Highways in the Czech Republic
Highways in the Czech Republic are managed by the state-owned Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic – , established in 1997. The ŘSD currently manages and maintains 1,250 km of motorways, whose speed limit is of 130 km/h or 80 mph. The present-day national motorway network is due to be of about 2,000 km before 2030.
Toll requirements
Motorcars up to 3.5 tonnes
In 2018, for motorcars with a maximum authorized mass of up to 3.5 tonnes, motorways in the Czech Republic are subject to a time-based fee paid with the purchase of a windscreen toll vignette with a validity of either 10 days, 1 month or 1 year .Generally said, a motorway road sign means that a toll vignette is obligatory. Only sections not subject to vignette are designated with an additional road sign.
| Motorway | Motorway route subject to a time-based fee | mk L |
| Modletice – Prague-Slivenec | 3 | |
| Prague-Chodov – Kývalka | 08 | |
| Holubice – Kroměříž-západ | 8 | |
| Kroměříž-východ – Říkovice | 12 | |
| Lipník nad Bečvou – Ostrava-Rudná | 58 | |
| Brno-Chrlice – border with Slovakia – in the direction from Slovakia subject to a charge since km 55,5 | 58 | |
| Mezno – Čekanice | 14 | |
| Měšice – Veselí nad Lužnicí, sever | 5 | |
| Jíloviště – Háje | 36 | |
| Prague-Třebonice – Beroun-východ | 14 | |
| Beroun-západ – Ejpovice | 45 | |
| Sulkov – border with Germany – in the direction from Germany subject to a charge since km 149,7 | 62 | |
| Jeneč – Nové Strašecí - from Cheb to Karlovy Vary as of 2018 without vignette | 25 | |
| Kněževes – Knovíz | 15 | |
| Zdiby – Řehlovice | 65 | |
| Knínice – border with Germany – in the direction from Germany subject to a charge since exit 65 Řehlovice | 12 | |
| Stará Boleslav – Bezděčín | 25 | |
| Kosmonosy – Ohrazenice | 25 | |
| Jirny – Hradec Králové-Kukleny | 82 | |
| Sedlice – Opatovice | ||
| Mohelnice-jih – Křelov | 26 | |
| Olomouc-Holice – Lipník nad Bečvou | 20 | |
| Vyškov-východ – Prostějov-jih | 19 | |
| Držovice – Olomouc-Slavonín | 11 | |
| Bělotín – Bělotín-východ | ||
| Frýdek-Místek – Žukov | 19 | |
| Rajhrad – Pohořelice-jih | 13 | |
| Hulín – Otrokovice | 14 | |
| Ostrava-Hrabová, průmyslová zóna – Frýdek-Místek | 12 |
Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes
As of 1 January 2007 a new system of electronic toll aka a distance toll for vehicles with a weight exceeding 12 tons has been introduced for motorways and some roads of the first class, totally cca 200 km. As of 1 January 2010, this applies also to vehicles over 3.5 tons. There is an ongoing public discussion on imposition of electronic toll for all cars and vehicles.History of Czech motorways
Before the [Second World War]
First informal plans of a motorway in Czechoslovakia date back to 1935 and was to link Prague through Slovakia with Czechoslovak easternmost territory of Carpathian Ruthenia being Velykyy Bychkiv its end on the Czechoslovak - Romanian border. The definitive route, including a Prague ring motorway, was approved shortly after the Munich Agreement on 4 November 1938 for a planned speed limit of 120 km/h.Nazi authorities also made the second Czecho-Slovak Republic, already a German satellite state, build up a part of the Reichsautobahn Breslau - Vienna as an extraterritorial German motorway with border checkpoints at each motorway exit. However, only a construction of the route within Bohemia and Moravia was initiated, but never finished. It still sporadically appears in some current Czech motorway plans.
On 1 December 1938 the Nazi Germany had already initiated a construction of so-called Sudetenautobahn in the route Streitau – Eger – Carlsbad – Lobositz – Böhmisch Leipa – Reichenberg – Görlitz. The autobahn has never been finished, but some remnants in the landscape close to Pomezí nad Ohří, Cheb/Eger and Liberec/Reichenberg are still prominent and a not finished part from Svárov via Machnín to Chrastava was used in the construction of the road for motorcars I/35.
