20 years ago, the Strahov Tunnel was opened in Prague

Prague - 20 years ago, on December 2, 1997, the Strahov Tunnel in Prague was opened. Its construction took 12 years and at the time of its opening, it was the longest road tunnel in the Czech Republic. On the northern side of the tunnel, the Brusnický Tunnel connects, which has been part of the Blanka tunnel complex leading to the Troja bank of the Vltava since September 2015.

The city began considering the construction of a road tunnel under Strahov in the early 1970s. Construction began in 1985, but the exploratory tunnel started being excavated as early as 1979. After extensive demolitions in the vicinity of Švédská Street, Metrostav began tunneling from the south and simultaneously from the center towards the north. It was fully broken through in 1991.

After a gradual slowing of the construction pace for financial reasons, the tunnel was completed in 1997 and opened in November of that year. The investment costs for the tunnel itself amounted to nearly five billion crowns, while additional billions were spent on related constructions allowing the tunnel to connect to roadways, particularly the grade-separated interchange on the northern side of the portal (Malovanka).

The tunnel is 2004 meters long; it was surpassed in length by the opened Panenská Tunnel on the D8 motorway in December 2006, which measures 2168 meters. Since September 2015, the longest tunnel in the Czech Republic is the Bubeneč Tunnel from the Prague Blanka complex, measuring 3091 meters.

The Strahov Tunnel is one of the most modern in the Czech Republic and is considered one of the safest as well. It is equipped with air conditioning, a camera system, emission measurement, fire signaling, and escape zones.