diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/executor/local_executor.c b/src/backend/distributed/executor/local_executor.c
index 18563c763..4f940fcd9 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/executor/local_executor.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/executor/local_executor.c
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@ ExecuteLocalTaskListExtended(List *taskList,
 		{
 			int taskNumParams = numParams;
 			Oid *taskParameterTypes = parameterTypes;
+			int taskType = GetTaskQueryType(task);
 
 			if (task->parametersInQueryStringResolved)
 			{
@@ -330,7 +331,7 @@ ExecuteLocalTaskListExtended(List *taskList,
 			 * for concatenated strings, we set queryStringList so that we can access
 			 * each query string.
 			 */
-			if (GetTaskQueryType(task) == TASK_QUERY_TEXT_LIST)
+			if (taskType == TASK_QUERY_TEXT_LIST)
 			{
 				List *queryStringList = task->taskQuery.data.queryStringList;
 				totalRowsProcessed +=
@@ -342,22 +343,29 @@ ExecuteLocalTaskListExtended(List *taskList,
 				continue;
 			}
 
-			Query *shardQuery = ParseQueryString(TaskQueryString(task),
-												 taskParameterTypes,
-												 taskNumParams);
+			if (taskType == TASK_QUERY_LOCAL_PLAN)
+			{
+				localPlan = task->taskQuery.data.localPlan;
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				Query *shardQuery = ParseQueryString(TaskQueryString(task),
+													 taskParameterTypes,
+													 taskNumParams);
 
 
-			int cursorOptions = CURSOR_OPT_PARALLEL_OK;
+				int cursorOptions = CURSOR_OPT_PARALLEL_OK;
 
-			/*
-			 * Altough the shardQuery is local to this node, we prefer planner()
-			 * over standard_planner(). The primary reason for that is Citus itself
-			 * is not very tolarent standard_planner() calls that doesn't go through
-			 * distributed_planner() because of the way that restriction hooks are
-			 * implemented. So, let planner to call distributed_planner() which
-			 * eventually calls standard_planner().
-			 */
-			localPlan = planner(shardQuery, NULL, cursorOptions, paramListInfo);
+				/*
+				 * Altough the shardQuery is local to this node, we prefer planner()
+				 * over standard_planner(). The primary reason for that is Citus itself
+				 * is not very tolarent standard_planner() calls that doesn't go through
+				 * distributed_planner() because of the way that restriction hooks are
+				 * implemented. So, let planner to call distributed_planner() which
+				 * eventually calls standard_planner().
+				 */
+				localPlan = planner(shardQuery, NULL, cursorOptions, paramListInfo);
+			}
 		}
 
 		char *shardQueryString = NULL;
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/deparse_shard_query.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/deparse_shard_query.c
index 2542d931a..8eef8f297 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/deparse_shard_query.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/deparse_shard_query.c
@@ -439,6 +439,24 @@ SetTaskQueryStringList(Task *task, List *queryStringList)
 }
 
 
+void
+SetTaskQueryPlan(Task *task, PlannedStmt *localPlan)
+{
+	Assert(localPlan != NULL);
+	task->taskQuery.queryType = TASK_QUERY_LOCAL_PLAN;
+	task->taskQuery.data.localPlan = localPlan;
+	task->queryCount = 1;
+}
+
+
+PlannedStmt *
+TaskQueryLocalPlan(Task *task)
+{
+	Assert(GetTaskQueryType(task) == TASK_QUERY_LOCAL_PLAN);
+	return task->taskQuery.data.localPlan;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * DeparseTaskQuery is a general way of deparsing a query based on a task.
  */
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
index 193e2f250..07dc4afc2 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ static bool ListContainsDistributedTableRTE(List *rangeTableList,
 											bool *maybeHasForeignDistributedTable);
 static PlannedStmt * CreateDistributedPlannedStmt(
 	DistributedPlanningContext *planContext);
+
+static PlannedStmt * CreateFastPathDistributedPlannedStmt(
+	DistributedPlanningContext *planContext);
+
 static PlannedStmt * InlineCtesAndCreateDistributedPlannedStmt(uint64 planId,
 															   DistributedPlanningContext
 															   *planContext);
@@ -135,13 +139,13 @@ static void AdjustReadIntermediateResultsCostInternal(RelOptInfo *relOptInfo,
 													  Const *resultFormatConst);
 static List * OuterPlanParamsList(PlannerInfo *root);
 static List * CopyPlanParamList(List *originalPlanParamList);
-static PlannerRestrictionContext * CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(void);
+static PlannerRestrictionContext * CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(
+	FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathContext);
 static PlannerRestrictionContext * CurrentPlannerRestrictionContext(void);
 static void PopPlannerRestrictionContext(void);
 static void ResetPlannerRestrictionContext(
 	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext);
-static PlannedStmt * PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext,
-												 Node *distributionKeyValue);
+static PlannedStmt * PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext);
 static PlannedStmt * PlanDistributedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext,
 										 int rteIdCounter);
 static RTEListProperties * GetRTEListProperties(List *rangeTableList);
@@ -156,6 +160,8 @@ static bool CheckPostPlanDistribution(bool isDistributedQuery,
 									  Query *origQuery,
 									  List *rangeTableList,
 									  Query *plannedQuery);
+static DistributedPlan * CreateFastPathDistributedPlan(
+	DistributedPlanningContext *planContext);
 
