APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070025-1
of passenger cars will increase from the 90,000 produced in 1971 to 150,000 by 1975; most of the cars produced are built under license from Fiat of Italy.
Road construction and maintenance are influenced by topography and climate. The terrain is generally favorable for construction except in the mountainous regions of the south, where large cuts and fills are required, and in parts of central and eastern Poland, where flooding necessitates building roads on embankments. Repair and maintenance problems are extensive, particularly during the winter. In many instances, road surfaces are not strong enough to withstand heavy volumes of traffic, having been built mainly to accommodate agricultural needs and light commuter services. The heavy traffic in conjunction with severe weather conditions make frequent repair work necessary. Main through routes are accorded priority in maintenance, however, and are usually in good condition. Construction and maintenance projects are undertaken by public road enterprises, but military units and civilian Social Action volunteer groups provide assistance. There is an adequate supply of construction materials, except for bituminous materials, which are imported from Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and the USSR. Road construction equipment is in short supply; most units are of obsolete design.
Long-range plans call for the development of a highway system commensurate with expanding economic and military requirements. Emphasis is placed on improving existing roads toward which about one-half of the 1971-75 highway budget has been allocated. Improvements, such as road widening, resurfacing, realignment, and construction of bypasses around large cities, are continuing under the current Five Year Plan. Although progress has been slow on construction of high-speed expressways, it is predicted that 310 miles of limited-access highways will be completed by 1980. A major project underway is the construction of the new Baltic Arterial Highway, which is to extend along the coastline in the north-central and northwestern regions. A significant project recently completed is a highway bridge over the Vistula at Kiezmark on the Gdansk-Warsaw route; the bridge replaced a ferry and seasonal pontoon bridge.
E. Inland waterways (S)
The navigable waterways of Poland, totalling about 3,700 route miles, comprise two north-south systems, the Oder and Vistula, both interconnected by the east-west Oder-Vistula waterway. Although forming a sparse network, the navigable inland waterways are fairly well integrated and geographically well distributed between the eastern and western parts of the country. They serve most major centers of population, production, and foreign trade and make strategically important international connections with the inland waterways of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR. The inland waterways primarily supplement the railroads and provide mining and other basic industries with a low-cost means of long-haul transportation for bulk commodities. They are important in affording industries in the Upper Silesia industrial complex, as well as those in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, dependable access to maritime ports or the Baltic Sea. The waterways and waterway facilities are not being utilized to full capacity but generally are adequate for current traffic demands placed on them. In 1971 Polish waterway shipping transported 10.6 million short tons of freight and generated 1.5 billion ton-miles; during the same year 7.8 million passengers were carried and 85.6 million passenger-miles produced. The principal cargoes carried are construction materials, coal, ores, and lumber. The traffic pattern is mainly long-haul north-south shipments to and from the Baltic Sea ports, and about 60% of the total yearly tonnage moves on the Oder system. In recent years, however, multidirectional short-haul transport service has increased, and coastal shipping for the supply of industries located on the Baltic coast has been introduced by the waterway navigation enterprises. Foreign waterway traffic to and from East Germany and Czechoslovakia moves through Szczecin on the Oder.
The Oder provides access west to the East German system via direct connections with major East German routes - the Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthaler Wasserstrasse, the Oder-Havel-Kanal, and the Oder-Spree-Kanal - which extend west and converge on Berlin beyond which other high-capacity routes provide waterway access to the Elbe river and West Germany. To the south the Oder provides direct access to Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, for small barge units; Czech transit cargo, however, is translated to and from rail facilities at the ports of Kozle and Gliwice, the upper termini of commercial shipping on the Oder and the Kanal Gliwicki. The lower Vistula distributaries via the joint Polish-Soviet-controlled Frisches Haff afford a direct connection to Kaliningrad, USSR.
Of the 3,700 route-miles of navigable waterways in and bordering Poland, about 40% comprise principal navigation integrated into a national network in support of or under development for large-scale long-
7
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070025-1
