The Polish government has formally revived the controversial ‘Highway to Hel’ motorway project, a 90 km road connecting the city of Gdańsk to the Baltic resort of Hel. The decision, announced late Tuesday, signals Warsaw’s intent to accelerate infrastructure spending despite environmental protests. UK investors, including funds linked to pension giants, are already circling the project, eyeing a share of the 8 billion złoty (approximately £1.6 billion) contract.
The route cuts through the Hel Peninsula, a narrow spit of land that hosts a national park and sensitive dune ecosystems. Environmental groups have labelled the road an ecological disaster, warning it could fragment habitats for protected bird species and exacerbate coastal erosion. “This is a short-sighted gamble on a sinking coastline,” says Dr. Maria Kowalski, a climate policy researcher at the University of Warsaw. “The peninsula is already retreating at an average of 1.5 metres per year due to rising sea levels. Tarmacking it is like building a motorway on a sandbar.”
The Polish government, however, frames the project as a necessary economic catalyst. The region relies heavily on summer tourism, but road congestion has become a chokehold. During peak months, the single-lane access road sees average delays of over two hours. “This is not about short-term profit but long-term connectivity,” says Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk. “We cannot let climate alarmism paralyse development.”
UK investors are undeterred. A consortium led by the London-based Greenfield Infrastructure Group has already submitted a preliminary proposal. “Poland is one of Europe’s fastest growing economies, and infrastructure here offers double-digit returns,” says consortium spokesperson James Aldridge. “The environmental concerns are manageable with proper mitigation.”
But the science suggests otherwise. The Hel Peninsula is a dynamic system, shaped by storms and rising water. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects Baltic Sea levels could rise by up to 60 cm by 2100, a scenario that would submerge large sections of the road. Even with elevated foundations and flood defences, maintenance costs would spiral. A 2019 report by the Polish Academy of Sciences calculated that the break-even point for the motorway would be 40 years of toll revenue, but sea level rise could render it impassable within three decades.
“This is a classic case of carbon lock-in,” says Dr. Vance when reached for comment. “You build a high-emission project, and then you’re committed to spending billions protecting it from the very climate change it helps cause. It’s an ethical and financial dead end.”
The timing is particularly problematic. Poland is already struggling to meet EU climate targets and faces potential fines for its reliance on coal. The Highway to Hel would lock in decades of high car dependency, undermining efforts to shift to rail and electric mobility. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank has explicitly stated it will not fund new motorways after 2025, pushing projects into private hands.
UK investors may be undeterred by reputational risk. The government’s new ‘Infrastructure Bank’ is designed to mobilise private capital for low-carbon projects, yet the Highway to Hel is anything but. Critics accuse the Treasury of hypocrisy, supporting domestic net-zero goals while bankrolling high-emission roads abroad.
“The UK wants to be a green finance hub, but its pension funds are still pouring money into fossil fuel infrastructure,” says campaigner Zofia Nowak from the Polish Climate Movement. “This deal would be a direct investment in climate chaos.”
The final decision on the route will come in 2025, following a revised environmental impact assessment. But with construction contracts already being drafted, the dice may be cast. For the Hel Peninsula, a future of concrete and congestion looms, while the waters rise.
As Dr. Vance puts it: “We are witnessing a slow motion collision between short-term capital and long-term physics. And physics always wins.”