 /* Distributed planner hook */
 PlannedStmt *
@@ -166,7 +172,7 @@ distributed_planner(Query *parse,
 {
 	bool needsDistributedPlanning = false;
 	bool fastPathRouterQuery = false;
-	Node *distributionKeyValue = NULL;
+	FastPathRestrictionContext fastPathContext = { 0 };
 
 	List *rangeTableList = ExtractRangeTableEntryList(parse);
 
@@ -191,7 +197,8 @@ distributed_planner(Query *parse,
 											&maybeHasForeignDistributedTable);
 		if (needsDistributedPlanning)
 		{
-			fastPathRouterQuery = FastPathRouterQuery(parse, &distributionKeyValue);
+			fastPathRouterQuery = FastPathRouterQuery(parse, query_string,
+													  &fastPathContext);
 
 			if (maybeHasForeignDistributedTable)
 			{
@@ -248,7 +255,8 @@ distributed_planner(Query *parse,
 	HideCitusDependentObjectsOnQueriesOfPgMetaTables((Node *) parse, NULL);
 
 	/* create a restriction context and put it at the end if context list */
-	planContext.plannerRestrictionContext = CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext();
+	planContext.plannerRestrictionContext = CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(
+		&fastPathContext);
 
 	/*
 	 * We keep track of how many times we've recursed into the planner, primarily
@@ -264,7 +272,7 @@ distributed_planner(Query *parse,
 	{
 		if (fastPathRouterQuery)
 		{
-			result = PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(&planContext, distributionKeyValue);
+			result = PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(&planContext);
 		}
 		else
 		{
@@ -649,32 +657,21 @@ IsMultiTaskPlan(DistributedPlan *distributedPlan)
  * the FastPathPlanner.
  */
 static PlannedStmt *
-PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext,
-							Node *distributionKeyValue)
+PlanFastPathDistributedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext)
 {
 	FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathContext =
 		planContext->plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext;
 
-	planContext->plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext->
-	fastPathRouterQuery = true;
+	if (!fastPathContext->delayFastPathPlanning)
+	{
+		planContext->plan = FastPathPlanner(planContext->originalQuery,
+											planContext->query,
+											planContext->boundParams);
 
-	if (distributionKeyValue == NULL)
-	{
-		/* nothing to record */
-	}
-	else if (IsA(distributionKeyValue, Const))
-	{
-		fastPathContext->distributionKeyValue = (Const *) distributionKeyValue;
-	}
-	else if (IsA(distributionKeyValue, Param))
-	{
-		fastPathContext->distributionKeyHasParam = true;
+		return CreateDistributedPlannedStmt(planContext);
 	}
 
-	planContext->plan = FastPathPlanner(planContext->originalQuery, planContext->query,
-										planContext->boundParams);
-
-	return CreateDistributedPlannedStmt(planContext);
+	return CreateFastPathDistributedPlannedStmt(planContext);
 }
 
 
@@ -826,6 +823,76 @@ CreateDistributedPlannedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext)
 }
 
