Bypass on R3 Motorway Section Tvrdosin–Nizna Officially Opens

Tvrdosin/Bratislava, 21 July (TASR) – A new section of the R3 expressway between Tvrdosin and Nizna in the Orava area was officially opened on Monday, with Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) and the general director of the National Highway Company (NDS) Filip Machacek in attendance. "The section is just under 5.6 kilometres long. It's a fully functional bypass of the town of Tvrdosin, with 11 bridges and approximately 78 construction structures. It is now fully completed, and the first vehicles will drive through it today," said Machacek. He noted that the current contractual cost of the project is just under €80 million. "We don't yet have the final price, of course, because although the road is being handed over to drivers today, there is still work to be done. We'll continue with the follow-up components that are ahead of us," the NDS general director added. According to the Transport Minister, the Tvrdosin bypass will be exempt from motorway vignettes for passenger vehicles, but toll collection for freight transport will begin as of 1 August. "I believe that the local residents will make full use of the bypass to relieve the town centre as much as possible," sad Raz. mf/df