# [BG] Bulgaria | road infrastructure • Автомагистрали



## ChrisZwolle

Let's start a thread about Bulgarian motorways and other highways.


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## radi6404

please include the struma motorway as it is the best motorway in bulgaria, if you have show pics of the maritca and cherno more motorway, i have read that they started to build the ljulin motorway in sofia, finally.


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## ChrisZwolle

is there a number for this Struma Motorway?


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> is there a number for this Struma Motorway?


No number like A or something, it is build on the national road E-79, it is the same road but not a two line road near pernik but a proper shiny new motorway.


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## ChrisZwolle

found some more pics;

1. Sofija - Dupnica




































2. Blagoevgrad


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## radi6404




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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> found some more pics;
> 
> 1. Sofija - Dupnica
> [http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s07.jpg
> 
> [http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s08.jpg
> 
> [http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s09.jpg
> 
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> 
> this pic does show a part of bulgarias highest mountain, the rila mountain.
> 
> 2. Blagoevgrad
> http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s13.jpg
> 
> http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s15.jpg


oh my god, this is it, awesome, thanks for showing these pics, this is really an awesome motorway.
Imagine this quality of motorway til thesaloniki, wow. Can you find a pic of the maritca motorway.


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## radi6404

Hey Chris, where are you from? Ontopic: Bulgaria hopefully will build 720 km of new motorways, there are 450 km motorways allready built but it is not enough, they will build the sofia thesaloniki motorway, two motorways leading to the black sea starting at sofia and one leading to the turkian border, i am not sure wheather they will build a motorway from rumanian border to sofia.


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## Verso

Is the Sofia-Dupnica the today-opened motorway? Nice pix, btw!

Oh btw, is that "Sofia" on signs in English or in Bulgarian (with the Latin alphabet)?


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> Is the Sofia-Dupnica the today-opened motorway? Nice pix, btw!


What do you mean with today opened motorway, the motorway is pretty new, it was opened october or so last year but it does not go to dupnica. It starts near sofia and goes ends near a village 20 km away from dupnica, i don´t know if they started to continue it to dupnica allready, they don´t work very fast but last time i was there i allready saw the machines, so they probably continue it allready. The motorway is great but still too short. Your motorways are also great.


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## Verso

^ I see, thanks! Btw, is any part of this new motorway useful for travelling also from Sofia to Skopje?


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ I see, thanks! Btw, is any part of this new motorway useful for travelling also from Sofia to Skopje?


I don´t know, it depents where do you plan to go to the macedonian border, must look in googleearth










if you plan to travel look at my line on the googleearth map, you will have to travel like that, near kkuistendil there is also a short expressway.


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## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> Hey Chris, where are you from? Ontopic: Bulgaria hopefully will build 720 km of new motorways, there are 450 km motorways allready built but it is not enough, they will build the sofia thesaloniki motorway, two motorways leading to the black sea starting at sofia and one leading to the turkian border, i am not sure wheather they will build a motorway from rumanian border to sofia.


I'm from The Netherlands 

I hope they build an Ruse - Haskovo connection too. Makes a fast road between Bucuresti and Edirne/Istanbul. 

Any chance for a motorway-ringroad of Sofia and a road from Sofia to Nis (Serbia)?


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## ChrisZwolle

Wouldn't a connection Sofia - Pernik - Kjustendil be faster? Like it follows road no. 6 from Sofia to Skopje.


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> I'm from The Netherlands
> 
> I hope they build an Ruse - Haskovo connection too. Makes a fast road between Bucuresti and Edirne/Istanbul.
> 
> Any chance for a motorway-ringroad of Sofia and a road from Sofia to Nis (Serbia)?


the motorway rigroad in sofia is allready in construction, the motorway sofia nis is also under construction


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> Wouldn't a connection Sofia - Pernik - Kjustendil be faster? Like it follows road no. 6 from Sofia to Skopje.


Yes, but you wouldnot travel on the very new shiny motorway and on the road pernik kjustendil you can´t race with 220, on this motorway you can if there are no cops.


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## bgrs

> please include the struma motorway as it is the best motorway in bulgaria, if you have show pics of the maritca and cherno more motorway, i have read that they started to build the ljulin motorway in sofia, finally.


Bullshits!!!

"Struma" is still not a highway and I highly doubt that it's better than Hemus or Trakia. 

Struma is still under construction and its length is about 25km at the moment. It still lacks its signs, its markings, there are still some other final touches...to this 25-km "highway". Currently its speed limit is still 90 km/h.

OTOH, Trakia highway is more than 200km long at the moment and excluding the part near Pazarjik, its condition is very good. I believe that in 2-3 years, the will finish it and connect Stara Zagora with Karnobat, forming a highway of 380km (plus Sofia-Kalotina: 70km more). 

Hemus highway is still under rennovation, but overall its far better than "Struma". It has a number of large high bridges and long tunnels that are (were) very expensive to build. It's length is about 80 km (together with its Varna-Kaspichan part: 140km total). 

There is also the "Cherno more" highway between Varna and Burgas, both parts are as long as 20-30km and in a very good condition and new too.

About "Marica" highway...I dunno nothing about it.

In my opinion, the best highway in Bulgaria is the Hemus one...cause it recently was renovated (though some of its tunnels are still under rennovation). The asphalt is very new, the anti-errosion, tunnels lightings and air-conditioning systems are also very new. The only thing they could improve are the highway signs, they are not so recent and perhaps they'll fix them as long as they finish the tunnels. BTW, there are new electronic signs on the highway, near some of the tunnels. 

Just wait a week or two, I'll post here my photos of the Hemus highway (a part of Sofia-Ruse route).


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## radi6404

bgrs said:


> Bullshits!!!
> 
> "Struma" is still not a highway and I highly doubt that it's better than Hemus or Trakia.
> 
> Struma is still under construction and its length is about 25km at the moment. It still lacks its signs, its markings, there are still some other final touches...to this 25-km "highway". Currently its speed limit is still 90 km/h.
> 
> OTOH, Trakia highway is more than 200km long at the moment and excluding the part near Pazarjik, its condition is very good. I believe that in 2-3 years, the will finish it and connect Stara Zagora with Karnobat, forming a highway of 380km (plus Sofia-Kalotina: 70km more).
> 
> Hemus highway is still under rennovation, but overall its far better than "Struma". It has a number of large high bridges and long tunnels that are (were) very expensive to build. It's length is about 80 km (together with its Varna-Kaspichan part: 140km total).
> 
> There is also the "Cherno more" highway between Varna and Burgas, both parts are as long as 20-30km and in a very good condition and new too.
> 
> About "Marica" highway...I dunno nothing about it.
> 
> In my opinion, the best highway in Bulgaria is the Hemus one...cause it recently was renovated (though some of its tunnels are still under rennovation). The asphalt is very new, the anti-errosion, tunnels lightings and air-conditioning systems are also very new. The only thing they could improve are the highway signs, they are not so recent and perhaps they'll fix them as long as they finish the tunnels. BTW, there are new electronic signs on the highway, near some of the tunnels.
> 
> Just wait a week or two, I'll post here my photos of the Hemus highway (a part of Sofia-Ruse route).


No need to get offending, the struma highway is definetly more than 25 km, it´s at least 30 km, a saw the hemus motorway whihc is indeet very good but just doesn´t look european with this dated rosty crashbarriers, about which markings do you talk, do you mean the line in the middle which is missing on some places, is it so important to have this line? I think the struma motorway looks impressive as it is and it surely will be way more impressive than Hemus because it leads through more mountainaric terrain. Oh my good, you are really ridiculous, have you every noticed that at the end of the struma motorway you are travelling so hihg, you see hills which are loer than the motorway? Do you think anyone is akually travelling 90 on the struma motorway, people are traveeling with 200 km there. You can´t compare this dated hemus motorway to Struma motorway.


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## Verso

Is any road in the photos the Struma?


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## radi6404

Yeah, this pics are from the struma motorway:

[http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s07.jpg

[http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s08.jpg

[http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s09.jpg

http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s13.jpg

http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s15.jpg

and as far as i know some parts of the motorway will build Strabag. So i am sure it will be good.


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## Verso

^ I thought so. Well, I don't see how it's still UC, it "looks" open and shiny.


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## radi6404

I hope the struma motorway will not have plants or grass in the middle, it looks way better with no plants.


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## ChrisZwolle

1999 map of Bulgaria, made by the Dutch automobilist association ANWB. Notice that only few things have changed since the nineties on the Bulgarian road network.


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## ChrisZwolle

2007 map of the same automobile club;

There is some progress, but the Struma isn't showed yet. However, these maps tends to be a bit outdated in Eastern Europe.


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## radi6404

chris, they had almost no money, they improved alot of streets but didn´t make them motorways, now they are building motorways where the national roads are, examples are the very new struma motorway and maritca motorway.


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## Verso

10 km of motorway on the Sofia Ring? Btw, Dupnica was previously called Stanke Dimitrov, right?


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> 10 km of motorway on the Sofia Ring? Btw, Dupnica was previously called Stanke Dimitrov, right?


What do you mean, from 1999 to 2006 they built 150 km new motorways man, and not only 10 km, they will build another 700. And yeah, dupnica, the town at the foothills of the rila mountain was called stanke dimitrov. How do you know?


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## Verso

^ I have some ancient map. With those 10 km I meant that obviously (I didn't know that) there's 10 km of motorway on the ringroad around Sofia.


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ I have some ancient map. With those 10 km I meant that obviously (I didn't know that) there's 10 km of motorway on the ringroad around Sofia.


I don´t know the ringrouad has 10 km moorway either. They are buildinga new motorway which should take the traffic to the south away of sofia and the bad ringroads and directly lead to the connection with the new struma motorway. 

Does anyone know wheather they are continuing the struma motorway? And does anyone know which part they will build this year? I´ve heard they might start at the bulgarian greek border kulata.


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## ChrisZwolle

I think, now you've guys joined the EU, thinks are gonna be speed up soon. You saw that in countries like Hungary and Poland too.


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> 10 km of motorway on the Sofia Ring? Btw, Dupnica was previously called Stanke Dimitrov, right?


Slovenia looks very nice and has very nice road network man, could you open a thread and post pics of the motorway lubljana - jesenice which goes to Austria? I trave3l there quite often, i like to travel there because of the mountains very close to the motorway, the last ten kilometers before Austrian border are really impressive.


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## Verso

^ Hehe, thanks, you're a clairvoyant, I'm gonna photograph it tomorrow.  I also like those last 10 km (around Jesenice), only the Jesenice "skyline" is ugly as hell! That's why everyone's moving out, only radical Muslims are staying.   :jk: Btw, the thread is already open in this subforum, it's on the first page currently.


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ Hehe, thanks, you're a clairvoyant, I'm gonna photograph it tomorrow.  I also like those last 10 km (around Jesenice), only the Jesenice "skyline" is ugly as hell! That's why everyone's moving out, only radical Muslims are staying.   :jk: Btw, the thread is already open in this subforum, it's on the first page currently.


thank you very much man, please take one two mountain pics as i like mountains


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## Verso

^ Don't worry, I'll take a pic of the highest and most pain-in-the-ass-to-climb mountain there (Stol, 2236 m).


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ Don't worry, I'll take a pic of the highest and most pain-in-the-ass-to-climb mountain there (Stol, 2236 m).


yes, that´s also my favourite peak there


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## radi6404

does anyone own pics of the cherno more or maritca motorway, i am curoius wheather these motorways have the same amazing design and extremly shiny crashbarriers like the struma motorway or if they have regular motorway design?


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## radi6404

that´s the struma motorway on the other side at bulgarian greek border i think, as it seems they started to build it there also.


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## x-type

can somebody bring out some information about tunnels on Bulgarian motorways? i only heard about tunnel Trajanova Vrata (how long it is? something about 1000 m) and i know for some tunnels at A2 between Gorno Kamavci and Botevgrad. 
also, any kind of information about viaducts are welcome as well, too!

where is this and what are the names and lenghts of this tunnel and viaduct?


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## radi6404

x-type said:


> can somebody bring out some information about tunnels on Bulgarian motorways? i only heard about tunnel Trajanova Vrata (how long it is? something about 1000 m) and i know for some tunnels at A2 between Gorno Kamavci and Botevgrad.
> also, any kind of information about viaducts are welcome as well, too!
> 
> where is this and what are the names and lenghts of this tunnel and viaduct?


this is the Hemus motorway, i don´t know how this tunnel is called, there are quite long tunnels there, there are quite long and high viaducts, one tunnel is called topli dol and another one is called vitinia as far as i know. 

But man, that´s the Hemus motorway, the tunnels and bridges are constructed more than ten years ago and look dated and not very modern, keep an eye at the new motorways, struma, maritsa and cherno more, they surely look extremly modern and shiny, at least the struma motorway does look extremly modern and shiny.


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## ChrisZwolle

I heard the Vidin - Montana road is reconstructed, is that correct?


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> I heard the Vidin - Montana road is reconstructed, is that correct?


yes


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## x-type

radi6404 said:


> But man, that´s the Hemus motorway, the tunnels and bridges are constructed more than ten years ago and look dated and not very modern, keep an eye at the new motorways, struma, maritsa and cherno more, they surely look extremly modern and shiny, at least the struma motorway does look extremly modern and shiny.


well, I cannot see from this distance if it is in good or bad condition. and 10 years isn't that much. 
anyway, I hope somebody will make good photos of all bulgarian motorways because everybody are interested into it! perhaps you could when you'll travel first somewhere


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## Verso

radi6404 said:


> this is the Hemus motorway, i don´t know how this tunnel is called, there are quite long tunnels there, there are quite long and high viaducts, one tunnel is called topli dol and another one is called vitinia as far as i know.
> 
> But man, that´s the Hemus motorway, the tunnels and bridges are constructed more than ten years ago and look dated and not very modern, keep an eye at the new motorways, struma, maritsa and cherno more, they surely look extremly modern and shiny, at least the struma motorway does look extremly modern and shiny.


Haha man, you're obsessed with the Struma Motorway  but we're also interested in the old Bulgarian motorways, some people perhaps even more, since they've been open for a long time, but we still don't know much about them.


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## ChrisZwolle

x-type said:


> can somebody bring out some information about tunnels on Bulgarian motorways? i only heard about tunnel Trajanova Vrata (how long it is? something about 1000 m) and i know for some tunnels at A2 between Gorno Kamavci and Botevgrad.
> also, any kind of information about viaducts are welcome as well, too!
> 
> where is this and what are the names and lenghts of this tunnel and viaduct?


Wikipedia:

(виадукт „Бебреш“) is a girder bridge part of the Bulgarian Hemus (or A2) motorway, located in Vitinya Pass in Stara Planina 60 km east of Sofia, at 1,050 m above sea level. It was opened in 1985 and was designed by the team of D. Dragoev, P. Minchev and Y. Todorov of Moststroy AD.

The viaduct is 720 m long and has 12 spans 60 m each. Rising 120 m above the floor, it is also regarded as the highest bridge in the Balkans and Bulgaria, with the precast post-tensioned girders being produced at the place and special equipment being used for the assembly. The Bebresh Viaduct weighs 220 tons and is a favoured place for bungee jumping due to its height.


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> Haha man, you're obsessed with the Struma Motorway  but we're also interested in the old Bulgarian motorways, some people perhaps even more, since they've been open for a long time, but we still don't know much about them.


Yes, because it has many bridges and generally is higher as the surrounded earth so you always think you travel high, i like this quite a lot. On pictures it can´t be seen but they built the middlecrashbarriers very interesting so that they are really interesting to look at while driving there and finally i like it because it looks extremly modern because it is so shiny, i am glad they use metal for crashbarriers and bridge balustrade instead of ugly concrete which gets quite common the last time i have noticed. To travel on that motorway reminds me of a game doom3 where it is also very modern and with lots of shiny metal.

(i am a bit crazy)


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## Verso

radi6404 said:


> (i am a bit crazy)


:lol: :lol: :lol: You sure are! 

Btw, that viaduct is impressive, wow!


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## ChrisZwolle

Yeah, it's massive. And Bulgaria is beautiful. The Balkans and The former Yugoslavia is really a hidden treasure. 

Many of the people in my country don't look further than France or Spain. But there is so much more to the southeast...


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> Yeah, it's massive. And Bulgaria is beautiful. The Balkans and The former Yugoslavia is really a hidden treasure.
> 
> Many of the people in my country don't look further than France or Spain. But there is so much more to the southeast...


Are you refering to the Balkan mountain or to Balkans in General, in bulgaria the balkan mountain is not the most impressive but the rila mountain which is very high and very steep at some places, it has deep valleys and an apline charakter, the balkan mountain does not have much of an alpine charakter.


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## ChrisZwolle

i mean the entire Balkan peninsula. But gentle slopes can be beautiful too. (like that picture of that bridge).

Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro etc. All very beautiful countries, but some are a bit underdeveloped, which scares the luxury minded lazy Western European holiday go-er i think.


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## Verso

^ Nah, those times are over I think; loads of "Westerners" go to crazy places on Earth, much more than the Balkans. I myself used to desire travelling to places like Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Libya, Myanmar, ... Slovenes are pretty crazy when it comes to things like this; now two Slovenians are trying to become the first people to criss-cross Greenland on foot. :nuts: Not to mention the successful Amazon-swimmer Martin Strel...


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## x-type

Chris1491 said:


> Many of the people in my country don't look further than France or Spain. But there is so much more to the southeast...


well, i can tell that they have discovered Croatia quite early  there is a plenty of Dutch people here during the summer. unfortunately, they only like the sea, not the resthno: 

tnx for information for Berbeš  now i can sleep


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## radi6404

could someone else give his opinion on the bulgarian motorways or post pics of the maritsa or cherno more motorway, i am especially interested in the maritsa motorway as it leads through moutnainerous terrain as far as i know.


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## zzibit

Trakia Highway


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## zzibit

more of Hemus Highway running east-west between Sofia and Varna. all credit goes to http://www.pbase.com/ngruev/roads


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## radi6404

jees, it doesn´t look like that now, they renovated it.


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## pilotos

Ah nice if they did, cause the asphalt looked battered, from heavy use or just cause of the years passed, anyway nice pics, go get the new ones now


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## radi6404

pilotos said:


> Ah nice if they did, cause the asphalt looked battered, from heavy use or just cause of the years passed, anyway nice pics, go get the new ones now


I just can´t find pics of the maritsa motorway, i don´t know, it is very new and surely is kickass like the sruma motorway but i just can´t find pics.


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## Verso

^ Make them yourself.  It'd be very nice to see Bulgarian highways with all that incredible mountainous surrounding!


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ Make them yourself.  It'd be very nice to see Bulgarian highways with all that incredible mountainous surrounding!


The problem is that i (still) live in Germany because of my parents, but if everything will go well i will return to buglaria soon, anyway i am a native bulgarian and go to holiday ther very often, i lived in bulgaria for several years but than my parents moved to germany, now we are thinking of returning all, but if not i will try to return there and study in a university there. I´ve taken pics of the struma motorway but we have enough of them but if you want i can post my pics of taht motorway aswell.


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## Verso

^ If they contain any traffic signs, let nothing stop you!


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> ^ If they contain any traffic signs, let nothing stop you!


I don´t get you exactly, verso.

Here´s a pic of the very new Maritsa motorway to the turkey border:










I don´t quite like the design of that motorway, it´s boring.


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## ChrisZwolle

it looks modern and good.


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## radi6404

Bgrs, i am waiting for Hemus motorway pics?


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## ChrisZwolle

posted in the Eastern Europe forum;



blue79 said:


> Few pics of Trakia highway from my short trip to Plovdiv.When I have some spare time I'll upload and post more pics
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## 3tmk

I don't understand what some dutch guy cares so much about Bulgarian highways?


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## ChrisZwolle

because it is interesting. I am interested in all motorways around the world. Everyone it's own hobby eh.


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## radi6404

funny it´s your hobby, to me it´s not my hobby but i quite like to drive on new shiny motorways, does anyone have a pic of the tunnel of the trakya motorway? And bgrs, you told in the other thread bulgaria did not build struma motorway becase of corruption, don´t you know EU did not give money to build the Struma motorway? It would be ready or it would be to Sandanski or Kresna if EU had given money by time, they are ready to give money now but they were not ready give it back in 2002 or so. I can pick out link where you can see this, all people in Bulgaria are complaining about that Struma motorway not build fast enough but they don´t ´know the facts.


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## 3tmk

Chris1491 said:


> because it is interesting. I am interested in all motorways around the world. Everyone it's own hobby eh.


yes I understand people have hobbies (between skyscrapers or highways, they're both equally bizarre to others), but to create a whole thread dedicated to Bulgarian highways seems strange to me. I understand some countries have awesome highways, with scenery and everything, but in Bulgarian highways, the little that there is, are rather boring


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## wyqtor

Well, actually I think the A2 is a very interesting motorway, and very picturesque also, with tunnels and viaducts. It reminded me a lot of Austrian motorways when I traveled on it back in 2004... Well, almost: the asphalt was very bad... :runaway: 

Anyway, it's a very great thing that Bulgaria built even those few motorway sections, and now the Struma Motorway - the investment should definitely pay off, in terms of environment and traffic fluidity. To the north, in Romania, our 2-laned "national roads" are now jam-packed with cars and trucks (not to mention the occasional horse-drawn cart or tractor), because our politicians were (and maybe still are) too stupid to see the importance of building a decent motorway system (or any motorway section at all for 10 straight years, for that matter).

Someone on this thread said that, ironically, Ruse is only connected to a foreign capital (Bucharest) via 4-lane road, and not to Sofia. Well, here in western Romania, my hometown is (almost) connected to Budapest by the M5 motorway (which is some 50 km away, near Szeged). In order to get to Bucharest, however, we have to drive some 500 km on crappy 2-lane roads that enter every god-forsaken village along the way.:bash:


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## radi6404

wyqtor said:


> Well, actually I think the A2 is a very interesting motorway, and very picturesque also, with tunnels and viaducts. It reminded me a lot of Austrian motorways when I traveled on it back in 2004... Well, almost: the asphalt was very bad... :runaway:
> 
> Anyway, it's a very great thing that Bulgaria built even those few motorway sections, and now the Struma Motorway - the investment should definitely pay off, in terms of environment and traffic fluidity. To the north, in Romania, our 2-laned "national roads" are now jam-packed with cars and trucks (not to mention the occasional horse-drawn cart or tractor), because our politicians were (and maybe still are) too stupid to see the importance of building a decent motorway system (or any motorway section at all for 10 straight years, for that matter).
> 
> Someone on this thread said that, ironically, Ruse is only connected to a foreign capital (Bucharest) via 4-lane road, and not to Sofia. Well, here in western Romania, my hometown is (almost) connected to Budapest by the M5 motorway (which is some 50 km away, near Szeged). In order to get to Bucharest, however, we have to drive some 500 km on crappy 2-lane roads that enter every god-forsaken village along the way.:bash:


Struma motorway will be the best and most picturesque motorway in whole Bulgaria, you will see the only really high Bulgarian mountains there and the quality will kick ass, i was blown away when i first travelled on. They worked extremly good and now it looks really modern, it also will have many bridges but Tunnels i don´t know, it won´t have that many but it still willbe a great motorway.


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## ChrisZwolle

3tmk said:


> yes I understand people have hobbies (between skyscrapers or highways, they're both equally bizarre to others), but to create a whole thread dedicated to Bulgarian highways seems strange to me. I understand some countries have awesome highways, with scenery and everything, but in Bulgarian highways, the little that there is, are rather boring


Take a look here We have threads about virtually any country of the world. Much more extensive than on the SSC section. :banana:


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## radi6404

Yeah Chris, there´s not much acivity, jsut a few fans etc post motorways and taht´s all, we sometimes have like 2 posts a day in this section. I think chris starte dthis thread because he saw me posting pics of the new Struma motorway and so he wanted see how other motorways in Bulgaria look like.


----------



## pilotos

I have a question, about crash barriers, as i see in the above pics, in most of them the barrier is only placed in the center to divide the two lanes, but isn't there a barrier always placed in the right of the road as well? or is it just an old motorway that doesn't have em?


----------



## radi6404

pilotos said:


> I have a question, about crash barriers, as i see in the above pics, in most of them the barrier is only placed in the center to divide the two lanes, but isn't there a barrier always placed in the right of the road as well? or is it just an old motorway that doesn't have em?


The barriers of right and left side are only placed when it is dangerous and goes down at the side. You can see that on the Slovenian motorways aswell. Chris you are crazy, i saw you talking and posting pics of this thread in the netherlands snellwegen or how it was forum. but it´s good, you know more about Bulgarian motorways as some stupid Bulgarian kids.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ :lol:



> have a question, about crash barriers, as i see in the above pics, in most of them the barrier is only placed in the center to divide the two lanes, but isn't there a barrier always placed in the right of the road as well? or is it just an old motorway that doesn't have em?


We have a lot of motorway which don't have barriers on both sides, because there is often enough space. I even favor motorways with no barriers on the right side, so you can park your car there if there is a breakdown. (parking on the emergency lane is extremely dangerous with our load of traffic on the roads).


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## radi6404

There are new pics from bgrs, he surely will post them soon here, he made pics of the Hemus motorway and as i thought it is not very good, asphalt is new, tunnels are renovated but taths´all, crashbarriers are very rusty, emergency lame is white and also dirty etc etc.


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## ChrisZwolle

as long as the signage and asphalt is okay, it's no problem to travel a motorway. I wouldn't care about the crash barrier too much. In Belgium, everything is rusty too. Bulgaria probably has better motorways than Belgium has a few years ago. Everything was crap there.


----------



## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> as long as the signage and asphalt is okay, it's no problem to travel a motorway. I wouldn't care about the crash barrier too much. In Belgium, everything is rusty too. Bulgaria probably has better motorways than Belgium has a few years ago. Everything was crap there.


It is correct man but i like more to travel on a modern even futuristic looking motorway than to travel on a rusty shit.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This is how the Belgium E25 looks:



















Pretty shitty, i can tell you. Much of the Belgium road network used to be in this condition until like 4 years ago, when they start rebuilding their road network. However, in the Wallonia region, most local roads are still filled with potholes.

So don't worry that there are bad roads in Bulgaria, they will be reconstructed someday.


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## radi6404

Chris i vorry that we still have noone single mootrway which connects one border with the other border like any civilazed counry should have, we have no motorway serbia greece and no motorway serbia turkey, we also don´t have motorway to Romania, how is this possible? Thisi is fucking awful and i know they can construct motorways, i saw it myself, the struma is the best example.


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## Rebasepoiss

I'd like to see other roads too, both good and bad ones(If Bulgaria even has bad roads, of course).


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

Chris1491 said:


> That's the I-80?


Yes, I took that picture from my old thread about I-80 in the Sierras.



> You can check out the German A11, they say that one has such bad pavement, that the right lane isn't used.


In fact, I traveled on A11 after visiting the Baltic coast in Poland. The pavement really sucked and some parts of this autobahn did not even have an emergency lane. However, the same applies to I-80 right after Nevada-California border because you really cannot drive in the right lane due to monstrous cracks in the concrete. At least, there is a reason why A11 is so bad (recall history), but why I-80? hno: Was it built in DDR too? :lol:


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## radi6404

*how much does motorway asphalt stay black*

I am interested how much motorway asphalt stays black after adding it? I told that the asphalt of Bulgarian national road is black for 7 years now, i hope it will stay black until the Struma motorway is constructed and i hope the new asphalt will stay black very long as it looks nice and also there will be the same ammoutn of cars on two lames so it should last twice as long and stay black. Any information how long the asphalt stays black?


----------



## keber

As I wrote an answer to YOU in Slovenian highways thread:



> Asphalt on emergency lanes is inferior in quality than on traffic lanes, usually to save cost and on the other hand it is also not needed. Upper layer of asphalt on motorway traffic lanes has the best quality and stays more or less the same color the whole life of motorway (before next repavement). This is because it has a lot of traffic, and vehicles leave tire parts on asphalt which shield asphalt from destructive UV rays.
> Because there's no traffic on emergency lanes, there's no need to put expensive asphalt layer there. Also soon after opening it loses dark gray color ant turns light gray. Exact color of asphalt depends on used stone aggregate (which is peculiar to one country/region) and bitumen sort.


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## radi6404

you just wrote a reply to the different color of asphalt on emergency lames.


----------



## keber

Ok, let's try again::speech:



> Asphalt on emergency lanes is inferior in quality than on traffic lanes, usually to save cost and on the other hand it is also not needed. *Upper layer of asphalt on motorway traffic lanes has the best quality and stays more or less the same color the whole life of motorway (before next repavement). This is because it has a lot of traffic, and vehicles leave tire parts on asphalt which shield asphalt from destructive UV rays.*
> Because there's no traffic on emergency lanes, there's no need to put expensive asphalt layer there. Also soon after opening it loses dark gray color ant turns light gray. Exact color of asphalt depends on used stone aggregate (which is peculiar to one country/region) and bitumen sort.


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## radi6404

So why do the German roads have such bridge color altough they are dark when making them.


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## keber

This is just in the beginning. When new laid asphalt consolidates, it quickly loses its fresh color to, let say, standard color, which hardly changes over time. Fresh asphalt still doesn't have much tire leftovers to shield, they come slowly over time. Of course, color mostly depends on used stone aggregate.


----------



## radi6404

Should i now also want mods to give warnings to Chris and Alex because of hijacking the thread, no i don´t want but don´t whine like little kids when i compare other roads to some Bulgarian roads in other threads. 

Anyway my cousin was in paris for some days and he returned, he told me that they blew with 210 kmh over the motorway and he said that it didn´t felt like it because of the very good aspzhalt, the also told me that he didn´t saw any motorway which looked that good on the whole route Paris Sofia, not even the German Autobahns, i am just saying what he said.


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## Billpa

Much of America's money went to "fight" the cold war instead of making beautiful Bulgaria-like motorways. Perhaps someday eastern Europe can pay us back with a USA highway funding bailout program.


----------



## keber

As I've seen from the pictures so far, Hemus motorway (A2) seem to be the most beautiful in Bulgaria.

On the other hand, is this really supershiny Struma motorway?








:lol:


----------



## radi6404

Just there the Struma motorway gets dirty from sand and so on from the near mountains, just look at the other pics, it is the most shiny motorway i have ever seen.


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## keber

I have yet to see those "other pictures". There were none up to date.

BTW, where are emergency lanes? :naughty:


----------



## Verso

radi6404 said:


> Anyway my cousin was in paris for some days and he returned, he told me that they blew with 210 kmh over the motorway and he said that it didn´t felt like it because of the very good aspzhalt, the also told me that he didn´t saw any motorway which looked that good on the whole route Paris Sofia, not even the German Autobahns, i am just saying what he said.


You mean they went to Blagoevgrad? If they only had gone to Sofia, they wouldn't have used the Struma motorway at all.


----------



## wyqtor

radi6404 said:


> Anyway my cousin was in paris for some days and he returned, he told me that they blew with 210 kmh over the motorway and he said that it didn´t felt like it because of the very good aspzhalt, the also told me that he didn´t saw any motorway which looked that good on the whole route Paris Sofia, not even the German Autobahns, i am just saying what he said.


Hmmm... I don't believe him! :tongue2: French Autoroutes ALWAYS rule! Paris-Strasbourg at least was a very smooth ride for me a couple of years ago, and every time I went to France the roads were in perfect condition.


----------



## radi6404

> You mean they went to Blagoevgrad? If they only had gone to Sofia, they wouldn't have used the Struma motorway at all.


Yes it´s true.

Keber, they didn´t marked emergency lames yet, i dont´even know if this is the Struma motorway but i thuink, anyway










don´t pick on my nerves keber, just look, they didn´t mark it yet, they marked it on May but these pics where older. Look that it is enough place for emergency lames.


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## ChrisZwolle

Doesn't look better than average on the ridiculous large pic.


----------



## keber

Let's see this picture of Struma motorway:










What can we see? Superdupershiny crashbarriers are not so shiny at all. White lanes are really white, but not more than average white lanes through whole Europe. Asphalt does look good, buot this is because, it is fairly new. Nothing special about that in the whole Europe. Good asphalts should stand at least 20, if not 30 years, and that completely without potholes. And, yes, there are really emergency lanes, but they should be painted as such before motorway opening, not months after.hno:

Summa summarum: As seen in the pictures available, Struma motorway is nothing special. As I said, Bulgarian A2 looks better, even not having top notch asphalt.


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## ChrisZwolle

> Good asphalts should stand at least 20, if not 30 years, and that completely without potholes.


I doubt that. Maybe for concrete, but with a lot of truck traffic, and AADT over 80.000, i give no more than 10 - 15 years.



> Summa summarum: As seen in the pictures available, Struma motorway is nothing special. As I said, Bulgarian A2 looks better, even not having top notch asphalt.


I agree, it's as good as any new motorway in Europe.


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## radi6404

Keber are you kidding or what, you picked out the worst section of the Struma motorway and say it not shiny, 










Is this not shiny, i doubt in Slovenia are so shiny crashbarriers, altough i am not saying Slovenia has bad motorways, in some 3 km motorway section before Dupnica they used Slovenian alike crashbarriers, i don´t have pics of this section though.

Or this pic:










If you don´t see how the crashbarriers reflect the sun like some stainless steel it´s not my fault.
keber, i will take a video because pics can´t give a real impression of the motorway, i garantate you that there aren´t that much mtoroways which look so modern than this one in europe, at least not on the route Stuttgart - Blagoevgrad. And i mean all aviable routes, over slovenia or Hungary, only if you take the new A94 than it´s almost as good looking as the Struma motorway but the A94 really does look impressive, too.

But i will tell you, after going for holidays on March to Bulgaria i hate the whole day after travelling on that motorway feelings of something exttremly modern, of something like, jesus where did i travel, on my crappy Kodak camera pics you can´t see that really but in real live it does look like sciense fiction, it does look as if none has ever travelled the motorway, if you will travel on that motorway you will feel like in some sciense ficiton movie and that´s for sure, everyone that travelled there said it is super and very modern, even my German father altough he is German patriot.


----------



## Billpa

radi6404 said:


> http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s07.jpg


Where's the painted stripe on the left side?
It looks like the lefthand lane just sort of ends at the (shiny) crash barrier. No wonder they want them to be so shiny. You might die at night if you couldn't see it.:nuts:


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## radi6404

x-type said:


> and what is so special here? just an usual motorway without well maintained horizontal signalization passing threw absolutely usual, almost boring landside:dunno:


Yeah, it´s nothing special you patriot, you even can´t say if something is good and the motorway IS GOOD, and looks better than average IMO, but to each his own. Notice that there are no lines in the middle that show how they marked the middlestrokes. And as you said altough the landscape is boring and flat the motorway is built higher than the landscape and that i like.


----------



## Verso

radi6404 said:


> Oh Verso, i am sorry i can´t deliver you the shiniest motorways of the world, still the Struma motorway is shiny, the rainpic does it show properly, especially when it rains the crashbarriers get cleaned and lighten up again.
> 
> http://gat3way.fcdunav.com/southeast/s07.jpg
> 
> and did you forget this pic, here you can see it better how the motorway looks like as bgrs has a good canon camera and not an bad Kodak.


What's wrong with the left, unshiny crash barrier?


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> Yeah, it´s nothing special you patriot, you even can´t say if something is good and the motorway IS GOOD, and looks better than average IMO, but to each his own.


and how would you describe French A40/A41, Italian A10, A12, A7 and A26, Swiss motorways, lightened Belgian ones, Dutch A7 at Afsluitdijk or Danish and Portuguese motorways' bridges, if Struma is breathless?!?


radi6404 said:


> Notice that there are no lines in the middle that show how they marked the middlestrokes.


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> What's wrong with the left, unshiny crash barrier?


Verso, are you too dump or too patriotic, it is not unshiny this http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/29/a2gorenjska056ky3.jpg fucking ugly motorway is unshiny, it is just dirty at the moment and as you can see on my wikipedia photo of the very same position that the middle barriers are shiny, they get cleaned regularly, as teh whole motorway, i saw it myself and some girl told me that also, and after rain they are cleaned and lighen up again.


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## Verso

radi6404 said:


> http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/29/a2gorenjska056ky3.jpg


I don't think you know what motorway is, cuz that's not motorway. :lol:


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## radi6404

Verso said:


> I don't think you know what motorway is, cuz that's not motorway. :lol:


oh sorry i just saw it, but it doesn´t matter


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## Verso

I'm sure keber is skilled enough to explain to us why that crash barrier is so 'beautiful', but not that it matters, as I never claimed it was beautiful in the first place. :lol: But anyway, when the second half is added, I'm sure it will become all horny. :cheers:


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## keber

That has to be some special Struma valley rain, that cleans supershiny barriers. In real world, rain with combination of traffic usually makes barriers even more dirty.

And also, right is shiny, left is unshiny. How the hell rain chooses, which barrier will he clean?:uh:


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## Verso

^^ That was supposed to be my next question. :lol:


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## radi6404

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...g/800px-Struma_motorway_leading_to_greece.jpg

Okay, is the middlebarrier unshiny or shiny on this pic? Just tell me that? I give a fucking shit how it became shiny, since the pic of bgrs was taken arround March, mine was taken on April. I dohn´t knwo with what it have something to do. On that pic it also can be seen that the emergency lames are very wide not as Chris spreads bullshit arround, maybe his car is too wide for the emergency lames but the lorry on that pic isn´t too wide, i don´t know what he has to do there


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## keber

Just tell me only one sane reason, why crashbarriers should be shiny? I don't see any advantage of it.


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## radi6404

keber said:


> Just tell me only one sane reason, why crashbarriers should be shiny? I don't see any advantage of it.


I can tell you the advantage, with reflective markings and shiny barriers it is a way saver ride than without these things, besides that it looks thausand times better also. But when i travelled on the Struma motorway at night everything lightened and there was no problem to see the road. Do you know how it is to drive on this Autobahn? I will take pics when i will drive on that thing at night.


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## keber

Hm, reflective markings must be something new in Europe.:lol:

And I still don't see, how safer can be shiny barriers. Do they hold bigger force at crash? NO. They are only more expensive, nothing else.

And yes, of course I know Autobahn driving in the night. Very safe.


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## snupix

But why do we see only those 3-4 bad pictures of the Struma motorway? Give us some more photos, those are really bad!


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## Verso

keber said:


> And yes, of course I know Autobahn driving in the night. Very safe.


I think he was referring to the Struma ("this Autobahn").


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## radi6404

snupix said:


> But why do we see only those 3-4 bad pictures of the Struma motorway? Give us some more photos, those are really bad!


My pics aren´t bad, i posted other pics, too, i will pick them out, wait a minute, i will upload all pics i have, finding pics of that motorway is impossible.













































crappy cellphone pic



























the old 10 im motorway part of the E-79 national road arround Blagoevgrad, the only difference to otorway is that it hasn´t emergency lames.

Middlemarkings are still missing on these pics but they were taken on April, i heard they worked on the motorway on May, i hope they added the middlemarkings, it looks even better with them.


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> Hm, reflective markings must be something new in Europe.:lol:
> 
> And I still don't see, how safer can be shiny barriers. Do they hold bigger force at crash? NO. They are only more expensive, nothing else.
> 
> And yes, of course I know Autobahn driving in the night. Very safe.


Keber, all motorway markings are reflective because they have some glass inside of them and they reflect the headlights, and you want be skilled?... Also the shiny crashbarriers abviously reflect everything at night so it is brighter fo rthe driver and saver.