 
+static PlannedStmt *
+CreateFastPathDistributedPlannedStmt(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext)
+{
+	uint64 planId = NextPlanId++;
+	bool hasUnresolvedParams = false; /* todo: need to assign this from CreateFastPathDistributedPlan() output */
+	PlannedStmt *resultPlan = NULL;
+
+	DistributedPlan *distributedPlan = CreateFastPathDistributedPlan(planContext);
+
+	/*
+	 * If no plan was generated, prepare a generic error to be emitted.
+	 * Normally this error message will never returned to the user, as it's
+	 * usually due to unresolved prepared statement parameters - in that case
+	 * the logic below will force a custom plan (i.e. with parameters bound to
+	 * specific values) to be generated.  But sql (not plpgsql) functions
+	 * unfortunately don't go through a codepath supporting custom plans - so
+	 * we still need to have an error prepared.
+	 */
+	if (!distributedPlan)
+	{
+		/* currently always should have a more specific error otherwise */
+		distributedPlan = CitusMakeNode(DistributedPlan);
+		distributedPlan->planningError =
+			DeferredError(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+						  "could not create distributed plan",
+						  "Possibly this is caused by the use of parameters in SQL "
+						  "functions, which is not supported in Citus.",
+						  "Consider using PL/pgSQL functions instead.");
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Error out if none of the planners resulted in a usable plan, unless the
+	 * error was possibly triggered by missing parameters.  In that case we'll
+	 * not error out here, but instead rely on postgres' custom plan logic.
+	 * Postgres re-plans prepared statements the first five executions
+	 * (i.e. it produces custom plans), after that the cost of a generic plan
+	 * is compared with the average custom plan cost.  We support otherwise
+	 * unsupported prepared statement parameters by assigning an exorbitant
+	 * cost to the unsupported query.  That'll lead to the custom plan being
+	 * chosen.  But for that to be possible we can't error out here, as
+	 * otherwise that logic is never reached.
+	 */
+	if (distributedPlan->planningError && !hasUnresolvedParams)
+	{
+		RaiseDeferredError(distributedPlan->planningError, ERROR);
+	}
+
+	/* remember the plan's identifier for identifying subplans */
+	distributedPlan->planId = planId;
+
+	/* create final plan by combining local plan with distributed plan. todo: FIXME */
+	resultPlan = FinalizePlan(planContext->plan, distributedPlan);
+
+	/*
+	 * As explained above, force planning costs to be unrealistically high if
+	 * query planning failed (possibly) due to prepared statement parameters or
+	 * if it is planned as a multi shard modify query.
+	 */
+	if ((distributedPlan->planningError ||
+		 (UpdateOrDeleteOrMergeQuery(planContext->originalQuery) && IsMultiTaskPlan(
+			  distributedPlan))) &&
+		hasUnresolvedParams)
+	{
+		DissuadePlannerFromUsingPlan(resultPlan);
+	}
+
+	return resultPlan;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * InlineCtesAndCreateDistributedPlannedStmt gets all the parameters required
  * for creating a distributed planned statement. The function is primarily a
@@ -1225,6 +1292,95 @@ CreateDistributedPlan(uint64 planId, bool allowRecursivePlanning, Query *origina
 }
 
 
+static DistributedPlan *
+CreateFastPathDistributedPlan(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext)
+{
+	DistributedPlan *distributedPlan = NULL;
+	Query *originalQuery = planContext->originalQuery;
+	Query *query = planContext->query;
+	ParamListInfo boundParams = planContext->boundParams;
+	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
+		planContext->plannerRestrictionContext;
+
+	bool hasUnresolvedParams = false;
+	if (HasUnresolvedExternParamsWalker((Node *) originalQuery,
+										boundParams))
+	{
+		hasUnresolvedParams = true;
+	}
+
+	/* Router planner only */
+	RouterPlanType routerPlan = GetRouterPlanType(query, originalQuery,
+												  hasUnresolvedParams);
+	switch (routerPlan)
+	{
+		case DML_QUERY:
+		case SELECT_QUERY:
+		{
+			/*
+			 * modifications and selects are handled via the same fast path routing.
+			 */
+			distributedPlan =
+				CreateFastPathRouterPlan(planContext);
+			break;
+		}
+
+		case INSERT_SELECT_INTO_CITUS_TABLE:
+		case INSERT_SELECT_INTO_LOCAL_TABLE:
+		case MERGE_QUERY:
+		case REPLAN_WITH_BOUND_PARAMETERS:
+		{
+			/*
+			 * Unexpected plan type - error out for now.
+			 */
+			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
+							errmsg(
+								"unexpected plan type for fast path single shard planning")));
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* the functions above always return a plan, possibly with an error */
+	Assert(distributedPlan);
+
+	if (distributedPlan->planningError == NULL)
+	{
+		return distributedPlan;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		RaiseDeferredError(distributedPlan->planningError, DEBUG2);
+	}
+
+	if (hasUnresolvedParams)
+	{
+		/*
+		 * There are parameters that don't have a value in boundParams.
+		 *
+		 * The remainder of the planning logic cannot handle unbound
+		 * parameters. We return a NULL plan, which will have an
+		 * extremely high cost, such that postgres will replan with
+		 * bound parameters.
+		 */
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	/* force evaluation of bound params */
+	boundParams = copyParamList(boundParams);
+
+	/*
+	 * If there are parameters that do have a value in boundParams, replace
+	 * them in the original query. This allows us to more easily cut the
+	 * query into pieces (during recursive planning) or deparse parts of
+	 * the query (during subquery pushdown planning).
+	 */
+	originalQuery = (Query *) ResolveExternalParams((Node *) originalQuery,
+													boundParams);
+	Assert(originalQuery != NULL);
+
+	return distributedPlan;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * EnsurePartitionTableNotReplicated errors out if the input relation is
  * a partition table and the table has a replication factor greater than
@@ -1377,7 +1533,7 @@ GetDistributedPlan(CustomScan *customScan)
 	Node *node = (Node *) linitial(customScan->custom_private);
 	Assert(CitusIsA(node, DistributedPlan));
 
