Construction of the R1 expressway began in the 1970s. The long
Šášovské Podhradie -
Budča was built in the 1980s. The section
Sereď - Pata was built only in a half profile so in the mid-1990, the upgrade to a four-lane road began. The entire long section from
Trnava to Sereď was completely opened on 15 July 2000.
Žarnovica –
Šášovské Podhradie; the section forming the
Žarnovica bypass was built in two stages. The first one with the length of was built between 2008 and 2010, and the second stage was built between 2008 and 2011, with its length totalling at .
Public private partnership project (PPP) A long section
Nitra -
Tekovské Nemce was financed by a
PPP project.
EUR 130 million was paid by the
Slovak state to Granvia for the maintenance of the road in addition to the construction itself. Granvia built three separate sections, which have been under construction since 2009 and were handed over for use on 28 October 2011. The first section; long between
Nitra–západ – Selenec, for which the planned cost from 2007 was
EUR 196 million (5 billion
CZK) with financing from the Structural Fund, the state budget and the resources of the National Motorway Company. Completed at the same time was the long section connecting
Nitra and
Beladice, and the long section between
Beladice –
Tekovské Nemce which connects to the R1 at
Zlaté Moravce.
Future development A long section in
Banská Bystrica is under construction, and is planned to open in 2026. The remaining between the R1 in
Banská Bystrica and the D1 is not included in the construction plan until 2028. ==Sections of the expressway==