The government is to announce today that a highway will not cut through the ecologically protected Rospuda Valley.

The issue had sparked a long-fought and heated battle between environmentalists and the citizens of Augustów, who favor the highway's construction.

Deputy PM Grzegorz Schetyna and Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk are to announce that the government has come up with a new route which will bypass the valley.

The Rospuda Valley has a unique ecosystem, and is protected under the EU's Natura 2000 program.

The new route will be constructed near the village of Raczki.

Currently, commercial traffic - including semi trucks - runs through the village of Augustów. Residents say the amount of traffic is unsafe.

The controversy put the previous Law and Justice government at loggerheads with the European Union, which insisted the highway not be constructed through the valley.