-	CheckNodeCopyAndSerialization(node);
+	/* CheckNodeCopyAndSerialization(node); commented out for local perf profiling */
 
 	DistributedPlan *distributedPlan = (DistributedPlan *) node;
 
@@ -2413,7 +2569,8 @@ CopyPlanParamList(List *originalPlanParamList)
  * inserted to the beginning of the plannerRestrictionContextList and it is returned.
  */
 static PlannerRestrictionContext *
-CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(void)
+CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(
+	FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathRestrictionContext)
 {
 	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
 		palloc0(sizeof(PlannerRestrictionContext));
@@ -2427,6 +2584,14 @@ CreateAndPushPlannerRestrictionContext(void)
 	plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext =
 		palloc0(sizeof(FastPathRestrictionContext));
 
+	if (fastPathRestrictionContext != NULL)
+	{
+		/* copy the fast path restriction context */
+		memcpy(plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext,
+			   fastPathRestrictionContext,
+			   sizeof(FastPathRestrictionContext));
+	}
+
 	plannerRestrictionContext->memoryContext = CurrentMemoryContext;
 
 	/* we'll apply logical AND as we add tables */
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/fast_path_router_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/fast_path_router_planner.c
index 59f80bb40..3bbf7956b 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/fast_path_router_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/fast_path_router_planner.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 #include "distributed/shardinterval_utils.h"
 
 bool EnableFastPathRouterPlanner = true;
+bool EnableSingShardFastPathPOC = true;
 
 static bool ColumnAppearsMultipleTimes(Node *quals, Var *distributionKey);
 static bool DistKeyInSimpleOpExpression(Expr *clause, Var *distColumn,
@@ -112,10 +113,6 @@ GeneratePlaceHolderPlannedStmt(Query *parse)
 	Plan *plan = &scanNode->plan;
 #endif
 
-	Node *distKey PG_USED_FOR_ASSERTS_ONLY = NULL;
-
-	Assert(FastPathRouterQuery(parse, &distKey));
-
 	/* there is only a single relation rte */
 #if PG_VERSION_NUM >= PG_VERSION_16
 	scanNode->scan.scanrelid = 1;
@@ -166,10 +163,14 @@ GeneratePlaceHolderPlannedStmt(Query *parse)
  *     don't have any sublinks/CTEs etc
  */
 bool
-FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, Node **distributionKeyValue)
+FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, const char *query_string,
+					FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathContext)
 {
 	FromExpr *joinTree = query->jointree;
 	Node *quals = NULL;
+	bool isFastPath = false;
+	bool isDistributedTable = false;
+	Node *distributionKeyValue = NULL;
 
 	if (!EnableFastPathRouterPlanner)
 	{
@@ -201,7 +202,9 @@ FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, Node **distributionKeyValue)
 	else if (query->commandType == CMD_INSERT)
 	{
 		/* we don't need to do any further checks, all INSERTs are fast-path */
-		return true;
+		isFastPath = true;
+		isDistributedTable = true;
+		goto returnFastPath;
 	}
 
 	/* make sure that the only range table in FROM clause */
@@ -232,45 +235,74 @@ FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, Node **distributionKeyValue)
 	Var *distributionKey = PartitionColumn(distributedTableId, 1);
 	if (!distributionKey)
 	{
-		return true;
+		isFastPath = true;
 	}
 
-	/* WHERE clause should not be empty for distributed tables */
-	if (joinTree == NULL ||
-		(IsCitusTableTypeCacheEntry(cacheEntry, DISTRIBUTED_TABLE) && joinTree->quals ==
-		 NULL))
+	if (!isFastPath)
 	{
-		return false;
+		isDistributedTable = IsCitusTableTypeCacheEntry(cacheEntry, DISTRIBUTED_TABLE);
+
+		if (joinTree == NULL ||
+			(joinTree->quals == NULL && !isDistributedTable))
+		{
+			/* no quals, not a fast path query */
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		quals = joinTree->quals;
+		if (quals != NULL && IsA(quals, List))
+		{
+			quals = (Node *) make_ands_explicit((List *) quals);
+		}
+
+		/*
+		 * Distribution column must be used in a simple equality match check and it must be
+		 * place at top level conjunction operator. In simple words, we should have
+		 *	    WHERE dist_key = VALUE [AND  ....];
+		 *
+		 *	We're also not allowing any other appearances of the distribution key in the quals.
+		 *
+		 *	Overall the logic might sound fuzzy since it involves two individual checks:
+		 *	    (a) Check for top level AND operator with one side being "dist_key = const"
+		 *	    (b) Only allow single appearance of "dist_key" in the quals
+		 *
+		 *	This is to simplify both of the individual checks and omit various edge cases
+		 *	that might arise with multiple distribution keys in the quals.
+		 */
+		isFastPath = (ConjunctionContainsColumnFilter(quals, distributionKey,
+													  &distributionKeyValue) &&
+					  !ColumnAppearsMultipleTimes(quals, distributionKey));
 	}
 