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## snupix

Good to see some more photos, but I'd prefer to see the motorway, pictures showing the road ahead, not just the barriers. And some road signage, too.

ps. I prefer grass or at least risen medians, I think it gives a "safer feeling". And one can see on the pictures that this sand spreads all around on the pavement, which is bad.


----------



## radi6404

snupix said:


> Good to see some more photos, but I'd prefer to see the motorway, pictures showing the road ahead, not just the barriers. And some road signage, too.
> 
> ps. I prefer grass or at least risen medians, I think it gives a "safer feeling". And one can see on the pictures that this sand spreads all around on the pavement, which is bad.


But ow do yu want to erase the sand, i don´t have pics of the signate, there´s a very awesome yellow big sign at the end of the motorway i think and a uber dimensional sign which says that the strets get´s partly financed by the EU at the end of the motorway near Sofia. I don´t know how the sand can be removed, i hate it also, fortunately the most of the motorway is built higher than surroundings so sand can´t get so easily on the motorway just where it passes through the mountains there is sand. I msut take a pic of the fucking awesome yellow sign at the end of the motorway.

PS. I like that there´s no grass on the motorway, with that the motorway differes from other motorways and loks more futuristic.

Edit. The pics are of very bad color and contrast because i didn´t edit them yet and the Kodak camera i have did take them with little contrast.


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## radi6404

^^ looks awesome! but it´s not motorway


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## TheCat

^^ You said motorways and normal roads. That's a normal road 
Taller, Better, who posted before me, covered some motorways in Ontario.


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## radi6404

The best one in bulgaria for sure. Nothing can touch this motorway.


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## ChrisZwolle

That's not a motorway either, Radi.


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## x-type

Chris1491 said:


> That's not a motorway either, Radi.


:rofl:


----------



## RawLee

Chris1491 said:


> That's not a motorway either, Radi.


You know you will be dead as soon as he checks you post?:lol:


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## wyqtor

Very nice looking 4-lane expressway in Bulgaria ! :runaway:


----------



## Leo_Mauritsstad

BR-232, northeastern Brazil, state of Pernambuco. Links the cities of Recife (3.6mi in metro) and Caruaru (283k), passing through lots of smaller cities and has a ~140KM extension. Most of those 140KM are made of concrete.


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> That's not a motorway either, Radi.


That´s a motorway now you sucker, they changed the sign.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

And why would they do that?


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## radi6404

Chris1491 said:


> And why would they do that?


Because now all works like the fence are finished. Now there´s motorwaysound and 90´ speedlimit is removed, Chris, you always seem to have something agaisnt Bulgaria.


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## ChrisZwolle

I have nothing against Bulgaria. You just ask for stuff like this


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## Realek

Chris1491 said:


> That's not a motorway either, Radi.





wyqtor said:


> Very nice looking 4-lane expressway in Bulgaria ! :runaway:



Please avoid this in the future. Radi might suffer a stroke as a result of such provocations. Thank you.

:laugh:


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## radi6404

Realek said:


> Please avoid this in the future. Radi might suffer a stroke as a result of such provocations. Thank you.
> 
> :laugh:


They make that with porpse, just because there temporary was such a sign they say it´s no motorway, that´s very dumb. It is build by Bulgarians and Macedonians, so you mustn´t say anything against it.


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## Realek

I didn't say anything against anything. I just don't understand how someone can be so obsessed with a road...


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## radi6404

Realek said:


> I didn't say anything against anything. I just don't understand how someone can be so obsessed with a road...


don´t know, probably i like it so much because it goes towards my direction in Bulgaria so I feel a bit like it´s our (me and the other people here) motorway. And also because it is so shiny and that´s not something normal for Bulgaria.


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Wait till the extremely cool black-asphalt 7km part of expressroad with extremely shiny crashbarriers and cool viaducts gets finished in Estonia. Then I'll be mentioning it in every thread possible. So watch out!


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## radi6404

Only if it is a motorway, go away with expressroads, only something with middlebarrier allowed. You can mention it, but I mention Struma motorway just because it is aktually an state of the art motorway, it already survived one year with getting no bump or hole and is still extremly smooth and shiny.


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ doh, with that little amount of traffic it would be weird if it has any potholes within 5 years of completion.


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## radi6404

^^ It wont ofcourse, they used very thick asphalt there. there´s one stretch about 3 km which was finished before the other 22 km part which is already almost two years old and there´s no difference from the newer part to the older part.


----------



## RawLee

I've read among today's news that the newcomer EU members(both 2004 and 2007)having problems applying for EU sources. CZ and HU is applying for approx 60% what is possible. For cohesion purposes,the order is similar,but the percentages are lower than 50% everywhere.
I suggest looking for similar articles related to BG,that might give a clue where the money is.

Sorry,in hungarian:
http://index.hu/gazdasag/magyar/euforr070924/


----------



## Rebasepoiss

Estonia is even allowed to use money meant for 2004-2006


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## RawLee

Here's a sharpened crashbarrier for you. I advise wearing sunglasses!


----------



## Energy2003

@radi: 

sorry, to say this, but the Crash barrier looks poor and dangerous (made with space between the parts)


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## radi6404

*How long does your countries motorway asphalt keep being black?*

I am just wondering how long the asphalt of other motorways keeps very black and smooth as here in bulgaria on the national road E-79 which isn´t 4 lamed the asphalt keeps being black and smooth and looking new for 6 years now, I am sure it will keep being like that for another four years at least. How is it in your counries?


----------



## CborG

Denpends on the amout of traffic, in the Netherlands no more than 1-2 years. 
Example:

A2, Spring 2006:









Today:


----------



## TheCat

In Toronto, like most other places in North America as far as I know, those sections of motorway that are actually paved with black asphalt don't stay so for long at all, because the pavement depth isn't very large (as in most of North America, and unlike Europe), but also and more importantly because the traffic on our urban highways is incomparably larger than on any road in Bulgaria. Also, the harsh winters in Toronto do their thing on the roads.


----------



## ADCS

TheCat said:


> In Toronto, like most other places in North America as far as I know, those sections of motorway that are actually paved with black asphalt don't stay so for long at all, because the pavement depth isn't very large (as in most of North America, and unlike Europe), but also and more importantly because the traffic on our urban highways is incomparably larger than on any road in Bulgaria. Also, the harsh winters in Toronto do their thing on the roads.


Yep, also, in the South, the combination of high humidity and lots of sunshine year-round take a heavy toll on the asphalt roads, graying them really quickly. It's literally impossible, regardless of the quality of pavement, for them to stay black much longer than 6 months.


----------



## Daryae_Abi

TheCat said:


> In Toronto, like most other places in North America as far as I know, those sections of motorway that are actually paved with black asphalt don't stay so for long at all, because the pavement depth isn't very large (as in most of North America, and unlike Europe), but also and more importantly because the traffic on our urban highways is incomparably larger than on any road in Bulgaria. Also, the harsh winters in Toronto do their thing on the roads.


Does it have anything to do with thickness?
Because here they lay it on very thick (last year a water pipe on Shariati street bursted and you could see it was almost a metre of thickness) but in a few years it becomes grey.


----------



## gladisimo

In my area, the highway just looks like cracked concrete.


----------



## radi6404

and here I tell you, the asphalt stays altough heavy tracktraffic always the same for 6 years, it doesn´t even have different cover where the tires go over it.


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> and here I tell you, the asphalt stays altough heavy tracktraffic always the same for 6 years,


Pictures of Struma tell different story. 
There's no asphalt type, that would stayed for a long time in original color. Most types usually turn dark grey in few months.


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> Pictures of Struma tell different story.
> There's no asphalt type, that would stayed for a long time in original color. Most types usually turn dark grey in few months.


what different story does it tell you fool, you always critize Bulgarian roads, as if your shit is best man, can´t we have good roads or what, just because you are longer in EU means you have way better new motorways then we do, you wouldn´t even manage to build motorways which are build 30 m above the environmental level for a distance of 25 km. the asphalt looks the same as when it was oepned, the Struma motorway asphalt just isn´t so black the E79 asphalt here in blagoevgrad is darker.


----------



## Patrick

:sleepy:


----------



## wyqtor

Daryae_Abi said:


> Does it have anything to do with thickness?
> Because here they lay it on very thick (last year a water pipe on Shariati street bursted and you could see it was almost a metre of thickness) but in a few years it becomes grey.


A bit off-topic for this thread, but could you please show us pictures of Iranian roads and motorways, even city avenues in Tehran if it isn't too much to ask? I find it to be a very fascinating country and we have so few pictures  !

Here is the Iranian thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=426574


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> what different story does it tell you fool,


New Struma:








Struma after some time:








Seems, that asphalt got brighter. How strange ...:lol:



> you always critize Bulgarian roads


No I don't, I criticize your shameful approach to presenting Bulgaria roads.



> , as if your shit is best man, can´t we have good roads or what, just because you are longer in EU means you have way better new motorways then we do,


Actually, since we are in EU, maybe 60 km of motorways were built, which is not a lot. They were financed by the state, only very small part by EU.



> you wouldn´t even manage to build motorways which are build 30 m above the environmental level for a distance of 25 km.


Why not? :sly:



> the asphalt looks the same as when it was oepned, the Struma motorway asphalt just isn´t so black the E79 asphalt here in blagoevgrad is darker.


See above pictures for the contrary.


----------



## RawLee

radi6404 said:


> build motorways which are build 30 m above the environmental level for a distance of 25 km.


Why do you guys build a 25km long viaduct?(30m is a 10 floor commieblock..)


----------



## Norsko

CborG said:


> Denpends on the amout of traffic, in the Netherlands no more than 1-2 years.
> Example:
> 
> A2, Spring 2006:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Today:


A bit of topic, I know, but; How come the yellow signage? I thought all signs in the Netherlands where blue no matter what :?


----------



## radi6404

Keber, if you look on the pics this summer, you wont see any difference in the color of asphalt man and it will stay like that for sure, the color of this asphalt is just dark grey.


----------



## keber

Exactly as at other asphalted motorways around Europe.


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

radi6404, maybe it's your annoying habit to compare every road around the globe (be it motorway, highway or usual street) with super-duper-shmuper Struma and other Bulgarian roads? Whenever someone opens a thread about his country road network, there is always Radi with Struma motorway. It got to irritate people big time.


----------



## Verso

Radi and DFM, are you kidding me? :lol: I'm just fed up with all that Struma-, concrete-, smoothness-, shiny-crashbarrier- and other bullshit.


----------



## radi6404

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> radi6404, maybe it's your annoying habit to compare every road around the globe (be it motorway, highway or usual street) with super-duper-shmuper Struma and other Bulgarian roads? Whenever someone opens a thread about his country road network, there is always Radi with Struma motorway. It got to irritate people big time.


Not true, I don´t talk and compare only with the Struma motorway, I jsut asked if the croatian roads are smooth in the last thread as the asphalt didn´t seem me so smooth, that´s all.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Verso said:


> Radi and DFM, are you kidding me? :lol: I'm just fed up with all that Struma-, concrete-, smoothness-, shiny-crashbarrier- and other bullshit.


Look, I know radi is always talikng about it but that's because it's the best road in Bulgaria, he likes it.

And Mike do you want him to compare the best road where he lives to an apple? He doesn't have any other road to compare it to (I mean big road).


----------



## Verso

Who's Mike?


----------



## DanielFigFoz

I meant Alex, the avatar's always mix me up.

Sorry


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

DFM, yes, I understand Radi's feeling about the super Struma motorway with shiny crashbarriers and black smooth asphalt, but it doesn't mean he should always come to other people's threads and blast their highways because:
1) They are made of concrete
2) They don't have shiny crash-barriers
3) If they are made of asphalt, it is not dark enough
4) If they are made of asphalt, it doesn't look smooth enough (amazing, Radi, you can tell that just by looking at a picture!)
5) Other bullshit...

If it happened once or twice, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it has been happening over and over and over and over again in every possible thread.


----------



## Verso

^ Ditto.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> DFM, yes, I understand Radi's feeling about the super Struma motorway with shiny crashbarriers and black smooth asphalt, but it doesn't mean he should always come to other people's threads and blast their highways because:
> 1) *They are made of concrete*


Yes ive seen that, he/she said that a concrete road in Germany looked better that a crappy Bulgarin motorway that looked worse that my dead great great great great great great great grandmother's skin, but I also hate concrete motorways.


----------



## Verso

^ Nothing wrong with that, I'm also a bigger fan of asphalt (although lately I've been more fond of concrete than before), but he's repeating it as if we don't know yet what he thinks about it. And radi's a dude.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Verso said:


> ^ Nothing wrong with that, I'm also a bigger fan of asphalt (although lately I've been more fond of concrete than before), but he's repeating it as if we don't know yet what he thinks about it. And radi's a dude.


What thread is that in, I really want to see it!


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

> Yes ive seen that, he/she said that a concrete road in Germany looked better that a crappy Bulgarin motorway that looked worse that my dead great great great great great great great grandmother's skin


Really? I saw him saying the opposite about the new A113 made of concrete. But, anyway, I don't want to argue with you about Radi.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=15824761&postcount=91

Have a look!


----------



## Verso

DFM said:


> What thread is that in, I really want to see it!


If you mean the original thread, it's here.


----------



## KHS

This thread has a great future!


----------



## DanielFigFoz

KHS said:


> This thread has a great future!


Before you know it... 19 pages....


----------



## Verso

DFM, radi said the concrete German motorway looked WORSE (not better) than the crappy-looking Bulgarian expressway.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Verso said:


> DFM, radi said the concrete German motorway looked WORSE (not better) than the crappy-looking Bulgarian expressway.


Yeah you're right I meant worse:bash: .


----------



## x-type

DFM you must be kidding, right? i am not sure if you are following the person and masterpiece of Radi from the beginning, right?
i feel so honoured when i can give him answer on a clever question. unfortunately, one it's one in a million. not to mention his aggressive performances + insulting everyone around him just because he has different opinion. and again, not to mention that his opinion is ALLWAYS different from other forum members, but he still claims that he's right, and all other people at forum are wrong. k'mon!


----------



## DanielFigFoz

I've seen some interesting posts done by radi latley...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Only one remark; the treaty of Genève requires E-numbers to be in a green background. 

But i rather have no E-roads signed at all. There is always a national signage, but for E-numbers, it's just wait and hope they appear (some countries don't sign E-numbers at all, some countries only uses E-numbers).


----------



## Verso

radi6404 said:


> you posted tons of pics of your Slovenian motorways and noone said anything


In a thread, DEDICATED to them! :doh:


----------



## Verso

RawLee said:


> no,that is 42.


I don't get it. :laugh:


----------



## RawLee

Verso said:


> I don't get it. :laugh:


The hitchhikers' guide to the galaxy...


----------



## Verso

Ah ok, didn't watch it, never mind... 

EDIT: Now I remember the title in my language, it was promoted a lot, but I didn't watch it.


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> Only one remark; the treaty of Genève requires E-numbers to be in a green background.
> 
> But i rather have no E-roads signed at all. There is always a national signage, but for E-numbers, it's just wait and hope they appear (some countries don't sign E-numbers at all, some countries only uses E-numbers).


They paint the E-numbers in green if they are motorways, if they aren´t they are blue.


----------



## Verso

Chriszwolle said:


>


The most interesting post in this thread. :laugh: But I'm surprised they wrote Athens in English. I think it should (also) be in Greek. And Istanbul in Turkish (İstanbul). This should be between Niš and Sofia, right after the border.


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> The most interesting post in this thread. :laugh: But I'm surprised they wrote Athens in English. I think it should (also) be in Greek. And Istanbul in Turkish (İstanbul). This should be between Niš and Sofia, right after the border.


Wel, we are national.


----------



## Verso

Chriszwolle said:


> I have never seen a mod of this subforum posting here...


What's the procedure of promoting someone for moderator? I want you to be a (THE) mod here!


----------



## DanielFigFoz

I read the hitchikers gide to the galaxy.

We should go to votes for a new mod.


----------



## Jeroen669

Verso 4 president!


----------



## Verso

^^ LOL, r u kiddin' me? :laugh: Well, thanks!


----------



## Bahnsteig4

Verso and Chris would make a nice couple.

A nice mod couple, that is.


----------



## Verso

^^ Hehe!  Thanks.


----------



## x-type

i agree. Chris for technical stuff with topics, Verso for technical stuff with forum members   i think he's cruel enough for that


----------



## goschio

Its not nice to open a thread against a forumer! hno:


----------



## DanielFigFoz

goschio said:


> Its not nice to open a thread against a forumer! hno:


I know hno:

I'm not sure about the new mod... mabye Chris or Verso

Who else? There must be more peole who could be mods..

Mabye Alex von konigsberg...


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

DFM, I am truly honoured, but I don't think I can do the mod duties because of lack of time.


----------



## radi6404

goschio said:


> Its not nice to open a thread against a forumer! hno:


Verso surely doesn´t deserve to be a mod here at all, good that the other forumers aren´t small children who imediatelly agreed to everything he said and are all against me and tell me to go away and that I am stupid, in other forums they would jump in Verso´s bandwagon and would all be agaisnt me, it seems here are intelligent people.


----------



## radi6404

and for the modsthing, mephasto woud be a good mod I think, or wiqter, he´s among the nicest guys arround.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm quite honored you guys want me to be a mod here. I think i'm interested, since i'm very interested into highways & traffic. But i am mostly active within this subforum (and the Dutch ones), and not in the railways, ports, maritime etc subforums, so my preference goes to this subforum (which doesn't take a daytime job to moderate). But the other mods of this subforum doesn't post here at all, you'll never see them here. 

I have already experience in moderating, i am moderating the Dutch autosnelwegen forum now for 2 years, but that forum is quite busier as this one, we have over 100.000 posts annually. 

But then again, it's all up to the present mods & Jan.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

radi6404 said:


> and for the modsthing, nephasto woud be a good mod I think, or wiqter, he´s among the nicest guys arround.


Yes, I agree, nephasto would be a good mod here, if somebody's wrong he doesn't get annoyed and he's very understanding.



Chriszwolle said:


> I'm quite honored you guys want me to be a mod here. I think i'm interested, since i'm very interested into highways & traffic. But i am mostly active within this subforum (and the Dutch ones), and not in the railways, ports, maritime etc subforums, so my preference goes to this subforum (which doesn't take a daytime job to moderate). But the other mods of this subforum doesn't post here at all, you'll never see them here.
> 
> I have already experience in moderating, i am moderating the Dutch autosnelwegen forum now for 2 years, but that forum is quite busier as this one, we have over 100.000 posts annually.
> 
> But then again, it's all up to the present mods & Jan.


Yes I agree :yes:


----------



## Verso

radi6404 said:


> Verso surely doesn´t deserve to be a mod here at all, good that the other forumers aren´t small children who imediatelly agreed to everything he said and are all against me and tell me to go away and that I am stupid, in other forums they would jump in Verso´s bandwagon and would all be agaisnt me, it seems here are intelligent people.


News of the day: you irritate everyone here, and those who don't feel annoyed by you, apparently aren't here often enough. If I jumped into some subforum I barely check, and see such thread, I'd also think "wtf is this thread about?". I'm too often here to be willing to stand your crap.


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> News of the day: you irritate everyone here, and those who don't feel annoyed by you, apparently aren't here often enough. If I jumped into some subforum I barely check, and see such thread, I'd also think "wtf is this thread about?". I'm too often here to be willing to stand your crap.


you and your whole thread are crap, just how proud you are of your mountain Stol which is 2000 m high, don´t make me laugh man, and how great your motorways are, you´re prising them extremly much, way more than I and if there´s construction work you show you say never mind it will soon be finished, the fact is it isn´t finished and on the nationalroads you still have sections filled with potholes. DFM is here often. You idiot could have first send me a message or something but not in this way, you desere a warning for this, on other forums you´d get banned for such personal attacks without any reason. I did never say anything to you.


----------



## radi6404

and also, noone asks you if you are willing to stand my "crap", it´s not your own forum man


----------



## Verso

I show all the crap we have and say that pavement is catastrophy, if it is. And for Stol, you said it was _your_ favourite mountain, I personally hate it. The interesting thing is I was never too harsh on you, but I just can't stand you any more. Whatever, radi, I have nothing more to say to you.


----------



## radi6404

I can´t stand a girl I know ecause she did really awful things to me, but I don´t make her a fool infront of many people because this is gay.


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

OK, I agree to be a mod here :lol: For 5 minutes... or as long as it needs to kick Radi out of here :lol:


----------



## wyqtor

^^But the forum will become so dull without Radi... 

Anyway, I also think that Chris should be THE mod here. Also maybe some other people to help him, if they wish, like Verso (just don't ban Radi, as I said the forum will not be so fun to read ), RawLee, Nephasto, DFM, etc.


----------



## x-type

wyqtor said:


> ^^But the forum will become so dull without Radi...


i doubt in that 

Radi, you're so childish. when you're caught in dead end, you start with some things aka "my father is stronger than your"


----------



## DanielFigFoz

radi6404 said:


> DFM is here often.



Yeah. :banana:



wyqtor said:


> ^^But the forum will become so dull without Radi...
> 
> Anyway, I also think that Chris should be THE mod here. Also maybe some other people to help him, if they wish,... DFM, etc.


Thanks! I am honoured.


----------



## x-type

Chriszwolle said:


> I have already experience in moderating, i am moderating the Dutch autosnelwegen forum now for 2 years, but that forum is quite busier as this one, we have over 100.000 posts annually.


i'm sure that you have more than 100 000 annualy. i'm a moderator at croatian forum that had in September '07 almost 500 000 posts (only in one month)


----------



## RawLee

x-type said:


> i'm sure that you have more than 100 000 annualy. i'm a moderator at croatian forum that had in September '07 almost 500 000 posts (only in one month)


And as a mod,you have to read all that stuff???It should be a paid,full-time job...


----------



## radi6404

I am a nice guy, I offered Wiqter to lead him to the Rila mountain and take time for him when he decides to come to Bulgaria.


----------



## x-type

RawLee said:


> And as a mod,you have to read all that stuff???It should be a paid,full-time job...


no, i'm a mod at only one part (about Tourism). well, ißm sure that whole SSC forum has more than 1 000 000 posts monthly


----------



## Kampflamm

I need my daily fix of Struma pics.


----------



## ADCS

Kampflamm said:


> I need my daily fix of Struma pics.


So that's not just a clever avatar, then?

:cheers:


----------



## Olympios

Oh please...Is this a ''smart'' thread?:bash:
Greetings to the Balkans
:lock:


----------



## Xusein

Wow, this is the first thread in this forum that is "lock-worthy".


----------



## Verso

TenRot said:


> Wow, this is the first thread in this forum that is "lock-worthy".


After almost 5 pages... :yes:


----------



## radi6404

No, it was lookworthy after your discusting insulting post, which can only come out of your unintelligent brain. You idiot


----------



## DanielFigFoz

radi6404 said:


> No, it was lookworthy after your *first post*


Yeah, probably. No definatly.


----------



## Verso

So what are you people still rambling about? The more you write, the longer this thread will be in the foreground.


----------



## renco

Well this thread was waiting to happen :crazy::lol:


----------



## Bahnsteig4

UP!


----------



## Ballota

Dear lord... :nuts:


----------



## radi6404

When I´m going to Bansko to the mountains I´ll take pics of the almsot finished new road with many new (hopefully shiny) bridges, it surely looks quite good.


----------



## laberlaib

hello,

now i red nearly the whole thread but it is a pity that you have to click 20 pages instead of keep the first post up2date by editing...
But however...
Can someone give me an overview about the running motorway projects in Bulgaria? til know i got the following:

- All motorway-projects are EU-high-priority => should be finished 2015.
- A1 – Trakia-Motorway: if EU accepts the contract, it will be finished in 3 years => 2011
- Marica-Motorway: finished 2009
- A3 - Cherno More: start of construction: 03/2008
-A4 – Struma-Motorway: Sofia 2009 - 2012 - 2009 Kulata (from the picture in that thread)

- A2 – Hemus-Motorway: nothing yet
- And what about the section Vidin-Sofia? The will be no motorway?

thanx for your help - got to do the same thing about railways too. (but i got the feeling that you dont care to much about railway-prjects in that forum)

laberlaib, switzerland


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Welcome!



> -A4 – Struma-Motorway


Finally we've got a number for the struma!


----------



## x-type

Shouldn't Varna - Burgas be A4?


----------



## laberlaib

somewhere i found A4 for Struma, Varna-Burgas (isnt it "Cherno More"?) A3.
for Marica i dont know a number... going to check my official docs..

So A2? anything? and the part north of sofia? because without Romanian Boarder-Sofia Struma will not be really complete (and w/o a connection to Serbia anyways)

Edit: Rousse as an important point at the Danube-River wont get a motorway in measurable time?


----------



## JloKyM

You forgot the Liylin Motorway( 19 km) wich is now UC.


----------



## radi6404

the very awesome national road Simitli goze delchev - Greek border 30 km away from Kulata. It isn´t finished from Bansko to Goez delchev, but it is finished from simitli to bansko which make it 40 km long. It climbs mountainvalleys until it gets on a plateau at 1000 m evelation. Don´t mind the a bit errased markings, here they are thin but everywhere else they are thick and nothing is errased. this part of the road is one year old but it is very smooth, you don´t feel driving with 100 km at all, you think you drive with 20 when you drive with hundret because of the extrem smoothness of the great road. When I´m going to Bansko I´ll take more pics of the road.


----------



## radi6404

I want hear what you guys think, don´t leave it commentless.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

1) What's so awesome about the road pictured? Every country, including African countries have such roads. 2) I don't think you are allowed to drive 100km/h in that picture 3) It looks rather 10 years old then 1 year old. 4) The scenery is nice, i wish we had such scenery in the Netherlands.


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> 1) What's so awesome about the road pictured? Every country, including African countries have such roads. 2) I don't think you are allowed to drive 100km/h in that picture 3) It looks rather 10 years old then 1 year old. 4) The scenery is nice, i wish we had such scenery in the Netherlands.


it looks rather 10 years old because it´s very dirty, it has snown and rained quite a lot befroe I´ve taken the pic. What are other reasons you think the raod looks rather 10 years old? And that´s not a firstclass transitroad like the E79 which always is shiny. And if you say this and that what´s the porpuse of this forum, I know every country has such roads but in this forum we show roads and so on, not hide them. Outside this village you can drive 90 I think but some go up to 150.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

150 on a one lane road is just nuts, you will be killed in a crash with another car. Combined speed is over 240km/h then. 

Do you have pictures of the Sofia ringroad?


----------



## keber

I'm worried about small pothole on asphalt in last picture.

My my, how could this happen? hno:


----------



## ADCS

radi6404 said:


> the very awesome national road Simitli goze delchev - Greek border 30 km away from Kulata. It isn´t finished from Bansko to Goez delchev, but it is finished from simitli to bansko which make it 40 km long. It climbs mountainvalleys until it gets on a plateau at 1000 m evelation. Don´t mind the a bit errased markings, here they are thin but everywhere else they are thick and nothing is errased. this part of the road is one year old but it is very smooth, you don´t feel driving with 100 km at all, you think you drive with 20 when you drive with hundret because of the extrem smoothness of the great road. When I´m going to Bansko I´ll take more pics of the road.


Looks like any new road to me. Nice background, no one can say Bulgaria isn't a pretty country.

P.S. You can't feel the road mostly because suspensions in cars have gotten that good. 30 years ago, you'd probably feel a lot more bumps.


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> 150 on a one lane road is just nuts, you will be killed in a crash with another car. Combined speed is over 240km/h then.
> 
> Do you have pictures of the Sofia ringroad?


They drive 200 km and mroe on the E79 which you know isn´t a motorway on many sections still, crash usually don´happen because of hgih speed in bulgaria but because of mistakes of the drivers. unfortunately we have a lot of accidents in Bulgaria.


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> 150 on a one lane road is just nuts, you will be killed in a crash with another car. Combined speed is over 240km/h then.
> 
> Do you have pictures of the Sofia ringroad?


No, I don´t, the ringroad is just being expanded to a ringroad motorway, well without emergency lanes but who cares, it´s aktually closed and traffic has to go through the town


----------



## KIWIKAAS

radi6404 said:


> They drive 200 km and mroe on the E79 which you know isn´t a motorway on many sections still, crash usually don´happen because of hgih speed in bulgaria but because of mistakes of the drivers. unfortunately we have a lot of accidents in Bulgaria.


youtube has plenty of nasty accidents in Bulgaria. Mind you eastern europe is pretty well represented generally in that category.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

KIWIKAAS said:


> youtube has plenty of nasty accidents in Bulgaria. Mind you eastern europe is pretty well represented generally in that category.


Yeah too bad, it looks like a lot of people there aren't mature enough to handle high-speed roads.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> They drive 200 km and mroe on the E79 which you know isn´t a motorway on many sections still, crash usually don´happen because of hgih speed in bulgaria but because of mistakes of the drivers. unfortunately we have a lot of accidents in Bulgaria.


i wanted to visit Bulgaria, but after this i'll think well about it. maybe a train or something. btw, what is high speeding if not a driver's mistake?


----------



## ADCS

Chriszwolle said:


> Yeah too bad, it looks like a lot of people there aren't mature enough to handle high-speed roads.


The alcoholism rate could also be a major factor in these accidents.


----------



## radi6404

x-type said:


> i wanted to visit Bulgaria, but after this i'll think well about it. maybe a train or something. btw, what is high speeding if not a driver's mistake?


Well not everyone drives 100 on the twolaned national roads but there are some, nothing will happen man, there´s little traffic on our nationalroads, you saw how it is on the Struma motorway, it´s like that everywhere, go there and see the roads man, they are worth seeing. Ofcourse they drive 100 only on very long straight sections not on curvy sections without good sight and so on, noone is so ill.


----------



## x-type

100 is not problem, but you've mentioned 150 or 200, and i really don't want even meet something like this. it's just too hard for me and i haven't got used to it.


----------



## radi6404

x-type said:


> 100 is not problem, but you've mentioned 150 or 200, and i really don't want even meet something like this. it's just too hard for me and i haven't got used to it.


welll, I am sure even in Croatia village people drive very fast if they get fast cars like Porsches, fast Mercedes and so on, even not on the motorways, the village people want show their "driving skills" to the girls they have inside their car, so they risk the life of them and also of their girlfriends by driving that fast.


----------



## KIWIKAAS

this is very messy indeed

edit: a bit too graphic. Hope I did'nt offend


----------



## radi6404

Trafficjam on the awesome Struma motorway










The metal of the crashbarriers looks more like some stylish metal for stairsbalustrade than for example croatian or german crashbarriers metal, and I mean it serious, the working quality there just looks unnaturally, they worked as if they are building a house, not a motorway where noone cares about the details on the markings and crashbarriers. the 90 sign has been replaced by 120 km sign


----------



## Svartmetall

Wow Kaas, that is a really impressive smash indeed... Did I see right and see that there was a body still in the road there?! How disgusting...

Also Radi - those crash barriers look no different to the crash barriers that Britain has on its A roads let alone on it's M roads.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> welll, I am sure even in Croatia village people drive very fast if they get fast cars like Porsches, fast Mercedes and so on, even not on the motorways, the village people want show their "driving skills" to the girls they have inside their car, so they risk the life of them and also of their girlfriends by driving that fast.


well, i have never seen anybody with more then 130 at normal roads. and i don't want to. now you really scared me of driving.


----------



## Qwert

That was pretty insane crash.hno: IMO it was in higher speed than 130. Maybe they should show such pictures to those who are driving on highways like it's a runway.


----------



## ADCS

That video definitely shows why concrete crashbarriers are the standard nowadays.


----------



## SmarterChild

x-type said:


> well, i have never seen anybody with more then 130 at normal roads. and i don't want to. now you really scared me of driving.


There's actually a normal national road in Luxembourg with speed limit 160. :nuts:


----------



## Svartmetall

ADCS said:


> That video definitely shows why concrete crashbarriers are the standard nowadays.


The standard, in certain parts of the world. I note that the UK still uses metal crash barriers on the whole.

There are pros and cons to both metal barriers and concrete barriers and this has been deliberated to death in many different threads.


----------



## ADCS

Svartmetall said:


> The standard, in certain parts of the world. I note that the UK still uses metal crash barriers on the whole.
> 
> There are pros and cons to both metal barriers and concrete barriers and this has been deliberated to death in many different threads.


I'm aware of that. Just making a point.


----------



## keber

That's why Italian autostrada middle metal barriers are much much stronger than let say Bulgarian one.


----------



## KHS

radi6404 said:


> The metal of the crashbarriers looks more like some stylish metal for stairsbalustrade than for example croatian or german crashbarriers metal, and I mean it serious, the working quality there just looks unnaturally, they worked as if they are building a house, not a motorway where noone cares about the details on the markings and crashbarriers.



:nuts: :crazy2: :crazy:


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> That's why Italian autostrada middle metal barriers are much much stronger than let say Bulgarian one.


don´t make me laugh man, these are old crashbarriers, do you think anyone could crash through the struma motorway crashbarriers. Btw, friday i´m going to Sofia finally, I can aktually see the awesome roads again, I am really looking forword to it.


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## KIWIKAAS

^^
Obviously Radi did'nt watch that little youtube film


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## Svartmetall

^^ "See no evil, hear no evil".... Pity he didn't follow the third in the series "speak no evil".


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## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> ^^
> Obviously Radi did'nt watch that little youtube film


Ofcourse I´ve watched it, you meedn´t have added this in this thread, this doesn´t belong here, this is not an accidents thread or whatever, this is about motorway construction and so on, not about discusting accidents, noone wants see it, it´s too bad it happened at all but to show it on public isn´t good, do you think the relatives of the persons who were killed here like it? and it´s also spamming, you did it on purpose to make Bulgaria look bad you idiot.


----------



## KIWIKAAS

^^^
Considering your comments regarding crash barriers it would seem pretty relevant
......................................................................................
......................................................................................
......................................................................................
......................................................................................
...........................................................you idiot


----------



## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> ^^^
> Considering your comments regarding crash barriers it would seem pretty relevant
> ......................................................................................
> ......................................................................................
> ......................................................................................
> ......................................................................................
> ...........................................................you idiot


Kivikaas, no matter what I have said, I think noone wants to watch killed bodies on the road on a video. We are neither in a war nor in a computergame here. And I think you deserve to be called idiot because of posting such stuff, I mean man, there are killed bodies lying on the road there, we are not cannibals


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## radi6404

this was probably when it was still under construction. to the left the beautiful Rila mountain. Btw, the markings look like adhsesive tape because they are so fat and clear visible.


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## x-type

radi6404 said:


> Btw, friday i´m going to Sofia finally, I can aktually see the awesome roads again, I am really looking forword to it.


we wanna see it, too! take a camera and make nice photos of Struma with interesting stuff!


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## radi6404

x-type said:


> we wanna see it, too! take a camera and make nice photos of Struma with interesting stuff!


I will, the Struma motorway with it´s fat markings and bigger than usual crashbarriers, with it´s wide lanes and the E-79 national road til Dupnica with the same characteristics look like they are made for big mashinerie in case of war or something, ofcourse that´s not why they are made but I like that they look like that, 

I don´t know which companies have built them but they surely have the skill to build great smooth and futoristic looking roads. In Bulgaria they just worked on E79 and the Struma motorway, the other motorways we have here don´t look like that, they don´t look as good. I think these companies can aktually build roads also in some westerncountries.


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## wyqtor

It looks very well. I only hope the maintenance will be the same quality as the construction.

I am also waiting for nice pictures, don't forget to take pics of direction signs on the Struma! I hope you will have a pleasant trip!


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## mojaBL

@X-Type there are so many fools on croatian roads as well, but that didin´t stop me from going there. 

btw
those crash barriers on Struma are like old Yugoslav-styled one.


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## x-type

there are, but i really haven't seen anybody doing 200. and Radi seems to be proud of appereance of those guys at BL roads. it's really repulsive


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## mojaBL

x-type said:


> there are, but i really haven't seen anybody doing 200. and Radi seems to be proud of appereance of those guys at BL roads. it's really repulsive


i understand what r u talking, but he is just a teenager, so it will pass. 
Regarding croatia i have seen a lot of fools doing 200 on the highways.


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## x-type

i'm talking about 2way roads. Radi too. for motorways it's not weird, you'll find it worldwide


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## Jeroen669

KIWIKAAS said:


> this is very messy indeed


Can you keep those kind of video's away, please? Give at least a warning that it can be shocking. Not everone has a strong stomach.


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## Rainier Meadows

radi6404 said:


> Kivikaas, no matter what I have said, I think noone wants to watch killed bodies on the road on a video. We are neither in a war nor in a computergame here. And I think you deserve to be called idiot because of posting such stuff, I mean man, there are killed bodies lying on the road there, we are not cannibals



Radi calling people names in SSC is not a good idea, especially since we have had a run in already. :no:

Last warning....


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## radi6404

Rainier Meadows said:


> Radi calling people names in SSC is not a good idea, especially since we have had a run in already. :no:
> 
> Last warning....


Hey, what should I have said man, he posts such gross stuff on public forums


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## radi6404

mojaBL said:


> @X-Type there are so many fools on croatian roads as well, but that didin´t stop me from going there.
> 
> btw
> those crash barriers on Struma are like old Yugoslav-styled one.


that was a very hard insult.


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## mojaBL

Well the true maybe hurts, but it is not an insult.


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## radi6404

mojaBL said:


> Well the true maybe hurts, but it is not an insult.


For people who don´t know what to say the crashbarriers might look serbian or whatever else, if you are on that road you will admit that´s among the most not impressive maybe but futoristic looking ones you´ve ever driven.


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## Energy2003

sry, something changes during writing


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## keber

radi6404 said:


> You guys are really dumb, you only notice the bad things, don´t you notice the great asphalt, the great markings and so on, come on, as if on Croatian motorways which you praise there isn´t dust. I know that on the whole two hudret kilometer long E-79 there´s no one single bump that makes the things in your car shake or make a noise, altough the road leads through mountainous terrain, in other countries there aren´t many roads which hodl such a good quality for so long but yeah, move ti to crappy motorways and lie yourself.


You said, that you noticed bumps over bridges. As there are no long bridges, I wonder, how on new perfect motorway you can feel bumps on short bridges?

Also, bumps don't have any connection to surrounding terrain. Hills or plains, it doesn't matter.


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## radi6404

Not bumps but just not 100 percent even road, bumps are nowhere, and what do you want I don´t get, the roads are extremly smooth, you don´t feel anything even on old buses so what do you want.


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## ChrisZwolle

Ofcourse there are no bumps, it would be rather weird on a brand new motorway. 

However, a 2x2 road in my city (not a motorway) has been repaved lately, but it has been done terrible, very uneven, if you drive the speed limit (70km/h) it feels like you have a flat tire. hno: It isn't bumpy, but it's just not smooth. 

Cheap is not always the best...


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## radi6404

and guys, I don´t think crappy motorways have great markings, great signs, great asphalt and reflective things between the middlecrashbarriers, I aktually thing no motorway has reflective things in the middle of the motorway, I don´t mean the red things sticked to the crashbarriers but other extra things which reflect in red, similar to airport runways.


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## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> and guys, I don´t think crappy motorways have great markings, great signs, great asphalt and reflective things between the middlecrashbarriers


Please replace the word "Great" with the word "*Regular*". The stuff you showed us is nothing different from other new motorways around the globe.