The Time of the Nazi Occupation
After the breakdown of Czechoslovakia following a declaration of independence of the Slovak Republic and of the short-lived Carpatho-Ukraine which was a prelude to the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939, a decision to build the motorway only to the Slovak border was adopted. The technical parameters of motorways were adjusted to those of German Reichsautobahn as Czech motorways should be integrated within the German Reichsautobahn network.The project for the first segment Prague - Lužná was ready in January 1939, and the construction in Moravia began on 24 January in Chřiby on the Zástřizly - Lužná segment. The construction in Bohemia from Prague on began on 2 May 1939, with switch to right-hand traffic in Bohemia and Moravia already gone without a hitch. The motorway should have reached Brno in 1940, but building materials and labour shortage due to an absolute priority of the nazi armament industry delayed considerably the work. The construction in the route of approx. 77 km from Prague towards Brno advanced notably when a prohibition of all civil constructions by German authorities came into force in 1942.
After the Second World War
After the Second World War, the completion only of the first and unfinished 77 km of the motorway Prague - Brno up to Humpolec was approved by the Government in November 1945 and was reinaugurated in 1946. The construction sites of the partly inaugurated construction of the Sudetenautobahn were completely abandoned, as well as that of the Breslau - Vienna motorway. The latter was, however, incorporated in some plans as a future connection motorway between Brno and the D35 motorway. Just finishing of some large bridges and a concrete surface on the 77 km of the Prague - Humpolec motorway lacked when the new communist government decided to discontinue completely the work in early 1950.Only on 8 August 1967 the Government of the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia resolved to continue the construction of motorways by adopting a new motorway plan for the whole country and passed a resolution of continuation of the already twice interrupted construction of the motorway Prague - Brno and further Brno - Bratislava. The construction was solemnly inaugurated on 8 September 1967. Due to a change of technical parameters, some bridges finished before 1950 were replaced. The Prague - Brno motorway, initiated on 2 May 1939, reached Brno in 1980, full 40 years after in the beginning scheduled opening.
The pace of construction of highways has always been rather slow up to the present days. The first 100 km of highways on the territory of today's Czech Republic were completed in 1975, 500 km in 1985 and 1,000 in 2007. Funding for the construction of highways was radically reduced after the crisis in 2008 due to draconian budget cuts and is currently gaining momentum rather slowly for various reasons.
Motorways
The motorways in the Czech Republic, dálnice, are defined as two-lane motorways in each direction, with an emergency lane. The speed limit is 130 km/h or 80 mph. Their highway shields are white on red and road signs are white on green. As of 1 January 2016, the Czech motorway network comprises 18 motorways. Nowadays, 17 of them are at least partially operational, but only 5 have been completed, another one is near completion by the end of 2022.The number of a motorway reflects a number of the previous national road alongside which it was built up or which it shall replace. After the construction of the motorway, the affected national road is degraded to a regional road with a number beginning on 6 and having 3 digits. For instance, after the completion of the D8 motorway, the previous national road no. I/8 between Prague and Lovosice became a regional road no. 608. Regional roads are maintained by the self-governing regions and not by the state directly.
