M4 (Hungary)

The M4 is a new highway in Hungary and is a new radial motorway stemming from Budapest. It is a road in several bits however it is progressing as one of the top priority road projects in Hungary at present. It is an upgrade of national highway 4 and is a mix of online and offline upgrades beginning on the edge of Budapest near Liszt Ferenc airport and planned to eventually reach the border with Romania near Ordea where the Romanian A3 will continue its course to Bucharest.

Currently the M3 is the main route eastwards from Budapest which carries a lot of traffic bound for larger cities in eastern Hungary as well as traffic bound for eastern Slovakia and Ukraine. In conjunction with the M35, the M3 is also the major route to Debrecen, the second city of Hungary. This route via the M35 is also a major route to north eastern Romania. As a result the M3 is often a very busy road. At the southern terminus of the M35, space has clearly been left on a 90 degree angle for what is expected to become a motorway-motorway interchange. Currently the M35 flows straight onto the most eastern section of the M4 which runs for a short distance until it reaches a temporary terminus. The eastward extension of the M4 is progressing rapidly to provide a more northern motorway border crossing into Romania. When the section of the M4 at Szolnok is extended eastwards to the M35, it will provide an alternative eastbound motorway route from Budapest to Debrecen which may relieve the M3 of some of the current traffic.

The M4 is opening under expressway regulations making the speed limit 110 km/h for much of its length. It has been built to essentially D2M standards with a gravel hard shoulder which is paved every 2 kilometers signed as emergency refuge areas in a similar way to the M44. This detail is likely one of the few things causing the road not to open as a motorway.

Route

The first section to open was a short stretch running from the edge of Budapest passing by Liszt Ferenc airport, meeting the M0 and ending south of Ullo. This was followed by the short section running eastbound from the end of the M35 in early 2019 and the section between kilometres 50 and 81 opened later the same year. The section linking Ullo and Celged is nearing completion and expected to open in 2020 with the most eastern section over the Romanian border . Eastwards, the online upgrade of route 4 is progressing however is still at an earlier stage than the sections to the west. T