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## KIWIKAAS

radi6404 said:


> I aktually thing no motorway has reflective things in the middle of the motorway, I don´t mean the red things sticked to the crashbarriers but other extra things which reflect in red, similar to airport runways.


what's so special about reflectors? They may not be used much where you've been but in many countries reflectors (cats eyes) are very widely used. Far more than anything you've shown. I don't see anything remarkable about the Struma. And that exit does not look like something on a new motorway. It looks like a typical, cheapo, 1950's job.


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## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> what's so special about reflectors? They may not be used much where you've been but in many countries reflectors (cats eyes) are very widely used. Far more than anything you've shown. I don't see anything remarkable about the Struma. And that exit does not look like something on a new motorway. It looks like a typical, cheapo, 1950's job.


I might go to Sofia again in a week so be careful, I will take my camera and focus on the exits, I will take pics of the best exits with two exitlanes leaving the motorway, than you´ll see.


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## wyqtor

New pictures, great! :cheers: More Struma pics are always welcome!

BTW, most Italian roads (not only motorways, but regular national roads - at least in the northern part of the country  ) also have markings and reflectors that resemble an airport runway.


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## radi6404

wyqtor said:


> New pictures, great! :cheers: More Struma pics are always welcome!
> 
> BTW, most Italian roads (not only motorways, but regular national roads - at least in the northern part of the country  ) also have markings and reflectors that resemble an airport runway.


Maybe but italy is a rich coutry and for Bulgaria it´s something innovative because look, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and so on don´t have them.


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## ChrisZwolle

Make some pics of the signage too! :cheers: And distance signs, i always love those


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## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> Make some pics of the signage too! :cheers: And distance signs, i always love those


havn´t you seen the distancesign which says Sofia?


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## ChrisZwolle

You mean this one? No i meant like those German ones which shows the distance to the next few cities.


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## keber

radi6404 said:


> Maybe but italy is a rich coutry and for Bulgaria it´s something innovative because look, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and so on don´t have them.


Oh, they do have all.:cheers:


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## radi6404

keber said:


> Oh, they do have all.:cheers:


than you don´t have a clue at all about what I´m taling because you have never ever seen the things I´m talking about in your whole life.


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## KIWIKAAS

^^
you're talking about ''cats eyes'' on the road right?
If that's the case then you're right that most european countries don't have them
Generally in countries/ regions where they need to plough snow the winter they don't use them.


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## x-type

radi6404 said:


> Germany, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and so on don´t have them.


??????

not only cat lights, but LED lights! this is pic from webcam from croatian A6 where you can see it when the night falls











btw, i don't have time for screenshot right now, so this photo will be changed during the day automaticly, you can se LEDs in the night


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## keber

KIWIKAAS said:


> ^^
> If that's the case then you're right that most european countries don't have them


Yes, but neither has them Struma motorway. He talks about reflective things on crashbarriers. Those are cat eyes on them. And they are present everywhere in Europe and beyond.

If radi talks about cat eyes on road markings, then I'm mistaken. But cat eyes were not seen yet on any of photos of that gorgeous motorway. :nono:


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## radi6404

keber said:


> Yes, but neither has them Struma motorway. He talks about reflective things on crashbarriers. Those are cat eyes on them. And they are present everywhere in Europe and beyond.
> 
> If radi talks about cat eyes on road markings, then I'm mistaken. But cat eyes were not seen yet on any of photos of that gorgeous motorway. :nono:


No, I´m talking about stuff similar to what x-type showed, just that they are between the two middlecrashbarriers. 










They look somehow like this and reflect in red, the reflective things on crashbarriers have the smallest countryroads, even.


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## KIWIKAAS

Yeah. I did'nt see any catseyes on the road either. Gets a bit confusing with all these amazing features on the Struma. Can you follow it? I can't:nuts:


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## x-type

what would actually be the right purpose of cat eyes between crash barriers and why are they more advanced than those integrated to crashbarriers?


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## radi6404

One thing why the Struma motorway is so good is because the very thick asphalt, I saw where the aspahlt ends at the ending of this section and it is at least 60 cm if not 80 cm and that´s really much, that´s German standart. unfortunately I don´t have a pic of it but when I next time go to sofia I´ll try to catch that place where it can be seen, I don´t think I need to mention that the national raod part from there to Dupnica has jsut as think asphalt layer.


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## RawLee

^^80cm thick?thats almost a metre!Are you sure?


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## ChrisZwolle

80cm is quite common in European motorway building. Unlike American Freeways which are said to be only half a meter thick.


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## KIWIKAAS

not 80cm thick asphalt though


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## radi6404

RawLee said:


> ^^80cm thick?thats almost a metre!Are you sure?


that´s why it is so smooth, they added a 40 cm thick asphalt layer on the second class road going to Bansko and small orderpoint with greece.


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## ChrisZwolle

You wouldn't notice the difference of 20cm or 80cm asphalt on the Struma after one year when construction completed. If it is still smooth in 10 years, then you might say it's useful to add such a thick layer. 

I wonder if there are any traffic counts from the Struma, it can't be much.


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## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> You wouldn't notice the difference of 20cm or 80cm asphalt on the Struma after one year when construction completed. If it is still smooth in 10 years, then you might say it's useful to add such a thick layer.
> 
> I wonder if there are any traffic counts from the Struma, it can't be much.


Oh the lost time there was a lot of traffic there, I don´t know why, probably because it was Friday at 20:00 because at that time people from sofia go visit their family. you can´t say there´s little traffic, at the morning and at the evening there is traffic on it.


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## mojaBL

Chriszwolle said:


> You wouldn't notice the difference of 20cm or 80cm asphalt on the Struma after one year when construction completed. If it is still smooth in 10 years, then you might say it's useful to add such a thick layer.
> 
> I wonder if there are any traffic counts from the Struma, it can't be much.


struma didn´t have signs and u r expecting traffic counts.


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## ChrisZwolle

Sorry, i was blinded by Radish's enthousiasm


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## radi6404

mojaBL said:


> struma didn´t have signs and u r expecting traffic counts.


Don´t spread such FUCKING BULLSHIT, probably your fucking awful motorways don´t have any or have rosty signs but not the Struma motorway, I´ve posted pics of signs so don´t spread bullshit with your 28 km motorway for a whole country, really laughable.


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## Patrick

:rofl: u take this way too serious, dude  :rofl:


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## x-type

radi6404 said:


> Don´t spread such FUCKING BULLSHIT, probably your fucking awful motorways don´t have any or have rosty signs but not the Struma motorway, I´ve posted pics of signs so don´t spread bullshit with your 28 km motorway for a whole country, really laughable.


here we go again with idioting, bullshitting, fucking, awfulling, rost (it's not a problem, Mr Muscolo helps to fix it) etc.hno:


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## Jeroen669

radi6404 said:


> I´ve posted pics of signs so don´t spread bullshit with your 28 km motorway for a whole country, really laughable.


It's almost miserable you judge people just on the amount and quality of motorways in the country they live in... (I guess then Holland would be like heaven for you, isn't it? )


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## TheCat

KIWIKAAS said:


> not 80cm thick asphalt though


Actually yes, 80 cm think asphalt. I don't know if it's the European standard, but it is the standard on German autobahns. And yes, as Chris said, in North America we use about half of this thickness.


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## mojaBL

radi6404 said:


> Don´t spread such FUCKING BULLSHIT, probably your fucking awful motorways don´t have any or have rosty signs but not the Struma motorway, I´ve posted pics of signs so don´t spread bullshit with your 28 km motorway for a whole country, really laughable.


second try
struma *didn´t *have signs and u r expecting traffic counts.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Struma has also not a motorway-sign, but an expressway sign, and is therefore not (yet) a motorway at all.


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## x-type

Chriszwolle said:


> The Struma has also not a motorway-sign, but an expressway sign, and is therefore not (yet) a motorway at all.


oh no, don't say it! now we're gonna listen again about roadworks and changing the signshno:


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## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> The Struma has also not a motorway-sign, but an expressway sign, and is therefore not (yet) a motorway at all.


chris, fro the last time now I am telling you that they changed the sane, there was a expressway sign because there wasn´t a fence everywhere yet, now there is and motorwaysign + green signs are there and I give a fucking shit what´s on it if the speedlimit is 120 and if it looks and functions like a motorway.


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## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> chris, fro the last time now I am telling you that they changed the sane, there was a expressway sign because there wasn´t a fence everywhere yet, now there is and motorwaysign + green signs are there and I give a fucking shit what´s on it if the speedlimit is 120 and if it looks and functions like a motorway.


radi, is Struma like God to you? I mean, we have hundreds of Interstates and Interstate-standard roadways here in the USA and I like riding on them but you're starting to seem a little....fanatical.

Usually we save that sort of devotion for church, family, sports.


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## radi6404

AUchamps said:


> radi, is Struma like God to you? I mean, we have hundreds of Interstates and Interstate-standard roadways here in the USA and I like riding on them but you're starting to seem a little....fanatical.
> 
> Usually we save that sort of devotion for church, family, sports.


No I am not but I don´t like if someone writtes wrong information about it.


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## OettingerCroat

YAY! hooray for thread merge! :colgate:


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## radi6404

The E-79 between Blagoevgrad and Simitli has broken, because of temperatures til -25 degrees at night the final layer of the 8 year old E-79 asphalt ha got potholes here and there. I will probably go to check the new asphalt Dupnica - Sofia, whether it has gotten potholes or not, but I am sure it hasn´t because it´s different asphalt, the italian Todini asphalt was old and probably that´s why it got potholes. On the other hand there is 20 year old asphalt here and there on the E-79 made by Bulgarians which doesn´t have potholes, it just got rough but doesn´t have potholes, that means that the Italian asphalt was crap.


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## RawLee

^^Do you realise that asphalt is not transported through the entire continent? Italians used bulgarian asphalt just as every other company that operates or builds in Bulgaria. To be precise, usually asphalt factories are built next to u/c motorways,so that it wont cost a lot to transport the material,and later decommissioned when not needed any longer in the area.


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## radi6404

RawLee said:


> ^^Do you realise that asphalt is not transported through the entire continent? Italians used bulgarian asphalt just as every other company that operates or builds in Bulgaria. To be precise, usually asphalt factories are built next to u/c motorways,so that it wont cost a lot to transport the material,and later decommissioned when not needed any longer in the area.


The material like stones and sand etc is bulgarian yes, but the recipy is Italian.


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## RawLee

Well,that is plausible.


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## Verso

Guys, I have sth funny to say: did you know that the guy that messed up the Struma article in Wikipedia a few days ago, is now a mod?


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## AUchamps

Verso said:


> Guys, I have sth funny to say: did you know that the guy that messed up the Struma article in Wikipedia a few days ago, is now a mod?


HAHA!!!!!!!

I Love it! That's downright Strumatic.


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## ChrisZwolle

Verso said:


> Guys, I have sth funny to say: did you know that the guy that messed up the Struma article in Wikipedia a few days ago, is now a mod?


I did NOT mess up the Struma article, as you can see in the history of that article.


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## Turnovec

Now .... I know radi won't be very happy to see this but ...

Some photos and video footage from Hemus Motorway from Bebresh viaduct to east entrance of Sofia taken by me in September

Sorry for the bad quality but it was afternoon and the sun was "shining" directly against the direction i traveled:




























































































































































































Have a little set of photos from a week ago in winter conditions and will post them here if someone is interested  :cheers:


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## x-type

Chriszwolle said:


> I did NOT mess up the Struma article, as you can see in the history of that article.


it's not about you 

btw, Turnovec, finally some nice photos from bulgarian motorways!


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## ChrisZwolle

Looks pretty okay, except that stretch before the tunnel. The scenery is wunderbar.


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## Turnovec

Chriszwolle said:


> Looks pretty okay, except that stretch before the tunnel. The scenery is wunderbar.


^^ I will post in a few days(when i have time to upload images) some more recent photos covering almost the whole lenght + the 4 tunnels. 

The asphault between Bebresh viaduct and the last tunnel that is seen on the first photos is really old and grey. Currently one of the lanes and the tunnel in that stretch are closed for reconstruction so hopefully they will look better soon. 

The tarmak in some other stretches is not so good too - some rifts have appeared due to the long usage of the highway and the lack of care in the wild transition years and they covered them with resin. It is visable on the photos too.

The Sceneray is really amazing - It is the most difficult part of the projected highway from Sofia to Varna. Here it crosses the mountain. The remaining 250 km. would be a lot easier to built as they go mainly through plain field.


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## x-type

if yomebody will travel again there, try to make photos of tunnel entrance from nearless (just right before entering the tunnel)


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## RawLee

That exactly how my videos look that I made in September...


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## radi6404

The last pic looks awesome, is that in the distance vitosha mountain, the motorway has shiny crashbarriers there. And what bothers me more is that some parts of the E-79 are broken now as I told you yesterday, the 8 year old itanial asphalt obviously was crap, how could it break I´ve no idea, Italians shouldn´t be allowed to build roads in Bulgaria again.


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## Mateusz

Just a crashbareers


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## keber

If there are cracks after 8 years, then this is normal.


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## radi6404

keber said:


> If there are cracks after 8 years, then this is normal.


What will they do now, will they add Tar between them?


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## Raf11

Really nice photos, Turnovec.

Your country is really pretty.


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## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> What will they do now, will they add Tar between them?


Depends on budget.

Since we cannot get any road widening or construction done in NL, we usually repave the section because otherwise the budget is not spend


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## JloKyM

Oh yeah...these shiny crash-barriers, smooth asphalt..."I'm lovin it". :cheers:

And for me the best motorway in Bulgaria is Trakya. Particularly the section which starts 20 km before Chirpan and ends near Stara Zagora..There i can drive my little Citroen at full speed...(160-170km/h) :lol:


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## Fusionist

Sphynx said:


> Well, now I'm beginning to see the light!
> 
> .... and Radi has been right all along!
> 
> Bulgaria really does have shiney crash barriers!


the light you see in that pic is called the .. er sun. On a bright sunny day I think even an average shiny crash barriers would look extra shiny.


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## radi6404

JloKyM said:


> Oh yeah...these shiny crash-barriers, smooth asphalt..."I'm lovin it". :cheers:
> 
> And for me the best motorway in Bulgaria is Trakya. Particularly the section which starts 20 km before Chirpan and ends near Stara Zagora..There i can drive my little Citroen at full speed...(160-170km/h) :lol:


come on, is it really that bad?


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## Astralis

Turnovec said:


> ^^ OK radi , we believe you  Don't need to tell us couple of times a day that Struma is the *Crème de la Crème* of all highways in the world. Just slow down the ball a little bit , would you ?


Crème de la mènthe for OFAH fans :lol:  :lol:.


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## x-type

Astralis said:


> Crème de la mènthe for OFAH fans :lol:  :lol:.


con la crema da barba da menta
con l'autoradio sempre nella mano destra...



about Hemus pavement - i thought opposite. namely, it looks to me as dome from pebbles, not ground stone


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## Sphynx

radi6404 said:


> The roadmarkings on Bugarian national roads and motorways are so good that they don´t need to be renewed.


Ya better get the Bulgarian National Motorways department to file an international patent on that *secret line-marking recipe* before some country decides to send in secret agents on an espionage expedition and steal it.

Colonel Saunders has always kept his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe *secret* that way! :cheers:


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## Turnovec

JloKyM said:


> And for me the best motorway in Bulgaria is Trakya. Particularly the section which starts 20 km before Chirpan and ends near Stara Zagora..There i can drive my little Citroen at full speed...(160-170km/h) :lol:


^^ Didn't see much about Trakia motorway here so made a little collection from other threads :



new bulgaria said:


> A nice little footage of the Trakia highway: Sofia - Plovdiv - Stara Zagora





Делян;15740952 said:


> Did my post get deleted?
> A new section of "Trakia" motorway in Bulgaria.
> 
> 
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> pictures from http://www.chambersz.com





bgrs said:


> This is Trakia highway, some photos:
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blue79 said:


> Few pics of Trakia highway from my short trip to Plovdiv.
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> Sofia in the distance


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## Turnovec

Now some info about my home town - Veliko Tarnovo. 

This is the *West entrance* of the city from Sofia direction *[E772]*. 






^^ From Google Earth :











--------------------------------

This is the *South entrance* of the city. The crossroad of *[E772]* -> Sofia-Varna and *[E85]* -> Istanbul-Bucurest. The interchange was finished in 1999. 

->









A few bad quality aireal shots :




























And from Google Earth :


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## KIWIKAAS

^^
Thanks Turnovec and blue79
About time we had some more shots of the Bularian road system.
In general it looks pretty good on those pics.
Looking at the Trakia motorway I presume the idea that grass will also grow on the central median in time aswell (at the moment it just dust and gravel).


----------



## nitz

Here's a picture of the E85 I've taken last week. After leaving the interchange, it goes dramatically right under Veliko Tarnovo.










Don't have pics from the rest of the trip, but I have to say the Hemus tunnels and viaducts are impressive, and the pavement of the short stretch Struma motorway is really very good. No, the crashbarriers were not shinier than they use to be  . The 2-lane roads I've seen (E79) were in good shape and mostly avoided towns - smooth driving except for 60km/h limits at every little junction with a minor road.

Does anyone know why the Struma is speed limited to 90 km/h and is marked as expressway and not motorway? Is it because it is so curvy and steep, or because it is not complete?


----------



## Verso

^^ Wow, this is spectacular.


----------



## radi6404

nitz said:


> Don't have pics from the rest of the trip, but I have to say the Hemus tunnels and viaducts are impressive, and the pavement of the short stretch Struma motorway is really very good. No, the crashbarriers were not shinier than they use to be . The 2-lane roads I've seen (E79) were in good shape and mostly avoided towns - smooth driving except for 60km/h limits at every little junction with a minor road.
> 
> Does anyone know why the Struma is speed limited to 90 km/h and is marked as expressway and not motorway? Is it because it is so curvy and steep, or because it is not complete?


FUCKING AWWWESOME!!! See verso and Chris and X-type and Keber, the pavement of the Struma motorway is aktually very good and better than usual and you talk shit that your motorways are way more advanced. I am really proud and happy to hear that others have the same opinion of our extremly smooth asphalt. Never ever again say Struma motorway is bad.


----------



## lpioe

^^ What about his question at the end?


Btw that shot is awesome nitz!


----------



## radi6404

lpioe said:


> ^^ What about his question at the end?
> 
> 
> Btw that shot is awesome nitz!


I think that is typical Bulgarian to let old sgins stay, they don´t care about signalisation at all. But they added green direction signs so that means it is motorway. and the beautiful Struma motorway will be continued, I read that the concurs for the company to build the motorway will start in a few days, so this year there will be construction year of the Autobahn.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> FUCKING AWWWESOME!!! See verso and Chris and X-type and Keber, the pavement of the Struma motorway is aktually very good and better than usual and you talk shit that your motorways are way more advanced. I am really proud and happy to hear that others have the same opinion of our extremly smooth asphalt. Never ever again say Struma motorway is bad.


we (i) have never said that it is bad, but it is overvalued because there are a plenty of much more interesting things at bulgarian roads than Struma. for instance, this fabolous tunnel under Veliko Tarnovo! it's fantastic!!!!


----------



## keber

No, it is not. Who cares about objects? :weird:


----------



## radi6404

Keber is just an arrogant patriot

Edit Chris: please control yourself or resolve this issue by PM. No one is interested in online warfare.


----------



## Verso

And Radi lacks sense of humour.


----------



## Patrick

^yes, he does^


----------



## Zaro

Chriszwolle said:


> It almost looks like gravel.
> 
> Maybe it is different when you drive on it.


Such road construction is on purpose. Under bad weather condition this pavement provides for better cohesion between the tyre and the road surface, as water stays in the lower part of the pavement, among the gravel stones standing above it. Now, it may seem a strange explanation, but I was told so by a guy, who had been engineering roads some time ago. Since I've been driving on Trakia for some 15 years or so, I can assure you that such pavement is much better in case of rain, when aquaplaning may occur on an absolutely smooth road surface, while it may not on such surface. Actually I prefer the old sections of it, as I feel I have a better control of the car under any conditions.


----------



## TheCat

Motorway = freeway...


----------



## OettingerCroat

Patrick said:


> you have to pay toll then? :tongue:


i would think you'd have to...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> It´s a motorway, not a freeway nor Expressway, it is very wide, has middle dividers, has very wide shoulders and as over or underpassing junctions. Just because themainanance team forgot to change the expressway sign doesn´t mean it´s not motorway.


It's only a motorway when it is signed as a motorway, according to European rules. It's not a motorway because you think they forgot to remove all signs. :nuts:

Why don't you email the transportation department for explanaiton?


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> It´s a motorway, not a freeway nor Expressway, it is very wide, has middle dividers, has very wide shoulders and as over or underpassing junctions. Just because themainanance team forgot to change the expressway sign doesn´t mean it´s not motorway.


what about austrian S roads?


----------



## Turnovec

*radi6404*, buddy ... PLEASE Stop flooding this thread with useless comments and crappy photos ! Take a rest , grab you camera and go to shoot some better photos of your beloved Struma . When you are ready in a week or month than come here to post again. kay:

I am tired of reading tons of pages of bla-bla-bla and useless questions, exlanations, and anger outbursts! :bash:

The moderator should have left a single thread called something like "Radi's thread" where he and all of you who like to make fun with him and his obsessions could make your chats... hno:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Turnovec said:


> The moderator should have left a single thread called something like "Radi's thread" where he and all of you who like to make fun with him and his obsessions could make your chats... hno:


We used to have such a thread, and that didn't turned out very well.

I am watching Radi close, so don't worry. Please discuss with understanding and respect


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Ok, thank you Chris  

Now a couple of photos from that old , still not reconstructed stretch of Hemus highway - the second one has a closer look at the pavement that you were so curious to know what is  




















And one more of the viaducts on Hemus - the one before Sofia - above the villages Stolnik & Eleshnitsa


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> It's only a motorway when it is signed as a motorway, according to European rules. It's not a motorway because you think they forgot to remove all signs. :nuts:
> 
> Why don't you email the transportation department for explanaiton?


I don´t have their e-mail address, and Chris I don´t fucking care what it´s supposed to be, it functions like a motorway and has better pavement than your dutch motorways for sure so come on. you don´t allow this altough it has green signs as a motorway but allow German Bundesstrassen to be motorways with shoulders of 1,5 m, what´s going on with you?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

> I don´t have their e-mail address


I'm sure they have somewhere an emailadress on an official site for infrastructure. 



> has better pavement than your dutch motorways for sure


proof it. And even if it does, why should 20km Struma be better than 2400km of Dutch motorways?


----------



## Billpa

Chriszwolle said:


> why should 20km Struma be better than 2400km of Dutch motorways?


If the Struma was in the Netherlands and the government decided to close it for some reason and turn the entire length into a wildlife sanctuary nobody would even notice.


----------



## bgplayer19

Guys finnaly my dream came true:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:We have electrical signd in Sofia!!!On the Todor Aleksandrov Blvd.!It says "Pazete distanciq" but i can't remember how to translate it in English!:cheers::cheers::cheers:


----------



## Verso

"Watch the distance"


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Keep distance?


----------



## OettingerCroat

Chriszwolle said:


> Keep distance?


sì, signore


----------



## ADCS

Slightly off topic, but how much different is Bulgarian from the other South Slavic languages? Is it mutually intelligible to Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Bosnian or Macedonian speakers? How about to the Eastern Slavic languages?

What can I say, I'm a bit of a linguistics nerd.


----------



## TheCat

ADCS said:


> Slightly off topic, but how much different is Bulgarian from the other South Slavic languages? Is it mutually intelligible to Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Bosnian or Macedonian speakers? How about to the Eastern Slavic languages?
> 
> What can I say, I'm a bit of a linguistics nerd.


To some degree, it can probably be understood by speakers of most Slavic languages, and especially by those who can also read the Cyrillic script. However, Bulgarian is quite unique in the group, because it has very minimal nominal declension (unlike all other Slavic languages, which decline in 6-7 cases), and also has a definite article (postfixed). From what I've seen, I can say that Bulgarians generally have no trouble becoming fluent in Russian, although they frequently get the cases wrong because they do not exist in Bulgarian.

Oh yeah, and I'm also a pretty big linguistics nerd.


----------



## x-type

^^ Macedonian also left declension. Macedonian is also the most similar to Bulgarian of all Slavic languages. it is something like half way from Serbian to Bulgarian. thes similarities go nice from east to west. Bulgarian is similar to Macedonian, Macedonian to Serbian, Serbian to Croatian, Croatian has dialects very similar to Slovenian.


----------



## bgplayer19

x-type said:


> ^^ Macedonian also left declension. Macedonian is also the most similar to Bulgarian of all Slavic languages. it is something like half way from Serbian to Bulgarian. thes similarities go nice from east to west. Bulgarian is similar to Macedonian, Macedonian to Serbian, Serbian to Croatian, Croatian has dialects very similar to Slovenian.


Yes but when i travelled to Austria I passed Serbia,Hrvatska and Slovenia and i talked in Bulgarian all the way and everyone understood me  :lol::lol::lol:and i had a very funny story in Croatia when i asked for sticker/lepenki(Bulgarian) and the Croatoian guy didn't understand me at first but then smiled and asked me "nalepnice"?:lol::lol::lol:


----------



## x-type

^^ well, yes. from all non-ex-yugoslavian slavic languages, ex-yugoslavian nations can understand Bulgarian the best (omg, what a sentence, i hope you understand it ). with west slavic nations it is harder. i can understand some Czech because around my city lives a lot of Czechs and i have some freinds Czechs, Slovak is similar, but Polish... i cannot understand a single word. written yes, but spoken - no way!
east slavic languages are in some way universal. they have a lot of words from Proto-slavic language, so if you think a little bit, you can find out the meaning. but again, i can understand Russian more than Ukrainian.


----------



## radi6404

I like it that you know so much about our languace and about how slavic languaces sound etc.


----------



## Zaro

TheCat said:


> However, Bulgarian is quite unique in the group, because it has very minimal nominal declension (unlike all other Slavic languages, which decline in 6-7 cases), and also has a definite article (postfixed).


Good for you. 

Moreover, Bulgarian has many other unique features, such as, to mention one, double clitics, which are not to be found in any other Slavic language. Although classified as Slavic, Bulgarian is quite different in some aspects from the Slavic languages.


----------



## TheCat

Zaro said:


> Good for you.


What do you mean?


----------



## radi6404

why does no one post any nationalroads and motorways here? there are so many new sections of motorway and nationalroad here in Bulgaria but noone except me posts pics fo them. almost all roads towards sofia have been reconstructed, roads to Russe has been reconstructed, the road to the Macedonian border near Kiustendil has been reconstructed and many more but there are no pics.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Dude, buy a camera and make pics yourself :cheers:


----------



## FM 2258

Chriszwolle said:


> Dude, buy a camera and make pics yourself :cheers:


....and a car. No more bus window pictures. hno:


----------



## ADCS

radi6404 said:


> why does no one post any nationalroads and motorways here? there are so many new sections of motorway and nationalroad here in Bulgaria but noone except me posts pics fo them. almost all roads towards sofia have been reconstructed, roads to Russe has been reconstructed, the road to the Macedonian border near Kiustendil has been reconstructed and many more but there are no pics.


1. Not a lot of Bulgarians here (or those who live close enough to do this on a whim)
2. Not a lot of people who read Bulgarian websites here
3. Plenty of stuff going on in our home countries to talk about!


----------



## keber

FM 2258 said:


> ....and a car. No more bus window pictures. hno:


He needs driver's license first.:lol:


----------



## x-type

keber said:


> He needs driver's license first.:lol:


cut it out now 

(btw, i agree - no more bus window pics)


----------



## vlker

> well, yes. from all non-ex-yugoslavian slavic languages, ex-yugoslavian nations can understand Bulgarian the best (omg, what a sentence, i hope you understand it ). with west slavic nations it is harder. i can understand some Czech because around my city lives a lot of Czechs and i have some freinds Czechs, Slovak is similar, but Polish... i cannot understand a single word. written yes, but spoken - no way!
> east slavic languages are in some way universal. they have a lot of words from Proto-slavic language, so if you think a little bit, you can find out the meaning. but again, i can understand Russian more than Ukrainian.


I have similar experience...I am Czech and I was very surprised, that we understand nearly all words in conversation with Macedonian and Serbian people.


----------



## Turnovec

radi6404 said:


> why does no one post any nationalroads and motorways here? there are so many new sections of motorway and nationalroad here in Bulgaria but noone except me posts pics fo them. almost all roads towards sofia have been reconstructed, roads to Russe has been reconstructed, the road to the Macedonian border near Kiustendil has been reconstructed and many more but there are no pics.


^^ Oh boy .... radi you are loco, buddy ! :nuts::bash::clown::weird::crazy:

Forget the camera or the car - you need to visit a shrink or something ASAP :nuts:

Moderators, please erase the unreasonable or stupid comments of radi , once they appear. 95% of what he wrote so far is total crap .... :banned:


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Oh boy .... radi you are loco, buddy ! :nuts::bash::clown::weird::crazy:
> 
> Forget the camera or the car - you need to visit a shrink or something ASAP :nuts:
> 
> Moderators, please erase the unreasonable or stupid comments of radi , once they appear. 95% of what he wrote so far is total crap .... :banned:


the next time you insult me I will report you.


----------



## Turnovec

radi6404 said:


> why does no one post any nationalroads and motorways here? there are so many new sections of motorway and nationalroad here in Bulgaria but *noone except me posts pics fo them*. almost all roads towards sofia have been reconstructed, roads to Russe has been reconstructed, the road to the Macedonian border near Kiustendil has been reconstructed and many more but there are no pics.


^^ Are you blind or Something ? :nuts:

See here , here , here, here, here, etc. etc. .... 



radi6404 said:


> the next time you insult me I will report you.


^^ Next time you embarrass again your own country i will plead the moderators to kick your arse out of here.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I cannot ban someone because they act like a fool. But i can when it comes to personal fights, trolling and language. So i'm right on it. 

Please PM me if anything upsets you, because i cannot always know when something can be offensive to persons when it comes to local issues.


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Are you blind or Something ? :nuts:
> 
> See here , here , here, here, here, etc. etc. ....
> 
> 
> 
> ^^ Next time you embarrass again your own country i will plead the moderators to kick your arse out of here.


I did it because I love my counry and i want things in my counry changed, that´s why I talked bad about it


----------



## Turnovec

radi6404 said:


> I did it because I love my counry and i want things in my counry changed, that´s why I talked bad about it


^^ You better think more and write less, ok ? It is not embarrassing what you say about your country , but the way you behave ... talking one and the same over and over again - "whoresons" , "Struma", "Shiny crashbarriers" etc. etc. makes you look redicolous and fills this thread with no more than 1 useless and meaningfull post per page of 20 ... 

Now on topic ...



C B H said:


> *Bulgarian Thrace Highway/A1 concession begins from today
> 
> 16-th of January 2008*
> 
> 
> Trace: Kalotina-Sofia-Plovdiv-Stara Zagora-Nova Zagora-Jambol-Karnobat-Bourgas
> Planned lenght: 443 km
> Built lenght: 280 km


----------



## radi6404

They fixed the potholes of the E-79 between Blagoevgrad and Simitli the next day after they appeared, well done. I also like that they filled them well, you don´t notice that there have been holes unless you don´t look on the surface. 

The Struma motorway will cost 800 mil. € instead of 600 because there will be a 13 km long Tunnel which will protect the Kresna Gorge. Because if not some extremists would protest that the "beautiful" valley would be destroied. The landscape almost looks like a desert because it´s very low and close to greece, trees are no higher than 4 -5 m and could better be called bushes and they care about this gorge.


----------



## KIWIKAAS

^^
A 13km long tunnel for just €200 extra? I don't think it's 13 km long radi.


----------



## keber

Actually it is possible. If geology is not too difficult and there are more attack points close to surface, and with cheap labour like in Bulgaria, then yes, it could be possible to build 13 km long tunnel for 200 mil. €.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hehe, there used to be plans for a 5km tunnel in the Netherlands which would cost over 1 billion euro's. But project costs are really a pain in the ass here.


----------



## x-type

keber said:


> Actually it is possible. If geology is not too difficult and there are more attack points close to surface, and with cheap labour like in Bulgaria, then yes, it could be possible to build 13 km long tunnel for 200 mil. €.


khm, again i'm not sure. we will spend 100 mil. € only for equipment of second tubes of tunnels Sveti Rok and Mala Kapela (reminding: tubes are allready dug), so it is 11,5 km of single tube equipment. and i doubt that digging could cost only 100 mil. €. if it would miracleously, it would be single tube, no way for double


----------



## Turnovec

These are the latest news about Struma motorway. I think radi misinterpreted them again. 

Here is the most important info in brief: 

1. The completion of the motorway will cost not 600 mln. euro as planned but 800 mln. due to the new ecological project for the passing through the Kresna gorge. 

2. The whole length of the Kresna Gorge is 13 km. and it will be done with series of smaller tunnels and bridges to avoid interfering in the ecological system and the life of the species in that protected area. There will be tunnels(overpassings) for bears , wolves , turtles etc. etc. Sound defence walls etc. .... tubes under the highway for the turtles to pass and some other ecological stuff. All the constructions in that 13km. stretch will cost 250 mln. euro. 



> *200 милиона евро повече ще струва магистрала “Струма”*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 200 милиона евро повече от планираното ще излезе построяването на автомагистрала “Струма” заради изграждането на тунел през Кресненското дефиле. Това съобщи изпълнителният директор на фонд “Републиканска пътна инфраструктура” Веселин Георгиев.
> 
> По първоначални оценки магистралата от село Долна Диканя до ГКПП Кулата трябваше да бъде изградена за 600 милиона евро. След много обсъждани варианти за строителството на “Струма” чрез заеми и концесии, правителството се спря на отдавна уговореното с Европейския съюз * магистралата да се строи с пари от Кохезионния фонд на Общността.
> 
> Новината за оскъпяването на строителството с 33% идва след като на 4 януари Висшия експертен екологичен съвет даде зелена светлина на доклада за оценката за въздействието върху околната среда на магистрала “Струма”. Одобрен беше вариантът на трасе, който предвижда изграждането на тунел през Кресненското дефиле с цел опазване на дефилето като защитена зона.
> 
> Аутобанът е с дължина 156 км, като до момента от него е построена само 18 * километровата отсечка Даскалово * Долна Диканя. Трасето на магистралата минава по сега съществуващия главен републикански път Е 79, тя е част от общоевропейския транспортен коридор номер IV. Останалите за дострояване 138 км са разделени на 4 отсечки. Очаква се най-напред да започне със строителството на двата крайни участъка * Долна Диканя * Дупница и Кресна * Кулата. Процедурите по избор на изпълнител ще стартират в началото на април и се очаква да приключат до края на тази година. Проектите за двете отсечки, които първи ще се изградят, вече са готови, съобщи пътният шеф Веселин Георгиев. Изготвянето им беше възложено “по право” на две фирми * “Ню ит инженеринг” и “Пътпроект”.
> 
> Освен строителството на “Струма” през 2008 г. ще се даде старт на изграждането и на всички останали магистрали у нас, без “Черно море”, съобщи строителният министър Асен Гагузов. Най-скоро * до края на януари ще бъде открита процедурата за избор на изпълнител на отсечката Оризово * Харманли от магистрала “Марица”.





> Висшият експертен екологичен съвет (ВЕЕС) - консулттивен орган към министъра на околната среда и водите, одобри днес доклада за оценка за въздействие върху околната среда (ОВОС) за автомагистрала „Струма" (Долна Диканя-Кулата) и взе решение да препоръча на министъра на околната среда и водите да одобри осъществяването на проекта.
> 
> Това е първата процедура по ОВОС с направена детайлна оценка за съвместнимост с НАТУРА 2000, която ВЕЕС гледа, откакто се прилага оценката по НАТУРА.
> На днешното заседание имаше представители на всички общини, през които ще преминава автомагистралата, неправителствени и граждански организации, учени и др.
> 
> Одобрен беше вариантът на трасе, който предвижда изграждане на тунел през Кресненското дефиле точно с цел опазване на дефилето като защитена зона.
> 
> С решението по ОВОС се поставят общо 47 условия и 24 мерки, съобразени с препоръките, дадени в оценката по НАТУРА.
> Изпълнението на тези мерки е задължително за възложителя. Контролът по тяхното изпълнение ще се осъществява от РИОСВ-Благоевград, РИОСВ-Перник и Басейнова дирекция "Западнобеломорски басейн" - гр. Благоевград.
> 
> Оценката по НАТУРА, по препоръка на МОСВ, е направена от екип от учени, работили по изготвянето на документацията за защитените зони, през които ще преминава автомагистралата или са в непосредствена близост до трасето й.
> 
> По директивата за опазване на природните местообитания и на дивата флора и фауна това са зоните „Острица", „Витоша", „Конявска планина", „Верила", „Зона Скрино", „Орановски пролом - Лешко", „Кресна - Илинденци", „Рупите-Струмешница", „Среден Пирин - Алиботуш", а по директивата за опазване на дивите птици - „Бобошево", „Кочериново", „Кресна", и „Рупите Струмешница".
> 
> Някои от разгледаните варианти на трасе засягат или минават в непосредствена близост до защитени територии и буферните им зони - резерват „Тисата", защитена местност „Моравска", природна забележителност „Момина скала".
> 
> Разглежданият участък от автомагистрала "Струма" започва при км 305 при с. Долна Диканя и завършва приблизително при км 439 при ГКПП "Кулата".
> 
> Общата дължина на отсечката е около 133-135 км. Пътното трасе се развива в направление север-юг, като съвпада или е успоредно на съществуващия главен републикански път I-1 (Е79).
> 
> Инвестиционното предложение предвижда изграждане на четирилентово пътно платно с характерна за магистралите междинна разделителна ивица и ленти за аварийно спиране.
> 
> Оценката за съвместимост с НАТУРА беше представена на днешното заседание от проф.Стоян Бежков, ст.научен сътрудник в Природонаучния музей на БАН.
> Бежков потвърди подкрепа за днешното решение за автомагистрала «Струма», защото в него са залегнали препоръките от оценката за съвместимост.
> 
> Заключението на експертите по ОВОС е, че осъществяването на проекта при изпълнение на предложените мерки е екологически допустимо, ако се направи комбинация от предложените варианти, което няма да доведе до негативни въздействия върху компонентите на околната среда.
> 
> Сред поставените условия са: отдалечаване на трасето на автомагистралата от коритото на реките Джерман и Струма в източно направление; технологичният достъп за машините по време на строителство и експлоатация от съществуващия път да се съгласува с дирекция „Национална служба за защита на природата" на МОСВ с цел изпълнение на становището на оценката за съвместимост с предмета и целите на защитената зона, а накрая да се направи интензивна рекултивация след строителството.
> 
> Инвеститорът се задължава още в отсечката при Марикостиновското поле да се предвидят шумозащитни стени на западната страна на платното, както и стени, които да предотвратяват попадането на костенурки върху пътя.
> 
> С цел опазване от неблагоприятни въздействия върху защитените зони за опазване на дивите птици и биокоридори, важни за опазване на дивите птици по протежение на трасето на автомагистрала Струма оградните съоръжения в близост до влажни ливади да се планират с по-ситна мрежа в основата (допълнителна мрежа с по-малко око) с цел да предпазват от излизане на новоизлюпени птици на ливадния дърдавец на пътното платно.
> Да се изградят шумоизолиращи прегради по границата със защитените зони с цел избягване на прякото безпокойство и смъртността на птици от защитена зона "Кочериново" и Рупите.
> 
> За защитена зона "Кресна да се извърши проучване и картиране на гнездата на късопръстия ястреб и земеродното рибарче по поречието на реката с цел проектиране на пътното трасе на повече от 300 метра от тях.
> 
> Да се проектират и изградят многовидови надлези за опазване на следните ключови видове: мечка и сухоземни костенурки между разклона за село Боснек и село Старо село и между село Делян и разклона за село Тополница - 2 броя надлеза; на вълк и сухоземни костенурки - между село Студена и разклона за село Боснек; между разклона за село Тополница и язовир Дяково; Между язовир Дяково и разклона за село Дяково - 3 броя.
> 
> Също така трябва да се проектират необходимият брой многовидови проходи под мостовете на реки, постоянни или сезонни притоци на р. Струма и мостовете над р. Струма при село Студена и между село Мурсалево и село Кулата.
> Ще се проектират на всеки 200 метра, ако няма друго подходящо многофункционално съоръжение, тръби (под трасето) за преминаване на костенурки.
> 
> Решено беше да се допусне предварително изпълнение на проекта, което означава, че при обжалване на решението, няма да се спира изпълнението, предвид голямата значимост на обекта.


