site.btaBulgaria Needs 2,100 Km of Motorways, Has Less than Half of That - Analysis

Bulgaria needs 2,100 km of motorways but only 870 km have been built so far, according to an analysis on the condition and the needs of the country's road network compiled by the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry and the Road Infrastructure Agency and unveiled on Tuesday.

Caretaker Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov said the necessary motorways should have been completed 10 years ago. He noted that the work on the analysis began under the previous government.

He said the next governments should prioritize the completion of the whole process of design, coordination and construction of motorways. The coordination procedures should be stepped up and there should be a rigorous schedule and a clear strategy.

Shishkov sees a lack of a strategy for the building of major infrastructure facilities. There are substandard design solutions and no construction solutions for 38% of the motorways which should be built in Bulgaria, he said.

The principal axis is north-south, from Ruse at the border with Romania to Makaza at the border with Greece, Shishkov explained. The first part of the project is already underway, that is, the building of a 67 km expressway between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo. Another 218 km is to be constructed between Veliko Tarnovo and Svilengrad. "It is a matter of urgency to carry out the design and construction", the minister added.

He also listed other major projects: the Black Sea and Rila motorways; the completion of the Hemus Motorway, for which there are no design solutions for lots 7,8 and 9; a road link to the future Petrohan tunnel; an expressway currently under construction between Vidin and Botevgrad, with the Montana-Vratsa section having no route designated yet. "These facilities should be built promptly by the next governments so that we can have a normal and passable road network," Shishkov argued.

Designs are available for Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo (75 km), for 96 km of Hemus and 16.5 km of Europe.

The delay of the Europe Motorway project is longest of all. It is supposed to be completed by 2023. A detailed site development plan should be ready for the project in a matter of days, the Regional Development Minister said.

In early April, the ministry published an interactive map showing the planned development of Bulgaria's road infrastructure until 2040. Back then, the ministry said that the Blagoevgrad-Krupnik section of the Struma Motorway and the Boaza-Pavlikeni section of the Hemus Motorway should be built between 2022 and 2025. The entire Europe Motorway between Sofia and the Serbian border should be completed and brought into operation in the meantime. The Vidin-Montana and Vratsa-Botevgrad sections should be upgraded during that period as well.

The Krupnik-Kresna section of Struma, the Pavlikeni-Shumen section of Hemus and the Kyustendil-Dupnitsa section of Rila should go into operation by 2030, according to the plan released in April.

The north-south links will be improved by completing the Montana-Vratsa section of the Vidin-Botevgrad road, the Black Sea Motorway and the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Expressway. In Central Bulgaria, north-south road transport will be upgraded by gradual modernization of the road from Veliko Tarnovo via Gabrovo and Stara Zagora to Haskovo. This road, as well as a tunnel under Mt Shipka, should be completed by 2030. Meanwhile, utmost effort will be made to upgrade the Montana-Sofia section with a tunnel under the Petrohan Pass and to build a tunnel on the Black Sea Motorway. Also by 2030, a third bridge should be constructed over the Danube River between Bulgaria and Romania close to Danube Bridge 1 (Ruse-Giurgiu), which will connect to the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Expressway.