-	/* convert list of expressions into expression tree for further processing */
-	quals = joinTree->quals;
-	if (quals != NULL && IsA(quals, List))
+returnFastPath:
+
+	if (isFastPath)
 	{
-		quals = (Node *) make_ands_explicit((List *) quals);
+		fastPathContext->fastPathRouterQuery = true;
+		if (distributionKeyValue == NULL)
+		{
+			/* nothing to record */
+		}
+		else if (IsA(distributionKeyValue, Const))
+		{
+			fastPathContext->distributionKeyValue = (Const *) distributionKeyValue;
+		}
+		else if (IsA(distributionKeyValue, Param))
+		{
+			fastPathContext->distributionKeyHasParam = true;
+		}
+
+		if (EnableSingShardFastPathPOC)
+		{
+			fastPathContext->distTableRte = rangeTableEntry;
+			fastPathContext->delayFastPathPlanning = isDistributedTable;  /*&& !fastPathContext->distributionKeyHasParam; */
+
+			/* If the dist key is parameterized the query will use the plan cache (todo: verify) */
+			fastPathContext->clientQueryString = query_string;
+		}
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * Distribution column must be used in a simple equality match check and it must be
-	 * place at top level conjunction operator. In simple words, we should have
-	 *	    WHERE dist_key = VALUE [AND  ....];
-	 *
-	 *	We're also not allowing any other appearances of the distribution key in the quals.
-	 *
-	 *	Overall the logic might sound fuzzy since it involves two individual checks:
-	 *	    (a) Check for top level AND operator with one side being "dist_key = const"
-	 *	    (b) Only allow single appearance of "dist_key" in the quals
-	 *
-	 *	This is to simplify both of the individual checks and omit various edge cases
-	 *	that might arise with multiple distribution keys in the quals.
-	 */
-	if (ConjunctionContainsColumnFilter(quals, distributionKey, distributionKeyValue) &&
-		!ColumnAppearsMultipleTimes(quals, distributionKey))
-	{
-		return true;
-	}
-
-	return false;
+	return isFastPath;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
index 19d386343..52a8c2fd3 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "catalog/pg_opfamily.h"
 #include "catalog/pg_proc.h"
 #include "catalog/pg_type.h"
+#include "distributed/shard_utils.h"
 #include "executor/execdesc.h"
 #include "lib/stringinfo.h"
 #include "nodes/makefuncs.h"
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "optimizer/pathnode.h"
 #include "optimizer/paths.h"
 #include "optimizer/planmain.h"
+#include "optimizer/planner.h"
 #include "optimizer/restrictinfo.h"
 #include "parser/parse_oper.h"
 #include "parser/parsetree.h"
@@ -173,7 +175,9 @@ static void ReorderTaskPlacementsByTaskAssignmentPolicy(Job *job,
 static bool ModifiesLocalTableWithRemoteCitusLocalTable(List *rangeTableList);
 static DeferredErrorMessage * DeferErrorIfUnsupportedLocalTableJoin(List *rangeTableList);
 static bool IsLocallyAccessibleCitusLocalTable(Oid relationId);
-
+static Job * RouterJobFastPath(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext,
+							   DistributedPlan *distributedPlan);
+static Query * ReplaceShardRelationId(Query *query, Oid relationID, Oid shardRelationId);
 
 /*
  * CreateRouterPlan attempts to create a router executor plan for the given
@@ -201,6 +205,64 @@ CreateRouterPlan(Query *originalQuery, Query *query,
 }
 