----------



## Turnovec

A little more about the Trakia Motorway Concession :

*Bulgaria Finalises Trakia Highway Deal*

Bulgaria and a Portuguese consortium have finalised the concession of Trakia highway after years of legal and political quarrels, Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport announced.

The deal on the amount of 715 million EUR was granted without a tender by Bulgaria's previous cabinet in 2005 to the Portuguese companies MSF, Somague and Lena Engenharia e Construcoes.

Since then their Bulgarian partners has been blocked.

The new conditions promise to keep the price unchanged but will scrap state aid and oblige the investors to take the construction risk.

Under the 30-year deal, the consortium is about to build and upgrade a 443 km highway from Sofia to the Black Sea city of Burgas.

*The highway should be ready in three years. *




C B H said:


> *Bulgarian Thrace Highway/A1 concession begins from today
> 
> 16-th of January 2008*
> 
> 
> Trace: Kalotina-Sofia-Plovdiv-Stara Zagora-Nova Zagora-Jambol-Karnobat-Bourgas
> Planned lenght: 443 km
> Built lenght: 280 km


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Very good. I think it will boost the tourism industry along the Black Sea coast.


----------



## keber

Turnovec said:


> 2. The whole length of the Kresna Gorge is 13 km. and it will be done with series of smaller tunnels and bridges to avoid interfering in the ecological system and the life of the species in that protected area. There will be tunnels(overpassings) for bears , wolves , turtles etc. etc. Sound defence walls etc. .... tubes under the highway for the turtles to pass and some other ecological stuff. All the constructions in that 13km. stretch will cost 250 mln. euro.


Yes, that makes more sense for 250 milion. Actually I was messing with old numbers, which would be possible 15-20 years ago, but security measures for today's tunnels are very strict (and expensive).


----------



## radi6404

When we are at shiny crashbarriers, I am painting my balcony with a shining color which is exactly the same used for painting crashbarriers. It is really shiny, when it´s finished I will post pics here, it looks awesome.


----------



## Czas na Żywiec

Hopefully it doesn't blind people walking past your building.


----------



## radi6404

It will probably do.


----------



## x-type

i didn't know that road crash barriers are being painted


----------



## radi6404

x-type said:


> i didn't know that road crash barriers are being painted


I don´t know if they are but at least the color is exactly 100% like some crashbariers, and it is shiny as hell, I was hoping so much it would be shiny and when I started painting I was very happy.


----------



## Verso

So is there any road news from Bulgaria, beside Radi painting his balcony?


----------



## Turnovec

radi6404 said:


> when it´s finished I will post pics here, it looks awesome.


^^ I really really hope you won't post such pics here .... hno:





Verso said:


> So is there any road news from Bulgaria, beside Radi painting his balcony?


^^ 2008: Planned improvements about road safety
Electronic signs on Bulgarian highways, reliefed outermost lanes on the most important roads, lighting on important countryside crossways. 95% of the car accidents in BG are due to drivers' errors. Vratsa-Mezdra road will be extended as well as Plovdiv-Pazarjik. Other important projects are contunuing the construction of Trakia highway and the bridge on E85 near Byala.



> Заместник-министърът на вътрешните работи Камен Пенков заяви, че 95% от катастрофите са по вина на водачите на автомобили, предаде БНР.
> 
> Най-честите причини за катастрофите през 2007 г. са превишена скорост, неправомерно изпреварване, отнемане на предимство, неправоспособност и употреба на алкохол.
> 
> Увеличава се броят на катастрофите заради неправоспособност на водачите, сочи статистиката на МВР.
> 
> Близо 70 % от катастрофите са в населените места. Санкционирани са 6866 пешеходци. Съставени 748 000 акта и 930 000 фиша.
> 
> През 2008 г. подобрение ще се правят на пътищата Враца - Мездра, Пловдив - Пазарджик. Продължава доизграждането на автомагистрала "Тракия", строежът на моста при Бяла, Русенско. Михалевски обясни също, че през тази година ще бъде поставено осветление на невралгичните кръстовища, където често стават катастрофи. По големите извънградски пътни артерии ще бъдат поставени неравности в страничните ленти.
> 
> Средствата, с които ще разполага Фонд "Републиканска пътна инфраструктура", също ще бъдат увеличени. Зам.-министърът на транспорта Георги Петърнейчев пък съобщи, че националният регистър на преподавателите по автоподготовка трябва да стартира в средата на тази година. Камен Пенков допълни, че ще бъдат проведени разговори за монтирането на светлинни табла по магистралите, които да дават различна информация на шофьорите, както и за внедряването на повече нови системи за контрол на трафика.


----------



## radi6404

Why shouldn´t I post, I liek how it looks.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> Why shouldn´t I post, I liek how it looks.


maybe because this thread is called "Bulgarian motorways" and not "Bulgarian balcony fences"


----------



## ChrisZwolle

x-type said:


> maybe because this thread is called "Bulgarian motorways" and not "Bulgarian balcony fences"


Exactly.


----------



## AUchamps

Chriszwolle said:


> Exactly.


Ah, I think it'd be cool to see if it's really as shiny as the crashbarriers. Let him mix the pics in once and then we can evaluate.


----------



## Sphynx

radi6404 said:


> When we are at shiny crashbarriers, I am painting my balcony with a shining color which is exactly the same used for painting crashbarriers. It is really shiny, when it´s finished I will post pics here, it looks awesome.


Dude, are you for real? :nuts: :lol:


----------



## radi6404

Sphynx said:


> Dude, are you for real? :nuts: :lol:


Yes, I´m for real, why shouldn´t I paint my balconay with a shining color, I had some ugly blue on my balustrade before, this looks way better.


----------



## Turnovec

Oh Boy ! :nuts::nuts::nuts:

Guys please just ignore radi's nonsense writings ... Comment only when he says something reasonable once in a year :nuts::nuts::nuts:


----------



## mojaBL

Turnovec said:


>


i know i am late, but this is great!!!!


----------



## Turnovec

mojaBL said:


> i know i am late, but this is great!!!!


^^ Thanks kay:

And This is a photo from the top of the hill looking on the E85 national road after it exists the tunnel and heads towards Russe & Bucurest


----------



## mojaBL

^^are those private houses or there is restaurant or café where u can seat and enjoy view?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ It's shot from Grand Hotel Yantra. There is a caffe and restaurant with a tarrace where you can enjoy the view as much as you want  

Ok , One more shot of the other side of the hill and the tunnel, just for you


----------



## Patrick

that looks really nice kay:


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Thanks! kay:


A couple of Shots from the "Hemus" motorway ... more like to get an idea about the scenery morethan about the motorway itself


----------



## mojaBL

thnx for info if i ever come to VT i will sure visit that café.


----------



## Kese

Radi, I want to see that balcony!!!


----------



## AUchamps

I want this picture below to be Photoshoped to be so crashbarrier shiny that it'll be even more blinding then Radi's balcony.


----------



## x-type

people, you really don't know to keep your mouth shut when you need. i enjoyed quiteness hno:


----------



## radi6404

Kese said:


> Radi, I want to see that balcony!!!


As soon as I have uploaded the pics I´ll post them here.


----------



## Turnovec

*HEMUS Motorway* - 1st January 2008. 

Yablanitsa - Tunnels "Vitinya" ~ 60km.

Weather was foggy, snowing 
Temperature -2 C .

Some video footage with a little "Faith no more" in the background  















































































































































Tunnels *"Praveshki Hanove"* - 871 m.

























































































































Тunnels *"Topli Dol" * - 890 m.











































































Tunnels *"Echemishka"* - 820 m. The right tube is under renovation.


































































Tunnels *"Vitinya"* - 1125 m.


----------



## radi6404

The Topli dol tunnel looks awesome.


----------



## x-type

omg, i knew that there was a huge potential for interesting photos at Hemus although some people (one man) tried to convince us different! excellent report!!


----------



## Billpa

Turnovec said:


>


^^
I think I see a guy taking a picture from the second-to-last window on that bus.


----------



## TheCat

Awesome scenery around the motorway


----------



## Verso

Billpa said:


> ^^
> I think I see a guy taking a picture from the second-to-last window on that bus.


Radi. Hehe, romantic weather.


----------



## Patrick

yes, very nice sceenery indeed, esp. this photo here is fine 

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg44/naster1/hemus36.jpg

@Radi: No emergency lane there!


----------



## keber

Probably this is so called "slow lane", lane for slow vehicles on steep ascents and descents, commonly found in many South Europe countries.


----------



## Patrick

I have seen those slow lanes in Luxembourg, but they had a different marking lane there (like exit markings). also, in Germany, some strechtes were extended from 2x2 to 2x3, without adding a new emergency lane and just repainting the road surface.


----------



## keber

In some countries markings for slow lane are different than for normal lanes in some they are the same.


----------



## JloKyM

The Hemus highway has many viaducts were even the emergency stop is forbidden. That's why there isn't emergency line. Some of the viaducts have only 2 lines also.


----------



## radi6404

bcause of some (-) (-) (-) the EU stopped the money for building roads to Bulgaria, a very big disaster happened. Because of corruption EU has stopped money until the case is clear and until EU has controlled what´s hapening in the Bulgarian government. It´s (-) shameful -EDIT- . (-) (-), if the Struma motorway construction will be delayed because of this skandal I will be very angry and do everything what I can do in my position to do those (-) (-) bad. They should suffer the most painful death I can imagine and infront of them their (-) luxuries should be destroyed like some childs toys.

I apologize to the moderators for such a reaction but I have no nerves anymore, I am under a depression now.


----------



## Jeroen669

Here we go again... Can't you write one post without swearing?


----------



## Verso

Nice post, Radi!  I was always wondering though; aren't politicians themselves interested in better roads for their own sake? They can't just drive around by planes and helicopters, so I guess they should also see an interest in it. Oh, and I also heared about the corruption yesterday.


----------



## Wolle

Dude, you got to relax a little!
Why are you flippin' out over some construction delay? If there is so much corruption in your country, it`ll be the best to have an investigation first.

Rules are strict in the EU


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> Nice post, Radi!  I was always wondering though; aren't politicians themselves interested in better roads for their own sake? They can't just drive around by planes and helicopters, so I guess they should also see an interest in it. Oh, and I also heared about the corruption yesterday.


Man, I feel so ashamed for my country


----------



## Verso

Corruption is in every country, but people usually don't point their fingers at rich countries. :cheers:


----------



## Billpa

radi6404 said:


> inappropriate language



Is this actually necessary? How much longer is this going to be permitted?


----------



## x-type

uf, i heard about stopping these fonds about 5 days ago, i was wondering why Radi didn't react


----------



## radi6404

Oh my god a world would fall apart if they don´t start constructing the struma motorway for me.


----------



## Sphynx

radi6404 said:


> Oh my god a world would fall apart if they don´t start constructing the struma motorway for me.


Meh, by the time the Struma is completed, it might even become outdated technologically... 

In fact, ya just might be flyin' around in one of these (with a shiny dome) 
:cheers:


----------



## radi6404

I still have the hopes that things will settle fast and that construction will start. By thi date the concurs for the company to build the motorway should have been started.


----------



## JloKyM

:lol::lol: Radi, Radi...hno::lol:


----------



## Mateusz

So E79 ''Struma'' in future has to be extended to border with Greece ?


----------



## JloKyM

^^ Yeah


----------



## radi6404

Positive news, the money is jsut stopped for a few weeks and then paying will be continued, so the Struma motorway will be started this year.


----------



## radi6404

Yesterday I read in an article that only the Trakya motorway (A1) will have tolls, all other motorways will be free, I think that is an example of how other countries should do. Shiny motorways for free, not expensive bumpy motorways.


----------



## Mateusz

Is there any motorway connection planned between Sofia and border with Serbia ?


----------



## JloKyM

^^ Trakya highway. It should be finished in 2010.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I moved the balcony-related posts to here. That is the place where we can all admire Radi's supershinysmooth balcony, while we can talk about Bulgarian roads here.


----------



## radi6404

What I hate here is that roads which are not major or E roads are always fucking awful here, well not fucking awful but they are bad quality, the materials are good but the working quality is very bad, 15, 20 year old nationalroads are smoother here than one year old regionalroads and that pisses me off, not only that, they use markings worse than calk on those roads, not very good asphalt and so on.


----------



## Turnovec

Ladies & Gentlemen .... This is Struuuuuma Mooootorway !!! 

TA-DAM !


----------



## RawLee

ld::ancient: We've already seen that pic.


----------



## Mateusz

Looks like Photoshop... anyway, right. We have seen this picture before


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Well excuse me then  This thread is too long ... 
Haven't read all of it, sorry


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Well excuse me then  This thread is too long ...
> Haven't read all of it, sorry


Even on the very first page there are pics of this very motorway.


----------



## RawLee

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Well excuse me then  This thread is too long ...
> Haven't read all of it, sorry


No problem BTW,which direction(east,west,etc) is the pic facing?


----------



## radi6404

It is direction Sofia.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It is the best pic seen so far though. The scenery is just stunning.


----------



## Turnovec

Ok , to excuse my self for posting an already posted photo ... here is another one that think you haven't seen yet. 

*E85* just before the South Exit of Veliko Tarnovo. :cheers:

You can see in which direction from the road signs


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> It is the best pic seen so far though. The scenery is just stunning.


You have no idea how it looks when there is snow arround the motorway jsut there, it really looks beautiful.


----------



## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> You have no idea how it looks when there is snow arround the motorway jsut there, it really looks beautiful.


It's Strumatic, right?


----------



## radi6404

AUchamps said:


> It's Strumatic, right?


Sure man, it´s Strumatic. Btw, the river the motorway is called after originates from that mountain on the pic.


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> Ok , to excuse my self for posting an already posted photo ... here is another one that think you haven't seen yet.
> 
> *E85* just before the South Exit of Veliko Tarnovo. :cheers:
> 
> You can see in which direction from the road signs


This is the typical Bulgarian pavement they use lately, not very dark, Usually it is smooth, but Ilike darker pavements more, the Struma and E-79 pavements, which are built by Mavrovo Skopie are very similar and if there is no dust they are darker

Rehabilitation and Improvement of the Road E79
Daskalovo-Dupnica, Bulgaria

http://www.mavrovo.com.mk/About/Abroad.htm


----------



## JloKyM

C B H said:


> *
> Stara Zagora Infrastructure Junctures
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stara Zagora, BULGARIA, EU*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Recently reconstructed Stara Zagora-Kazanlak juncture*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Two brand new Stara Zagora-Burgas junctures*
> 
> *#1*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *#1*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *#2*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *New Stara Zagora-Sofia/Trakia Highway ring juncture*


10x to CBH


----------



## Verso

Some more strumatic photos. 


bgrs said:


> *trolling* - shiny crashbarriers on Struma btw what's that road sign?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A gas station near Dupnica:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That exit looks very bad designed, total lack of a decent deceleration lane


----------



## Timon91

It looks just like an ordinary highway, nothing special about it. Very good perhaps for Bulgarian standards, but just normal for Western-European standards.


----------



## radi6404

Aktually when I see this car pics the motorway still looks extrodinarily good and I am sure if they would clean the crashbarriers they will shine again, it´s still THE motorway. Not to forget it´s smoothness which is really extrodinary.


----------



## Timon91

Yes radi, it has a smooth surface. But there are much more other roads in Europe who have a smooth road surface. Still, it looks nice.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I really start to think the Struma is not a motorway, but an expressway (there is little difference between them though). The exits, low speed limit, pavement, spatial environment doesn't really looks like the other motorways in Bulgaria.


----------



## Patrick

http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=d....46111,7.76403&spn=0.006051,0.020084&t=k&z=16

the connections north-west / west-north are both ridable with 140 km/h here  (Dernbacher Dreieck, German A3/A48)


and for exits, just like chris once mentioned, it is safer to leave the exit uphill that you decelerate automatically, too


----------



## Turnovec

This is for Verso , in responce to some questions he asked. :cheers:



Turnovec said:


> ^^ Ok Verso  You'll finally get the required info :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Trakiya (A1) West* :
> 
> 1980 Sofia-Pazardjik
> 1983 Pazardjik-west junction towards Plovdiv
> 1989 reached the junction Trud(the road Karlovo-Plovdiv)
> 2003 Plovdiv - Chirpan
> 2007 Chirpan - Stara Zagora
> 
> *Trakiya (A1) East* :
> 
> 2006 Burgas - Karnobat
> 
> *Hemus (A2) - West* :
> 
> 1975 Sofia-Jerkovo.
> 1981-82 the viaducts and the tunnels in the mountain.
> 1984 reached Pravets.
> 1987-88 Praveshka Lakatnitsa near Djurovo, without the tunnel "praveshki Hanove" and the viaduct after it.
> 1998 the obove weas finished + 6 km. to Yablanica.
> 
> *Hemus (A2) - East* :
> 
> 1973-74 Varna-Devnya.
> 1984 Devnya-Provadia
> 1988-89 Devnya - Kaspichan
> 2005 Kaspichan - Shumen
> 
> *Cherno More (A3)*
> 
> 1980-ies 10 km. from Asparuhov Bridge to Priselci.
> 
> *Maritsa*
> 
> 2007 38 km. in use from Harmanli to Kapitan Andreevo
> 
> *Struma*
> 
> 2007 39 km. in use...


And these are the promises of the Government for 2009 ... 
i don't believe they will come true though... hno:








[/QUOTE]


----------



## Majestic

So which section is the mystic Struma motorway and why is it so much special compared to other sections?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Struma heads from Sofia to Blagoevgrad in the direction of Greece.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Struma is on the left side of the map - from Sofia to Blagoevgrad and the Greek border.... and it is special for only one perticular forumer , who has been recently awarded with the "golden skunk" award from all of the other bulgarian forumers for "promoting" so much Struma and it's shiny crashbarriers around the world. :bash:


----------



## Qwert

What about some motorway to Serbia and Romania?


----------



## Turnovec

Qwert said:


> What about some motorway to Serbia and Romania?


^^ Sofia-Kalotina at the serbian border is considered as part of Trakia Motorway(A1) and must be upgraded in the following years by the concessioner. It isn't a long distance - some 40-50 km. nearly 2/3 of which is already 2x2 size. Big problem to have a completed motoway all the way from Zagreb to Istanbul in 2009-10 would be the Dimitrovgrad - Nis stretch on serbian side which is nearly 100 km. long, i think and is passing through a difficult terrain. 

Regarding Romania - E85 from Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo is planned to be upgraded to 2x2 expressway till 2010 ... and the same is planned for Botevgrad-Vidin, parralel with the construction of Danube Bridge II in Vidin.


----------



## Qwert

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Sofia-Kalotina at the serbian border is considered as part of Trakia Motorway(A1) and must be upgraded in the following years by the concessioner. It isn't a long distance - some 40-50 km. nearly 2/3 of which is already 2x2 size. Big problem to have a completed motoway all the way from Zagreb to Istanbul in 2009-10 would be the Dimitrovgrad - Nis stretch on serbian side which is nearly 100 km. long, i think and is passing through a difficult terrain.
> 
> Regarding Romania - E85 from Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo is planned to be upgraded to 2x2 expressway till 2010 ... and the same is planned for Botevgrad-Vidin, parralel with the construction of Danube Bridge II in Vidin.


Thank you. Bulgary is doing great job. I hope those promises of the government will be fulfilled.


----------



## keber

Turnovec said:


> Big problem to have a completed motoway all the way from Zagreb to Istanbul in 2009-10 would be the Dimitrovgrad - Nis stretch on serbian side which is nearly 100 km. long, i think and is passing through a difficult terrain.


Even on Bulgarian side it doesn't look very easy terrain (from Google Earth). Also on Serbian side, while only two-laned, road to border looks very good, if there is not much traffic, probably quite pleasant to drive.


----------



## Turnovec

Qwert said:


> Thank you. Bulgary is doing great job. I hope those promises of the government will be fulfilled.


^^ Well there goes the big problem - our government. FOollowing a series of scandals about corruption the transport and finance ministry failed to punish the obviously guilty persons and after EU freezed the money from the infrastructure funds , it also stopped those from the PHARE program last week.... :bash: Hopefully our government will find some reasonable solution to those probelms at last ... :bash:



keber said:


> Even on Bulgarian side it doesn't look very easy terrain (from Google Earth). Also on Serbian side, while only two-laned, road to border looks very good, if there is not much traffic, probably quite pleasant to drive.


^^ The road Sofia-Kalotina was rehabilitated last 2-3 years and now from Sofia to Dragoman i think it is 3 or 4 lane nice road. The only problem is the stretch from Dragoman through the river gorge towards the border - some 8-10 km. Also AFAIK the route for a future motorway Dimitrovgrad - Nis is going somewhere up the hills and not through the river gorge. The gevernemnts of Bulgaria & Serbia signed some kind of agreement about all this last year but taking in mind the current situation in Serbia i don't know when or how Dimitrovgrad - Nis will be turned into motorway.


----------



## radi6404

^^ very bad news, is there any progress with the road funds? Can you link me some pages with fresh articles (possibly with positive news about the road funds)? 

Eu shouldn´t be so harsh with Bulgaria, because EU does bad not to Bulgaria, but to EU members passing the main motorways to Turkey, greece and Romania, which are not and will not be constructed soon if they stop giving money.


----------



## radi6404

The whole road Sofia Kalotina is fixed, however the short part is only with new asphalt thrown over old, some 8 km or so, the rest is a 4 lanes road with smooth mootorway asphalt.


----------



## smokiboy

Since Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU does anyone know what percentage of traffic from Bulgaria, or further east, now travels through Romania, instead of Serbia, to get to western Europe?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> Eu shouldn´t be so harsh with Bulgaria, because EU does bad not to Bulgaria, but to EU members passing the main motorways to Turkey, greece and Romania, which are not and will not be constructed soon if they stop giving money.


Double standards. 

If you guys want to be in the EU, you have to go by the EU regulations, that's very simple. The next step should be taken by the BG government.

However i understand, that after decades of corruption, that doesn't change overnight.


----------



## Turnovec

Chriszwolle said:


> Double standards.
> 
> If you guys want to be in the EU, you have to go by the EU regulations, that's very simple. The next step should be taken by the BG government.
> 
> However i understand, that after decades of corruption, that doesn't change overnight.


^^ kay: I agree here. Prefer to be late with several months than to have it go just like that with all those corruption scandals. It is our gevernment's fault for the freezing of the infrastructure funds ... it ain't EU's. 

If we are in the EU , than at last we must learn to follow the rules and regulations.


----------



## radi6404

turnovec, please share what you know about the road infrastructure corruption scandal and when funds will start to be paid again.


----------



## Turnovec

Radi , please read here , here , here , here and here ...


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> Radi , please read here , here , here , here and here ...


big thanks, mate.


----------



## Qwert

Turnovec said:


> ^^ kay: I agree here. Prefer to be late with several months than to have it go just like that with all those corruption scandals. It is our gevernment's fault for the freezing of the infrastructure funds ... it ain't EU's.
> 
> If we are in the EU , than at last we must learn to follow the rules and regulations.


You should learn a lot about corruption. In Slovakia we have one tunnel (Branisko) which is one of the best examples of corruption. It costed twice as much than it was predicted and what is more it was build only in half profile instead of full profile and even that one tube is crappy and it has to be closed several times a year. Construction company Hydrostav rather somewhat bankrupted, but now it's renewed as several smaller companies. And nobody minds...


----------



## Turnovec

Qwert said:


> You should learn a lot about corruption. In Slovakia we have one tunnel (Branisko) which is one of the best examples of corruption. It costed twice as much than it was predicted and what is more it was build only in half profile instead of full profile and even that one tube is crappy and it has to be closed several times a year. Construction company Hydrostav rather somewhat bankrupted, but now it's renewed as several smaller companies. And nobody minds...


^^ Well somethig similar happens here ... with the exception that the (ex from 2 weeks)chief of the state infrastructure fund, responsible for making the tenders of road constructions gave several of them , worth more than 120 mil. to the companies owned by his own brothers :nuts: Now the ministry says there is no interests collision ... while the constitution and the laws of Bulgaria say totally different. :nuts: Crazy stuff , a ?


----------



## radi6404

It is crazy stuff but I saw that Bulgaria just has to fire some bosses which will take place and offer documentations which proove that the cases of corruption which the EU is questioning are wrong, I hope and honestly am optimistic that it will happen and the funds will start to be paid in order for the Struma motorway to be build.


----------



## Turnovec

Fresh Struma photo .... especially for radi :lol:

Unfortunately , no black asphault or shiny crash barriers hno:


----------



## KIWIKAAS

Oh goodness. 
The exits are awful.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ btw Struma isn't a motorway yet. Those road signs







are by now covered ... and on there place there is







sign ... which means Struma is not a motorway , but an automobile way by the bulgarian standarts. The max allowed speed thus is not 130 km./h but 90 km./h ...


----------



## Mateusz

So we can assume E79 'Struma' is a expressway basically.


----------



## Majestic

What a shame :bash:
We've been fed with lies for all those years... :wallbash:


----------



## x-type

omg! we got a good Struma's photo!!! 

and Radi is lier. a large lier. he said that expressway signs were removed by motorway


----------



## Norsko

Turnovec said:


> ^^ btw Struma isn't a motorway yet. Those road signs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> are by now covered ... and on there place there is
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> sign ... which means Struma is not a motorway , but an automobile way by the bulgarian standarts. The max allowed speed thus is not 130 km./h but 90 km./h ...


Turnovec: Where did you find those Bulgarian traffic signs? Do you know about a place on the web were I can find all the Bulgarian signs?


----------



## radi6404

x-type said:


> omg! we got a good Struma's photo!!!
> 
> and Radi is lier. a large lier. he said that expressway signs were removed by motorway


It is, I have no clue at all what turnovec is talking about, OMG. I swear by holy god that I´ve seen this sign









It is when you come from dolna Dykania!


----------



## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> Oh goodness.
> The exits are awful.


the exits are connsumate, they are outrageous, just look how long the acceleration ramp of the one exit is. And guys, just look how high the dike of the extrodinary Struma motorway is, the track is approximately 4 meters high, and the dike is 3 times higher and even mroe!!! the asphalt is just extrodinarily good looking.

The crashbarriers aktually need to be cleaned, because they aren´t shiny at all anymore which is a sad thing.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Dude, the crashbarriers are substandard. They need to be doubled. These flimsy one wouldn't hold a truck.

Compare it with these crashbarriers:


----------



## Verso

Turnovec said:


> This is for Verso , in responce to some questions he asked. :cheers:


Thanks again! :colgate:


----------



## Fusionist

Turnovec said:


> Fresh Struma photo .... especially for radi :lol:
> 
> Unfortunately , no black asphault or shiny crash barriers hno:


no lights for the Struma ?? hno:


----------



## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> Dude, the crashbarriers are substandard. They need to be doubled. These flimsy one wouldn't hold a truck.
> 
> Compare it with these crashbarriers:


Chirs, you don´t wanna aktually tell me that tese rusty bendrails are stronger than the Struma motorway crashbarriers?


----------



## KIWIKAAS

Most motorways in the world don't have street lamps but what does stand out here that there are no lamps at the exits and onramps which is pretty much standard.
Also, the barriers do look filmsy.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

you bet they are. A little rust doesn't say everything, these are perhaps over 30 years old, but they still do the job, even with our busy traffic, that easily has volumes of ten times the average Bulgarian motorway, no trucks have been crashed to the other direction lanes.


----------



## Foolish Farmer

Attention please => offtopic: I'm proud to write the 1001th post in this thread!:cheers:


----------



## KIWIKAAS

The Dutch barriers are much stronger.
1. They have twice as many supports as the Struma ones
2. They are double sided with connectors making them more than twice as heavy as the Struma ones and far less likely to break


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> Chirs, you don´t wanna aktually tell me that tese rusty bendrails are stronger than the Struma motorway crashbarriers?


Of course they are stronger. Can be seen from their structure. Colour and shinines don't hold trucks, only strong structure.


----------



## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> the exits are connsumate, they are outrageous, just look how long the acceleration ramp of the one exit is. And guys, just *look how high the dike of the extrodinary Struma motorway is*, the track is approximately 4 meters high, and *the dike is 3 times higher* and even mroe!!! the asphalt is just extrodinarily good looking.
> 
> The crashbarriers aktually need to be cleaned, because they aren´t shiny at all anymore which is a sad thing.


wow.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ can I see Lyulin U/C from any road?I really want to see it


----------



## JloKyM

You can see it from the ringroad between Suhodol and Obelya(I think) . Exactly where is the memorial of the dead soldier in an accident 10 years ago.


----------



## AUchamps

If it ain't Strumatic, it ain't worth looking at. No shiney crashbarriers, no ultra smooth pavement, no nothing.


----------



## Turnovec

bgplayer19 said:


> ^^ can I see Lyulin U/C from any road?I really want to see it


^^



> По "Люлин" се работи много сериозно. Дори в 21 ч. багерите и камионите вършееха здраво. Работи се поне на три фронта - на Даскалово вече се гради пътния възел - оформени са кофражи за мостове и се отлива бетон. Между Големо и Мало Бучино също се извършват земни работи а на околовръстното земни работи за пътния възел.


CHRIS, can we have the header map changed with this one ? 



Turnovec said:


> ^^ Ok Verso  You'll finally get the required info :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Trakiya (A1) West* :
> 
> 1980 Sofia-Pazardjik
> 1983 Pazardjik-west junction towards Plovdiv
> 1989 reached the junction Trud(the road Karlovo-Plovdiv)
> 2003 Plovdiv - Chirpan
> 2007 Chirpan - Stara Zagora
> 
> *Trakiya (A1) East* :
> 
> 2006 Burgas - Karnobat
> 
> *Hemus (A2) - West* :
> 
> 1975 Sofia-Jerkovo.
> 1981-82 the viaducts and the tunnels in the mountain.
> 1984 reached Pravets.
> 1987-88 Praveshka Lakatnitsa near Djurovo, without the tunnel "praveshki Hanove" and the viaduct after it.
> 1998 the obove weas finished + 6 km. to Yablanica.
> 
> *Hemus (A2) - East* :
> 
> 1973-74 Varna-Devnya.
> 1984 Devnya-Provadia
> 1988-89 Devnya - Kaspichan
> 2005 Kaspichan - Shumen
> 
> *Cherno More (A3)*
> 
> 1980-ies 10 km. from Asparuhov Bridge to Priselci.
> 
> *Maritsa*
> 
> 2007 38 km. in use from Harmanli to Kapitan Andreevo
> 
> *Struma*
> 
> 2007 39 km. in use...
> 
> 
> And these are the promises of the Government for 2009 ...
> i don't believe they will come true though...


----------



## radi6404

No, please not, because these maps are all wrong, I have drawn a mpa last year which should have served for my wikipedia article but I havn´t changed the normal pic with my map, 










This map is true, it shows that the motorway is already constructed from Daskalovo to dolna Dykanya, the map above shows that it is constructed from Dupnica to Dolna Dykania and that there´s no motorway from Dolna Dykania to Daskalovo. And there aren´t 39 km of Struma motorway in use but 22 km and 22 km of high quality national road.


----------



## radi6404

Oh and what´s this shit, the markings at the beginning of the motorway have already faded out, how rediculous, the markings at the Struma motorway beginning and end havn´t faded out at all altough they are older.


----------



## keber

JloKyM said:


> *Near Plovdiv*


Looks very unsafe to me. This should be under barriers. War doesn't never erupt so fast, that crashbarriers couldn't be unmounted soon enough for aircrafts.


----------



## radi6404

you all praise the Trakya but it´s crappy, if only I look at the markings at the beginning of the motorway, they already have faded out, on the Struma motorway no marking at all has faded out!!!









and the emergency lanes are of brigher asphalt than the ones of the Struma motorway, that show sthat this motorway is cheaper built and that they saved money everywhere they can, on the Struma motorway the whole surface is the same.


----------



## Patrick

you are repeating yourself


----------



## bgplayer19

OMG!!!Does it matter whether the whole surface is the same or not?I don't see any difference between the Struma and Trakiya Markings!Btw the actual motorway begins at the dark asphalt so there is no need to paint the markings further because Trakiya will continue further to the east and then they wil paint it


----------



## keber

JloKyM said:


> *
> Near Plovdiv*


I find this very unsafe. Need for aircraft landing/takeoff can't be so big, that crashbarriers can't be istalled. War never comes any minute.

Everywhere else barriers are in between and usually even grassy median (to be filled with temporary flat blocks in case of emergency)


----------



## Verso

You're repeating yourself too. :crazy:


----------



## bgplayer19

keber said:


> I find this very unsafe. Need for aircraft landing/takeoff can't be so big, that crashbarriers can't be istalled. War never comes any minute.
> 
> Everywhere else barriers are in between and usually even grassy median (to be filled with temporary flat blocks in case of emergency)


Well the people that built highways in the 70-s or 80-s didn't know many ways of building a highway so they thought that this would be the best


----------



## Qwert

Such section without median is extremely unsafe. I hope there is at least lowered speed limit. We have similar motorway stretch on Slovak D1 which is also supposed to serve as emergency airport, but there is concrete median which could be removed. This is solution also for your motorway:


----------



## JloKyM

Actually I've never heard of a car accidents in these 2 sections of the highway. Also there is speed limit-80km/h, and usually drivers respect it. + almost every time there is a police patrol.


----------



## Qwert

JloKyM said:


> Actually I've never heard of a car accidents in these 2 sections of the highway. Also there is speed limit-80km/h, and usually drivers respect it. + almost every time there is a police patrol.


Lower speed limit and police patrols are nice, but concrete is concrete. I think in most European countries such road (without barrier in median) would be considered neithter motorway nor expressway.


----------



## JloKyM

Qwert said:


> Lower speed limit and police patrols are nice, but concrete is concrete. I think in most European countries such road (without barrier in median) would be considered neithter motorway nor expressway.


Before this section there is this sign-







and then this one







...I think its enough save and as i said, i've never heard of accidents happened there.


----------



## Draminoss

Exist a oficial website about the struma-motorway EMC 4 ?


----------



## radi6404

Draminoss said:


> Exist a oficial website about the struma-motorway EMC 4 ?


What?


----------



## Verso

I don't get it, but it sounds funny as hell! :rofl:


----------



## Draminoss

radi6404 said:


> What?


whats the point you not understand ?


----------



## Verso

Aha, "EMC 4" should stand for European motorway corridor #4 (IV).


----------



## DanielFigFoz

There is a part of the Portuguese A2 like this, but with grass in the middle, speed limit: 120km/h


----------



## mojaBL

Squared


----------



## Draminoss

Verso said:


> Aha, "EMC 4" should stand for European motorway corridor #4 (IV).


Exactly my Friend,
we have two types of Europen Corridors in the EU, the Railway and the Motorway corridors (TEM or EMC).
We have luck in Central and South-East Europe because the most of the new corridors how will construct the European Union are in this Regions. p.h. Slovenia will be a very important Country in the next time for the Intereuropean Traffic. You know self that the east - west traffic and the north - south traffic cross the Slovenians and Hungarian motorways. 
A map of the EU - Council of Helsinki










and a map for our Bulgarian Friends


----------



## Verso

Draminoss said:


> Slovenia will be a very important Country in the next time for the Intereuropean Traffic. You know self that the east - west traffic and the north - south traffic cross the Slovenians and Hungarian motorways.


Yep, the Ljubljana- and Budapest bypasses all the way! :righton: :lol:


----------



## bgplayer19

hey don't laugh at Draminoss!!!He's a friend of mine :lol:!BTW he wants to know more for Struma so Radi please explain :lol:


----------



## radi6404

Just look what I´ve found on google earth, the new expressroad to Kalotina from Sofia, it looks very good with shiny crashbarriers.

http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/6003535.jpg

*EDIT CHRIS: Please do not post such large pics when it's not necessary*


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Great !


----------



## x-type

i cannot see anything because picture is too large so i see only fragments of house or road


----------



## radi6404

bgplayer19 said:


> ^^ Great !


Ofcourse man, it is a killargh road, on summer when I came to Bulgaria peace of it where finished and it was fuckin´smooth, like a highspeed railtrack, the beautiful shiny crashbarriers give it a modern touch. X-type, come on,the pic is proper.


----------



## keber

I see a panorama of some city, road only occupies about 15 % of whole picture and about 15 m2 of total road surface.

(and neither I do see any shininess in crashbarriers)


----------



## Turnovec

*Lyulin Motorway*

A little update about *Lyulin Motorway*'s construction progress :cheers:

Motorway Lyulin is a segment of Euro-corridor 4 in its part Vidin – Sofia – Kulata and will connect the Sofia circle road with the villages Malo Bouchino, Golyamo Bouchino and road junction Daskalovo. 
Its *length will be 19 km* and will include *three tunnels with total length of nearly 1,29 km*, approximately *6 km of viaducts*, *three road junctions and 691 m strengthening walls*. The highway will be with 2 bands for movement in one direction with projected speed of 100-110 km/h. Part of the provided financing (from *total 148,45 million euros*) in the amount of 111.38 million euros are gratuitous financing upon ISPA, the rest of 25 % are co-financing from the republican budget. Reflecting the mountain terrain considerable amount of constructions are included in the scope of the developed project: three tunnels following the open mode with total length of 1260 m; 26 bridges and viaducts with total length of 6000 m; 3 road junctions and strengthening walls with total length of 2762 m. The Lyulin highway construction is the most expensive road construction in Bulgaria. The reason of the high price are the many technical equipment on the trace – tunnels, bridges, road junctions, strengthening walls and noise reducing fences.

The highway construction should be completed in term by 2009.


----------



## radi6404

It will be a hot motorway.


----------



## Timon91

^^Of course, it will be the motorway connection for Sofia to the Struma motorway!


----------



## bgplayer19

AWESOME!!!Lyulin will rock hard!!!


----------



## Mateusz

Why Lyulin can't be just Struma motorway ?


----------



## AUchamps

MateoW said:


> Why Lyulin can't be just Struma motorway ?


Because its crashbarriers will not be shiney enough. Smooth pavement, but not long lasting shiney barriers.


----------



## Turnovec

Some fresh Struma photos ... which will hopefully disapoint radi , as the ditch on the side of the road is full of rocks fallen after the snow melting ... and the emergency lane is covered with sand and dust ...

Struma ain't shiny at all anymore  hno:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The landscape is pretty cool though. Those rocks and sand should be removed.