| Motorway | Name of motorway | Motorway route | Operational | % operational | In construction | Planned Total length | Maximum AADT |
| D0 | Prague Ring | 41 | 49% | 83 | 75,092 | ||
| D1 | Prague – Jihlava – Brno – Vyškov – Hulín – Přerov – Lipník nad Bečvou – Bělotín – Ostrava – Bohumín –  Poland | 366 | 97% | 376 | 99,265 | ||
| D2 | Brno – Břeclav –  Slovakia | 61 | 100% | 61 | 50,905 | ||
| D3 | Prague – Tábor – České Budějovice – Dolní Dvořiště –  Austria | 70 | 41% | 20 | 172 | 14,097 | |
| D4 | Prague – Příbram – Háje | 43 | 51% | 84 | 29,617 | ||
| D5 | Via Carolina | 151 | 100% | 151 | 58,760 | ||
| D6 | Prague – Karlovy Vary – Sokolov – Cheb – Pomezí nad Ohří –  Germany | 94 | 56% | 15 | 167 | 39,449 | |
| D7 | Prague – Louny – Chomutov | 40 | 51% | 79 | 33,479 | ||
| D8 | Prague – Lovosice – Ústí nad Labem – Krásný Les – Germany | 94 | 100% | 94 | 48,003 | ||
| D10 | Prague – Mladá Boleslav – Turnov | 71 | 100% | 71 | 43,040 | ||
| D11 | Prague – Poděbrady – Hradec Králové – Jaroměř – Trutnov – Královec – Poland | 92 | 60% | 154 | 43,986 | ||
| D35 | Hradec Králové – Svitavy – Mohelnice – Olomouc – Lipník nad Bečvou | 63 | 36% | 174 | 34,055 | ||
| D46 | Vyškov – Prostějov – Olomouc | 38 | 100% | 38 | 36,136 | ||
| D48 | Bělotín – Nový Jičín – Frýdek-Místek – Český Těšín | 31 | 18% | 12 | 75 | 18,642 | |
| D49 | Hulín – Zlín – Vizovice – Střelná – Slovakia | 0 | 0% | 69 | |||
| D52 | Brno – Pohořelice – Mikulov – Austria | 17 | 32% | 53 | 23,535 | ||
| D55 | Olomouc – Přerov – Hulín – Otrokovice – Hodonín – Břeclav | 16 | 16% | 101 | 16,102 | ||
| D56 | Ostrava – Frýdek-Místek | 12 | 92% | 13 | 24,957 | ||
| Total | 1254 | 59% | 59 | 2135 |
Originally, a motorway D47 was planned from Brno to Ostrava and construction in the section Lipník nad Bečvou - Ostrava under this number even started, but in the end the ŘSD in 2006 decided that the D47 should be classified as an extension of the D1 motorway.
Roads for motorcars
The category of roads for motorcars was changed on 31 December 2015. Most roads for motorcars were classified as fully fledged motorways, while some sections remained in the same category. The speed limit for most existing roads for motorcars was reduced to 110 km/h.As of 2016, roads for motorcars are not subject to highway tolls for vehicles with total weight up to 3.5 t. The signs on roads for motorcars consist of white text on a blue background, like on other common roads and unlike on motorways, where the background is green. Exits, like on motorways, are usually numbered.
It is in the jurisdiction of individual regions to decide whether roads for motorcars should have higher speed limits than regular roads. An example of this is the expressway R35 between Liberec and Turnov which has not been classified as of 1 January 2016 as a motorway but an exceptional speed limit of up to 130 km/h was kept using road signs.
List of completed roads for motorcars
Planned upgrade to road for motorcars:- :cs:I/7|I/7 Spořice - Křimov
- :cs:I/13|I/13 Chomutov - Teplice
- :cs:I/13|I/13 Ostrov - Karlovy Vary
- :cs:I/11|I/11 Ostrava-Vítkovice - Šenov
- :cs:I/14|I/14 Liberec: interchange I/35 - roundabout Kunratice
- :cs:Silnice I/34|I/34 České Budějovice - Lišov, interchange Na Klaudě St.
- :cs:I/35|I/35 roundabout Hrádek nad Nisou - Liberec, interchange Hodkovická St.
Opening of new motorways
Between 1971 and 2014 the average year pace of completion of new highways was 28.2 km a year.
| Motorway | From | To | Length | Construction started | Due to open | Remarks |
| Řevničov | ring road | 4.2 km | 07/2017 | 10/2020 | ||
| Nové Strašecí | Řevničov | 5.6 km | 08/2017 | 10/2020 | ||
| Lubenec | ring road | 4.9 km | 03/2018 | 06/2021 | ||
| Rybí | Rychaltice | 11.5 km | 03/2017 | 12/2020 |