 
+DistributedPlan *
+CreateFastPathRouterPlan(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext)
+{
+	DistributedPlan *distributedPlan = CitusMakeNode(DistributedPlan);
+	Query *query = planContext->query;
+	bool is_select = (query->commandType == CMD_SELECT);
+
+	distributedPlan->planningError = NULL; /* todo: relevant parts of DeferErrorIfUnsupportedRouterPlannableSelectQuery(planContext->query); */
+	                                       /* Query targetlist does not have nextval */
+	                                       /* Query -> hasForUpdate	AND table replication factor > 1 */
+	if (!is_select)
+	{
+		distributedPlan->planningError = ModifyQuerySupported(query,
+															  planContext->originalQuery,
+															  false,
+															  planContext->
+															  plannerRestrictionContext);
+	}
+
+	if (distributedPlan->planningError == NULL)
+	{
+		distributedPlan->modLevel = RowModifyLevelForQuery(query);
+		Job *job = NULL;
+
+		if (is_select || UpdateOrDeleteOrMergeQuery(query))
+		{
+			job = RouterJobFastPath(planContext, distributedPlan);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			job = RouterInsertJob(planContext->originalQuery);
+
+			/* Apply fast path planning :: todo - place earlier in planning */
+			planContext->plan = FastPathPlanner(planContext->originalQuery,
+												planContext->query,
+												planContext->boundParams);
+		}
+
+		if (distributedPlan->planningError == NULL)
+		{
+			distributedPlan->workerJob = job;
+			distributedPlan->combineQuery = NULL;
+			distributedPlan->expectResults = is_select || query->returningList != NIL;
+			distributedPlan->targetRelationId = is_select ? InvalidOid :
+												ResultRelationOidForQuery(query);
+		}
+
+		/* todo: handle the case where planningError is not NULL */
+	}
+
+	distributedPlan->fastPathRouterPlan =
+		planContext->plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext->
+		fastPathRouterQuery;
+
+	return distributedPlan;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * CreateModifyPlan attempts to create a plan for the given modification
  * statement. If planning fails ->planningError is set to a description of
@@ -1948,6 +2010,188 @@ RouterJob(Query *originalQuery, PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionCon
 }
 
