01.04.2021
“Tremendous progress has been made in the building of the Europe Motorway. The third section from Kalotina Border Crossing Checkpoint to Dragoman is the hardest to build, however, once the motorway is completed, there will be no need for traffic lights all the way through from Munich and Vienna via Belgrade to Bourgas and Thessaloniki,” Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said when he inspected the road construction site.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the motorway is of great importance for all countries in the region as it is part of Pan-European Corridor X and will bring revenue to Bulgaria in the form of vignette fees. “Everyone sees what has been done and the scale of the works, with employment for hundreds of workers. The motorway will be of benefit to citizens and businesses,” Mr. Borissov said categorically. The Prime Minister noted that works on Europe Motorway do not meddle with the road and the railway traffic on the way. “If it were easy, others would have done it. The Bulgarians build it and deserve it,” the Prime Minister added.
Work on the 14.5-kilometer long section from Kalotina Border Crossing Checkpoint to Dragoman started in February 2021 and the contractor’s teams do their utmost to complete the section within a year. Earth works and road building are performed all the way together with ground preparation, concreting, formwork, reinforcement, assembly of solid concrete and concrete-and-steel units.
The second 17-kilometer long section from Dragoman to Slivnitsa is complete and was open to traffic in early November 2020, which is a year and a half ahead of schedule.
The third 16.5-kilometer long section of the motorway, between Slivnitsa and Sofia, is subject to public procurement and bidders for the construction and assembly work were invited to submit their bids in late February 2021. The bids will be opened on 9 April to select the successful bidder. The section will follow an entirely new route. It will start near the village of Hrabursko, at the 32nd kilometer, go along a new route north of Bozhourishte, between the villages Volouyak and Mramor, and flow into the Northern Bypass Highway at the junction with Sofia’s Ring Road.
