Until recently, the section of the Dnipro–Reshetylivka highway between Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions looked like an abandoned construction site: machinery stood idle, the roadsides grew over with grass, and scaffolding waited for workers for almost five years. Now rollers and dump trucks are rumbling here again — and by the end of the year, part of the new road is promised to open to traffic.
This concerns the H-31 highway — one of the arteries connecting Dnipro, Poltava, and Kyiv. For local authorities, road contractors, and public procurers, this is more than just another construction project: the speed of the project affects logistics for an entire region, both civilian and military, and the Dnipro–Reshetylivka highway itself is becoming a telling example of how Ukraine is reviving construction sites halted by the war.
What’s Actually Being Built on the Dnipro–Reshetylivka Highway
The company Avtomahistral-Pivden resumed work on the 30-kilometre section — from the Dnipro–Donbas Canal to the border with Poltava region — on June 5, 2026, after an almost five-year pause caused by the full-scale war. Here’s what’s known about the project:
- Length of the section: around 30 km, the Dnipropetrovsk portion of the H-31 highway.
- Total cost of this section: UAH 10.6 billion, making it one of the largest road projects under the “Great Construction” programme.
- In 2026 alone, UAH 7.37 billion has been allocated from the state budget for the works.
- Roughly 20% of the work has been completed so far.
- The road will become four lanes wide, with a capacity of over 25,000 vehicles per day.
- The new route bypasses six settlements, following a principle common on European highways.
- The section is part of the broader Dnipro–Tsarychanka–Kobeliaky–Reshetylivka route, which links Dnipro with Poltava and Kyiv.
When to Expect Traffic on the First Section
According to the Cabinet of Ministers, traffic on the first completed section of the H-31 highway is planned to open by the end of 2026. That means part of the route between Dnipro and Poltava region will start operating in its new format even before the entire project is finished — and drivers who have spent years crawling along narrow detour roads will be able to cut their travel time significantly. State road projects like this rarely move quickly, so even an interim milestone here counts as significant news for the industry.
Why This Matters for More Than Just Drivers
For a country that is fighting and building at the same time, every kilometre of new road is more than just asphalt. The Dnipro–Reshetylivka highway connects two regional centres with the capital, so a faster and safer route is critically important for military logistics, civilian freight transport, and ordinary trips between cities alike. When a four-lane road bypasses settlements instead of running through them, it means fewer traffic jams, fewer accidents, and a longer service life for the pavement itself.
It’s also telling that construction hasn’t stalled at the paperwork stage: the contractor has moved machinery onto the site, and progress is now being tracked in concrete completion percentages rather than mere promises. For the industry, this is an important signal — major state infrastructure contracts can keep moving even under difficult conditions, given proper financing and consistent deadline oversight.
Projects like this are a reminder: Ukraine’s reconstruction isn’t only about schools and hospitals, but also about the roads the country moves forward on. And every contractor who brings machinery on-site on schedule brings closer the moment when the word “construction site” will be associated not with war, but with the future.
Source: Khmarochos
