, the Concessionaire concluded a concession contract with the Hungarian State following an open EU public procurement procedure. We were able to start the actual work a little later, on 1 September 2022, when we took over the part of the network we are managing from the State. This happened overnight, but we were careful to ensure that travellers did not feel the change on the 1,237 km of the motorway network. Since then, we have added a further stretch of road, the newly completed M44, to the network we manage.

It is important to clarify that concessions are a common business model across the world. One of the features and advantages of concession is that the investments do not have to be pre-financed by the state, as this is done by the Concessionaire.

It's a very long-term business, with a lot of risks, but also a lot of professional opportunities. The Concessionaire manages the road network itself: it carries out the upgrades and extensions itself, of course under public control and to fixed standards. Our contract is for 35 years, a normal period in Europe, so it is possible to manage the assets we have undertaken to manage in a profitable way. In Italy, concession contracts tend to be longer. Since 1972, some 217 concession contracts for motorways have been concluded in the European Union, more than half of them (115) for roughly 30 to 35 years, 23 for almost 60 years, but there are six for between 61 and 80 years. In terms of length, our concession commitments are therefore average.

However, in what is probably a rarity in the world, we have taken on a significant operational and refurbishment role in addition to development tasks. Concession contracts usually stipulate that the operating period starts after the development. This is not the case for us, as we have taken over 1 237 km of existing network elements, which we are both operating and upgrading. In some cases we will extend them and in some places we will also build new roads. Of course, this complexity is a challenge for us, but we are trying to meet all expectations. Our tasks therefore cover all aspects of road construction, from operation, design and construction.

Are the parts of the work separated?

We also have separate units by area and by specialism. The agreement with the Hungarian State is the responsibility of MKIF Zrt. as the Concession Company, which carries out its tasks through Development Intermediaries. The planning and development activities are therefore the responsibility of separate companies, which contract the operational tasks to MKIFÜ Zrt.. There is also a distinction of specialisation within the Development Intermediaries and the Concessionaire, with some departments dealing specifically with design and others with construction or operation.

It's almost uncommon for concession companies to do the planning, and this is another special case for us.

We have a package of development tasks, the elements of which were at various stages of development at the time of takeover. Some of them already had a detailed design; some were at the permit design stage and some were still in the planning stage. Those that the Hungarian State has started to design, it is completing; it is then handing them over to MKIF Zrt. for so-called further design, but there are sections of motorway - and this is quite specific - where the design process was still in the first stages; these have to be continued from a very low level, possibly in the search for the route.

So operation is the main task of the MKIF Zrt.?

Operation and upgrading (renovation) go hand in hand. The pavement condition quality standards are very precise, and all the motorways we manage must therefore comply with the sectoral regulations.

In many sections, these uniform, expected levels were not in place, so when we took over the network, in many respects it did not meet the parameters set out in the concession contract.

This is why it was specified in our contract that the pavement condition of the network should be brought to a uniform level, this will provide a so-called "ground zero" for our future activities, from where we can carry out future maintenance and renovation works in a uniform and systematically organised manner. The upgrading will cover more than half a thousand km, and we have three years to complete these tasks by 31 August 2025.

How are the processes set up?

The pavement condition parameters required by the contract must be checked at regular intervals. Troughing or longitudinal unevenness must be measured annually, slip resistance every three years, and pavement cross slope (which is necessary to allow water to drain off the surface) and load bearing capacity every five years. It is therefore not an ad hoc activity. The levelling will be followed up by planned inspections and renewals each year, based on the National Roads Database and our own measurements.

Whether these require planning depends on the nature of the intervention. Where the track structure needs to be touched, or the track level changed, we will need to draw up plans. Where the asphalt only needs to be milled and the traffic engineering does not change, the technical specifications allow for simplified plans.

Some subcontractors also carry out design, construction and technical inspection tasks. In this sense, we act as the client; however, it is important that we report the results to the State.

How big is the task of levelling up?

In 2023, we will have resurfaced more than 3.6 million square metres of asphalt pavement, which means 500,000 tonnes of asphalt paving and roughly 1,000 lane kilometres. Last year, we renewed 19% of the main track, and this year we plan to renew another 20%, about 3.9 million square metres. We have already completed 44% of milling work and 35% of asphalting this year.

The complete resurfacing will mean the reconstruction of 538 kilometres of motorway in three years, the largest ever motorway reconstruction in Hungary. This is 43% of the road network taken over for management. Unfortunately, the figures also show that the overall condition of the Hungarian motorway network was very poor.

We manage around 1,500 structures, typically overpasses, underpasses and bridges. On an annual basis, the levelling work alone involves over a hundred refurbishments, so this is a very significant task. We also regularly inspect the condition of these, as well as rest areas and junctions. Fortunately, it is usually enough to replace or repair parts of the superstructure, but when the railings or the supporting structure are weakened, much more serious work is needed.

What comes next?

There are two reasons why the upgrading does not concern the whole network, but only half of the main line: firstly, there have been major improvements over the last eight years, and the pavements of the almost new M44 or M86 naturally meet the required parameters. In addition, sections where lane widening will be carried out are also excluded.

The M1 will be extended from the M0 to the border; the M7 from the M0 to Balatonvilágos; the M3 from the Szentmihályi junction to Gyöngyös.

On these roads, we are not responsible for resurfacing due to the reconstruction works, but of course we have to maintain a safe pavement condition until the expansion, which is called road safety resurfacing.

When are the improvements planned?

We have to make the improvements without paralysing the country's transport, so obviously it is not possible to expand these three lines at the same time. Fortunately, in the case of new construction - the M200, the M3 up to the border, the M8 or the M4 - organisational aspects are less of an issue, as we are not disrupting traffic as much, but planning and construction capacities have to be scheduled.

We are looking at a ten-year development period, starting in 2025 and running until 2034. The M1 extension will be the first, with the spectacular work starting next September. The 2*3+ITS lane between the M0 and Concó rest area will be completed in four years, but the M7 extension is expected to start in the 3rd or 4th year of this work, and at the same time construction of the M200 from Komárom to Székesfehérvár will start.

On the M1 to Győr, the M3 between M31 and Gyöngyös and the M7 to Szabadbattyán, three lanes will be built in each direction, and the fourth will be a full stop lane with ITS, or digital traffic signs, opening from the centre.

So if a traffic jam or some other traffic situation requires it, four lanes will be available.

This will also affect junctions, as the acceleration and deceleration lanes of the current on- and off-ramps will open from the hard shoulder. As the hard shoulder will be a traffic lane here, we will have to install extra lane sections alongside the road in several places.

There will be 3+1 lanes on the M1 until Győr, and between Győr and Hegyeshalom the 2×2 lanes will remain, but there will also be an extra full-lane, open service lane. The M7 will have 3+1 lanes up to Szabadbattyán, and then between Szabadbattyán and Balatonvilágos there will be an extended stopping lane next to the two lanes. The reconstruction of the M3 will start at the latest on time, where we will build the 3+1 ITS lane up to Gyöngyös.