Ten years of successful operation for the PPP project of the R1 PR1BINA expressway in Slovakia
In Slovakia, VINCI Highways and Granvia celebrate the 10th anniversary of the R1 expressway project, the country’s first PPP highway. Since 10 years, efforts to promote road safety, including awareness campaigns on fatigue and inattentive driving, have helped reduce the number of road accidents in the region by almost 80%. On the environmental front, R1 has undergone major changes through projects to preserve local biodiversity and reduce energy consumption with the installation of nearly 40 beehives near the highway and the replacement of 280 traditional lights with LED lamps. Granvia now intends to continue its environmental conservation efforts with the launch of a project to recultivate the edges of the highway with wildflower meadows.
After the opening of the R1 PR1BINA expressway to the public, new opportunities have opened up for the Nitra region not only in the field of transport. New job opportunities and the influx of investments highlight the necessity of the expressway as a crucial infrastructure for Slovakia. Since the opening of the first PPP project in Slovakia, the R1 PR1BINA expressway ten years ago, 98 million vehicles have passed the expressway. The construction of the expressway eased the historically dangerous “old” road between Nitra and the Tekovské Nemce.
Safer and smoother transport
Drivers can enjoy safer driving without disruptions despite the increase in traffic density in the region. The positive results can be tracked all the way back to 2012, when the road was in its first full year of operation. Compared to the data before 2011, the number of traffic accidents in the area has decreased by up to 80%. Thanks to the cooperation and sharing of experience within the VINCI Highways network, the accident rate on the R1 project has been steadily trending downwards over the past 10 years.
“The R1 PR1BINA expressway is an exceptional project in the context of Slovakia, but also in Central Europe. This project has been built with the emphasis on quality and safety and its management is a model for VINCI Highways and Meridiam, the international groups who are backing the project. During the years that remain in the concession, our goal will be to show that we can adapt the road management to the needs of the environment. The R1 is a perfect opportunity to look for ways to better align their regular operation with the surrounding nature” said Christian Biegert, CEO.
Thanks to a smoother transport and a direct connection in the region, drivers can save up to 14 minutes driving and their journey is undisturbed, all thanks to the 55% of routine maintenance taking place at night. In the event of a crises, Granvia Operation Monitoring Center operators are available at all times, 24 hours a day.
Continuous innovation for a more sustainable mobility
VINCI Highways and Granvia have replaced the lighting system for over 280 lamps on the project for LEDs to improve the efficiency and reduce the electricity consumption. The energy savings already account for about one-third of the original values, and Granvia is looking for more ways to further reduce electricity consumption.
The Pohranice rest area, which will be made available to the public in 2022, had LED lightings planned already during the preparatory phase of the project.
Environmental projects have been helping the environment around the R1 PR1BINA expressway since 2015. In cooperation with Nitra beekeepers, 40 hives have been placed, representing up to 2.5 million bees. These are able to pollinate in the perimeter of 5km to 78km2 area per hive. The number of hives has been growing since the start of the project, thanks to which more and more bees are helping to keep the area around the expressway in the best possible condition.
“Due to climate change we will increasingly face new challenges and therefore we have to be open to new maintenance strategies and possibilities. One of the trial projects for environmental maintenance is the planting of wild meadows, which will replace the grasses growing in the vicinity of R1 PR1BINA. We are cooperating on this project with the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University. We will monitor our progress and work together to create the best possible results. In addition to the nice views of the blooming meadows, we believe that the newly seeded plant mixtures could help further stabilize the slopes around the R1 PR1BINA” added Quentin Duchateau, Deputy General Manager.
In the coming years, Granvia plans to continue and develop new projects focused on sustainable energy sources and green solutions. The company benefits from idea sharing through events such as the Environmental Days, which the VINCI Concessions develops to present innovations and practical management and maintenance solutions for the future.
The timeline of the R1 PR1BINA expressway
The opening of the R1 PR1BINA expressway took place on 28.10.2011 In 2012, a new northern bypass of Banská Bystrica was added to the expressway project, and these two sections form a total of 52 km of routes managed by GRANVIA and Granvia Operation. In 2018, the Lehota crossroads (0.7 km) was completed for the project, which significantly improved the accessibility of the expressway, as well as the traffic situation for the Nitra-West area.