----------



## bgplayer19

"should" but will not :lol:


----------



## radi6404

they must clean the beautiful motorway. But it is just visible that the motorway is of superior quality, if I look at the markings, they look as if they were added yesterday, not two years ago.


----------



## bgplayer19

That's because there isn't so much traffic there


----------



## radi6404

bgplayer19 said:


> That's because there isn't so much traffic there


No, it´s because they are topnotch


----------



## Timon91

These crashbarriers aren't shiny at all.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Well they can't be shiny forever


----------



## radi6404

Timon Kruijk said:


> These crashbarriers aren't shiny at all.


they have never been shiny there, because the wind blows sand to them all the time, I am sure at the beginning of the motorway in Daskalovo you still can find shiny crashbarriers. The E-79 crashbarriers before the motorway start in Dolna Dykania are still shiny because there isn´t much dirt there.


----------



## Timon91

^^Any pics to convince me?


----------



## Verso

Timon Kruijk said:


> ^^Any pics to convince me?


----------



## vardar

^^
That has to be illegal being that shiny and all, seriously but this is a stunning pic... looks like a fun drive


----------



## keber

Sure it is fun drive, but you need to stay inside right full line and left dashed for optimal and safe experience.:lol:


----------



## radi6404

vardar said:


> ^^
> That has to be illegal being that shiny and all, seriously but this is a stunning pic... looks like a fun drive


Are you kidding, ofcourse it is a fun drive, do you think the professional enginners of the Struma motorway have planned a boring motorway, they wnated it make as pleasurable as possible.


----------



## pilotos

You don't really think that the turn was made just to give some fun to the drivers eh?
By the way why is there soil into the emergency lane?an earth fall or?


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ no that shows how lazy the politics are hno:


----------



## x-type

kmon, sand and dust in SOS lane mean that Struma is so suppaduppa motorway that it helps to cars to have absolutely no mechanical troubles while driving onto it. i think that engineers had that in their mnds too while they've been projecting the road


----------



## Turnovec

^^ All of you guys stubornly want to turn this thread name into "make fun with radi", "poke the shiniest crashbarrier soap box" , "joke about struma" etc.  ... Be carefull teasing radi! Can't you see he's got some anger management problems(the least i can say about him) ? 

Now on topic :

*Lyulin Motorway* might be finished 6 months before deadline :cheers:
MAPA Cengis wants to hire another 600 workers and to finish the construction till June 2009. 

The concessioner of *Trakia Motorway* has to find banks to fund the remmaining stretches construction till 14 May ... If they don't show bank garancies till then , the contract will be declared invalid and the Ministry will search funding from EU or the budget for completing the remaining stretches of Trakia. 



> в. Монитор, 14.04.2008 год.
> 
> *Магистрала “Люлин” готова 6 месеца предсрочно*
> 
> Пътят ще отпуши движението през столичния квартал Княжево
> Автомагистрала "Люлин" ще бъде завършена шест месеца предсрочно. Това стана ясно, след като премиерът Сергей Станишев и министърът на регионалното развитие Асен Гагаузов провериха на място как върви работата по съоръжението.
> Строителните работи вървят добре, турската фирма „МАПА-Ченгиз", която спечели търга, работи с добра скорост, категоричен е премиерът.
> Според него магистралата е уникална и е най-сложната у нас след „Хемус". Една трета от нея са мостови съоръжения - 26 - има и 2 тунела. Проектът, който е част от трансевропейския коридор, е на обща стойност 148 млн. евро, от които 75% са предоставени безвъзмездно от програма ИСПА на Европейския съюз.
> Вярвам, че при спазването на това темпо магистралата ще може да бъде приключена предварително, каза Станишев и обеща да наблюдава строежа. Според финансовия меморандум средствата по ИСПА трябва да бъдат усвоени до 31 декември 2010 г.
> Междувременно стана ясно, че "МАПА-Ченгиз" ще наеме още 600 работници, за да ускори строителните работи по "Люлин". В случай, че исканията за внос на работници бъдат одобрени, изпълнителите гарантират, че магистралата ще бъде завършена шест месеца преди крайния срок и обектът ще бъде предаден през юни 2009 г. Ако това се случи, "Люлин" ще е първият инфраструктурен проект с национално значение, завършен преди срока си. За бъдещето на магистрала "Тракия" министър Гагаузов отново повтори, че крайният срок за португалския консорциум да намери финансиране за строителството на оставащата отсечка изтича на 14 май. Ако португалците не намерят кредит, ще се търсят други решения, между които и това концесията да бъде изоставена и държавата да строи трасето с пари от бюджета и структурните фондове на ЕС.
> Автомагистрала „Люлин" е част от общоевропейските транспортни коридори №4 и №8, а общата є дължина е 19 км. Ще бъдат изградени три тунела, 26 моста и виадукти, 3 пътни възела и укрепителни стени.
> Построяването на автомагистралата ще улесни движението на хора, стоки и услуги по коридор №4 и в югозападната част на София, с което значително ще намалее натовареността в столицата.
> С новата автомагистрала част от движението ще се изнесе извън Владайското дефиле. Това ще улесни пътуването от София към Перник през квартал "Княжево" в столицата.


----------



## vardar

Is there a name for the sofia-macedonian border highway, and when is it planned (if there is a plan at all??)


----------



## Turnovec

^^ No , there is no name , there is no plan ... and it is last in our priorities list in the moment afik. 

I personally think that we should think about building a railroad and a highway in the direction of Petrich-Strumica-Kavadarci-Prilep-Bitola-Ohrid( and further Elbasan-Tirana-Duras ) and forget about the northern area Kyustendil-Kriva Palanka-Kumanovo-Skopie etc...


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> Are you kidding, ofcourse it is a fun drive, do you think the professional enginners of the Struma motorway have planned a boring motorway, they wnated it make as pleasurable as possible.


Funny, I thought, that engineers planned Struma motorway in such manner, that stones don't fall onto pavement. Seems I was wrong.


----------



## radi6404

vardar said:


> Is there a name for the sofia-macedonian border highway, and when is it planned (if there is a plan at all??)


There is no motorway to any border by now man, and you are talking abut Macedonia, not taht it is bad or unimportant, but for Bulgarian economics it´s least importatn by now I think, I think Bulgaria will be on last place in any Infrastructure for the next 10 years because the FUCKING WHORESONS make everything wrong, I hope that I will have the chance to beat them up with my own hands, and after every not well answered question like, why´s the Struma motorway not finished to kick them with metalshoes in their head or stomach.


----------



## x-type

for bulgarian economy the most important is route Turkey - Serbia, but anyway you prefer Struma :S


----------



## radi6404

x-type said:


> for bulgarian economy the most important is route Turkey - Serbia, but anyway you prefer Struma :S


Yes man, it is, but even this route doesn´t have full profile motorway all the way, I don´t get it. They must pay for their shit they made.


----------



## Turnovec

x-type said:


> for bulgarian economy the most important is route Turkey - Serbia, but anyway you prefer Struma :S


^^  

Turkish border - Sofia will be ready till 2009, as i believe that there will be no problems with the completion of Maritsa Motorway. I think we shouldn't hurry with the completion of Sofia-Serbian border stretch of Trakia. Serbs won't finish soon their part till Nish , and they seem that won't be entering EU soon too ... So the truck traffic will continue to prefer going through Romania towards Central & Western Europe, due to the lack of waiting at the borders, and no border taxes. So i really hope that we hurry up with Danube bridge II at Vidin instead of thinking about anything else. Danube Bridge II is really very important for our economy right now. 

The route through Serbia will be attractive only for tourist buses and passanger tranportation for a dacade to come i think.


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^
> 
> Turkish border - Sofia will be ready till 2009, as i believe that there will be no problems with the completion of Maritsa Motorway. I think we shouldn't hurry with the completion of Sofia-Serbian border stretch of Trakia. Serbs won't finish soon their part till Nish , and they seem that won't be entering EU soon too ... So the truck traffic will continue to prefer going through Romania towards Central & Western Europe, due to the lack of waiting at the borders, and no border taxes. So i really hope that we hurry up with Danube bridge II at Vidin instead of thinking about anything else. Danube Bridge II is really very important for our economy right now.
> 
> The route through Serbia will be attractive only for tourist buses and passanger tranportation for a dacade to come i think.


The bridge is easy, but what´s with the road to Vidin, how is it now, under what condition is it? There are no plans for it to turn into motorway.


----------



## Turnovec

radi6404 said:


> The bridge is easy, but what´s with the road to Vidin, how is it now, under what condition is it? There are no plans for it to turn into motorway.


^^ 1. We have Hemus Motorway from Sofia to Botevgrad. 

2. They are now finishing the renovation of the 2x2 express way bypass of Botevgrad.

3. The whole Botevgrad - Vidin road was rehabilitated in the last 5-6 years by Strabag and i dare to say it is one of the best quality national roads in this moment. 

4. This year the construction of Botevgrad-Mezdra 2x2 expressway stretch must start, and should be completed till 2009. 

5. Last year the 19km. 2x2 express way stretch Mezdra-Vratsa was totaly refurbished and looks awesome. 

6. There are 3-4 km. 2x2 stretches at the exit of Vratsa and the entrance of Montana and the next spet should be making Vratsa-Montana 2x2 express way too. 

7. So Only Montana - Vidin will be a problem when Danube Bridge II is finished, but as a i said the road was recently rehabilitated by Strabag and is almost perfect. 

:cheers:


----------



## radi6404

good news, any pics of the great Strabag road, I would really like to see it. Strabag made a big mistake where the earth collapsed. But I am sure otherwise the road is extremly smooth because Austrians usually make extremly smooth roads.


----------



## Turnovec

^^



nilix said:


> Vratsa's road and the Balkan


----------



## vardar

radi6404 said:


> There is no motorway to any border by now man, and you are talking abut Macedonia, not taht it is bad or unimportant, but for Bulgarian economics it´s least importatn by now I think, I think Bulgaria will be on last place in any Infrastructure for the next 10 years because the FUCKING WHORESONS make everything wrong, I hope that I will have the chance to beat them up with my own hands, and after every not well answered question like, why´s the Struma motorway not finished to kick them with metalshoes in their head or stomach.


I didnt say there was a highway i asked when they planned to build it and if there was a name for it cos you guys have names for the other ones so i thought you might have one, thats all. Im aware the other highways are more important to your economy as the north-south M1 is to us, i just asked if you had a outline of when that highway is to be completed 2010,2012,2015,2020 whatever. 
Take it easy with the whoresons man :cheers:


----------



## Realek

About the Sofia-MK segment. It is part of Pan-European Corridor VIII. It might get some EU funding, so maybe it is not that inconceivable in the mid term.

Anyway, I'm also interested what would be its name.



@ Turnovec

Why the southern route towards Macedonia? That route doesn't make much sense IMO.


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Turnovec said:


> ^^
> 
> Turkish border - Sofia will be ready till 2009, as i believe that there will be no problems with the completion of Maritsa Motorway. I think we shouldn't hurry with the completion of Sofia-Serbian border stretch of Trakia. Serbs won't finish soon their part till Nish , and they seem that won't be entering EU soon too ... So the truck traffic will continue to prefer going through Romania towards Central & Western Europe, due to the lack of waiting at the borders, and no border taxes. So i really hope that we hurry up with Danube bridge II at Vidin instead of thinking about anything else. Danube Bridge II is really very important for our economy right now.
> 
> The route through Serbia will be attractive only for tourist buses and passanger tranportation for a dacade to come i think.


from my knowledges the bridge at vidin-calafat is u/c, further in romania from calafat to drobeta and then timisoara i don't know if they refurbished the national road. being an european corridor i guess money won't be a problem, the refurbisment process itself also won't be a probem because there are a lot of rehabilitated works that look great...with the motorways we seem to have a problem but we'll solve it


----------



## Turnovec

Southern route seems a lot more secure. To invest a big pile of money in the northern areas is more like a pure gambling in the moment. Hope times will change for good though. 

Corridor VIII for now seems to be just for an election campaigns use ... Friends told me that i should see Via Egnatia in Greece (GR-A2 Solun-Igoumenitsa) - this is how a corridor west-east should be build, that's what they say. It surprised me that from Sofia to Corfu you could go for less than 10 hours ... Can't imagine what it will be when Struma is finished.

I recommend also the recent documentary about Cor. VIII - Corridor #8, whose director of photography is Boris Missirkov, the grandson of the Macedonian of 20th century.


We have a quiz  



new bulgaria said:


> Guess where this is:


----------



## Turnovec

ionutzyankoo said:


> from my knowledges the bridge at vidin-calafat is u/c, further in romania from calafat to drobeta and then timisoara i don't know if they refurbished the national road. being an european corridor i guess money won't be a problem, the refurbisment process itself also won't be a probem because there are a lot of rehabilitated works that look great...with the motorways we seem to have a problem but we'll solve it


Vidin-Kalafat was the tougher place in terms of connections with the existing national road and motorway nets of both Bulgaria and Romania. One of the reasons it was chosen is because of the railrway i guess. 

I think that we should think ASAP about another bridge at Oryahovo-Bechet :cheers:

The route Turnu Severin-Kraiova-Bechet-Oryahovo-Cherven Bryag- Hemus Motorway - Sofia seems pretty nice IMO. :cheers:

179 km. in Romania, most of which go through plains.
- To Kraiova 1st class road, part of E70.
- From Kraiova to Bechet - 2nd class road, but the terrain is flat as a pancake and could easily be turned into a 1st class road or 2x2. 

131 km. in Bulgaria till Botevgrad. And the terrain is also flat as a pancake

All we lack in this variant is a railway ...


----------



## dia

Corridor VIII is in deep coma. For me, it's impossible to understand why. After the intense lobbying made by Greece to get it out of the priority list, three of the countries (Italy, Macedonia and Bulgaria) made an effort to at least not bury it on European level. And YET nothing is really done. It doesn't make me feel better to know it's almost done on Bulgarian side, even without a motorway, it's the final result that counts. And the result is that the raw material that had to pass by this road will "choose" another one and then all the economical benefits from this corridor will be lost. I doubt the 3 Balkan countries want this, and still.. we can only make movies about this. hno:


----------



## bgplayer19

I also think that maybe there should be a motorway to Vidin due to the future entry of Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen !That way there will be at least one fast connection from Transylvania Motorway(Romania) through Bulgaria the future "motorway" Vidin-Botevgrad then Hemus,Lyulin,Struma and then finally in Greece(Thessaloniki) and connection to Egnatia Odos


----------



## Turnovec

Some Hemus Motorway nice photos :cheers:



These are the tunnels "Topli Dol"(880м.) and "Echemishka" (820м.)












Bebresh viaduct - 720 m long, 12 spans 60 m each. 













"Bebresh" & "Topli Dol"












This is the viaduct after "Praveshki hanove" tunnel (871m.) ... in Yablanica direction


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## bgplayer19

^^ Spectacular!!!This section is really breathtaking


----------



## bgplayer19

del


----------



## Verso

Nice photos, and that pic from the quiz is Struma, doh.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ hardly recognisable :lol:


----------



## bgplayer19

Pics of Struma !Sry for bad quality


----------



## radi6404

The Hemus motorway pics look REALLY good from above. The Struma motorway pics are also very good, always when I drive on it or see pics it calms me down because it looks very modern and gives me a feeling of savety. 

Offtopic: Today I made a trip to the Rila mountain, the ONLY Alpine mountain in bulgaria, Pirin is apsolutely laughable, people who say Pirin is best have not even the slightest clue how an alpine mountain looks like at all. I made photos from rockwall peaks, which were very steep and very high. I almost broke my neck because of always having to rise it to look up to the magnificent peaks. Rila is the only mountain in Bulgaria which provides differences in height from valley to peak of up to 1500 meters which is VERY alpine, I wil open a thread soon in the eastern european section and link it here.


----------



## Turnovec

This is east part of Hemus Motorway > Shumen-Varna ...


----------



## radi6404

^^ It looks amazing


----------



## Timon91

^^Indeed.


----------



## horiababu

To Greek and Bulgarian forumers: is the Momchilgrad-Komotini border opened?
Thanks in advance.:banana:


----------



## radi6404

the rila mountain thread is opened

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=612370


----------



## radi6404

This morning I´ve got a call from the EU comission, they said I should go to the Busstation, and that a man will be waiting to pay me the journey to Sofia, I went there, the man gave me the money and said that I should check the traffic flow on the E-79 and Struma motorway, and if the flow is very high they will be generous and pay only the money for the struma motorway and the other money when the corruption problems are solved. mavrovo skopie called me to, they said I should check how the E-79 and Struma motorway are in perfect condition and if they are shiny. I went there and said, everything is perfect but trafficflow is high... To Mavrovo skopie I said that the crashbarriers aren´t shiny enough, they will sent a special professional cleaning team to clean them and make them shiny again. I have a few Buspics, too.


----------



## Verso

Radi, what have you been smoking? :rofl:


----------



## PLH

^^ very, VERY good shit


----------



## RawLee

Verso said:


> Radi, what have you been smoking? :rofl:


Fresh asphalt?


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ definitely


----------



## Turnovec

Verso said:


> Radi, what have you been smoking? :rofl:


^^ Some fresh Dzodzen from Petrich region probably :rofl: 

p.s. This one goes into radi's all time "best" quotes library :rofl:


----------



## AUchamps

It was all just a Strumatic dream, radi.


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## Verso

^ No, it was a real Strumatic phone call.


----------



## radi6404

Guys, ofcourse that was a joke, do you seriously think that I am that paranoid and believe in what I wrote, I jsut wanted sound funny.


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## JloKyM

radi6404 said:


> do you seriously think that I am that paranoid and believe in what I wrote, .



Yes, We all do!!! :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

^^ the shiny crashbarriers thing I mean seriously, I like when they shine, but that the EU comission called me is not serious, ofcourse.


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## Turnovec

^^ Common , you just smoked 2 joints in the morning, you smoked 2 joints in the afternoon , and then you smoked 2 more ...  Didn't you? :lol:


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Common , you just smoked 2 joints in the morning, you smoked 2 joints in the afternoon , and then you smoked 2 more ...  Didn't you? :lol:


NO man, but I travelled to sofia but I am too lazy at the moment to upload tem.


----------



## bgplayer19

c'mon post them


----------



## Timon91

You should come to the Netherlands radi, there is a lot of choice if you want to smoke over here


----------



## radi6404

The road leading to the Struma motorway start from the Sofia - Kiustendil highway. 









The Struma motorway









The awesome Struma motorway


















It really looks like it was opened yesterday, and because it is spring now it is clean again, aktually very clean.









The apsolutely magnificent bridge, I am so happy I took a photo of "her"









Just look how beautiful everything looks, the Rila mountain, the deep green gras and the brand new looking Struma motorway. You CLEARLY see that the motorway is on a enbargment, that it is higher than the surrounding fields, altough not neccesarry, but the enginerers wanted to give a better panoramic view of the magnificent wild landscape there. Here, where there is no sand and so on you jsut see how the motorway really looks, I think that very, very few motorways look so high quality and futuristic. Great job, Macedonians, and I tell ya guys, I didn´t feel anything in the Bus, it was unbelievably smooth, This roads are among the smoothest raods in whole europe. Trakya and Hemus are apsolutely nothing, this is the real stuff. 









The great E-79 national road









Just look at the very white markings and concerte blocks beneath the road









Again the E-79 nationalroad









The E-79


















The Rila mountain...


----------



## AUchamps

I have to admit, that's an awesome road. Roads like Struma would've never happened under communism. You were born to the right generation, Radi.


----------



## JloKyM

These pictures are so STRUMATIC!! Well done, Radi. At least this time we can see the road itself not only the wayside grass.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> The apsolutely magnificent bridge, I am so happy I took a photo of "her"


huh? where?

i think it's all about the mushrooms


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice pics, they get better


----------



## KHS

radi6404 said:


> Guys, ofcourse that was a joke, do you seriously think that I am that paranoid and believe in what I wrote, I jsut wanted sound funny.


:yes:


I simply dont like highways that dont have green strap in the midle.


----------



## radi6404

Tomorrow I am leaving to Germany with my cousin to show her Germany and also to see my parents for two weeks, that´s a great opprtunity to take pics from the car. The only thing that I don´t liek is taht the gravel is porous and grass is already pupping out of it


----------



## juniorzzi

Veery nice Highways!
So much better than ours!


----------



## radi6404

I think this motorway can be qualified as an Autobahn, because of the quality.


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> It really looks like it was opened yesterday, and because it is spring now it is clean again, aktually very clean.


That's for sure.:lol:


----------



## Verso

Better pix, I must say. 



radi6404 said:


> Tomorrow I am leaving to Germany


Me too, I hope I don't meet you. :lol: When are you leaving, so I can plan my journey?


----------



## Verso

^^ Just kidding, Radi, don't get upset.


----------



## Sphynx

Hey Turnovec, those are awesome shots that you previously posted! I would sure like to see more!




> *Radi:* I almost broke my neck because of always having to rise it


:master:


----------



## cassini83

Here's some pictures from Trakiya from 2006. I had previously posted some pictures from these series in wikipedia and I already saw some of them on this thread  Enjoy...


----------



## keber

nice pictures, didn't know, that Sofija is so close to tall mountains.

Nice motorway, however some overpasses and viaducts need complete renovation.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

A pedestrian crossing across a freeway? I mean, what is up with that?


----------



## dia

keber said:


> nice pictures, didn't know, that Sofija is so close to tall mountains.
> 
> Nice motorway, however some overpasses and viaducts need complete renovation.


Couple of parts of Trakia need renovation indeed but I think it will happen after the motorway is finished. They are not so long and don't represent a risk for the drivers, so they can wait a bit.

And yes, Sofia is a great place to live in. Sofia is situated in a big field surrounded by hilly areas and a high mountain. Those bas... , the Sofians go to ski with their public transport. :bash:  Look what they have there:










And in summer they go hitch-hike in this marvelous place with a natural park. And also they have parts of Sofia and small residential villages in a great natural surroundings. Really, this town is so underrated.


----------



## cassini83

Chriszwolle said:


> A pedestrian crossing across a freeway? I mean, what is up with that?


The pictures are not in the right order. That's the end of the highway where it becomes one of Sofia's boulevards. As far as I know the southern part of the ring road that would link Trakiya to Lyulin is still under constriction. I heard it will have shinier guardrails than Lyulin . Still... having a pedestrian crossing in the middle of nowhere on a 3 lane boulevard is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.


----------



## RoadUser

I have to say that the pictures in this thread all seem to show that Bulgaria has amazing scenery, and have put Bulgaria high on my list of possible holiday destinations.

The roads look pretty OK too.

Maybe Radi should get a job with the Bulgarian ministry of tourism. I can just imagine the campaigns - "Visit Bulgaria for mountains, forests and shiny crash barriers!"


----------



## vlker

>


WOW it looks worse than our(czech) D1 - Brno-Praha

According to posted images, bulgaria also appears to be on my list of "must see".


----------



## cassini83

RoadUser said:


> The roads look pretty OK too.


Many Bulgarians tend to believe that Bulgaria has some of the worst highways. The pictures I posted show you the actual state of the highway between Kostenets and Sofia (60-70km) both the good and bad portion of it. Sometimes I look at them and realize how poorly built and maintained the roads are on this side of the Atlantic are and I've come to appreciate the road infrastructure back in Europe. Whoever decided to use concrete instead of asphalt to build large portions of the interstate highway system deserves to be shot  If you guys watch Top Gear on BBC you would know they refer to diesel as Devil's fuel. I'd go a bit further and call concrete devil's paving material.


----------



## cassini83

vlker said:


> WOW it looks worse than our(czech) D1 - Brno-Praha


When was the D1 built? I believe that stretch ot Trakiya dates back to the 80s and I doubt it's ever been resurfaced. I don't think that gravel-like coating has ever been used since the late 80s in Bulgaria.
By the way the Czech Republic has always been high on my list of countries to visit. The architecture is simply amazing and you guys seem to be building motorways faster than the Chinese (a bit exaggerated maybe  ) so I'm sure I would be up for some nice highway driving if I could only convince my wife not to be scared of the 9 hour transatlantic flight.


----------



## vlker

> When was the D1 built?


The construction began in 1967 and last stretch between Brno and Praha was opened in 1980. And it's made by concrete and many stretches are not repaved yet. 

I have one question..why isn't concrete in use for highways? You probably have veeery hot summer. Then I'm not marveled at the state of yours old highways...
I saw in laboratory what could high temperature+wheel of truck make with asphlat surface and it wasn'ť nice


----------



## cassini83

vlker said:


> I have one question..why isn't concrete in use for highways? You probably have veeery hot summer.


I live in northern Indiana, close to Chicago. The climate here is very similar to the climate in central Europe and though I've heard of roads "melting" I think the problem is with the the wrong asphalt mix being used for the specific climate as opposed to the asphalt itself. On paper concrete looks better than asphalt. It's a bit more expensive but requires less maintenance and lasts 20-30 years. Unfortunately on practice it seems to be a very difficult material to work with. The road surface is often made with concrete blocks that can become missaligned over time and you can get large gaps between them. They are very expensive to fix and the people responsible for them don't have the option to simply resurface it like they can easily and cheaply do with asphalt so they just do some rough patching. Last but not least - generally the concrete highways are noisier than their asphalt counterparts.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Didn't you notice that the pics were taken in 2006?Today this part of the motorway is renovated on both ways  although the signs need renovation but I heard that this will happen in the following 2-3 years!I think that they will look like the Croatian ones


----------



## Norsko

[^^ Actually I am more fond of the signs you guys have now. I like the way the arrow bends 90 degrees more then the German shaped one. (Don` know why though  )


----------



## AUchamps

Norsko said:


> [^^ Actually I am more fond of the signs you guys have now. I like the way the arrow bends 90 degrees more then the German shaped one. (Don` know why though  )


It's so damn Strumatic that it makes Radi cry with tears of joy on those signs on Struma. He says those are the shiniest signs in the world and anyone that disagrees is a whoreson.


----------



## Norsko

AUchamps said:


> It's so damn Strumatic that it makes Radi cry with tears of joy on those signs on Struma. He says those are the shiniest signs in the world and anyone that disagrees is a whoreson.


^^:rofl:


----------



## radi6404

Hi guys, I am in Germany on vacation this time. On saturday last week I started the journey and my cousin drove me and another cousin to Sofia with a van to the Busstation. This time I made the best Struma motorway pictures evarrrggghhhhhh, only on my pics you will see the etreme quality of the motorway and the left shiny crashbarriers here and there. I will go out now but later I will probably load the pics up, you will really enjoy them.


----------



## radi6404

AUchamps said:


> It's so damn Strumatic that it makes Radi cry with tears of joy on those signs on Struma. He says those are the shiniest signs in the world and anyone that disagrees is a whoreson.


yes, especially the yellow signs which indicate transit routes for tracks.


----------



## Norsko

radi6404 said:


> yes, especially the yellow signs which indicate transit routes for tracks.


Pics?


----------



## bgplayer19

^^Radi did they put overhead and electric signs on the Struma motorway?I'm really interested !


----------



## Turnovec

A couple of interesting clips posted by Nilix in the bulgarian forum. I think they are worth seeing. 



nilix said:


> *Vidin - Calafat bridge over the Danube - part 1*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Vidin - Calafat bridge over the Danube - part 2*


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Indeed interesting vids. 10x Turnovec :cheers:


----------



## Kese

Nice videos. Could you add some maps, deadlines, whatever so that I can see what it is really about? I would appreciate that.


----------



## Turnovec

@ ionutzyankoo Yous should thank Nilix for finding those videos, not me :cheers:

@ Kese - check out this wikipage. There is some info and external links about the bridge over there. 



Ivanski said:


>





> ISPA INFORMATION SHEET
> 
> Construction of Cross-border, Road/Rail Bridge over the
> Danube River at Vidin-Calafat
> 
> Description
> The project concerns the construction of a combined road and rail bridge over the
> Danube River between Vidin (Bulgaria) and Calafat (Romania). In the area of the
> planned bridge the river is approximately 1300 metres wide. Depending on the final
> design (it is a design-build project), the total length of the bridge and adjoining structures
> will be up to 1440 metres in the case of the road, and up to 2480 metres in the case of
> rail, with a main span of 180 metres.
> The project is located at KM 796 on the Danube River on the route of priority trans-
> European Transport Corridor IV. This Corridor is part of the backbone transport
> infrastructure network linking South Eastern Europe and Turkey with Central Europe.
> The creation of a new fixed link will represent a significant development of Corridor IV
> and will provide an improved alternative to the trans-Yugoslav Corridor X for
> movements between Central and South Eastern Europe. The Danube River itself is also
> designated as a major trans-European Transport Corridor (No. VII).
> A formal agreement for the construction of the new bridge at the proposed location was
> drawn up between the Governments of Bulgaria and Romania on 5 June 2000 and was
> subsequently ratified by the Parliaments of both countries. The project has also been
> included in the priority list of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.
> The bridge is planned to have a capacity for 2 road lanes in each direction (3.75 m each)
> and for one railway track. In addition, there will be a walkway for pedestrians and nonmotorised
> traffic (2.5m) on one side and emergency walkway (0.75m) on the other.
> The project consists of the following components:
> – main bridge structure including approach viaducts (this is the core of the project and
> represents almost 2/3 of the investment);
> – adjoining infrastructure to link the bridge to existing road and rail networks on the
> Bulgarian side of the River;
> – cross-border facilities and rehabilitation of some existing infrastructure in Bulgaria
> (e.g. railway freight station and passenger station).
> 2
> Estimated completion date of the measure: 31 December 2009
> Objectives
> The main objective of the project is to provide a new fixed link over the River Danube on
> priority corridor IV to replace the existing inadequate ferry service. This is expected to
> facilitate the growth of international and regional traffic and trade between South Eastern
> Europe and Turkey and Central Europe. The project will contribute to the development
> of the regional transport system and will be the only new bridge over the Danube River
> along the 430 Km border between Bulgaria and Romania.
> The main objectives of the project can be summarised as follows:
> – To further the integration of the Bulgarian road and rail networks with the pan-
> European transport networks via the development of transport Corridor IV.
> – To cater for the growth in road and rail traffic in Bulgaria and Romania and
> facilitate trade and economic development through the improvement of conditions
> for international traffic.
> – To remove a specific bottleneck in the main network and improve traffic flows in
> the direction of Romania and Central Europe.
> – To restore a cross-border rail connection between Bulgaria and Romania.
> – To further the introduction of EU standards in the transport sector of Bulgaria and
> thus generally support the country during the pre-accession period.
> – To help generate temporary and permanent employment and give a boost to the
> local, regional and national economies.
> Economic and social cost-benefit analysis
> In the economic and financial analyses, the construction of the bridge and adjoining
> infrastructure in both countries is compared with a reference scenario (continued ferry
> service). The economic rate of return has been estimated in the central case at around
> 8.5% and the total benefit/cost ratio around 1.44. The estimated financial rate of return
> on total investment costs is around 5.6% (FIRR/C).
> The majority of the economic benefits are linked to the time savings for long distance
> trucks and other road traffic, reduced rail operating costs and saved costs of ferry
> operations. Job creation in both the construction and operational phases represent
> additional benefits.
> Environmental impact assessment
> A Preliminary Environmental Impact Study (PEIS) was carried out as part of the
> feasibility study on the project. The PEIS was initiated during autumn 2000 and finalised
> in August 2001. Public consultations were held in Vidin and in Calafat. The results of the
> study and consultations with the environmental authorities is documented in Decision
> No. 9-3/2002 from the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water, which is
> formulated as a permit to proceed to the next stage of design and preparation of a final
> EIA report. Development consent was issued by Vidin municipality in March 2002.
> 3
> The final EIA study, which covers the impact of the bridge options as well as adjoining
> infrastructure on both the Bulgarian and Romanian sides of the river, was completed in
> September 2004.
> The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment will issue a statement on the final EIA report.
> Following public hearings in Calafat, the Romanian Ministry of Water and
> Environmental protection will issue an environment permit. The final Romanian water
> management permit for the Romanian part of the river will be issued after submission of
> the technical solution for the bridge foundations.
> An Environmental Management Plan will be elaborated to ensure the implementation of
> measures aimed at mitigating any adverse environmental effects of the project.
> 
> Cost and assistance (in €)
> Total cost 234 245 036
> Private sector contribution -
> Non eligible expenditure 8 438 584
> Total eligible cost 225 806 452
> ISPA grant 70 000 000
> Grant rate % 31


----------



## keber

Romunia doesn't finance anything?


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## Kese

Thanks, guys.


----------



## radi6404

Pics of the good Struma motorway from car, they are killargh



























Here the crashbarriers are still shiny, after a long time and harsh winter!!!









IHere you can speed and test your car.










shiny signs indicate the end of the Struma motorway








Oh my god, just look here, the markings are so reflective, almost shiny, as if the motorway is an example of how any motorway should be, and it probably is. You can aktually see that the markings are very thick. 









beautiful Struma motorway ends beautifully









The beautiful yellow sign.


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## Verso

Turnovec said:


> 2nd - it is just ~40-50 km. long, so it is no such big deal to complete it at some future moment.


When it's so short, why not completing it ASAP?


----------



## Turnovec

^^

I prefer to see 60-70 km. of 2x2 brand new expressway between Vidin and Montana than this one in the near future. It would be a lot more important for our economy and development.


----------



## RawLee

cassini83 said:


>


Why no motorway is planned to Romania?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Vidin-Botevgrad and Russe-Stara Zagora are planned for express ways 2x2. Fairly enough , regarding the fact that the Danube lays between the two countries and currently only the bridge Giurgiu-Russe is operational and it is only with 2 lanes for the both directions. Hopefully the bridge Vidin-Kalafat will be ready in 2-3 years with a capacity of 2x2 so an expressway between Vidin and Botevgrad will serve perfectly the trafic needs.


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Can u tell me guys why the motorway in SW Bulgaria is named A5 sofia-pernik and further pernik-greece A6??? on the map it seems to me as a single motorway.


----------



## Turnovec

A5 is the so called Lyulin Motorway 

from wiki:



> Lyulin motorway is intended to provide a link between Sofia Ring Road and South-West Bulgaria as well as Greece and Macedonia. It is named after Liylin mountain that the road is crossing through. The constructing work began in January 2007, and according to the schedule will be completed in 3 years period. It will provide link between Sofia and Struma motorway. The latter one is going to be the main transportation corridor in South-East Bulgaria. Despite it's only 19 km long, Liylin is the most expensive road ever build in Bulgaria. Total estimated price will be 148,5 Million Euros, or 7.8 Million per kilometer. There will be 3 tunnels as well as 26 bridges and viaducts with total length of 6km.


Struma's start point is this Daskalovo junction near Pernik. Probably some time in the future from Daskalovo will be starting another motorway in direction towards Macedonia, so that is why A5 and A6 are marked as different on the map :dunno:


----------



## RawLee

ionutzyankoo said:


> Can u tell me guys why the motorway in SW Bulgaria is named A5 sofia-pernik and further pernik-greece A6??? on the map it seems to me as a single motorway.


"Lyulin Motorway" A5, "Struma Motorway" A6


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## Kese

cassini83 said:


> Somebody updated the road network map I made for wikipeida a few years ago and frankly did much better job. Check it out:


It is good to see finally an accurate looking map. What is the combined lenght of the current motorways? (That are operational now.)


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## Turnovec

Kese said:


> It is good to see finally an accurate looking map. What is the combined lenght of the current motorways? (That are operational now.)


^^

497 km.


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## Kese

Turnovec said:


> ^^
> 
> 497 km.


Thanks. So it is actually a lot more than what Romania has.


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## Norsko

Any plans for a motorwayring all the way around Sofia?


----------



## cassini83

Norsko said:


> Any plans for a motorwayring all the way around Sofia?


They are currently upgrading the Sofia ring road and adding extra lanes (3 in each direction as far as I know). So far only about 10% of the construction is completed. It's quite expensive and I'm sure it will take quite a while before it's completed. I read somewhere that they spent 20 million EUR for 4km.


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ That's not very expensive... There are roads that cost 100 million per kilometer.


----------



## cassini83

2007 was quite good for the motorway construction in Bulgaria. Does anyone know if any new sections are scheduled to be opened for traffic in 2008?


----------



## cassini83

Chriszwolle said:


> That's not very expensive... There are roads that cost 100 million per kilometer.


It is quite expensive compared to other projects in Bulgaria. The reconstruction of the Dan Ryan highway in Chicago came up to almost a billion dollars for 11.2 miles (18km) but it would be hard to compare to the Sofia ringroad since Dan Ryan was made with concrete which more expensive than asphalt and has no less than 14 lanes


----------



## Timon91

When will the Struma be entirely finished?


----------



## cassini83

Timon Kruijk said:


> When will the Struma be entirely finished?


It should be done by 2012 but I would expect some delays.


----------



## Verso

Timon Kruijk said:


> When will the Struma be entirely finished?


Don't call the devil!


----------



## cassini83

Verso, how did the highway construction in Slovenia go? Were there any major delays or cost overruns? The infrastructure projects in Slovenia and Croatia are often shown as an example of efficiency in Bulgaria.


----------



## Verso

^^ There have been lately (very strong Slovenian construction lobby) and no motorway has been opened in almost two years (and just a few in the last three years), so if the long-expected boom doesn't happen this (and the next) year, I'll piss off.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Aren't 2x2 expressways almost the same as motorways these days? The distinction between Autovía's and Autopista's is officially already gone. (however still visible on older Autovía's)


----------



## RawLee

Chriszwolle said:


> Aren't 2x2 expressways almost the same as motorways these days?


I suppose the biggest difference is in geometry. I think expressways allow higher gradients,tighter curves than motorways.


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## radi6404

I just hope they mean expressway but not some 4 lane expressroads with same level exits which are very dangerous roads.


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## Turnovec

RawLee said:


> I suppose the biggest difference is in geometry. I think expressways allow higher gradients,tighter curves than motorways.


^^ kay: This is the difference Chris, aside from the lack of emergency lane ...

Here is one typical bulgarian 2x2 expressway. (first half of the movie)






The plans till 2020 are very good and i would be tremendously happy if all this is done till than ... but somehow i just don't believe it.


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## wyqtor

It looks OK, existing Romanian 2x2 roads aren't grade-separated and pass through villages.


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## radi6404

Now this is black asphalt, this is the village connecting road I was talking about but it looks pretty much like a nationalroad




























Ok now beat this, and the asphalt is already 2 months old so I think it will stay black. And the crashbarrier you see doesn´t shine because it´s old, unfortunately they didn´t replace it and add new crashbarrier.


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## ChrisZwolle

That last pic isn't really a tourism ad 

Anyway, the asphalt looks okay, but i didn't expect something else considering the road is only 2 months old with low traffic.


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## radi6404

Chriszwolle said:


> That last pic isn't really a tourism ad
> 
> Anyway, the asphalt looks okay, but i didn't expect something else considering the road is only 2 months old with low traffic.


aktually the trafficload is very high because a lot of opeopel from the villages use this road to reach the E-79 but yeah, in two months it wont show difference. But why is the asphalt only ok, how does for you good asphalt look?


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## Samy70

I think he's just teasing you, the asphalt is good although 2 months means that its still very new.


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## wyqtor

The asphalt from the Faroe Islands is darker!

:jk:

It's very good for a regional road.


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## Timon91

That's where the EU money is going to.


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## radi6404

and there it should go man! Bulgaria should also have smooth nice looking roads.


