Development of the highway
All highways (apart from D2 and R32) of the Czech Republic begin in Prague – D1, (D3), D5, D8, D11, R4, (R6), R7, and R10. All the mentioned arterial roads should be connected with the ring road and lead traffic out of the city so it won’t be unduly affected by it.
For this reason there is the gradual construction of the so called “Pražský okruh R1”. Sometimes it is called the outer ring road because there is also an inner ring road called “Městský okruh – MO” also being built.
Discussions about the construction of the outer ring road were held before WWII and recognised it would be beneficial for most through traffic, such a major city cannot do without such a road. However, the construction of the ring road wasn’t approved until 1963 and the construction itself only started in the 80´s. In 1987 it was decided that the ring road won’t be just a highway but a high speed road. Nevertheless, red tape and discussion makes no difference for drivers. There were also debates about the name of this “highway” as D1 already existed.
Currently there are two sections of R1 open– in the west the section Ruzyně – Slivenec ( constructions 515,516 and 517) – there are connected D5, R7 and future R6 here – in the east the section Satalice – Běchovice ( construction 510), which connects highways D11 and R10. These two sections which are about 17 km long. The whole ring road will be approximately 83 km long.
The main function of the ring road is: to reduce traffic on the inner city routes, connect all the highways and fast roads near Prague and thus enable through traffic a smooth transition among all the arterial roads that radiate out from Prague. The high density of traffic across our country, which increased even more after entering EU in 2004, will be able to use the ring road instead of the present complicated and torturous routes through the city.
Details at:
http://magistrat.praha-mesto.cz/3114_Prazsky-okruh-souhrnne-informace (available only in Czech)