Motorway Has Been Connecting Bratislava and Prague for 45 Years

Bratislava, 8 November (TASR) – The capitals of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Bratislava and Prague, have been connected by a motorway for 45 years as Saturday marks the 45th anniversary of the opening of the last sections of the 317-kilometer-long motorway (8 November 1980), TASR has learnt from the website of the Czech Association Bratislava cesi.sk. The association also points out that the origins of the motorway date back to before World War II, with its construction approved in 1938, when it was expected to connect Prague with Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia [the erstwhile easternmost province of Czechoslovakia in 1918-39]. The first construction work began on 2 May 1939, but the war brought it to a halt. Later, it was resumed on a limited scale, but stopped again in 1950. The construction of motorways resumed on September 8, 1967, and the first motorway section in the former Czechoslovakia was opened on 12 July 1971, between Prague and the village of Mirosovice, with a length of 21.3 kilometres. Construction of the Slovak section of the D2 Bratislava-Malacky motorway began in 1969, and it was opened to traffic on 5 November 1973. am