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## Timon91

^^And so should all EU-members, that's why we can discuss so much over here :lol:


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## cassini83

Looks like the Trakiya concession deal is no more. The Regional Development Minister said that the project might get funding from the state budget and the actual construction can begin within 2 months and be finished in 2010. I wish they could stop focusing on one section at a time but split the highways into different sections and work on them simultaiously. They could at least get the contracts signed in a more timely manner. We need Radi for regional development minister. Remember what he said?



radi6404 said:


> the most rediculous thing is that they work fucking slow, they say that they work fast but too me that´s not fast, they should than open on Saturday at least to finish this motorway for new year


No doubt in my mind that he can get the job done my Christmas :lol:

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/trakiya-highway-deal-cancelled-via-e-mail/id_29370/catid_66


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## radi6404

Ofcourse I would let people work Saturdays and on night to finish the motorways, I would build noise isolation walls and concentrate the whole budget on bulding motorways and renovating nationalroads, I would only let good companies work, and ofcourse would never let any Bulgarian company build any road except village and regional because everything they do break in months and markings dissapear in weeks.


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## x-type

saturdays?!?! motorways are being built 24/7 if you want progress. any kind of interrupting the works (even at one day) is slowing progress drasticly


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## radi6404

x-type said:


> saturdays?!?! motorways are being built 24/7 if you want progress. any kind of interrupting the works (even at one day) is slowing progress drasticly


But if so what is it taht takes that long to build the motorways? 20 km 2 year, that´s unbelievable.


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## Turnovec

To interrupt a lil'bit radi's endless mumblings and grumblings ... 

One photo by the bulgarian forumer Делян 

Trakia Motorway Bulgaria - автомагистрала Тракия България


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## Timon91

^^It looks fantastic? It's just...Trakiyatic


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## cassini83

Turnovec said:


> To interrupt a lil'bit radi's mumblings and grumblings ...
> 
> One photo by the bulgarian forumer Делян
> 
> Trakia Motorway Bulgaria - автомагистрала Тракия България


Is that the exit for Kostenets? I can't read the sign but it looks very familiar. A full resolution picture would be greatly appreciated.


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## Turnovec

^^ Maybe  I am not sure too ... Right behind that first ridge i think is "Trayanovi vrata" tunnel though.


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## cassini83

That's it. It's been 4 years but I still remember the scenery.


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## RawLee

radi6404 said:


> But if so what is it taht takes that long to build the motorways? 20 km 2 year, that´s unbelievable.


Time is not proportional with length...both the 30 km of M43 here and 200km of M6 will be inaugurated in 2010...and both were started this year.


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## wyqtor

I assume it depends a lot on the number and length of bridges, viaducts and tunnels... the M43 for instance has to cross a major river (Tisza).


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## RawLee

wyqtor said:


> I assume it depends a lot on the number and length of bridges, viaducts and tunnels... the M43 for instance has to cross a major river (Tisza).


M6 has 4 tunnels,1km is the longest...with a lot of smaller-bigger bridges. Time is not an element in the equation. It only depends on how many people work on it. Remember,even bridges were built under 1 night in WWII...


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## Kese

^^"M6 has 4 tunnels,1km is the longest"

1331m + 399m + 865m + 418m North to South.  + about 80(!) bridges, viaducts, e.g.: 481m, 830m, 450m, 491m, etc.


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## bgplayer19

OHHH when i see those old signs I just get MAAAD!I wonder what will cost that shitty government to replace them and they will finally meet the EU criteria hno:


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## Norsko

^^ Wich old signs?


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## Verso

^^ Those with destinations (all caps). I think they are ok.


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## Norsko

The gantry ones? Can not see anything wrong with them. Do I remember correctly if I have not seen any road numbers on those signs? (Too lazy to look up the pics  )


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## Verso

^ You can notice them on the last pic, although it's too far away to be readable.


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## Norsko

Yeah, those are the ones I was thinking about. Actually I think they look nice, clear and clean.


----------



## Verso




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## Norsko

kay:


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## Turnovec

Are the last 7-8 posts some kind of a refined ex-yugo humour that we simply just can't understand or it is just some off-topic non-sense ? 

Anyway on topic:

*Lyulin Motorway* building progress update :


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## Timon91

Lyulinic 
Just kidding, nice pics!


----------



## Turnovec

Two photos of the Pravets-Botevgrad junction of *Hemus Motorway* [A2]











From different angle ... with some golf courses U/C left of the Motorway.


----------



## cassini83

Great pics, Turnovec! Do you know if the construction of Lyulin in on schedule? As fas as I remember some small section was supposed to be opened this year. Do you know if that's still part of the plan?


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ there was a comment a while ago saying that the Lyulin Motorway will be not only on schedule but it will be ready 6 months before schedule


----------



## Turnovec

Yep. There was a recent visit of the PM of the construction site and everyhitng seemed to be going steady on course.(as much as we can believe our PM anymore though). The dead line is end of 2009 for teh whole length. Anyway - "Mapa Cingiz" - the company that is responsible for the builidng anounced that they could finish 6 months before dead line if they are allowed to hire 500 more workers from abroad. That company btw , did the lot Burgas-Karnobat of Trakia Motorway few years ago and i haven't heard any bad words about the quality of their work so far. :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

AUchamps said:


> Damnit bro, she's a cultural icon in Columbia. Show me what Bulgaria has and then we'll compare.


Get real, what comparison man, I told you what I like and I don´t care from wich country she is, I told you that not many bulgarian girls are good looking for me and many have wide hipbones, in Germany there are a lot of bad looking too, but there are way more good looking skinny girls than here, and if they are skinny they have straight bones, not outstanding hipbones because their structures are just way better than the structures here.


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## KIWIKAAS

^^
Youre quite a ''special'' fellow arent you


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## Timon91

Obviously 
But let's get ontopic again.


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## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> ^^
> Youre quite a ''special'' fellow arent you


Yes, I am.


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## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> Yes, I am.


But the Struma has a perfect layout right? The Roads are the best looking thing in Bulgaria, is that what you're saying?


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## radi6404

AUchamps said:


> But the Struma has a perfect layout right? The Roads are the best looking thing in Bulgaria, is that what you're saying?


There are good looking girls here, but very few, and there are also very few good looking roads, but the few are exceptional.


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## Turnovec

^^ radi ... radi ... you're a :clown:



ВОДА;21766215 said:


> *Trakia Motorway*
> 
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> *Struma Motorway*
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> *Maritsa Motorway*
> 
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> 
> *Images: Dnevnik*


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## Turnovec

Bebresh Viaduct on Hemus Motorway [A2]


----------



## Mateusz

Struma is crap, it should have grass median hno:


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## KIWIKAAS

The Hemus and Trakya both look better than the Struma.


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## Timon91

Trakiya rules! 
Btw, that viaduct on the A2 in the fog is almost surrealistic.


----------



## radi6404

Timon Kruijk said:


> Like he did to his balcony
> Man, have we ever discussed some unshinystrumaradiatic matter here?


My balcony now also got white concrete:


----------



## Turnovec

^^ 

:crazy2::clown:

:llama:


----------



## KIWIKAAS

Chriszwolle said:


> *Can we get ontopic please? This is no skybar.*


No. It's much more than that.

:lol::bash:


----------



## AUchamps

KIWIKAAS said:


> No. It's much more than that.
> 
> :lol::bash:


Come on now, this is so DAMN Strumatic that it's making ppl cry tears of joy. Radi is good, Radi is great, we surrender our free will, as of this day......


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## Verso

MateoW said:


> Struma is crap, it should have grass median hno:


Burnt grass, if nothing else.


----------



## radi6404

Ok, I went to Germany again, this time I have to do some documents stuff and so on. On my whole journey the E-79 nationalroad from Dupnica and the Struma motorway have made the biggest impressions to me of all roads. I went to Germany with a VW Sharan, we were listening to some good music, some Iran rock chillout music and it was just amazing. What powerful emotions the roads gave me, feelings of security and a feeling of richness covered my whole body. Not only because of the look but also of the feeling. I didn´t feel any tiny bump on those roads, my legs got soft as mincemeet because of the very unique feeling of the road on the not so good suspension of the Sharan, however that doesn´t matter cause on all suspensions this road feels great. Everyone has to drive the road for himself to feel the abundance and the POWER the road gives, as if this is the road over every other road, the road to just relax and have fun. Hardly any road has so little bumps, even very new roads have way more bumps than the stretch Dupnica - Sofia nationalroad/motorway. Respect to the workers, who build this amazing road, the workers had motivation and the want to build something extraordinary. These stretch is the best road in Bulgaria, I am sure no road has such good quality asphalt and markings, and that not only in Bulgaria. The road is something special, an example to hwo other roads should feel and look like, other two year old roads often have faded out markings and worn asphalt, but the road looks like just oepned, except the crashbarriers, which got a bit dusty, but they only need to be polished a bit and they will again shine as brilliants and let the unique road look even more presticious. I don´t have pics this time because I only wanted to enjoy the powerful emotions the road give me.


----------



## Timon91

^^Sounds like Trakiya


----------



## geogregor

:rofl:
:rofl:
I love this thread

Radi, :cheer:


----------



## H123Laci

radi6404 said:


> Ok, I went to Germany again...


wow. that's heroic poem of love...

I would have said only "it's fucking cool!"...


----------



## Mateusz

Radi thought ''Scheisse deutsche Autobahnen, Struma ist am beste'' ^^


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## Timon91

^^No, he thought "По дяволите, какво е лошо немски магистралата. Струма е много по-добре!"


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## radi6404

But at least German Autobahns feel smoother than Austrian ones, i don´t know what they are doing, the Austrians.


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## Turnovec

^^ You just love to be the laughing stock of SSC, don't you ? :lol::lol::lol: :clown:


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ You just love to be the laughing stock of SSC, don't you ? :lol::lol::lol: :clown:


don´t know. But I serously think the road is of higher standart than other Bulgarian roads because I´ve driven on many of them and this one has thickest markings of all and the best pavement. The road to Bansko which was build at the same time is already bad and feels already bumpy and at many places it got new asphalt and cracks were filled however the stretch from Dupncia to sofia looks like a week old and that with a lot of traffic. That means it is of extraordinary quality, I don´t know any two year old road which looks as new, it always looks the same except the crashbarriers.


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## radi6404

Just look, that was a E-79 crashbarrier, when the road was a few months old, it should always stay like this, no crashbarriers shine more. I msut replace my balcony ralings with such a beauty.


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## Mateusz

This crashbarrier looks shiny  but where are other pics of this 'extraordinary' road ? hno:


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## Verso

The background looks like a semidesert.


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## radi6404

I should have used another fucking color to have the railings shine the same, I may repaint the whole thing, so that it shines more.


----------



## Timon91

^^Please come to the Netherlands, there are a lot of ditry and rusty crashbarriers over here


----------



## PLH

^^ but you'll NEVER beat Italy!


----------



## Timon91

It looks like radi still has some painting to do  :rofl:


----------



## KIWIKAAS

radi6404 said:


> I should have used another fucking color to have the railings shine the same, I may repaint the whole thing, so that it shines more.


But with all the dust from the construction next door your railing must now look the same as the Struma barriers?
Isn't it just a case of the Struma balcony and the motorway just aging together as one?


----------



## radi6404

Here you can see the E-79 nationalroad towards Dupnica from Sofia. You can clearly see that the road has very thick markings, you feel them when driving on them. You also see the Rila mountain, the only alpine mountain in Bulgaria, to the right you see some very steep slopes going down, under them lyes a village called Bistrica. In the center you see some peaks, some of which are steep and rocky and are in deep valleys, that´s why you only see the tops of them. 

The same thickness of markings has the Struma motorway, too.


----------



## Timon91

^^This road looks quite American (wide road, billboard, mountains).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I only see a very average road.

About billboards, those are very common in central/eastern European countries, possibly even more than in the United States. In the Czech Rep. virtually every bridge and overpass has billboards on it.


----------



## Timon91

^^I know it, but in Slovakia it's worst  The signs indicating "Tesco" hypermarket even saved me a few times, when the normal signage wasn't there or wasn't helpful.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^Please don't compare the Slovakian signs with ours because here there are more signs indicating hypermarkets,hotels etc. than the road/motorway destinations :nuts::nuts::nuts:


----------



## Timon91

^^Have you ever been to Slovakia? At some roads you're literally driving in a billboard-forest. But as Chriszwolle said, this is quite common in former Eastern Europe.


----------



## vlker

Timon Kruijk said:


> ^^Have you ever been to Slovakia? At some roads you're literally driving in a billboard-forest. But as Chriszwolle said, this is quite common in former Eastern Europe.


Yeah, you´re right. It is insane nearby czech and slovak old highways. For example on D1 Prague-Brno or in SVK D1 Bratislava-Trnava there is billboard almost everywhere. Sometimes even while the highway is leading through forest. One pic from czech D1:


----------



## Verso

^^ They are brighter though  (fluorescent ).



bgplayer19 said:


> Pics from the Sofia Ring Road
> 
> Bojana Interchange


Nice sign.  What does it say? "smer za politish...?" ("direction for politic...?") And in which language is "Centrum"?



bgplayer19 said:


>


Which road is this (where exactly)?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

> And in which language is "Centrum"?


Dutch


----------



## Verso

^ Yeah, Hungarian too. :lol:


----------



## bgplayer19

There are even worse signs :lol:



















And a new one


----------



## Mateusz

Polish too


----------



## Verso

What's wrong with those signs?

PS: sorry for the delay, but I took a nap, cause I thought I had a heart attack, but apparently I didn't.  I'm a BIG hypochondriac!


----------



## Mateusz

Yeah well, don't worry Verso... women can have hard time during their periods  

By the way, I'm woundering about that Poland would introduce new singange, I mean white boards for local roads


----------



## Verso

MateoW said:


> Yeah well, don't worry Verso... women can have hard time during their periods


:bash: :rofl:


----------



## cassini83

Verso said:


> ^^
> Nice sign.  What does it say? "smer za politish...?" ("direction for politic...?")


Смърт за политиците (Smart za polititzite) -> death to the polititians :nuts: hno: 

Must have something to do with the direction to Bojana. That's where the president's residence is located.


----------



## Verso

^^ Oh, I see; interesting.


----------



## JloKyM

Verso said:


> ^^ Oh, I see; interesting.


Verso, the pic was taken from the ringroad, on the intersection with Bulgaria blvd.

And in Sofia we have 3 types- Centrum, Centre, Center :lol::lol: I think Centrum is in latin.


----------



## Verso

^^ I thought so, but I didn't know you liked the Vatican so much.


----------



## JloKyM

Verso said:


> ^^ you liked the Vatican so much.


Neither do I.:lol:


----------



## bgplayer19

I always thought that Centrum was in Deutsch :lol:


----------



## Timon91

^^Das ist Zentrum


----------



## Turnovec

[E79] before Vratsa


----------



## ABRob

bgplayer19 said:


> I always thought that Centrum was in Deutsch :lol:





Timon Kruijk said:


> ^^Das ist Zentrum


Official it's Zentrum:










But in Hamburg...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You see "Centrum" more in that region. Kinda like the Haven/Hafen thing.


----------



## OettingerCroat

JloKyM said:


>


i agree, totally unsafe. and the ones that HAVE the barriers looks unsafe, because the support pillars are so far apart.

these motorways are a death trap, and clearly the ugliest in Europe.


----------



## JloKyM

OettingerCroat said:


> i agree, totally unsafe. and the ones that HAVE the barriers looks unsafe, because the support pillars are so far apart.
> 
> these motorways are a death trap, and clearly the ugliest in Europe.


Actually I've never heard of a car accident in this section of the highway.  There are almost every time police officers, also the speed is limited to 80km/h.


----------



## Kese

Chriszwolle said:


> You see "Centrum" more in that region. Kinda like the Haven/Hafen thing.


They speak Hungarian in Hamburg? What a pleasant surprise. (BTW: where exactly did you move from Holland?) lol


----------



## Verso

Chriszwolle said:


> You see "Centrum" more in that region. Kinda like the Haven/Hafen thing.


Why Centrum, and what about Haven/Hafen? Btw, they also have Stadtmitte.



Kese said:


> They speak Hungarian in Hamburg? What a pleasant surprise.


You should get back to központ.


----------



## radi6404

OettingerCroat said:


> i agree, totally unsafe. and the ones that HAVE the barriers looks unsafe, because the support pillars are so far apart.
> 
> these motorways are a death trap, and clearly the ugliest in Europe.


**** off you asshole. The shitty statehighways and the Croatian higways are both bumpier and rougher than the Bulgarian motorways.


----------



## Mateusz

LOL

How new and modern Croatian motorways can be worst quality then old Bulgarian A1 ?


----------



## Patrick

I guess Haven with "v" instead of "f" is more a local thing, dialect.

Centrum (in Trier, too) is because of the Congress Centrum in Hamburg. So they can shorten it as "CC". The "right" spelling would be Kongress Zentrum, which would be shortened as "KZ". But KZ actually means "Konzentrationslager" (nazi death camp), that's why they write with with "C".


----------



## Patrick

MateoW said:


> LOL
> 
> How new and modern Croatian motorways can be worst quality then old Bulgarian A1 ?


Because Radi says!!!


----------



## Mateusz

Patrick said:


> Because Radi says!!!


I don't care hno: That's the facts which we can see on the pictures, I am sick in strumoholism and strumomania which have bad influence on some users of this forum :lol:


----------



## radi6404

IF you didn´t realized, the told that also the other motorways "with barriers" he said are the ugliest in the world, but it is fact that a new Bulgarian motorway is smoother than a new Croatian motorway.


----------



## Mateusz

I realised, dont worry  I was talking about A1 in this area, not about brand new stretches of Bulgrian motorways, actually I think Croatian ones are better, but prefferences are individual


----------



## H123Laci

JloKyM said:


> also the speed is limited to 80km/h.


whaaat?
that's barbarity, brutality, cruelty, inhumanity, ruthlessness and savagery!

why not 30km/h?


----------



## bgplayer19

Radi please!!!How can you compare our motorways with the Croatian ones???We always take the Croatian motorways for example and you are saying that they are worse hno:hno:hno:

1.They have much more km of motorways than us
2.Their highways are more modern (electrical signs since 1998!!!and we got our first one this year)
3.The quality of the road is higher than on the Struma motorway or any other motorway in Bulgaria 
4.They have noisebarriers and we don't

IS this enough???


----------



## Turnovec

OettingerCroat said:


> these motorways are a death trap, and clearly the ugliest in Europe.


Yep it is more than obvious on the pic below ... Clear Death Trap and the ugliest one i have ever seen hno:
I wonder how the yellow cab dares to drive on it ? :?
How am i still alive after so many thousands of kilometers on the Bulgarian road network :? 










Somebody tell me how the hell this guy below manages to simultaneously drive a car, shoot with his video camera , and stay alive while on the Bulgarian [A1] Trakia Motorway :? 

* Be adviced that this is the ugliest motorway you might ever see in your entire life.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^You are right I have never heard about an accident in that stretch of the motorway


----------



## Tomesh

>


Hmm if this is the Trakiya then these are only short stretches - Traveled on these a few weeks ago and yes I even remember Police being there  Arent they some type of military emergency runways like in southern Sweden on the E22 and in the Czech Republic between Brno and Ostrava ?


----------



## JloKyM

Tomesh said:


> Arent they some type of military emergency runways like in southern Sweden on the E22 and in the Czech Republic between Brno and Ostrava ?


Exactly!!! :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

I have two high res videos of The Struma motorway beginning and the other of the Struma motorway end and E-79 SMOOTH NATIONALROAD, can someone upload them for me because I don´t have a youtube accaunt.

You will see how the picture of the video virtually doesn´t chakke, altough I was holding it in my hand and my hand was in air, not on something to get support. This will for you guys the proove that on the motorway and nationalroad you feel nothing.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

> Bulgarian motorways: Struma motorway is the real thing, the other motorways are just not motorways.


My god. :crazy:


----------



## radi6404

whne you see the videos you will change your opinion.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> can someone upload them for me because I don´t have a youtube accaunt.


hno: yeah, we are running. we all can open accounts, but radi cannot, he is our beloved king and he isnot suppose to lose time for opening free accounts


----------



## radi6404

you can do it if you want, why are you so rude, you don´t have to do it man. But I know some have accaunts on youtube because they show their own videos, and it would be great if someone would upload one for me.


----------



## Mateusz

Is it over you intelligence to make account on You Tube which contains of typing username, password and other details like location and such hno: :nuts:


----------



## Tomesh

JloKyM said:


> Exactly!!! :cheers:


Yes I was wondering what the issue is about unsafe. There's a purpose to it and it fulfills this adequately since as I mentioned I travelled on this stretch twice at random times and saw police there each time.....


----------



## bgplayer19

well yes!It;s built so to save lives not to kill more


----------



## radi6404

Ok I have done it and uploaded the video, it need to be processed before it is aviable though.


----------



## radi6404

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmUkRzdjS-4

enjoy, note that the video is high res so you can watch it fullscreen, soon comes the next one with the smooth E-79

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmUkRzdjS-4

here´s the E-79 nationalroad and Struma motorway end video, at the and I smyle.


----------



## radi6404

Guys, don´t you watch the videos?


----------



## Timon91

I watched it, and it looks ok. It is just an average motorway, just start understanding that. Look at the A7 at the Afsluitdijk in NL, that looks exactly the same, and is also just average.
btw, that guy that was driving (was it you ) was driving quite dangerous, though there was no traffic. See, no one uses it, its just a useless highway  
No just kidding (or not?)


----------



## Verso

Timon Kruijk said:


> btw, that guy that was driving (was it you )


No, he's the one that shoots the video and says "Entering The Struma Motorway! :drool:".  Nice highway; as I can see, it's still an expressway. 

Btw, you posted two identical videos, here's the other one:


----------



## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> Guys, don´t you watch the videos?


I heard the theme song to Karate Kid: Part II in there, so that's gotta count for something.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

He should get ticketed for reckless driving.


----------



## WalkTheWorld

He passed a truck on the right! Apart of being totally illegal it's the best way to get an early release from mundane trouble...

Now questions:

There's no entry ramps, tall booths or overpasses. A plain country road broadens up into an expressway.... so we don't have here a regular local road and a highway but just a highway.

Does it mean it will take all local traffic? Including schoolbuses, farming equipment like harvesters and tractors? Bycicles? There's no barrier or CCTV, anything can merge ito the highway.

Who will pay for maintenance? The gov't? Or do they have a "vignette"

P.S. how long is it?


----------



## RawLee

Road very good,driver very bad...


----------



## H123Laci

WalkTheWorld said:


> He passed a truck on the right!


He is an asshole. He has overtaken the queue from a right turning lane... hno:



WalkTheWorld said:


> There's no entry ramps, tall booths or overpasses. A plain country road broadens up into an expressway.... so we don't have here a regular local road and a highway but just a highway.
> 
> Does it mean it will take all local traffic? Including schoolbuses, farming equipment like harvesters and tractors? Bycicles? There's no barrier or CCTV, anything can merge ito the highway.



You are wrong: check the video at 1:56.
They are leaving the country road and "entering the struma motorway" as radii comments the event... :lol:

probably this is a temporary end of the motorway, so this is not a regular IC...
it becomes a full profile motorway only at 3:00...


----------



## H123Laci

RawLee said:


> Road very good,driver very bad...


and your english (is) very simple...


----------



## Mateusz

Music gives a special climate to this movie  A6/E79 'Struma' looks quite ok

But what a reckless driving hno:


----------



## radi6404

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IujmdOrdBg

Here´s the other video, where we are still on the Struma motorway and then it ends and we are turning on the E-79. 

Yes, on the first video we turn on the motoroway after 2 minutes or so.


----------



## dia

Jesus Christ! I am not even a believer..... After watching these videos my serious doubts have been confirmed. First, neither the road nor the highway are something exceptional- that we already knew. It's not even exceptional for Bulgaria, let alone for richer and more advanced countries. The rest I will say in Bulgarian, especially for the #*&$(*&@ called Radi.

Село, селоооооооооооо! Кой ви пусна от обора бе, кой ви даде книжки? Я да си хващате козътье и уфсътье и марш у ... Рила. Как може да говорите ТОЛКОВА просташки, да карате ТОЛКОВА зле?!? Абе гнус ме беше да догледам видеото. Млади версии на Гацо Бацов- самият той преразглеждане на Бай Ганьо. И тази селяния ще ми говори за Европа, за пътища и за България?! Боже мили, тресни ме ей тука, ако това чудо има право на глас!!!!! Свещена простота неземна. О и нещо много лично, ако бях на твое място Ради, нямаше да си снимам лицето и да го показвам по света! Въх...

Now, I will be quietly waiting for my ban, and I can assure everyone who could understand this I made a HUGE effort to be the most polite possible.


----------



## radi6404

Dia, ne ti razbiram pochti nishto i neznam kakva e tazi melumna reakcia, kakvo ti prechi v videoto ne mi e qsno?

Yes, he drove a bit harsh but because he hadn´t slept for 24 hours and was driving all the time. I should have continued filming as we continued on the E-79, some crashbarriers were in bushes, so the bushes protekted them of getting rain and dirt and they were shinier, it looked very beautiful and wild as you can see on the video, the landscape on the second video is very wild.


----------



## dia

^^ Narochno te mahnah ot ignora si, za da ti vidia reakciata. Normalno e nishto da ne razbirash- ne se uchudvam. Chovek nikoga ne moje da vidi sobstvenata si prostotia. hno: Ti dori ne mojesh da si predstavish kolko zle govorite, kakvo tova govori za vas, da se vidish v ogledaloto, da vidish kolko zle karate- da ne govorim da imash UMA da osuznaesh che karate po edin normalen put, koito dori ne e neshto koi znae kakvo za Bulgaria.

This is not driving harsh, this is close to criminal. If there was a police car driving after you, the driver should have lost his license immediately! Following the basic rules or not is not a question of fatigue but education! If you kill someone on the road you wont escape prison just because you were tired. And I won't even talk about the moral aspect of things such as the responsibility everyone takes while driving to take care of the others.


----------



## radi6404

Dia, I didn´t know the driver, he was a guy with whom I drove the first time, and how do we talk? To be serious, I don´t know people in Bulgaria who talk any differently if they are for theirselfes, I got along well with the driver and he talked to me like that. There is no names calling on the videos, at the beginning he asked me if I had add parfium, that was all. And to just inform you, many Bulgarians call names all the time when they are for theirselfes!!! And I couldn´t say how he should drive, he was the driver!!!


----------



## H123Laci

the bulgarian mway network seems a little bit illogical to me:

- there is no "A0" - or something - around Sofia, instead of it there is a short A5 that bypasses the capital at north and west and which continues as A6 towards Greece. (struma?)

- A1 goes to the black sea but at burgas it becomes A4. 

- A3 is a spur of A1 maybe it would be better sing it to "A13" or something...

- and A1 goes not only to the sea but to the opposite direction too (like slovene A1 (and A2)...

- only A2 is OK.

so a logical network would look like this:


----------



## dia

^^ Of course you don't know people who talk differently first because they have other circles of acquaintance and second because you won't even notice and understand the difference.


----------



## bgplayer19

Radi this video isn't anything new for Bulgarian roads!There are many stretches similar to the Struma motorway and the E79.Just because these roads were built and rehablated first doesn't mean that they are the only one!


----------



## Turnovec

dia said:


> Село, селоооооооооооо! Кой ви пусна от обора бе, кой ви даде книжки? Я да си хващате козътье и уфсътье и марш у ... Рила. Как може да говорите ТОЛКОВА просташки, да карате ТОЛКОВА зле?!? Абе гнус ме беше да догледам видеото. Млади версии на Гацо Бацов- самият той преразглеждане на Бай Ганьо. И тази селяния ще ми говори за Европа, за пътища и за България?! Боже мили, тресни ме ей тука, ако това чудо има право на глас!!!!! Свещена простота неземна. О и нещо много лично, ако бях на твое място Ради, нямаше да си снимам лицето и да го показвам по света! Въх...


^^ kay: kay: kay: :bow: 

I second that 1000000% !


----------



## bgplayer19

I agree with you two :lol:


----------



## radi6404

maybe they are, but again, the smoothness on the roads, as you can see, the camera wasn´t shaking at all is exraordinary, that´s for sure, and they are pretty clean, too. On other roads markings are fade out and so on, here the markings are all perfect. The video isn´t recorded with a professional camcorder to really notice that the quality of the roads is high. 

Dia, ako moje da mi razberesh intelekto ot 3 izrechenia v cqloto video dobre. Za tova se angajiram taka f foruma tuk. Tekiva nadmenni hora, deto ispolzvat samo izbrani dumi niskym i da poznavam.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Besides all the crap about which motorway is better, it's nice to finally have a video of the Struma


----------



## Mateus_

H123Laci said:


> and your english (is) very simple...


It's better than nothing!


----------



## dia

H123Laci, there are a lot of things I don't understand about Bulgarian roads, believe me, but the logic in the numbers is not one of them. The idea behind the numbers is simple and logical. A1 is the main road in Bulgaria, it's the road between Sofia and Bourgas, it's part of a European corridor and stretching it up to Varna is useless. Varna and Bourgas are the two main destinations of the two main motorways- both towns are not only very big for the country but also extremely important because of the ports and the refinery, so the connection between them is logically a different motorway.. The rest is connections to our borders, also part of European corridors.


----------



## H123Laci

^^ ok. and what about the "A0"?


----------



## dia

H123Laci said:


> ^^ ok. and what about the "A0"?


Where is the A0 used? In the countries I know about, no one uses it- at least I've never heart about an A0. I guess this is supposed to be the ring around the capital?!


----------



## H123Laci

e.g. Hungary signs its ringroad around the capital to "M0"...

but the marking is not important until there is nothing to sign:
won't there be a motorway ring around Sofia?


----------



## radi6404

It will be motorway, but the construction goes very slowly and it is not clear when it finally will be finished.


----------



## radi6404

Dia, I should report you, you insult me and the guy who brought me to Bulgaria just for fun. That´s apsolutely dumb and you have no reason for that. I told you I didn´t know the guy, he spoke a bit freely but that doesn´t mean he isn´t intelligent or anything like that, he did drive harsh but I had no control over that man. You hear 3 sentences and decide to tell he and I are dumb people? Intelligence has nothing to do with how you speak to a mate.


----------



## dia

H123Laci said:


> e.g. Hungary signs its ringroad around the capital to "M0"...
> 
> but the marking is not important until there is nothing to sign:
> won't there be a motorway ring around Sofia?


As far as I know, It won't be exactly a motorway, rather more like a 2x3-lane highway. The ring-road is currently under renovation/construction. The existing parts are reconstructed and widened and the rest should be finished.. only God knows when .

radi6404, report me, the only thing I don't know is how you would you explain reporting others, while you insult all the time people


----------



## JloKyM

dia said:


> As far as I know, It won't be exactly a motorway, rather more like a 2x3-lane highway.


2X3 + 2X2


----------



## radi6404

dia said:


> As far as I know, It won't be exactly a motorway, rather more like a 2x3-lane highway. The ring-road is currently under renovation/construction. The existing parts are reconstructed and widened and the rest should be finished.. only God knows when .
> 
> radi6404, report me, the only thing I don't know is how you would you explain reporting others, while you insult all the time people


You don´t even dare to insult me in English, becase you are affraid to get an infraction.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Radi you are a clown and imbecile !!! :clown: :crazy: 

:cheers:


----------



## H123Laci

JloKyM said:


> 2X3 + 2X2


you mean a 2x3 motorway and a 2x2 highway or you mean a 2+3+3+2 motorway?


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Radi you are a clown and imbecile !!! :clown: :crazy:
> 
> :cheers:


I give a shit what you tihnk, because you wont stop me in this forum.


----------



## dia

radi6404 said:


> You don´t even dare to insult me in English, becase you are affraid to get an infraction.


Oh no Radi, it's because my English is not good enough. There is a Bulgarian moderator who can fully understand what I wrote, unlike YOU :lol:


----------



## radi6404

dia said:


> Oh no Radi, it's because my English is not good enough. There is a Bulgarian moderator who can fully understand what I wrote, unlike YOU :lol:


Bulgarian is not my native languace, I was one year in Bulgaria to learn the languace, and two years as a small child, then 10 years in Germany, so it is very obvious to not understand everything. But you are too dumb to remember that, atluogh I have told it in the forum several times.


----------



## Verso

What are you talking about in the video?


----------



## H123Laci

^^ obviously about the struma motorway... :lol:


----------



## dia

radi6404 said:


> Bulgarian is not my native languace, I was one year in Bulgaria to learn the languace, and two years as a small child, then 10 years in Germany, so it is very obvious to not understand everything. But you are too dumb to remember that, atluogh I have told it in the forum several times.


My dearest Radi, seeing your English, it's not a problem of native or foreign, the problem is situated elsewhere, if you know what I mean. 

Verso, it's not what they talked about but HOW but further information can be requested in a PM as this thread after all is about highways


----------



## radi6404

We talked about if I have parfiumed myself, and then I asked if they have fixed the road before the motorway, the driver said no. Nothing more. And it is not your business anyway dia. Nice guys would thank me for uploading two videos of good roads in Bulgaria, you guys are insulting me? Chris as a good guy thanked me for that, you only have critic to add.


----------



## KIWIKAAS

Thanks for the videos radi. Now we have seen the whole motorway at last.
I don't like the guys driving style though



> We talked about if I have parfiumed myself, and then I asked if they have fixed the road before the motorway, the driver said no.


^^
:lol:


----------



## WalkTheWorld

[
edit


----------



## WalkTheWorld

radi6404 said:


> We talked about if I have parfiumed myself, and then I asked if they have fixed the road before the motorway, the driver said no. Nothing more. And it is not your business anyway dia. Nice guys would thank me for uploading two videos of good roads in Bulgaria, you guys are insulting me? Chris as a good guy thanked me for that, you only have critic to add.



Like in perfumed before meeting a neat lady or like perfumed because his driving may cause you to soil your pants? 

Thanks for the video anyway. Looks like a distant country already. I mean plains and huge faraway mountains...it's already "on the other side" very open, makes you think of further vastity beyond the borders.


----------



## x-type

radi6404 said:


> We talked about if I have parfiumed myself, .


:lol::lol:


----------



## H123Laci

WalkTheWorld said:


> or like perfumed because his driving may cause you to soil your pants?


this reminds me to a joke:

on a pirate ship the sentry shouts: Mr Captain, I see a warship on the horizon!

the captain replies: bring my red shirt! I dont want you to be frightened if I get wound in the battle...

a little bit later the sentry shouts again: Mr Captain, I see THREE warships on the horizon!

the captain replies: bring my brown trouser!!


----------



## radi6404

WalkTheWorld said:


> Like in perfumed before meeting a neat lady or like perfumed because his driving may cause you to soil your pants?
> 
> Thanks for the video anyway. Looks like a distant country already. I mean plains and huge faraway mountains...it's already "on the other side" very open, makes you think of further vastity beyond the borders.


The countreis landscape especially in this area is extremly beautiful and wild, it is amazing, and also with the very smooth roads, but it is not like that at any part of Bulgaria. I like your comment WalkTheWorld.


----------



## radi6404

Some of the folks here said the roads are normal, they say to some new motorways wtih very black asphalt they are perfect and whatever but because here the asphalt isn´t black as cd markers they say it´s ordinary, you have to admit that it is very smooth.


----------



## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> Some of the folks here said the roads are normal, they say to some new motorways wtih very black asphalt they are perfect and whatever but because here the asphalt isn´t black as cd markers they say it´s ordinary, you have to admit that it is very smooth.


Dude, you look cross-eyed. Maybe that was just the video, but I'm just saying.


----------



## radi6404

What´s that, crosseyed?


----------



## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> What´s that, crosseyed?


you know, cockeyed. Guys, can you help me out because I'm not sure I want to post a picture as an example.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ You better not :lol::lol::lol:


----------



## Tomesh

well thanks for the videos. looks good and smooth....


----------



## AUchamps

bgplayer19 said:


> ^^ You better not :lol::lol::lol:


But you do agree with me, right?


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Yes  I'm with you


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## KIWIKAAS

Looks like there will be a slow down in development if the EU threats go through http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7512955.stm

€10,000,000,000 in aid till 2011 if Bulgaria gets it's act together!


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## Mateusz

Wow :nuts: Bulgaria have a big chance


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## radi6404

KIWIKAAS said:


> Looks like there will be a slow down in development if the EU threats go through http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7512955.stm
> 
> €10,000,000,000 in aid till 2011 if Bulgaria gets it's act together!


That would be a disaster.


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## Mateusz

No Struma and other important motrways as well hno:


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## radi6404

If that happens (I beg not) the Bugarian guys who call me names will agree with me that I am that harsh and insult the goverment with violent languace.


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## KIWIKAAS

Off topic but seems to be typical of the state of things in Bulgaria is that there have been 150 mafia assasinations in Bulgaria since 1990. NOT ONE of these crimes has been solved. NOT 1!. Amazing.
I do hope that Bulgaria does get it's act together soon, otherwise they faced being ostracized by the rest of the EU.


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## Mateusz

Yeah well, it's own fault of Bulgaria at the end of the day, EU leaves countries on their own with internal problems and encourage them to be sorted out. 

Hopefully Bulgaria will get this money for important developments in the country but I wouldn't be suprised if they don't get it either


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## bgplayer19

Radi noone doesn't agree with you about the politics!You are absouletly right!About the money I'm very sceptic that they will go to where they are supposed to because again the politics will take them!That's why we have only 500km of motorways while other EU countries are building hundreds of km we are doing nothing hno:


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## Maxx☢Power

AUchamps said:


> Dude, you look cross-eyed. Maybe that was just the video, but I'm just saying.


What's that got to do with anything?

Struma looks good, but it's not special. There are probably 1000s of kms of that quality all over Europe.


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## radi6404

I don´t think thausands. I am wondering if the Bulgarian motorways and nationalroads have roadmarkings which sound. I know that the Struma motorway and new part of E-79 roadmarkings are thick but I havn´t heard them sound if you drive over them. Good roadmarkings sound when you drive over them and I really like this feature. The porpuse is that you get waken up if you are very tired and notice that you live your lane. Awesome feature.


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## dia

^^ Yes, there are thousands of km of similar roads through Europe. It's a GOOD road but you make it sound like it's the second coming of Christ. You MUST understand that a lot of people writing here are driving on similar roads, and some even on better ones, each and every day of their life.


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## radi6404

I was maintening my crashbarriers lately and I made them shinier, now they are really shiny! Since the EU probably will freeze all the funds for roadconstruction and the other bad quality roads will fall apart soon in Bulgaria we can talk about the Struma motorway and E-79 nationalroad and my shiny balcony ofcourse.

When it´s cloudy: 



















They shine in peace like the crashbarriers on the real motorway in Bulgaria once did, before they got dirty and noone cleans them.


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## Mateusz

Wow, that's amazing :nuts: So that's your ideal of good crashbarrier ?


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## H123Laci

radi6404 said:


> I was maintening my crashbarriers lately...


How fast do you travel on your balcony that you need a crashbarrier on it? :lol:

maybe it is not a crashbarrier only a rail. a shiny rail...:lol:


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## radi6404

MateoW said:


> Wow, that's amazing :nuts: So that's your ideal of good crashbarrier ?


Yeah, that´s how I prefer a crashbarrier.


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## Timon91

How shiny


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## radi6404

I fucked it up qith the old color however that´s why on some places it looks quite ugly on some places and I´m very angry about it.