 
+static Job *
+RouterJobFastPath(DistributedPlanningContext *planContext,
+				  DistributedPlan *distributedPlan)
+{
+	FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathContext =
+		planContext->plannerRestrictionContext->fastPathRestrictionContext;
+
+	/* DeferredErrorMessage *planningError = NULL; todo - check if we need this */
+	Job *job = NULL;
+	Assert(fastPathContext->fastPathRouterQuery);
+	Assert(fastPathContext->delayFastPathPlanning);
+
+	if (fastPathContext->distributionKeyHasParam)
+	{
+		/*
+		 * Deferred pruning - don't know which shard at this point.
+		 */
+		job = CreateJob(planContext->query);
+		job->deferredPruning = true;
+
+		/* Apply fast path planning */
+		planContext->plan = FastPathPlanner(planContext->originalQuery,
+											planContext->query,
+											planContext->boundParams);
+		return job;
+	}
+
+	Query *originalQuery = planContext->originalQuery;
+	bool isMultiShardQuery = false, shardsPresent = false,
+		 distTableWithShardKey = false, isLocalExecution = false;
+	Const *partitionKeyValue = NULL;
+	Const *distributionKeyValue = fastPathContext->distributionKeyValue;
+	uint64 shardId = INVALID_SHARD_ID;
+	int32 localGroupId = -1;
+
+	List *shardIntervals =
+		TargetShardIntervalForFastPathQuery(originalQuery, &isMultiShardQuery,
+											distributionKeyValue,
+											&partitionKeyValue);
+	Assert(!isMultiShardQuery);
+	Assert(list_length(shardIntervals) == 1);
+
+	List *relationShards = RelationShardListForShardIntervalList(shardIntervals,
+																 &shardsPresent);
+	Assert(shardsPresent);
+	Assert(list_length(relationShards) == 1);
+
+	RelationShard *shard = (RelationShard *) linitial(relationShards);
+	shardId = shard->shardId;
+
+	CitusTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = LookupCitusTableCacheEntry(
+		fastPathContext->distTableRte->relid);
+	Assert(cacheEntry != NULL);
+	Assert(cacheEntry->relationId == shard->relationId);
+	Assert(IsCitusTableTypeCacheEntry(cacheEntry, DISTRIBUTED_TABLE));
+
+	distTableWithShardKey = HasDistributionKeyCacheEntry(cacheEntry);
+	Assert(distTableWithShardKey);
+
+	List *taskPlacementList = CreateTaskPlacementListForShardIntervals(shardIntervals,
+																	   true, false,
+																	   false);
+	Assert(list_length(taskPlacementList) == 1);
+	ShardPlacement *primaryPlacement =
+		(ShardPlacement *) linitial(taskPlacementList);
+	Assert(primaryPlacement->shardId == shardId);
+	Assert(originalQuery->resultRelation == 0 ||
+		   fastPathContext->distTableRte->rtekind != RTE_SUBQUERY);
+	Assert(shardId != INVALID_SHARD_ID);
+	if (originalQuery->hasModifyingCTE)
+	{
+		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
+						errmsg(
+							"Fast path queries with modifying CTEs are not supported")));
+	}
+
+	job = CreateJob(originalQuery);
+	job->partitionKeyValue = partitionKeyValue;
+	job->requiresCoordinatorEvaluation = false; /* todo: assert this is correct */
+	job->colocationId = TableColocationId(fastPathContext->distTableRte->relid);
+
+	TaskType taskType = READ_TASK;
+	char replicationModel = 0;
+
+	if (originalQuery->commandType != CMD_SELECT)
+	{
+		taskType = MODIFY_TASK;
+		replicationModel = cacheEntry->replicationModel;
+	}
+
+	Task *task = CreateTask(taskType);
+	task->isLocalTableModification = false;
+	List *relationRowLockList = NIL;
+
+	task->taskPlacementList = taskPlacementList;
+	task->partitionKeyValue = partitionKeyValue;
+	task->colocationId = job->colocationId;
+
+	/* Determine if task is local or remote */
+	localGroupId = GetLocalGroupId();
+	isLocalExecution = (primaryPlacement->groupId == localGroupId);
+
+	if (isLocalExecution)
+	{
+		planContext->query = ReplaceShardRelationId(planContext->query,
+													shard->relationId,
+													shardId);
+
+		/* Plan the query with the new shard relation id */
+		/* Save plan in planContext->plan */
+		planContext->plan = standard_planner(planContext->query, NULL,
+											 planContext->cursorOptions,
+											 planContext->boundParams);
+		SetTaskQueryPlan(task, planContext->plan);
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		SetTaskQueryString(task, (char *) fastPathContext->clientQueryString);
+
+		/* Call fast path query planner, Save plan in planContext->plan */
+		planContext->plan = FastPathPlanner(planContext->originalQuery,
+											planContext->query,
+											planContext->boundParams);
+	}
+	task->anchorShardId = shardId;
+	task->jobId = job->jobId;
+	task->relationShardList = relationShards;
+	task->relationRowLockList = relationRowLockList;
+	task->replicationModel = replicationModel;
+	task->parametersInQueryStringResolved = job->parametersInJobQueryResolved;
+
+	job->taskList = list_make1(task);
+	return job;
+}
+
+
+static Query *
+ReplaceShardRelationId(Query *query, Oid citusTableOid, Oid shardId)
+{
+	Oid shardRelationId = InvalidOid;
+
+	Assert(list_length(query->rtable) == 1);
+	Assert(list_length(query->rteperminfos) == 1);
+
+	RangeTblEntry *rte = (RangeTblEntry *) linitial(query->rtable);
+	Assert(rte->relid == citusTableOid);
+	RTEPermissionInfo *rtePermInfo = (RTEPermissionInfo *) linitial(query->rteperminfos);
+
+	const char *citusTableName = get_rel_name(citusTableOid);
+	Assert(citusTableName != NULL);
+
+	/* construct shard relation name */
+	char *shardRelationName = pstrdup(citusTableName);
+	AppendShardIdToName(&shardRelationName, shardId);
+
+	RangeVar shardRangeVar = {
+		.relname = shardRelationName,
+		.schemaname = NULL, /* todo - should initialize this ? get_rel_namespace(shardRelationId), */
+		.inh = rte->inh,
+		.relpersistence = RELPERSISTENCE_PERMANENT,
+	};
+
+	shardRelationId = RangeVarGetRelidExtended(&shardRangeVar, rte->rellockmode,
+											   0, NULL, NULL);  /* todo - use suitable callback for perms check? */
+	Assert(shardRelationId != InvalidOid);
+	rte->relid = shardRelationId;
+	rtePermInfo->relid = shardRelationId;
+
+	ListCell *lc = NULL;
+	foreach(lc, query->targetList)
+	{
+		TargetEntry *targetEntry = (TargetEntry *) lfirst(lc);
+		if (targetEntry->resorigtbl == citusTableOid)
+		{
+			targetEntry->resorigtbl = shardRelationId;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return query;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * GenerateSingleShardRouterTaskList is a wrapper around other corresponding task
  * list generation functions specific to single shard selects and modifications.
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
index 430eb8555..823646e26 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
@@ -1366,6 +1366,17 @@ RegisterCitusConfigVariables(void)
 		GUC_NO_SHOW_ALL | GUC_NOT_IN_SAMPLE,
 		NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
+	DefineCustomBoolVariable(
+		"citus.enable_single_shard_poc",
+		gettext_noop("Enables execution shortcuts for single shard "
+					 "queries in the proof of concept mode."),
+		NULL,
+		&EnableSingShardFastPathPOC,
+		true,
+		PGC_USERSET,
+		GUC_NO_SHOW_ALL | GUC_NOT_IN_SAMPLE,
+		NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
 	DefineCustomBoolVariable(
 		"citus.enable_local_execution",
 		gettext_noop("Enables queries on shards that are local to the current node "
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/citus_copyfuncs.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/citus_copyfuncs.c
index 4b4a334c8..1c40c5755 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/citus_copyfuncs.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/citus_copyfuncs.c
@@ -287,6 +287,14 @@ CopyTaskQuery(Task *newnode, Task *from)
 			break;
 		}
 
