New Highway Junction Unclogs Traffic in Western Bulgaria



Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency has opened the Daskalovo road junction, which is expected to unclog the road traffic in all of Western Bulgaria, including the roads to Macedonia and Greece.

The Daskalovo junction connects two major highways in Southwestern Bulgaria, which are still under construction – the 19-km Lyulin Highway, and the 156-km Struma Highway.

The head of the Road Infrastructure Agency, Bozhidar Yotov, opened on Friday only the lower level of the Daskalovo road junction near the village of Dragichevo, while the upper level, which is the Lyulin Highway, has not been completed yet.

The junction near the village of Dragichevo includes two lanes in the direction of Sofia, two lanes of the road to the Gyueshevo crossing on the Bulgarian-Macedonian border, and two lanes from the road to the city of Pernik leading also to Greece.

The 19-km Lyulin Highway from Sofia to the Daskalovo road junction should be formally completed by May 15, 2011, after some three years of delay caused by what has been seen as inadequate state regulation and questionable construction practices by the Turkish company Mapa Ghengiz.

The Struma Highway will start at the Daskalovo road junction to the west of Sofia, where it will be connected with the short Lyulin Highway, and will run to the Kulata border crossing on the Bulgarian border with Greece. Some of the sections of the 156-km road are promised to be completed by the end of the Borisov Cabinet's term in 2013. A total of 19 km have been completed so far.

From Novinite

Regional Minister: Bulgaria Last in EU by Highways

Bulgaria's Minister of Regional Development, Rosen Plevneliev, presented for ambassadors to Sofia and for experts the priorities in Bulgaria's road sector until 2020.
Bulgaria only has 3.8 kilometers of highways per 1 000 square kilometers, ranking the country last in EU.

The data was reported Monday at the Council of Ministers by the Minister of Regional Development, Rosen Plevneliev, who presented for ambassadors to Sofia and for experts the priorities of Bulgaria's road sector until 2020.

As comparison, Germany has 32, Italy – 28, Austria – 10, Slovenia – 14, and Lithuania - 6 kilometers of highways per 1 000 square kilometers.

The Minister pointed out if the cabinet manages to finish the 7 highways in the country, Bulgaria would fall in the middle of the ranking.

The government plans to build by the end of its term 288 kilometers of highways, which is more than the total for all 35 years of the Socialist regime, according to Plevneliev.

Between 2014 and 2020, EUR 2.5 B would be needed for the "
Struma,"
"
Hemus,"
and "
Black Sea"
highways with a total of EUR 5 B for the entire road infrastructure.
"
Struma"
is the main priority for 2001 with a deadline 2015, the Minister said. Other priorities include the Danube bridges, the tunnel under the "
Shipka"
peak in Stara Planina, and the road from the capital Sofia to the Kalotina border checkpoint with Serbia and its connection with the Sofia beltway.

Plevneliev explained one of the many reasons for the poor condition of the country's roads was the skyrocketing number of trucks – up to 291 000 and of automobiles – 2.5 millions.

"
Trucks are heavy and they wear-out the roads. 60% of passengers and cargo are carried via automobile transport, requiring huge resources for repairs,"
the Minister pointed out.