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## Verso

Beside being totally off-topic, I must say it's blinding me. :nuts:


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## H123Laci

Verso said:


> Beside being totally off-topic...


Why?

You dont have to be Polish to polish a crashbarrier.
A Bulgarian may polish a crashbarrier too... :lol:


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## smokiboy

A question for my Bulgarian friends. What do you think of building a motorway from Vidin west to Zaječar in Serbia and then linking to the Beograd - Niš motorway? I know the bridge at Vidin - Calafat is being built as part of corridor IV but a link west to Serbia and potentially a motorway east through southern Romania to Craiova and Bucureşti would turn Vidin from a sleepy Danubian town to a major crossroads for this part of SE Europe. Combining highway, river, and rail traffic in one place, and I don't know if there is an airport nearby.


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## Turnovec

Thanks to Mr.BobbY and especially for Osama Bin *Radi*n's pleasure ... 



Mr.BobbY said:


> Only for Radi
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## x-type

Radi's photos form the bus were better


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## ChrisZwolle

Signage seems sparse, are there distance signs, and why do they only sign Kulata? (I expected something like Thessaloniki).


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## Timon91

Shoulders seem very narrow


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## radi6404

thanks for the great pics.


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## pmaciej7

Does this sign mean motorway in Bulgaria? :sly:


Mr.BobbY said:


>


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## radi6404

It still looks almost new, it should be cleaned a bit and that´s it. Turnovec, where have you been going? If you went to the Rila mountain, take peaks, take also pics of the new part of E-79 nationalroad from Dupnica.


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## Timon91

pmaciej7 said:


> Does this sign mean motorway in Bulgaria?


In the Netherlands it would mean 'autoweg', like an expressway :lol:


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## Verso

Finally some signage, ebote. 



Chriszwolle said:


> Signage seems sparse, are there distance signs, and why do they only sign Kulata? (I expected something like Thessaloniki).


It's not an important exit, so you don't really need Thessaloníki here.

Why is this (still) an expressway (motorroad), but signs are green, like on motorway?

And are they planning anything with the median? Some irregular plants are growing now..


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## ChrisZwolle

> It's not an important exit, so you don't really need Thessaloníki here.


Travellers don't know whether this is an important exit or not. Signage should be consequent.


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## radi6404

Any decent navigation system would navigate it properly. Also, anyone with a bit of orientation would know that only this road can lead to Greek border. Tourists wont mind a sign when they enter this smooth motorway.


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## Turnovec

pmaciej7 said:


> Does this sign mean motorway in Bulgaria?


Nope  This sign(if i translate it corectly) means "Automobile Road" ... and the speed limit for such roads here is 90 km/h 

I think we have written here numerous times that currently Struma is not a Motorway.



radi6404 said:


> It still looks almost new, it should be cleaned a bit and that´s it. Turnovec, where have you been going? If you went to the Rila mountain, take peaks, take also pics of the new part of E-79 nationalroad from Dupnica.


O, dear Osama Bin radin ... haven't you noticed that the pics are actually done by Mr.BobbY from Strumica... He even dedicated them especially for you 



Chriszwolle said:


> Signage seems sparse, are there distance signs, and why do they only sign Kulata? (I expected something like Thessaloniki).


Don't know ... Maybe because Struma ends now nowhere near Thesaloniki. Besides as i know how we do it here i suggest if they put a sign sooner or later about Greece it will be for Athens and not Thesaloniki.


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## Timon91

Strumexpressway


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## pmaciej7

Timon Kruijk said:


> In the Netherlands it would mean 'autoweg', like an expressway :lol:





Turnovec said:


> Nope  This sign(if i translate it corectly) means "Automobile Road" ... and the speed limit for such roads here is 90 km/h
> I think we have written here numerous times that currently Struma is not a Motorway.


Like everywhere in Europe... I knew it! I was cheated! :gaah:. Struma is not a motorway :wallbash:. At least it's shiny and smooth. 

Great pictures anyway.


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## Timon91

Now we have the scientific proof that Radi has been lying to us all the time  :gaah:


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## radi6404

No, there´s a motorway sign on that motorway, but you usually don´t see it. You have to pay attention at the end of the motorway near Dolna Dykania, then you will see the green motorway sign.


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## Timon91

The end of the expressway? So still the biggest part is expressway, not motorway. And why is there a expressway sign if it is a motorway. Radi, it is just a normal expressway, that's all


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## radi6404

I give a fucking shit what you think, why do you care what fucking sign is at the beginning of the motorway? You have seen my videos which proove that it is EXTREMLY SMOOTH, has wide shoulders, has underpasses, has good exits, except of one and so on. It has motorway characteristics which pwn a big part of europe motorways and you say it is an exptressway.


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## Turnovec

^^ Osama Bin Radin at his best! :lol:


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## Patrick

it maybe has these charactereistics (well, have underpasses to do with that?), but it is still an expressway.

as this is a Schnellstraße:









and as this is an Autobahn:









:tongue2:


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## H123Laci

^^ maybe the first one is a snellstrasse b/c it has too short radii... :lol: 

the second one without emergency lane is only a substandard motorway...


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## radi6404

The first one is better. But in Bulgaria that isn´t the case, it´s only expressway becase noone cares and replaces the sign. On the struma MOTORWAY are green motorway signs, so it is a motorway. Patrick, on your pic the expressway has yellow signs.


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## bgplayer19

^^ but it still hasn't got overhead and electrical signs


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## Norsko

But the fact that all the signs situated ALONG the road are green, must mean that it is a motorway, mus`nt it? Green is after all the motorway colour in Bulgaria. Also I doubt that it would had those wide shoulders if it was only an expressway.


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## [s2jc]hyp

Topographical map of the Lyulin highway:


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## bgplayer19

Nice there was progress when I returned from Greece on the Daskalovo junction buuuut.. Radi the markings on the Struma have faded!Look on the inner lane :lol:


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## Rhemaxos

Radi, would you mind me very much if I'd say that Struma Motorway seems not to be designed in full respect of TEM standards...?

It's just a first impresssion based the picture below (the radius of the curve - to be more exact).



>


Please correct me if I'm wrong...


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## ChrisZwolle

Seems no problem to me. The French A75 south of Millau has much tighter curves.


----------



## Turnovec

*International Road [E79]*. Some photo footage for the stretch Montana-Vratsa-Mezdra-Botevgrad-[A2] Hemus Motorway.


Starting with the stretch Montana - Vratsa ~40 km.(marked with *orange*)











The exit of Montana





































































































4-5 km. of 2x2 Expressway.


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## Turnovec

*Part II*


----------



## Turnovec

*Part III*


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## Turnovec

*Part IV*



























































































































































5-6 km. before Vratsa 2x2 Expressway again.


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## Turnovec

*Part V*


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## Turnovec

I edited the previous 3 posts as probably the DB has messed up somehow their order. 

Hope you liked the photo report. :cheers:

In the following days(weeks) i will post also the stretches of [E79] Vratsa-Mezdra(~18 km. of 2x2 Expressway) and Mezdra-Botevgrad.


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## Verso

Great road! :cheers: So what's correct, Vratsa, Vratza or Vraca?  Oh, kerbs are nicely painted, and I've never seen traffic lights turned around like that.


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## radi6404

The road is nothing special somehow. They even didn´t replace the very old ugly communist crashbarriers. And somehow it seems the road ages fast. Is it still smooth? Unfortunately it can´t impress me.


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## Turnovec

Verso said:


> Great road! :cheers: So what's correct, Vratsa, Vratza or Vraca?


correct is Враца  Anyway I think that the final latin norm is Vratsa. 

@radinho ... I never doubted that you would ever like E79. If it ain't Struma it ain't shit right ? Ain't no mountaian higher than Rila, Ain't no motorway better than Struma ... World wide! :lol::lol::lol:


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## JloKyM

*Approaching Trakya highway (80km/h)*





*Trakya highway (160km/h)*


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## radi6404

new asphalt ends, old asphalt starts


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## Turnovec

^^ Wrong! :lol: Actually the dark asphault is older than the one that looks paler  I think that the colour of the asphault doesn't talk about its quality at all.


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## radi6404

Ofcourse it has to do with the quality. The darker aspahlt has more bijamin or how it is called more black stuff that holds the stones. White asphalt doesn´t have that much of it. I msut say that the Strabag E-79 road has very good markings, I like that they are still very white and reflektive. Gives great feelings when driving on it.


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## Verso

radi6404 said:


> The darker aspahlt has more bijamin or how it is called


bitumen


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## radi6404

yes


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## TheCat

Great roads, they seem to be of high quality. And I concur with Verso, the traffic lights are very unusual (being fixed at the bottom)


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## JloKyM

TheCat said:


> the traffic lights are very unusual (being fixed at the bottom)


I really dont get it..What is so strange about our traffic lights.:lol:


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## Verso

^^ Well, there are lights on both sides of traffic lights. Usually they are before (at the beginning of) intersections (and I suppose it's like that also in Bulgaria), but here they are (also) after (at the end of) intersections.


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## JloKyM

^^Yes, I get it now. :lol:

They put traffic lights on the opposite side of the intersection to facilitate the drivers, but THERE ARE ALWAYS traffic lights before the intersection..You can see them on that picture







:cheers:


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## TheCat

^^ Hehe actually that's not what I was referring to :lol: I was referring to the fact that they are fixed to the pole at the bottom, so they are "standing" upright 

I presume the other light is on the left side to facilitate left-turning drivers.

In North America traffic lights almost always appear after the intersection too. Placing them before (like in many places in Europe) makes no sense to me, since if you're the first car in the queue, or even worse - when you are turning left, you cannot see them at all.

In Israel they are always placed both before and after (like in Bulgaria). In Toronto they usually appear only after, although sometimes when the intersection is very large they can place a few before as well.


----------



## JloKyM

TheCat said:


> ^^ Hehe actually that's not what I was referring to :lol: I was referring to the fact that they are fixed to the pole at the bottom, so they are "standing" upright


 Hah, now I get it.:nuts::lol:

In Bulgaria the traffic lights are always fixed to the pole at the bottom. :cheers:


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## Turnovec

This is a night serie of photos i have taken last weekend of the South entrance of Veliko Tarnovo. The crossroad of *[E772]* -> Sofia-Varna and *[E85]* -> Istanbul-Bucurest. 

The junction was finished back in 1999(nearly 10 years ago)





































































































































































Bolyarka Brewery


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## radi6404

The friendship tunnel, it was build for the bears to pass savely. It was shorter than I expected but the aspahlt is very good. 









Shiny fences, I couldn´t believe my eyes that I am entering Bulgaria. 









The beautiful new Bulgarian border at Exochi near Gotse Delchev and Kato nevrokopi at the Greek side, there´s awesome mountain forest nature there and a beautiful shiny border









Nationalroad with very shiny crashbarriers and very smooth asphalt









Extremly shiny crashbarriers









Roundabout in Gotse Delchev (Nevrokopi)


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## radi6404

could anyone give a comment already?


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## Turnovec

^^ :clown: :lol::lol::lol:


----------



## wyqtor

radi6404 said:


> The friendship tunnel, it was build for the bears to pass savely. It was shorter than I expected but the aspahlt is very good.


For a second there I thought you were talking in riddles about the Roki Tunnel, with the "bears" and stuff... I don't understand why would bears need a tunnel between Bulgaria and Greece, are they too lazy to go over the mountain? Or is the border somehow fenced? It seems kind of dangerous for the cars and their drivers... :nuts:

Anyway, great pictures Radi! :cheers:


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## Mateusz

Nice Mercedes :cheers:


----------



## JloKyM

Sofia-Gabrovo-Stara Zagora (through Shipka)

The beggining of Hemus highway
Hemus highway


----------



## JloKyM




----------



## JloKyM

One pic from Gabrovo and then Shipka


----------



## JloKyM

Shipka again and then the road to Kazanlyk and Stara Zagora


----------



## JloKyM

The road to Stara Zagora + some pictures from Kazanluk


----------



## Mateusz

Ok... calm down people, there is no other way to stop it than stop responding and doing comments about Radi's Strumomania. Someone will get banned :nuts:


----------



## Norsko

Question: Do the colours on the painted curbs have a meaning (Red-white and black-white)?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ End of road.


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## Turnovec

Couple of important infrastructure sites in East Buglaria.

The Railway and Road viaducts over Tsonevo Dam, near Varna , East Bulgaria






























The Asparuhov most or Asparuhovo Bridge is a bridge in Varna on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, connecting the Asparuhovo quarter to the rest of the city over the canals between the Black Sea and Lake Varna. The road is 2x2 and is part of the planned "Cherno More" motorway. 

The bridge is 2.05 km in length and 50 m in height, weighing 3,200 tons. It has 38 pairs of supports, each one capable of carrying 2,400 tons. The installation experiences significant traffic, with 10,000 vehicles crossing it every 24 hours.


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## Verso

^^ This bridge was once in Guess the highway.


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## ChrisZwolle

> The installation experiences significant traffic, with 10,000 vehicles crossing it every 24 hours.


Nah, I wouldn't call that significant. Every connecting road in the Netherlands has that amount of traffic.


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## x-type

Verso said:


> ^^ This bridge was once in Guess the highway.


i had put it and it was hard to guess


----------



## bgplayer19

It's an oldy :lol:


----------



## nilix

All pics were made by my mother while my father was driving.I'm not sure about the exact location of each photo so I can make some errors because I was not travelling with my parents.
*I have no patience to see what Radi think, esp. the crashbarriers *

Ravda









Somewhere around Burgas going to Stara Zagora








































































Going from Stara Zagora to Hisarja





































No comment



















Going from Hisarja to Botevgrad


----------



## Timon91

The landscape is beautiful :cheers: pics too


----------



## bgplayer19

Wow the landscape is great and the clouds on the "No comment" pic look amazing


----------



## Turnovec

Some Shots from the air of the works on the South Part of Sofia Ring Road, near the BPS.


----------



## bgplayer19

I like the Simeonovo Junction more than this but anyways it's great that they are progressing


----------



## radi6404

Nationalroad to Macedonian border after Kiusdendil, looks amazing.


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## radi6404

Noone comments this beauty?


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## ChrisZwolle

Belgian-style signage


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## Timon91

And not all the markings are thick. That's very bad :lol:


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## Verso

Actually that pic reminds me very much of the United States (excluding Cyrillic and Lada Niva).


----------



## RawLee

Verso said:


> Actually that pic reminds me very much of the United States (excluding Cyrillic and Lada Niva).



And the Dacia(the yellow is one I think) and other small cars,the walking people,lack of SUVs and the pedestrian crossing...


----------



## Verso

:lol:


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## Timon91

Verso is right, it reminds me of New Hampshire


----------



## radi6404

Verso said:


> Actually that pic reminds me very much of the United States (excluding Cyrillic and Lada Niva).


And it looks good.


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## Turnovec

Trakia Motorway [A1]


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## Timon91

Beautiful Trakiatic!


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## bgplayer19

It is fantastic


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## AUchamps

bgplayer19 said:


> It is fantastic


But not Strumatic. Just sayin'.


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## zzibit

^^ lol

btw notice all the ads along the highway in the first pic. ridiculous:nuts:


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## radi6404

bgplayer19 said:


> It is fantastic


Just look at the ugly asphalt. you call that fantastic. I´ve talked with a mate about motorways in bulgaria. He´s a Bulgarian and he went to Haskovo this year to a wedding, he started from Blagoevgrad. He said taht all roads to in Bulgaria are bullshit. I then told him. oh yes but what do you think aobut the Struma motorway to Sofia. He said, that´s the only road in Bulgaria which is good. And I bleieve him. There are hundrets of roads made after the Struma motorway which already have cracks and little peaces of new asphalt since the original one break. The Struma however still looks like untouched. And Bulgarian road infrastructure sucks big time. They now are doing something around Sofia which is all for the whole country. I at least hope that they will build the few new roads fast.

Just one example. The asphalt of the road Kalotina Sofia was lied one year and more after the Struma motorway asphalt. And it already is in worse condition, it isn´t as even and very bright. The roadmarkings they used for taht nationalroad are so poor, in civilisated counries they wouldn´t even use them on forsaken village parkings. You almost don´t see them when it rains and the road is wet. And that´s the most important nationalroad of whole Bulgaria. 

I know that new roads must look very impressive for one year, they must look like untouched but that road looked liek 2 years in operation after 5 months of operation.


----------



## Turnovec

The works on the South part of Sofia Ring Road. 
Update by Repcho and Vladislav from gtsofia.info


----------



## radi6404

:dance:


----------



## Timon91

radi6404 said:


> Just look at the ugly asphalt. you call that fantastic. I´ve talked with a mate about motorways in bulgaria. He´s a Bulgarian and he went to Haskovo this year to a wedding, he started from Blagoevgrad. He said taht all roads to in Bulgaria are bullshit. I then told him. oh yes but what do you think aobut the Struma motorway to Sofia. He said, that´s the only road in Bulgaria which is good. And I bleieve him. There are hundrets of roads made after the Struma motorway which already have cracks and little peaces of new asphalt since the original one break. The Struma however still looks like untouched. And Bulgarian road infrastructure sucks big time. They now are doing something around Sofia which is all for the whole country. I at least hope that they will build the few new roads fast.
> 
> Just one example. The asphalt of the road Kalotina Sofia was lied one year and more after the Struma motorway asphalt. And it already is in worse condition, it isn´t as even and very bright. The roadmarkings they used for taht nationalroad are so poor, in civilisated counries they wouldn´t even use them on forsaken village parkings. You almost don´t see them when it rains and the road is wet. And that´s the most important nationalroad of whole Bulgaria.
> 
> I know that new roads must look very impressive for one year, they must look like untouched but that road looked liek 2 years in operation after 5 months of operation.


Radi at his best


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## bgplayer19

Well yes Radi it is fantastic !I won't read anything else from you comment


----------



## Turnovec

Part of the road Pomorie-Burgas, by the saltworks of Pomorie.


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## radi6404

It looks strange there, what´s that red stuff, it looks like a liquid but what liquid is it?


----------



## RawLee

Its the blood of sacrificed 18yo virgins,which will be presented to Cthulhu.


----------



## Kuvvaci

ChrisZwolle said:


> *Previous Thread*


so Istanbul-Sofia road is complated


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Stil not yet ... there are about 90~100 km. missing from Svilengrad to Stara Zagora , thanks to the impotency of the last 2 governments :bash:


----------



## Turnovec

Trakia Motorway [A1] Near Aitos 










Trakia Motorway [A1] Near Burgas










Hemus Motorway [A2] , Bebresh Viaduct


----------



## radi6404

parts of the Struma motorway are now visible in googleearth, finally, it looks very impressive.


----------



## radi6404

Since a big area in googleearth is cleaned it´s now more obvious where the Ljulin motroway will pass, the route is very good, mountainous and wild, so a motorway there will look very impressive.


----------



## radi6404

The road should look way better, it looks like 3 years altough it is very new. The part from the border til Dragoman is very bumpy because they just paved over the old asphalt.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Whatever ...

Thanks god there is ignore list option on this forum and i am able to NOT read your brainfartings. :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Whatever ...
> 
> Thanks god there is ignore list option on this forum and i am able to NOT read your brainfartings. :cheers:


OMG, bullshit again I know exactly that the road is bumpy because I am sure I´ve driven the road mroe often than you and I have seen the road when they were adding the new asphalt. From Kalotina til Dragoman the aspahlt is paved over the old asphalt, you may go and ask a fucking worker from there before you spread bollocks here. People I talked to all said the road seems to be of bad quality, it is bumpy and the markings are very bad compared to the real nationalroads and motorways markings. Not only that the markings are very shitty, the asphalt is also very bad. I can bet that in 5 years half of the road will be repaved because it´s of the worst quality a fucking nationalroad can get. It´s a fucking shame that on the other side in Serbia an awesome road starts which is very smooth and has black asphalt and white markings. when tourists enter they would think Bulgaria is a shithole because the road is of very poor quality. The road has worse quality than I thought possible when I first saw it. The road doesn´t feel save at all, I hate that road, just hate it.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8981/1010537kv3.jpg
That´s the E79 natonalroad, Dupnica - dolna Dykania, 1 year older than that shitroad.


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## bgplayer19

Well if we are going according to your criteria for a highway or a nationalroad then we should end nowhere(but Struma) hno:


----------



## radi6404

Not true, aktually the Strabag road near Montana looks save to me, too. There´s a short stretch of road I liked near the Greek border near Goze Delchev, that was made by an Bulgarian company which seemed ok so far, it was still very new so it could get worse in no time. The road bansko Goze Delchev is a very dangerous adventure. Near bridges extremly huge potholes appear and if drivers wont slow down they are going to damage their cars, not only at bridges, but also at random places there are massive potholes, on the whole road there is no single marking and that are 50 km from Bansko to Goze delchev. When I am driving on that road I get very agressive and would kick in Stanishevs and Gaugauzovs eggs.


----------



## Timon91

^^You don't like very much roads :lol: But we already knew


----------



## Turnovec

Sorry radi ... I CAN'T read you!!! :lol::lol::lol:


----------



## Timon91

^^:rofl: Are the two of you friends or sth?


----------



## AUchamps

Turnovec said:


> Sorry radi ... I CAN'T read you!!! :lol::lol::lol:


Damn, why you gotta hate on our Strumatic leader radi? He should be made into the 1 poster that can't be blocked, like an admin or supermod.


----------



## Turnovec

Timon91 said:


> ^^:rofl: Are the two of you friends or sth?


^^ Yep, radi is a "friend" to most of the Bulgarian members of SSC  We all just LOVE him! :lol:


----------



## Turnovec

*South Part of Sofia Ring Road*

Some Updates of the works near Business Park Sofia. :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

so many new roads in Sofia, jsut amazing


----------



## Timon91

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Yep, radi is a "friend" to most of the Bulgarian members of SSC  We all just LOVE him! :lol:


I taste a little sarcasm over here 
Nice pics of Sofia, btw :cheers:


----------



## Turnovec

^^ :cheers:


----------



## Turnovec

Lyulin Motorway construction update















































































































Аnd an update of the construction works on Danube Bridge II at Vidin-Kalafat

:cheers:


----------



## radi6404

These pics are at least 3 months old, you can see it on the photos, the weather is good and the trees are green, I guess they were done before August.


----------



## Turnovec

*Trakia Motorway [A1]* somewhere after Karnobat and before Burgas


----------



## radi6404

That pic is older than a year.


----------



## Timon91

Trakia motorway still looks fantastic, no matter how old this pic is :cheers:


----------



## Majestic

Trakia looks totally trakiatic 

Any new pics of Struma?
Personally I think that Struma's crashbarrier should be placed in Sevres near Paris as a universal, perfect measure for a motorway(expwy?) crasbarrier


----------



## Verso

Hm, Struma is an expressway, but signs are green.


----------



## RS.ban

Why does it have green sign?


----------



## Turnovec

Mateusz said:


> What markings have expressways in Bulgaria ?


Expressway -









Motorway -










Verso is right ... Struma is currently an expressway with 90 km/h speed limit. All the Motorway signs are supposed to be hidden or removed, but still most of them are green. 
I actually don't know why they decided to launch it as an expressway and not motorway for now. :?


----------



## Verso

Is 90 km/h the general speed limit on Bulgarian expressways/motorroads? (I'm asking, cause it's quite low)


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Yep. 

90 km./h on expressways and automobile roads.
130 km./h on motorways.


----------



## radi6404

Turnovec said:


> Ssssstruuuummmmmaaaaa


The markings still look incredible, after more than two years, what an incredible motorway.


----------



## snupix

radi6404 said:


> The markings still look incredible, after more than two years, what an incredible motorway.


But the crash barriers are not shiny at all? :nono:


----------



## radi6404

No, not there but the motorway is two years old, tell me which motorway has shiny crashbarriers after two years, and some of them are still a bit shiny. And just look at the markings, as if any of your croatian motorways has markings which look like that after two years, just admit it, the motorway is superior to Croatian motorways.


----------



## x-type

haha snupi sad se vadi kak god znaš :lol:


----------



## bgplayer19

radi6404 said:


> No, not there but the motorway is two years old, tell me which motorway has shiny crashbarriers after two years, and some of them are still a bit shiny. And just look at the markings, as if any of your croatian motorways has markings which look like that after two years, just admit it, the motorway is superior to Croatian motorways.


Please don't make me laugh!Croatian crashbarriers look shiny even after 5,10 years and more


----------



## Verso

Interesting signature, bgplayer.


----------



## AUchamps

Turnovec said:


> Ssssstruuuummmmmaaaaa


I'm not even joking, that's a great looking freeway. How old is that pavement? Now, the crashbarriers don't look shiny, but they look well-maintained and the signage looks great. Nice, big, and green.


----------



## radi6404

the asphalt in this direction was laid Jule 2006, so it´s now 2 years and 4 months old, Croatian asphalt that old would look shite already, even the Hungarian M5 motorway from Serbian border is with as new asphalt but the aspahlt there has faded out and feels like old already, the Struma motorway asphalt still feels incredible. What a motorway, Mavrovo Skopie did the right job, when the motorway was finished I remember very new big yellow mashines that looked like coming from the future, now I know why they used such equipment, the markings seem to not age at all, it seems to be a special type of marking which is used from the future, it probably has phosphoressence to save sunlight and carlight energy in order to shine more.

after entering the motorway which is mostly build on a enbarkment it feels like you are outside Bulgaria, like you are free, it doesn´t look Bulgarian but european and serves as an example of highest quality, any time I drive on this motorway I think, what does the motorway here, it is in the wrong place, how can such a motorway be in Bulgaria, but it isn´t, but after leaving it I know I am in bulgaria again.


----------



## RS.ban

Or in one sentence: Expressway from the future


----------



## snupix

radi6404 said:


> the motorway is superior to Croatian motorways.


I admit!



> so it´s now 2 years and 4 months old, Croatian asphalt that old would look shite already


Definitely, look how A1 Zagreb - Split looks now, 3 years after opening...:
(The crash barriers got so rusty that they turned into powder and wind has blown them away)


----------



## radi6404

Nah, it´s not that bad Snupix, I didn´t want to offend you, but I think that the Struma motorway asphalt is a bit more durable than Croatian motorway asphalt, but time will tell.


----------



## RS.ban

@sunpix where is that? is it close to bosiljevo ?


----------



## snupix

radi6404 said:


> Nah, it´s not that bad Snupix, I didn´t want to offend you, but I think that the Struma motorway asphalt is a bit more durable than Croatian motorway asphalt, but time will tell.


Just kidding 



RS.ban said:


> @sunpix where is that? is it close to bosiljevo ?




Actually it's Slavonia, where our government has said "goodbye".


----------



## RawLee

radi6404 said:


> Hungarian M5














radi6404 said:


> the Struma motorway












You notice any difference? Next time,make some better comparison,like a village road here vs Struma,because the traffic on it looks as such.


----------



## RS.ban

I notice the difference crash barriers


----------



## radi6404

Well, Ravlee, just look at the time, too, it seems to be 16 00 or later on that pic, the traffic isn´t always that low on the Struma motorway, and whenever I drove on Hungarian M5 it was pretty empty aswell, except near the Serbian border where cars wait to pass the bordercrossing but otherwise don´t tell me that the M5 is often as crowded as on the pic above.


----------



## x-type

it is definitely more crowded because Struma is not at important international corridor as M5


----------



## MisiekSnk

Radi, You should look the new polish S8 near Wyszkow - there is the darkest asphalt in Europe


----------



## Mateusz

On the map I saw that Blagoevgrad has a bypass, will it be a part of Struma motorway ? Or it will go in other place


----------



## radi6404

Mateusz said:


> On the map I saw that Blagoevgrad has a bypass, will it be a part of Struma motorway ? Or it will go in other place


No, theBlagoevgrad bypass wil stay and the motorway will pass on the other side of the Struma river, that are the plans for now.


----------



## Turnovec

RawLee said:


> You notice any difference? Next time,make some better comparison,like a village road here vs Struma,because the traffic on it looks as such.


Well there are days like this on Struma ...


----------



## Timon91

^^Why were you driving on the shoulder? Is this just after an accident or sth?

And I see a broken crash barrier. Radi, have you repaired it yet?


----------



## radi6404

"Well there are days like this on Struma ..."

Yes, but he thinks that there isn´t any traffic on Struma judging by one pic and thinks that the Hungarian asphalt on M5 is as good as Struma motorway asphalt.


----------



## RawLee

Lol,no. But this on M5 is every day,I hear it on the radio when they're talking about traffic jams...to compare a road that has a few thousand vehicles daily to one that has 30000 daily...thats what I dont like. This is what is similar in traffic IMO:










And actually,it is superior to Struma,because it was designed for 140,not 90...


----------



## radi6404

The Struma motorway had 20 000 a day back in beginning 2007, now there are surely more.


----------



## RawLee

radi6404 said:


> The Struma motorway had 20 000 a day back in beginning 2007, now there are surely more.


Official source?


----------



## radi6404

I am too lazy to post it now but there are enough official sources for that, someone feel free to post it.


----------



## x-type

come on, this is 2 minutes of work


----------



## RS.ban

regarding Struma i have one question:

Why there are so much gravel and the dirt on the emergency lane?


----------



## radi6404

because they don´t clean it and didn´t add grass to the artificially created hills, also they should have added concrete under the middle crashbarriers so that no grass can grow and beautiful stony grey gravel stays clean under the dividing crashbarriers because no grass has started to grow.


----------



## Turnovec

Timon91 said:


> ^^Why were you driving on the shoulder? Is this just after an accident or sth?


^^ It ain't my photo ...  Ask radi ... it's his i guess 



RawLee said:


> Lol,no. But this on M5 is every day,I hear it on the radio when they're talking about traffic jams...to compare a road that has a few thousand vehicles daily to one that has 30000 daily...thats what I dont like.
> 
> And actually,it is superior to Struma,because it was designed for 140,not 90...


No doubt M5 is superior to Struma and has bigger traffic. Still when you said there is HUGE traffic i thought it was a lot more than 30 000 daily ... Don't know the official statistics about Struma, but Hemus [A2] here has between 15 and 20 000 daily, that's according to the latest traffic researches and that's between 1/2 and 2/3 of your M5... pretty strange.


----------



## radi6404

We will see if M5 is superior to the Struma motorway, I think the first peaces of the laid asphalt back in 2005 or 2006 are already faded out are allready covered with new asphalt at some places, I´ve seen this at the Horgosh border with Serbia.


----------



## RawLee

Turnovec said:


> No doubt M5 is superior to Struma and has bigger traffic. Still when you said there is HUGE traffic i thought it was a lot more than 30 000 daily ... Don't know the official statistics about Struma, but Hemus [A2] here has between 15 and 20 000 daily, that's according to the latest traffic researches and that's between 1/2 and 2/3 of your M5... pretty strange.


It depends on the location. There are places with 6500 vehicles, but there are also with 56000. Actually the "low" number doesnt mean anything,because if we look at "unit" vehicles,its always above 20000(except after M43 diversion,after that,barely 3-4000 unit),even 70000 near Bp. So it includes a lot of trucks. But lets cut OT,this is not about our roads.


----------



## MK-Don

*alternative highway*

It is my strong opinion tha BG should seriously concider planning a new highway 
Kyustendil-Dupnitsa-Samokov-Trayanovi Vrata.

Concidering soon start of the building of h/w Kumanovo BG border, as well as soon endind of Durres - Morina h/w and its rumored connection Prizren - Tetovo, than this highway shall be more than feasible, it shall connect more than 8 mil people wuth Bulgarian Black Sea and Istanbul.


----------



## SeanT

Hej Guys!

I have heard of this "Struma" motorway a lot of time.
Can you tell me where is it located in Bulgaria and how long is it???
:nuts:


----------



## jpeter

Can somebody post me a picture from Speed Limits in Bulgaria? Thanks


----------



## autobahnracer

I cannot find a picture right now, bur here's what you need to know: 

Urban areas: 50 km/h
Non-urban areas and expressways: 90 km/h
Motorways : 130 km/h

 Tolerance is about + 10 to 20% of the speed limit )))


----------



## Turnovec

autobahnracer said:


> I cannot find a picture right now, bur here's what you need to know:
> 
> Urban areas: 50 km/h
> Non-urban areas and expressways: 90 km/h
> Motorways : 130 km/h
> 
> Tolerance is about + 10 to 20% of the speed limit )))


^^ All true with the addition that the min. allowed speed there is 50 km/h

Category(Urban areas | Non-urban areas & expressway | Motorway)

Category А(motocycles above 50 cm3) 50 | 80 | 100 
Category В(automoblies up to 3.500kg) 50 | 90 | 130
Category С, D(trucks above 3.500kg, buses with more than 8 seats)) 50 | 80 | 100


----------



## paF4uko

Turnovec said:


> ^^ All true with the addition that the min. allowed speed there is 50 km/h


Where? At the entrance of my neighbourhood we have this sign:









If you're talking about motorways, yes, they are allowed only for vehicles with top speed over 50km/h.


----------



## geronimo_rs

Turnovec said:


> I think i gotta let the moderators know that your ugly arse is back here again


There's really no need for that.


----------



## Turnovec

The Sofia Ring road - Update of the works on Simeonovsko Shose overpass. 



JloKyM said:


> The ringroad, thanks to Vladislav from gtsofia.info





JloKyM said:


>


----------



## autobahnracer

Do you have any ideas why the "Dragalevci" interchange isn't started yet? It was in the project for the ringroad, but i doubt they can buid it for less than 1 year .....


----------



## panda80

when should sofia bypass be finished?works seems in good progress and i wonder if it can be open till summer 2009.


----------



## Turnovec

panda80 said:


> when should sofia bypass be finished?works seems in good progress and i wonder if it can be open till summer 2009.












^^ Here's a map for you. The only recent change is that the whole Northern part from "Lyulin" Motorway [A5] to the interchange with "Hemus" Motorway [A2] will be included in Operative Program Transport to be finished till 2013. 

Purple parts should be ready this summer i think. The pictures above of the Simeonovsko Shose junction are from there.


----------



## Radish2

^^
Way too long, I can´t believe they are showing this rediculous map altough the roads are urgently needed and the old roads have lots of potholes, I can´t see any fucking mashines on the sections shown on the map to finally work there. All this should have started 2007 and already be finished!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Relax dude. Western European motorway networks were build in decades, not days as you like...


----------



## Radish2

Yes, but the problem is that the situation in Sofia is exploding. From 2007 when Bulgaria entered the EU til now there are probably 50 % more cars in Sofia and Sofia is exploding. The most important roads are old and narrow and smooth trafficflow isn´t possible anymore.


----------



## Radish2

Two years, two fucking years and still shiny, respectable! The snow arrived on the E-79 and Struma motorway, it didn´t arrive in Blagoevgrad yet, though, there´s never winter here, I will be pissed of if Blagoevgrad doesn´t get snow.


----------



## Turnovec

"Rhodopi" Overpass in Plovdiv. Completed in 1999. 



mdka said:


>


----------



## autobahnracer

This looks quite good, i almost didn't believe that it's in Bulgaria ...


----------



## Turnovec

- *4.571 km.* of the ring road, from blv. 'Bulgaria' to the 'Simeonovsko Shose' overpass opened today. 
The new stretch is 46m. wide and has a 2x3 lanes profile + 1 local lane in each direction


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Which part is that on that map? The orange part on the southern side?


----------



## Turnovec

The one that i indicated with this color scheme :











Bottom - center.

The orange parts are already upgraded to full motorway profile.


----------



## RawLee

Turnovec said:


> *4.571 km.* of the ring road, from blv. 'Bulgaria' to the 'Simeonovsko Shose' overpass opened today.
> The new stretch is 46m. wide and has a 2x3 lanes profile + 1 local lane in each direction


What? 4500km long ring road?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ 4.571 or 4,571 ... was it necessary to explain that ?!? :?


----------



## RawLee

Turnovec said:


> ^^ 4.571 or 4,571 ... was it necessary to explain that ?!? :?


No,I was asking if it was the length or the designation of the segment(from x-th km until y-th km)...but is seems it was neither. Sorry for the stupid question...


----------



## terente

hey guys. what is the best (safest) route by car, for a foreigner, from varna/burgas to simeonovgrad? or dimitrovgrad. thanks


----------



## Turnovec

RawLee said:


> No,I was asking if it was the length or the designation of the segment(from x-th km until y-th km)...but is seems it was neither. Sorry for the stupid question...


^^ I should have copied it like 4.5 from the newspaper  The "whoreson" government thinks that it can impress us by pointing out the exact lenght in meters :nuts: :bash: :lol:



terente said:


> hey guys. what is the best (safest) route by car, for a foreigner, from varna/burgas to simeonovgrad? or dimitrovgrad. thanks


From Varna to Burgas you must use the national road [E 87]. It should be upgraded to Cherno More Motorway [A5] in the distant future. For now only 10 km. after Varna are with motorway profile. from Burgas to Dimitrovgrad you should take Trakia Motorway [A2] and when it ends after Karnobat take [E773] to Stara Zagora. From Stara zagora [E85] will lead you directly in Dimitrovgrad. 

:cheers:


----------



## terente

Turnovec said:


> ^^ I should have copied it like 4.5 from the newspaper  The "whoreson" government thinks that it can impress us by pointing out the exact lenght in meters :nuts: :bash: :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> From Varna to Burgas you must use the national road [E 87]. It should be upgraded to Cherno More Motorway [A5] in the distant future. For now only 10 km. after Varna are with motorway profile. from Burgas to Dimitrovgrad you should take Trakia Motorway [A2] and when it ends after Karnobat take [E773] to Stara Zagora. From Stara zagora [E85] will lead you directly in Dimitrovgrad.
> 
> :cheers:


thanks, that's helpful. i'm coming from constanta(romania). how about if I enter by Ruse, then veliko tarnovo - stara zagora?

my thinking is if i minimize the distance traveled in bulgaria, where i don't speak the language etc. might be safer from detours/accidents/fake policemen etc.


----------



## Turnovec

Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo - Stara Zagora is a good option too. "The Republika" pass ; Veliko Tarnovo - Kilifarevo - Gurkovo has been opened for the winter. They still haven't finished the full reconstruction of its all lenght from the north side , but 4/5 of it has been rehabilitated and widened to 3x1 or 2x2, so it's defenetely the best place to cross Stara Planina from North to the South.


----------



## paF4uko

*National road 4 near Antonovo, 24/12/2008:*


















*Uzana - Gabrovo road, 27/12/2008:*



























*National road 55 near Veliko Târnovo, 27/12/2008:*









*Entrance of Veliko Târnovo from national road 55, 27/12/2008:*









*Južen pâten vâzel, Veliko Târnovo, 27/12/2008:*









*Landscape seen from the Hæmus motorway near Varna, 27/12/2008:*


----------



## just4ivaylo

Damn...I didn't even know there was such a section on SSC.


----------



## paF4uko

Hæmus (A2) entering Varna. The billboard on the right, over the road, says "Welcome to our city" 









Photo by Hristo256


----------



## Turnovec

Some photos of the opened in the biggining of December Koritna Junction on the cross road of [E83] Sofia - Russe and [E772] Sofia - Varna National Roads.

thanks to LG from gtsofia.info


----------



## Radish2

that looks brilliant


----------



## wyqtor

Great junction, but was it really necessary? I'm assuming that more sections of the Haemus Motorway will be constructed towards Varna soon, and it must also have a ramification towards Ruse.


----------



## Radish2

wyqtor said:


> Great junction, but was it really necessary? I'm assuming that more sections of the Haemus Motorway will be constructed towards Varna soon, and it must also have a ramification towards Ruse.


