Choma: Deadline for Completing Presov Bypass on R4 Remains Unchanged

Bratislava, 4 December (TASR) - The planned completion date for the second stage of the Presov northern bypass on the R4 expressway, November 2027, remains unchanged for now, stated Transport Ministry State Secretary Igor Choma on Thursday, adding that the ministry is waiting to see whether the contractor will submit a proposal to change the construction schedule. "The site supervision will assess whether the contractor is entitled to claim an extension of the construction period due to geological problems. This can always have an impact on the construction deadline," Choma told TASR on Thursday after a meeting of the parliamentary committee for public administration and regional development. The committee discussed the current state of preparations for constructing motorways and regional roads in Slovakia. According to the state secretary, if the problem with constructing the R4 can be resolved technically, and other acceleration measures are adopted, the deadline for completing the Presov bypass can be met. Choma, along with head of the National Highway Company (NDS) Filip Machacek, confirmed in a debate with MPs that work on this construction project is continuing and that there are currently 150 workers on site. They denied reports that construction workers are leaving to work elsewhere. At the committee meeting, Presov mayor Frantisek Olha and representatives of civil association Our Presov drew attention to a slowdown in the work on the R4 construction project and asked whether the completion date will be met. "My personal experience from the autumn, because I live nearby, is that the work has slowed down significantly and has gone quiet. This has been going on for a month and a half to two months," the mayor told TASR. Chairman of the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) and Presov region governor Milan Majersky subsequently announced that the R4 will form part of the Via Carpatia international corridor from northern to southern Europe. "The Poles will probably have the S19 expressway completed next year, the Hungarians finished theirs this year, and we've been left behind. If we don't want to experience international embarrassment, we should accelerate project preparation, property rights settlement and then construction," said Majersky. am/df