A consortium comprising investor Invesis, Austria’s Strabag, Poland’s Budimex and Spain’s Cintra, both subsidiaries of Ferrovial, has signed a 28-year public-private partnership (PPP) contract with the Czech Ministry of Transport for a 52km-long road along the D35 corridor.

The completed motorway will run between Litomyšl and Mohelnice in the eastern Czech Republic, linking Bohemia with Moravia, while alleviating traffic along the existing I/35 road and D1 motorway.

The PPP includes design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 35.4km section of the D35 motorway between Opatovec, Staré Město and Mohelnice.

The contract’s scope of work also involves maintenance and operation of 17km of existing motorway between Litomyšl and Opatovec junctions.

Construction will be carried out by a Budimex and Strabag joint venture, and includes building a dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction, two twin-tube tunnels measuring 4km and 1.3km in length, plus two service areas and an additional link road to the I/35.

The PPP is the largest ever awarded in the Czech Republic, with an approximate €2.9bn price tag.

Stefan Kratochwill, Strabag’s chief executive, said: “Effective public-private partnerships are key to delivering much-needed infrastructure more quickly and efficiently.

“Together with our partners and drawing on our many years’ experience in complex transport infrastructure and tunnel construction projects, we are fully confident that we can successfully deliver this project.”

Construction is due to begin before 2027.