Draft budget: next year PLN 210 million for a waterway across the spit

The construction of a waterway linking the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk will receive PLN 210 million from the state budget next year, it was announced in the justification to the draft budget for 2023 published on Tuesday.

The programme in question is the multi-annual programme ‘Construction of a waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk’. The aim of the programme is the construction of a navigation channel through the Vistula Spit together with associated infrastructure, the construction of a waterway from the Gulf of Gdansk to the selected location of the channel and the modernisation of the entrance to the port of Elbląg.

The total costs of the programme between 2016 and 2023 amount to PLN 1 billion 984 million 52 thousand, while budget expenditure in 2023 is planned at PLN 210 million, the justification states.

As explained in the justification, in 2023, as part of the programme implementation, it is planned to continue and complete the construction works related to the navigation channel, continue and complete the construction works on the Elbląg River, continue and complete the construction of the fairway on the Vistula Lagoon, continue and complete the construction of the fairway on the Elbląg River.

The opening of the constructed navigation channel through the Vistula Spit is to take place on 17 September. The entire investment, which consists of the deepening of the waterway, the construction of a bridge in Nowakowo and the deepening of the Elbląg river, is due to be completed next year.

The construction of the waterway linking the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk is a priority investment that will shorten the route of ships to the Baltic Sea and enable free, year-round navigation of sea vessels of all flags to the port of Elbląg and other ports of the Vistula Lagoon.

After the deepening of the waterway, sea vessels of 100 metres in length and sets of 180-metre-long barges 20 metres wide and with a draught of 4.5 metres will be able to enter Elbląg through the Vistula Lagoon.

The new waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk is one of the government’s priority investments. It is intended to strengthen Poland’s sovereignty and make our country independent of decisions made by the Russian side. Polish vessels had to obtain permission from Russia each time they passed through the Pilawa Strait. Once the canal is built, they will no longer have to do so. Thanks to the canal, the route of vessels sailing from the Gulf of Gdansk to the Vistula Lagoon will also be shortened. The investment will strengthen the port of Elbląg and the ports on the Vistula Lagoon.

The total length of the new waterway from the Gulf of Gdansk through the Vistula Lagoon to Elbląg is nearly 23 km, of which about 2.5 km is the section that will comprise the lock and external harbour and berth. The canal and the entire fairway will be 5m deep.

Source: PortalMorski.pl