The Czech Highway Authority has admitted it’s having severe difficulties in buying the land it needs to continue with construction of the R6 express road to Karlový Vary. The server idnes.cz revealed that for the Nové Strašecí–Řevničov section of the road, where construction is supposed to begin in 2016, the state has reached agreements with only 25 percent of the land owners. For the Lubenec bypass, where work is scheduled to begin a year later, just 40 percent of the owners have agreed to sell. “The figures shocked me,” said Josef Novotný, governor of the West Bohemia region. “It’s evident that the Czech Highway Authority hasn’t been working on the land purchases much. We’ve tried for years to get the documents about this, but we only managed to do so now.” Lubenec’s mayor, Bohumil Peterka, is also upset, having been told by the investor that the purchases were proceeding well and that 75 percent of the work was done. “Now I’ve found out it’s not true,” he said. “It’s terrible. To issue a construction permit, all the arrangements with the owners have to be completed.”