+		case TASK_QUERY_LOCAL_PLAN:
+		{
+			/*COPY_NODE_FIELD(taskQuery.data.localPlan); */
+			/* This is a local planned statement, so shallow copy is enough */
+			COPY_SCALAR_FIELD(taskQuery.data.localPlan);
+			break;
+		}
+
 		default:
 		{
 			break;
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/deparse_shard_query.h b/src/include/distributed/deparse_shard_query.h
index 8fb012588..7ac49f920 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/deparse_shard_query.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/deparse_shard_query.h
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ extern bool UpdateRelationToShardNames(Node *node, List *relationShardList);
 extern void SetTaskQueryIfShouldLazyDeparse(Task *task, Query *query);
 extern void SetTaskQueryString(Task *task, char *queryString);
 extern void SetTaskQueryStringList(Task *task, List *queryStringList);
+extern void SetTaskQueryPlan(Task *task, PlannedStmt *localPlan);
 extern char * TaskQueryString(Task *task);
+extern PlannedStmt * TaskQueryLocalPlan(Task *task);
 extern char * TaskQueryStringAtIndex(Task *task, int index);
 extern int GetTaskQueryType(Task *task);
 extern void AddInsertAliasIfNeeded(Query *query);
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/distributed_planner.h b/src/include/distributed/distributed_planner.h
index 33a9c2fa8..5f343aae2 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/distributed_planner.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/distributed_planner.h
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ typedef struct FastPathRestrictionContext
 	 * Set to true when distKey = Param; in the queryTree
 	 */
 	bool distributionKeyHasParam;
+
+	bool delayFastPathPlanning; /* Indicates to hold off on callning the fast path planner until its known if the shard is local */
+
+	RangeTblEntry *distTableRte;   /* Range table entry for the table we're querying */
+
+	const char *clientQueryString;  /* As passed in by the client */
 } FastPathRestrictionContext;
 
 typedef struct PlannerRestrictionContext
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/multi_physical_planner.h b/src/include/distributed/multi_physical_planner.h
index 475a41b37..c73b78227 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/multi_physical_planner.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/multi_physical_planner.h
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ typedef enum TaskQueryType
 	TASK_QUERY_NULL,
 	TASK_QUERY_TEXT,
 	TASK_QUERY_OBJECT,
-	TASK_QUERY_TEXT_LIST
+	TASK_QUERY_TEXT_LIST,
+	TASK_QUERY_LOCAL_PLAN,
 } TaskQueryType;
 
 typedef struct TaskQuery
@@ -219,6 +220,8 @@ typedef struct TaskQuery
 		 * when we want to access each query string.
 		 */
 		List *queryStringList;
+
+		PlannedStmt *localPlan; /* only applies to local tasks */
 	}data;
 }TaskQuery;
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/multi_router_planner.h b/src/include/distributed/multi_router_planner.h
index 44be2736e..5cfd5a69b 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/multi_router_planner.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/multi_router_planner.h
@@ -28,12 +28,15 @@
 
 extern bool EnableRouterExecution;
 extern bool EnableFastPathRouterPlanner;
+extern bool EnableSingShardFastPathPOC;
 
 extern bool EnableNonColocatedRouterQueryPushdown;
 
 extern DistributedPlan * CreateRouterPlan(Query *originalQuery, Query *query,
 										  PlannerRestrictionContext *
 										  plannerRestrictionContext);
+extern DistributedPlan * CreateFastPathRouterPlan(
+	DistributedPlanningContext *planContext);
 extern DistributedPlan * CreateModifyPlan(Query *originalQuery, Query *query,
 										  PlannerRestrictionContext *
 										  plannerRestrictionContext);
@@ -100,7 +103,8 @@ extern void GenerateSingleShardRouterTaskList(Job *job,
 
 extern PlannedStmt * FastPathPlanner(Query *originalQuery, Query *parse, ParamListInfo
 									 boundParams);
-extern bool FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, Node **distributionKeyValue);
+extern bool FastPathRouterQuery(Query *query, const char *query_string,
+								FastPathRestrictionContext *fastPathContext);
 extern bool JoinConditionIsOnFalse(List *relOptInfo);
 extern Oid ResultRelationOidForQuery(Query *query);
 extern DeferredErrorMessage * TargetlistAndFunctionsSupported(Oid resultRelationId,