Two-way traffic should be achieved on the final portion of the D8 motorway between Prague and Dresden at the beginning of 2017. It means that Czech transport minister Daniel Tok didn’t get the Christmas present he’d hoped for, and that the 32-year saga that surrounds the 92 kilometer road hasn’t quite ended. Fears over the stability of the newly opened section of the traffic artery meant that the mood at the ribbon cutting ceremony was defensive. Tok explained that last-minute measure taken to support a hill overlooking one portion of the motorway were still taking effect, making the limiting of traffic necessary. Some experts had warned from the beginning that the northern portion of the route chosen for the D8 was geologically risky. They were proven correct in 2013 when a huge landslide dumped tons of earth and rubble across the road. It’s taken nine years to build this last section of the road, which measures just 16 kilometers.