No, it wasn´t necessary, but the Struma motorway, the marica motorway and the Trakia motorway are necessary, but the idiots don´t build any of them which is quite incredible, that´s why each nationalroad on those routes has very busy traffic and heavy accidents quite often.


----------



## bozata90

Well, the motorways are also necessary, but this junction was an urgent priority. That is exactly the place, where Hemus (western part) ends and the road divides in two very important major junctions - nat. road 3 to Ruse and nat. road 4 to Varna (both cities are in Bulgaria top 5 by population). The problem was that if one travelled from Varna to Sofia, he had to merge into road 3 from the left (both roads were 1+1 until this junction was built). So that meant he had to wait. And in the summer or in the day just before the end of the holidays (any kind of them) the typical waiting time was 10-15 minutes for a 1km stretch. I hope this junction will change the things soon.

PS - wyqtor - the actual planning for Hemus is to be built somewhere in 2014 - 2015. For now the AADT of this section (not in the summer and holidays) is about 11000-12000 - surely not enough to justify a motorway. There are mor urgent priorities - like Marica and, especially - E79 to Greece (Struma, AADT 27 000).


----------



## paF4uko

WOW, I propose independence of northern Bulgaria then! You guys don't realize that while 4 motorways are U/C in southern Bulgaria, we have only 80km between Varna and Šumen built and some 10km south of Varna which aren't part of the Černo more motorway any more, because they changed the project in order to avoid Varna-Center.
People from northern Bulgaria also have the right to travel safe and fast, because they are also paying taxes to the very same state as you do. A2 is a very important project because it links the major cities in this part of the country and its realization is crucial for the economic development of the northern regions.


----------



## bozata90

paF4uko said:


> WOW, I propose independence of northern Bulgaria then! You guys don't realize that while 4 motorways are U/C in southern Bulgaria, we have only 80km between Varna and Šumen built and some 10km south of Varna which aren't part of the Černo more motorway any more, because they changed the project in order to avoid Varna-Center.
> People from northern Bulgaria also have the right to travel safe and fast, because they are also paying taxes to the very same state as you do. A2 is a very important project because it links the major cities in this part of the country and its realization is crucial for the economic development of the northern regions.


I haven't said that Hemus is not needed, I said it's just not desperately needed. I have relatives who live in Gabrovo and travel almost every month on Hemus, but the congestion of the road between Yablanitsa and Sevliavo is not at all comparable to the congestion of the Pernik - Kresna section for example (try driving there on Friday and you will understand what I mean). What I say is that Bulgaria needs priorities in its motorway construction plans. I don't know what is the actual condition on the Tarnovo - Varna stretch, but building an overcapacity road is not the best opportunity for the same country you and I are paying taxes to. Maybe they should consider a half-motorway and fill the gap this way.
On the other hand some north-south roads (esp. Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo) the traffic is rapidly growing - maybe the government shall construct these motorways/expressways first...


----------



## paF4uko

The priority should be equal opportunity for development of all Bulgarian regions and not fast transit of Turkish gastarbeiters. You know people would rather invest their money wherever infrastructure is already present than at some place where they have to build it...


----------



## bozata90

Yes, but why not building half-motorway (like in Serbia, Croatia, Poland etc.) instead of whole, when there is no traffic requireing such. My personal opinion is that it is better to rebuild most of Bulgarian roads as 2+1 with bypasses of the thousend villages on them, instead of constantly searching for money to build motorways, that we never actually begin to build (take trakia as an example0.


----------



## panda80

when you try to figure the future aadt of haemus u should also take into account a part of the aadt of national road E83 yablanitsa-ruse.so you will get an aadt above 15000 for the future motorway.also the impact on the area it passes(quite a poor one) should be taken into account.


----------



## bozata90

I agree with you totally, but our government (or, if you prefer "the f***ing horesons"  )does not plan to build this motorway soon, and I can do nothing about it... So - it is better to have such junctions, bypasses and other structures until it's build. After they will remain necessary, since the government plans introducing toll-based payment instead of the vignette system already working. That means that when Hemus becomes payed, the older road will still be used by the locals to travel medium distances - and bypasses and junctions will be really helpful.
For example I am wondering why nobody speaks of building a bypass of Tarnovo (either as a nat. road, or as a part of the future Hemus) - it's a great idea for everybody living in the city and will surely have a descent AADT...


----------



## Verso

panda80 said:


> national road E83


Isn't the E83 a European route?


----------



## bozata90

Yes, the national road has number 3. Here is a short list of the most important ones:
1 - (RO) - Vidin - Vratsa - Botevgrad - Sofia - Pernik - Blagoevgrad - Kulata - (GR)
2 - (RO) - Ruse - Razgrad - Shumen - Varna
3 - (meges into 5) - Byala - Pleven - Yablanitsa - Botevgrad - (merges into 1)
4 - (merges into 3) - Yablanitsa - Sevlievo - V. Tarnovo - Omurtag - Targovishte - Shumen (merges into 2)
5 - (RO) - Ruse - Byala - V. Tarnovo - Gabrovo - Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Kardzhali - (future border CP: GR)
6 - Sofia - Karlovo - Kazanlak - Sliven - Burgas
7 - (RO) - Silistra - Shumen - "Petolachkata" - Yambol - Elhovo - (TR) 
8 - (SRB) - Sofia - Ihtiman - Kostenets - Plovdiv - Haskovo - Svilengrad - (TR)
9 - (RO) - Kavarna - Varna - Byala (Varna region) - Burgas - Sredets - Malko Tarnovo - (TR)
As you see, the numbering of the North-South axes is generally odd (beginning from the West to East), while the East-West ones have even numbers (beginning from the more northern ones). Some of these axes have generally lower traffic than some nearby roads (for example: road 55 between Tarnovo and Nova Zagora is more used than road 5, because the road 5 goes trough a higher mountain pass ("Shipka") there).


----------



## Zaro

wyqtor said:


> Great junction, but was it really necessary? I'm assuming that more sections of the Haemus Motorway will be constructed towards Varna soon, and it must also have a ramification towards Ruse.


Yes, it was. I've travelled plenty of times in this direction and on my way back it takes several minutes to enter the road to Sofia from the road coming from Veliko Tarnovo - several minutes of waiting if the traffic is too heavy and then you have to be quick if you don't want to be dead.:lol:
We need as much such junctions as possible. Remember no money can buy back a lost life.


----------



## Radish2

Zaro said:


> Yes, it was. I've travelled plenty of times in this direction and on my way back it takes several minutes to enter the road to Sofia from the road coming from Veliko Tarnovo - several minutes of waiting if the traffic is too heavy and then you have to be quick if you don't want to be dead.:lol:
> We need as much such junctions as possible. Remember no money can buy back a lost life.


No, we need real motorways, or are we the only country that doesn´t have motorways? But in Bulgaria pretty much is different to other countries including people saying Bulgarian women are the best altough they are far from the best, but that´s typical patriotic behaviour which is bad for people living out of Bulgaria promising Bulgaria to be the paradise and when they come see how to get their money!!!


----------



## paF4uko

^^ We're discussing motorways here not some nazi bullshit, nor women classification by nationality...


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## Radish2

paF4uko said:


> ^^ We're discussing motorways here not some nazi bullshit, nor women classification by nationality...


I know, I jsut had the longing to show how many Bulgarians say that everything in Bulgaria is best.


----------



## SeanT

I think you find this patriotic issue in every country (more-less).
It is a kind of competition, proudness or blindness. That is how we are. You should try a scandinavien country, they are the best (they think) and "unfortunatly" they have right in many cases of living.:banana:


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## Radish2

SeanT said:


> I think you find this patriotic issue in every country (more-less).
> It is a kind of competition, proudness or blindness. That is how we are. You should try a scandinavien country, they are the best (they think) and "unfortunatly" they have right in many cases of living.:banana:


The best people are those who don´t diss and generalize this or that country, and I am really angry and frustrated that in Bulgaria 70% probably think they are superior to the rest of europe. You know what, a very dumb professor said on the TV, Bulgarian mathematitians are the most intelligent and Bulgarian women the most beautiful. On the other hand I´ve spoken with someone who has been in a lot of countries all over the world and he said, Bulgarian women have rather rough looking bones and structure, they have a balcan look which looks rough and eastern eoropean like and vulga, and if we are honest what he said is fact, some people like that, some not, but to generalize and say, we look best, we are most intelligent, our mountains are most beautiful, are seaside is better than an seaside in europe, is really extremly dumb.


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## bozata90

^^ (off topic) I will explain it you - in the XIV century the Bulgarians were 2 million, the French - 2,2 million, and the English - 1,8 million (Gandev, Hristo. Factors of the Bulgarian renaissance. Sofia, 1983). In the beginning XIX cent. the Bulgarians were 3,5 million, the British on the Isles - about 40 million, and the French - about 35 million. The bulgarians were a great nation, and now they are small. Instead of talking about the past and how great we were, we have to live now and to think for the future. 
So stop murmuring - we have to build decent motorways, not perfect ones.
Let's speak about roads here and about national pride in some other place.


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## autobahnracer

Talking about motorways, did you read in the National Road Infrastructure Fund website that webcams are going to be installed to survey the construction works of Lyulin motorway? ... In december it was mentioned that these cameras will be installed in january, ... If they are accessible thouout the web it will be interesting to sit and watch the construction of a motorway )


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## bozata90

Haven't heard about it, but with our politicians I seriously doubt it. They don't want anything to be done transparently, because they can not steal the money :nuts: - that's why we don't have normal traffic enforcement cameras in Sofia (or they don't collect fines) or speed cameras anywhere on the motorways...


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## Radish2

bozata90 said:


> Haven't heard about it, but with our politicians I seriously doubt it. They don't want anything to be done transparently, because they can not steal the money :nuts: - that's why we don't have normal traffic enforcement cameras in Sofia (or they don't collect fines) or speed cameras anywhere on the motorways...


exactly


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## paF4uko

bozata90 said:


> Haven't heard about it, but with our politicians I seriously doubt it. They don't want anything to be done transparently, because they can not steal the money :nuts: - that's why we don't have normal traffic enforcement cameras in Sofia (or they don't collect fines) or speed cameras anywhere on the motorways...


I don't know about Sofia, but I know it works in Varna for sure, because a friend of mine got his driving license off for 6 months because he crossed an orange blinking traffic light on an empty boulevard at 3 o'clock in the morning with 80km/h. He had it coming anyway... :lol:


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## autobahnracer

In Sofia is the same thing. Since october 2008 the cameras are recording this kind of violations and many people are having fines for high speeding or crossing at red light. This type of "greeting cards" are sent by the post with a very nice photo of your car violating the rules ))))) Just like in every "normal" country like Germany and France, for example. Moreover, this was said in december 2008, this means that for more that 2 months the photos were collected already and it was a "very cold shower" for people who like driving with 130km/h on "Tsarigradsko shosse" )))))
In fact, the have changed the law: before october 2008 the evidence collected for cameras couldn't be a proof for such type of sanctions, but this is not the case anymore. It seems to me that things are progressing a little bit, we are starting to have functionning laws and jurisdiction, not like before, when laws and rules were treated by SOME PEOPLE more like "recomendations".


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## bozata90

OK, I agree that in Sofia there are such devices but so long they didn't prevent the occasional traffic light violations on many places (including the front of the Presidency - the Serdica station, I saw a lot of such cases even today). But I haven't heard of anybody fined on national highways...


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## autobahnracer

On national roads and motorways in Bulgaria there aren't any cameras yet, as far as i know....


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## bozata90

Ever wondered why? There are enough money (2 billion of budget surplus only for 2008) - 100-200 cameras are not worth more than 2-3 million...


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## Rusonaldo

Hi. How many km motorway You have in Bulgaria (in oparetet) ??


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## autobahnracer

Not many...
Let me calculate those which are operational:

Struma motorway: 20km built ( of ~160) 
Marica: ~35 km built ( of 110) 
Trakiya: ~250 km built (of ~440)
Hemus: ~130km (of ~500)
Cherno more: ~10km (of ~100km) 

This makes ~440 km of motorways.


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## Rusonaldo

Thanx


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## Radish2

The best stays the best:


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## RoadUser

Radish2 said:


> The best stays the best:


What does the sign with a picture of a car mean? Is that a Bulgarian motorway sign?


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## Verso

Road reserved for motor vehicles (motorroad).


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## Radish2

Verso said:


> Road reserved for motor vehicles (motorroad).


Call it like you want, the road is of very high quality, it´s of higher quality than many motorways.


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## Verso

^^ It's nice, I just answered RoadUser.


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## RoadUser

Radish2 said:


> Call it like you want, the road is of very high quality, it´s of higher quality than many motorways.



You mean that this most-worshipped of roads isn't even classified as a motorway?


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## ChrisZwolle

RoadUser said:


> You mean that this most-worshipped of roads isn't even classified as a motorway?


That's correct. :lol:


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## Radish2

It is a motorway you fool, it has green direction signs and that´s enough, two signs wont change if it is a motorway or not.


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## Timon91

Radi, there is enough proof now that it is just a normal dual carriageway, not a motorway. Still it looks quite good :lol:


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## Verso

But I don't get it, why it's still not officially a motorway. Why couldn't you drive more than 90 km/h there? :nuts: To make it more confused, it has green motorway destination signs.


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## Radish2

Timon91 said:


> Radi, there is enough proof now that it is just a normal dual carriageway, not a motorway. Still it looks quite good :lol:


No, it is prooven that it is a motorway, even maps list it as a motorway allready. And on a normal road the signs wouldn´t be green. Don´t you fucking get that they just didn´t replace the signs because they forgot?


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## autobahnracer

Anyone heard some news about motorway and road construction in BG the last weeks ? 
Two weeks already the National Road Infrastructure Agency's website is closed (www.nrif.bg ; http://rea.government.bg) and also on the news websites nothing is said about how are going the current road constructions ..... strange


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## bozata90

About the issue with the motorroad - I don't know why our government builds motorways (I mean for real - with all the necessary median, crashbarrier, protective fences on both sides, junctions etc.) and than puts a '90'-sign on it... The same thing happened on the road to Istanbul (near Harmanli, future A3 'Maritsa') - all direction signs are green, but the speed limit is still 90.


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## autobahnracer

bozata90 said:


> About the issue with the motorroad - I don't know why our government builds motorways (I mean for real - with all the necessary median, crashbarrier, protective fences on both sides, junctions etc.) and than puts a '90'-sign on it... The same thing happened on the road to Istanbul (near Harmanli, future A3 'Maritsa') - all direction signs are green, but the speed limit is still 90.


For some idiotic reason they put a 90km/h limitation on sections of partially built motorways - for sure when these motorways are finished they'll have the normal motorway speed limit.
Even though, it makes no big difference in travel time if you'll be driving with 90 or with 130 just for some 20-30 km. 
But it is still silly to make you drive with 90 on a section that is intended for speeds of 130-150 km/h :nuts:


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## Radish2

autobahnracer said:


> For some idiotic reason they put a 90km/h limitation on sections of partially built motorways - for sure when these motorways are finished they'll have the normal motorway speed limit.
> Even though, it makes no big difference in travel time if you'll be driving with 90 or with 130 just for some 20-30 km.
> But it is still silly to make you drive with 90 on a section that is intended for speeds of 130-150 km/h :nuts:


Noone follows that speedlimit in Bulgaria anyway, they dirve 180 - 200 on the sections.


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## panda80

Radish2 said:


> Noone follows that speedlimit in Bulgaria anyway, they dirve 180 - 200 on the sections.


isn't it risky?everytime i went to bulgaria i saw lots of police radars.they caught me on dupnitsa bypass, on 2+2+median with 81km/h on a stretch with a stupid speed limit of 50.i gave them 30euros for that.what's good in bulgaria is that other drivers signal u when there is a police radar ahead.(we also have this custom here in romania).


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ They do that too in the Netherlands...


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## panda80

wonderful cause in april i'm gonna visit netherlands:banana:


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## Timon91

Yeah, see you in Amsterdam 

There are a few places I know here where the police is always checking, so everyone who drives there more often always slows down there. If there is really a police car checking, they will flash their lights.


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## Radish2

panda80 said:


> isn't it risky?everytime i went to bulgaria i saw lots of police radars.they caught me on dupnitsa bypass, on 2+2+median with 81km/h on a stretch with a stupid speed limit of 50.i gave them 30euros for that.what's good in bulgaria is that other drivers signal u when there is a police radar ahead.(we also have this custom here in romania).


I think the police wont stop you on the Struma motorway for driving 120, the sings indicate a speedlimit of 90, but I think the police is introduced to only stop if you are faster than 120 because it is a motorway.


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## Zaro

panda80 said:


> isn't it risky?everytime i went to bulgaria i saw lots of police radars.they caught me on dupnitsa bypass, on 2+2+median with 81km/h on a stretch with a stupid speed limit of 50.i gave them 30euros for that.what's good in bulgaria is that other drivers signal u when there is a police radar ahead.(we also have this custom here in romania).


Well, there are a couple of reasons why the Dupnitsa police stopped you. First, speeding. Second, the foreign plate of your car. Third, you may have been the easiest to stop. 

I personally hate this 2 km stretch, because everybody accelerates unreasonably, and sometimes drivers go into the opposite lanes while overtaking. Then we're again stuck behind the trucks. 

I've seen such speed limits in Greece too. Last week I went to Thessaloniki. They're building a new highway from Promahonas to Thessaloniki, some sections already in operation. Well, they have 80 limit for some 20 km just before you approach Thessaloniki. 20 km of perfect road. Ridiculous. 

Cops usually stay at the end of long sections allowing speeding and after right turns where you cannot see them and when you see them, it's too late to slow and ... you have 30 euro less. :lol:


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## bozata90

Radi, it is not quite like that. 90 is 90, so if they catch you you will get a ticket.... And - for now the limit is still 90. I've heard many such accounts by my friends...


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## autobahnracer

panda80 said:


> isn't it risky?everytime i went to bulgaria i saw lots of police radars.they caught me on dupnitsa bypass, on 2+2+median with 81km/h on a stretch with a stupid speed limit of 50.i gave them 30euros for that.what's good in bulgaria is that other drivers signal u when there is a police radar ahead.(we also have this custom here in romania).


You should have called 166, signaling corruption. They'll have no reason to explain from where they have these 30 EUR ( in euro currency).  
If we always give them money and leave they'll always be "corrupted". It's up to us to change this !!!


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## panda80

autobahnracer said:


> You should have called 166, signaling corruption. They'll have no reason to explain from where they have these 30 EUR ( in euro currency).
> If we always give them money and leave they'll always be "corrupted". It's up to us to change this !!!


i wouldn't have given them money if i wasn't in a hurry.they said i have to pay the ticket in the center of dupnitsa, and i haven't been there in the city center never before.also they said they must suspend my driving licence for 3 month, then they will send it back to romania after that period.i should have visited bulgarian embassy in bucharest after 3 months to get my driving licence back.after the incident i wanted to send a mail to the bulgarian authorities, but i forgot about it after having a very nice holiday in greece.


----------



## Radish2

panda80 said:


> i wouldn't have given them money if i wasn't in a hurry.they said i have to pay the ticket in the center of dupnitsa, and i haven't been there in the city center never before.also they said they must suspend my driving licence for 3 month, then they will send it back to romania after that period.i should have visited bulgarian embassy in bucharest after 3 months to get my driving licence back.after the incident i wanted to send a mail to the bulgarian authorities, but i forgot about it after having a very nice holiday in greece.


So you would not go to Bulgaria on holidays? How did you like the Struma motorway and the E-79 nationalroad?


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## panda80

Radish2 said:


> So you would not go to Bulgaria on holidays? How did you like the Struma motorway and the E-79 nationalroad?


i was in 3 holidays in bulgaria, twice on black sea coast(i visited all coast, from romanian border to silistar beach), and once at vihren chalet in pirin mountain.i will gladly come back on holiday in bulgaria cause i like bulgarian landscapes very much.this summer i'm planning to go to rila or pirin, if i have enough money.struma motorway and e79 were good roads, some of the best in bulgaria.


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## Radish2

panda80 said:


> i was in 3 holidays in bulgaria, twice on black sea coast(i visited all coast, from romanian border to silistar beach), and once at vihren chalet in pirin mountain.i will gladly come back on holiday in bulgaria cause i like bulgarian landscapes very much.this summer i'm planning to go to rila or pirin, if i have enough money.struma motorway and e79 were good roads, some of the best in bulgaria.


when have you been in Bulgaria? Was the Struma motorway shiny or not anymore? Go to the Rila mountain, 8 km after the Rila monastery are the steepest rockwalls in whole Bulgaria and the highest. There is even a small path that leads directly to the rockwalls so you can see the rockwalls from a distance from 200 m, you look from 1500 m the peaks that go up to 2730 m from a distance of 200 m, and they are so steep that you can see them altough you are that close.


----------



## Verso

What about Musala, the tallest mountain in the Balkans? 

Musala, Bulgaria - 2,925 m
Mount Olympus, Greece - 2,919 m
Triglav, Slovenia (not Balkans, but close) - 2,864 m

Tough competition. But for such a mountainous peninsula, its mountains aren't particularly high IMO.


----------



## Radish2

Verso said:


> What about Musala, the tallest mountain in the Balkans?
> 
> Musala, Bulgaria - 2,925 m
> Mount Olympus, Greece - 2,919 m
> Triglav, Slovenia (not Balkans, but close) - 2,864 m
> 
> Tough competition. But for such a mountainous peninsula, its mountains aren't particularly high IMO.


Musalla is not good, because when you see it you are allready at 2300 m. The other pics are 2730 m, but you see them from 1300 m and lower and they are extreme rockwalls that are with short shelf 1200 m rockwalls, rockwall with no shelf are 500 - 550 m or so. Such rockwalls can only be found in the Rila mountain in Bulgaria.

here, that´s not the Triglav Peak that is standing alone, but the Dvuglav peak, that´s the left pic on the first picutre above, the one with the biggest walls, just look how alone it is standing like a mighty guardian.

That´s another peak that that is not quite so big than Dvuglav but still beautiful, in summer they are also beautiful but in witner they are majestic. Ofcourse that Rila monastery valley has a lot moe to offer, there are some great paths leading to some lakes, one path is a not asphalted road which has bad views but the other path passes on the other side of the narrow valley and has an amazing view.


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## Verso

You'd like Triglav then. But Mt. Olympus is right beside sea, and it looks somewhat weird IMO.


----------



## Radish2

Verso said:


> You'd like Triglav then. But Mt. Olympus is right beside sea, and it looks somewhat weird IMO.


I like Triglav, and other Slovenian peaks, but do you like the peaks I showed?

Olymp does look a bit weird, I checked it on googleearth and Nasa worldwind and it has slopes and geometry that doesn´t allow close views of the peak itself when you are on low altitude. Olymp doesn´t have long valleys which, it has short valleys that climb pretty steep, the Alps and also Rila mountain have long alleys that don´t go on high altitudes fast.


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## Verso

^^ Yeah, they are steep, and I like their darker color (our mountains are too bright IMO), gorgeous dark mountains are along Austrian A10. Perfect contrast of dark mountains and white snow on them.


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## Radish2

Verso said:


> ^^ Yeah, they are steep, and I like their darker color (our mountains are too bright IMO), gorgeous dark mountains are along Austrian A10. Perfect contrast of dark mountains and white snow on them.


Oh yes, I like the darker colored peaks more than bright colored peaks, too. That´s because of the rocks, Rila peaks are mostly from gneiss, the Slovenian alps and the Alps in Nordtyrol are from lime or bright granit.


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## Verso

OMG, Struma Glacier on Antarctica!


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## panda80

Verso said:


> You'd like Triglav then. But Mt. Olympus is right beside sea, and it looks somewhat weird IMO.


i climbed mt olympus and it is impressive, the views of the sea from 2918m is fantastic!there is a nice view of greek hinterland too, on western part of the mountain.you can see everything for over 100km in that part.


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## Radish2

panda80 said:


> i climbed mt olympus and it is impressive, the views of the sea from 2918m is fantastic!there is a nice view of greek hinterland too, on western part of the mountain.you can see everything for over 100km in that part.


Tell me if you like the Rila peaks or you liked Vihren and Pirin mountain more.


----------



## Zaro

Verso said:


> What about Musala, the tallest mountain in the Balkans?
> 
> Musala, Bulgaria - 2,925 m
> Mount Olympus, Greece - 2,919 m
> Triglav, Slovenia (not Balkans, but close) - 2,864 m
> 
> Tough competition. But for such a mountainous peninsula, its mountains aren't particularly high IMO.


Actually, Mitikas is 2917 m. 
Bulgaria has 126 peaks above 2000 m of which 10 are higher than 2800 m and 4 than 2900 m.


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## Verso

^^ I know, but I didn't wanna count those mountains close to each other.


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## Radish2

Ok, here is the view of Dvuglav when you walk from the Rila monastery to the Kirilova Poliana meadow, the pic is 1 km of that meadow away, from the meadow you see the peaks how it is on the first pic I posted. This pic is taken without any zoom so that´s how you aktually see it when you are standing there, it´s quite big but you can go to that peak way closer if you take a path that starts from the meadow to see it really close, you would need the camera to be vertical to make a photo of it. I wish there were such peaks in the alps which are narrow and steep from all sides, in the alps there are rockwalls, but I don´t know from peaks that are so narrow. I guess I just havn´t seen them.


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## panda80

Radish2 said:


> Tell me if you like the Rila peaks or you liked Vihren and Pirin mountain more.


i haven't been to rila mountains excepting the road to rila monastery.however i browsed internet a lot for pics and truly rila is a very spectacular mountain, that has everything(lakes,impressive peaks, rich fauna, deep valleys).also the view of rila from e79 is very spectacular.
i liked pirin very much, especially its lakes, and road to vihren chalet is wonderful.


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## panda80

Zaro said:


> Actually, Mitikas is 2917 m.
> Bulgaria has 126 peaks above 2000 m of which 10 are higher than 2800 m and 4 than 2900 m.


yes, you are right.actually i've been just to skolio(2912m), only my friend could hike up to mitikas, which is a very steep peak.


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## Radish2

panda80 said:


> i haven't been to rila mountains excepting the road to rila monastery.however i browsed internet a lot for pics and truly rila is a very spectacular mountain, that has everything(lakes,impressive peaks, rich fauna, deep valleys).also the view of rila from e79 is very spectacular.
> i liked pirin very much, especially its lakes, and road to vihren chalet is wonderful.


Panda, if you would have driven up the road from Rila monastery, you would have seen the peaks I posted, next time you should go there. The E-79 view of rila is amazing, between Blagoevgrad and Dupnica there are really steep slopes which should be viewed with binocular.


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## Turnovec

То continue with the mountainous off-topic - here's the view from Musala in the winter


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## autobahnracer

Turnovec said:


> То continue with the mountainous off-topic - here's the view from Musala in the winter


Amaizing!


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## bojc

Radish2 said:


> the Slovenian alps and the Alps in Nordtyrol are from lime or bright granit.


They are mostly from dolomite and limestone, but no granite.


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## ChrisZwolle

Guys... this forum is about freeways, not geology


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## bojc

ChrisZwolle said:


> Guys... this forum is about freeways, not geology


It is about geology when you try to build a motorway tunnel


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## Radish2

Here since the end of 2007 the new road to Kyustendil is finished, on the googleearth pic with a new layer that was shortly added it can be seen pretty well. That´s the typical asphalt color of new Bulgarian roads, when they are new they look very good, they make really fun to look at and drive on because the asphalt is usually very very smooth and even, would be glad to see real pictures of that road someday.


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## Timon91

Radi is satisfied about Google Earth? That must be the first time....


----------



## Radish2

No, but it´s the only source because the Bulgarian forumers just don´t make pictures of that road! Here, it is a very new road, it has very shiny railings and crashbarriers, when you zoom the pic you can see it clearly.

Oh, it seems Imageshuck refuces to display the pic in full size, they probably gonna make hosting of big files paid, imbeciles.


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## Radish2

why does noone have interest in this road?


----------



## Radish2

Verso said:


> Is a motorway ever planned there? It's the VIII. Corridor, after all.


For now no motorway is planned there.


----------



## Verso

Is a motorway ever planned there? It's the VIII. Corridor, after all.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The oh so clean and shiny Struma:


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## autobahnracer

:baeh3:


----------



## SeanT

....the air seems clean/clear at least!!!:banana:


----------



## paF4uko

ChrisZwolle said:


> The oh so clean and shiny Struma:


It looks like a carriage way... I don't see any emergency lane, or there is dirt on it? :lol:


----------



## Verso

Geesh, where's Radi with his magic brushes?


----------



## Timon91

^On holiday :lol:


----------



## autobahnracer

paF4uko said:


> It looks like a carriage way... I don't see any emergency lane, or there is dirt on it? :lol:


There is dirt, that's why you can't see the emergency lane. Also, the emergency lane is not so wide as the other two lanes .....
Anyway , as discussed many times here IT IS a motorway ...  :nuts: it covers motorway standarts ( designed for speeds about 130km/h, 2x3 lanes: 2x2,5m +1x1,5m ... )


----------



## Radish2

Ofcourse, and don´t listen to Chris, his just an unimportant bigheaded Dutch who tries to make some users angry all the time, that´s why I don´t even answer to such nosesence, because the things he spreads arround here are just too dumb to be answered, just a little kid.


----------



## Mateusz

Said Radi... :banana::nuts:

Traffic on Struma expressway seem to be quite low

What are the plans for Sofia ring road ?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

According to Google Earth, the Struma Expressway has road no 1. Is this also on the signs or do they only sign E-numbers?










Further south:


----------



## autobahnracer

ChrisZwolle said:


> According to Google Earth, the Struma Expressway has road no 1. Is this also on the signs or do they only sign E-numbers?


In fact on that part of the Struma motorway there is only the E-79 sign and as seen the labels are green :nuts: . Further south, after the "motorway", there still is the expressway "1" sign everywhere.


----------



## Nexis

What is the Struma Motorway? i'm confsued, is it a crappy road or is it name for a crappy road system?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Struma is a motorway/expressway/road from Sofia to Thessaloniki in Greece that's a bit exagerrated by Radish about it's features. It's named after the river it runs next to. Hopefully, it will be a full motorway standard-road in the next 10 years or so.


----------



## x-type

autobahnracer said:


> ( designed for speeds about 130km/h, 2x3 lanes: 2x2,5m +1x1,5m ... )


those measures are definitely not enough for 130 km/h


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## Verso

He probably meant 2×*3*.5 m (at least) + 1×1.5 m.


----------



## autobahnracer

Verso said:


> He probably meant 2×*3*.5 m (at least) + 1×1.5 m.


... sorry i don't know the exact specifications ...
So , 2x3,5m at least is the motorway standart ?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Most motorways have lane width between 3,2 and 4,0 m. 3,2 can be found on the Dutch A2, 4,0m on German Autobahns if I'm correct. Mostly used are 3,5 and 3,75 m. Occasionally, narrower lanes, as narrow as 2,3m can be found on motorways.


----------



## Turnovec

The exisitng part of Struma curently is about 20 km. long, starting from the exit of Vladaya gorge, south of Sofia and east of Pernik .... 

What Chris posted is the part of E79(2x2) around Blagoevgrad and south of it(1x1)...

E79(not Struma) at Blagoevgrad:


----------



## autobahnracer

ChrisZwolle said:


> Most motorways have lane width between 3,2 and 4,0 m. 3,2 can be found on the Dutch A2, 4,0m on German Autobahns if I'm correct. Mostly used are 3,5 and 3,75 m. Occasionally, narrower lanes, as narrow as 2,3m can be found on motorways.


Thanks Chris ! 
I'm curious to discuss here a little bit about motorways specifications ..... 
For example, what is the standard for emergency lane width? I've seen on german autobahns emergency lanes as narrow as, for example ~1,5m, as well as emergency lanes with the same width like the other lanes ... 

Wich are the minimum specifications for a road to be classed "motorway"? Minimum curve diameter? Minimum lane widths ? minimum separator width ? Profile angles ? Asphalt layer height? ... and others not mentioned ?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Usually at least 2x2 lanes and controlled access as a minimum.


----------



## Verso

Turnovec said:


> E79(not Struma) at Blagoevgrad:


Isn't the whole road E79 between Sofia and the Greek border actually called Struma?


----------



## Turnovec

Verso said:


> Isn't the whole road E79 between Sofia and the Greek border actually called Struma?












Struma is the name of the river that winds all the way from Pernik to the BG-GR border, and in the valley of which the E79 road passes through. The project for the "Struma Motorway" which was about to replace the busy old E79 national road was started somewhen in 2000 or 2001... The previous government promised to built the whole 150 km. length for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 ... but they managed to finish only those ~20 km. near Pernik and Sofia ... there are 4 more lots left to be built, and not only the construction but the tender parts for which have not yet been started ... The current government completely f****d up everything (not only) about the completion of Struma motorway over the last 4 years.


----------



## Pwereid

*Chernomore motorway*

Hi 

Im a new user to the site and have been reading through some of the posts. Im just wondering if there is any movement on the cherno more motorway. The last i heard there was 10km of it built out of 103km and the final path of the road hadnt been decided. is this still the case or is it now under construction.


----------



## autobahnracer

There are some 10km built south of Varna, including the "Asparuhov " Bridge which is also part of this motorway, but they are operational since the 80's )))). 
Recently I read an article stating that the "Cherno more" motorway is to be continued as a bypass of the Varna city and further north to the romanian border. But for now there is absolutely NO info when will this project start ....


----------



## Zaro

Taking into account how fast things happen in Bulgaria and the mountainous part of the proposed Cherno more motorway, I wonder if kick off will happen in the next 10 years.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Much like Greece, Bulgaria is also not clear on the numbering of motorways.

A1: Sofia - Burgas, also used for the Marica from Sofia to Edirne
A2: Sofia - Varna, seems clear
A3: Chirpan - Edirne, also number A1 seen
A4: Burgas - Varna, also displayed as A5 or A3 on maps, also seen as Chirpan - Burgas route.
A5: Daskalovo - Kulata, also used for the Cherno More
A6: Sofia - Pernik, seems clear


----------



## paF4uko

autobahnracer said:


> There are some 10km built south of Varna, including the "Asparuhov " Bridge which is also part of this motorway, but they are operational since the 80's )))).
> Recently I read an article stating that the "Cherno more" motorway is to be continued as a bypass of the Varna city and further north to the romanian border. But for now there is absolutely NO info when will this project start ....


Actually a lot of research work has been done on Černo More motorway since September 2008. Last month three variants concerning the part near Varna has been proposed and now it's up to the ministry of regional development to choose one of them. Mostly likely there will be a bridge near Beloslav with two exists - for the northern and for the southern part of the town. Currently the citizens of Beloslav are using a ferry to travel from one side to another. The link with the current A2 motorway on the north will be somewhere near the exit for Slânčevo. On the south the motorway will go to the village of Priselci where it will join the stretch coming from the centre of Varna. This new motorway between exit Slânčevo and Priselci will be considered as part of the A2. After Priselci the trajectory of the the motorway has been already defined.
North of Slânčevo a new motorway will continue around Aksakovo and north of Varna to Zlatni Pjasâci and then it will turn into a 2x2 carriage way to the Romanian boarder. 
According to the new plan of Varna (it has to be approved by the end of the year, currently there is a public discussion), the beginning of the city will be at the boarder between Aksakovo and Varna municipalities. This is where the roundabout of the airport is situated. The area surrounding A2 in this section is urbanised and for a few years now there are local lanes to serve the adjacent buildings. Recently, even a new junction with the street that links Kajsieva Gradina with the lake has been open.

I hope this reveals most of the things that has been done and planned for motorways in the area. Now we have to wait and see... And if you really want to see something, I'm addressing the Bulgarians in the section here, go to the urns and cast your vote this summer! :cheers:


----------



## autobahnracer

Chris you're right that numbering of bulgarian motorways isn't very clear. It's due to the fact that there just some sections from the motorways (in most advanced stage is Trakiya with about 250-270 km built from 400 ). 
From some sources i found this (almost 90% sure  ) :
A1: serbian border - Sofia - Plovdiv - Chirpan - Turkey (Edirne) 
From Sofia to Chirpan it's Trakiya motorway , from Chirpan to Edirne is called Marica motorway but the number remains A1
A4: this is the remaining section of the Trakiya motorway from Chirpan to Burgas
A2 is certainly the Hemus motorway linking Sofia with Varna

For the others there is nothing absolutely certain. On the sections already built there is no numbering  
Although i think that Lyulin motorway and Struma would have the same number beacuse it's in fact the same road linking Sofia with the greek border ( Lyulin is from Sofia to Daskalovo and from Daskalovo to Kulata is called Struma)... 



ChrisZwolle said:


> Much like Greece, Bulgaria is also not clear on the numbering of motorways.
> 
> A1: Sofia - Burgas, also used for the Marica from Sofia to Edirne
> A2: Sofia - Varna, seems clear
> A3: Chirpan - Edirne, also number A1 seen
> A4: Burgas - Varna, also displayed as A5 or A3 on maps, also seen as Chirpan - Burgas route.
> A5: Daskalovo - Kulata, also used for the Cherno More
> A6: Sofia - Pernik, seems clear


----------



## Ivanski

Junction at Lyulin motorway U/C:










Trakia motorway:



















credits: on the pics


----------



## Ivanski

Trakia motorway







(between Sofia and Trayanovi vrata). 

Sorry for the windshield


----------



## cezarsab

nice neighbours!!
great tunnel!


----------



## Radish2

Except the last pic, which is not so nice.


----------



## Timon91

Why not? It looks good IMO


----------



## Ban.BL

Radish2 said:


> Except the last pic, which is not so nice.


they are the same only contrast is different


----------



## paF4uko

Timon91 said:


> Why not? It looks good IMO


I guess Radi spotted the little crack on the pavement... :lol:


----------



## Timon91

Or he thinks it's bad that the shoulder has a different colour :lol:


----------



## Radish2

No, but because it seems that on the last pic the motorway has the old rough asphalt which is not so confortable to drive on.


----------



## Guest

Hello,

do you know if bulgaria uses road delineators ( http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/754039374_e8419cdbb4.jpg ) and if how they look like? thx blagodarya!


----------



## wdw35

Radish2 said:


> No, but because it seems that on the last pic the motorway has the old rough asphalt which is not so confortable to drive on.


Come on, driving on rougher, older pavement has its charm!


----------



## transport21

Whats all this fuss about the struma motorway, it looks very average to me not even "shiny"!hno:

If you want to see shiny new motorways check out the Irish section, were basically building our motorway network from scratch. There will be over 1000km of motorway next year with many parts already open. Also with asphalt for radi to look at!!


----------



## Radish2

Well, the Struma motorway ages, aswell. It isn´t protected from aging.


----------



## transport21

Trakia motorway looks very modern judging by those pictures.

Our asphalt surface is expected to last around 30 years but most of our daily traffic is under 100,00


----------



## deranged

Beautiful pictures! :yes:



transport21 said:


> Whats all this fuss about the struma motorway, it looks very average to me not even "shiny"!hno:
> 
> If you want to see shiny new motorways check out the Irish section, were basically building our motorway network from scratch. There will be over 1000km of motorway next year with many parts already open. Also with asphalt for radi to look at!!


You took your life in your hands with that post...


----------



## transport21

deranged said:


> You took your life in your hands with that post...


Explain? :cheers:


----------



## Zaro

transport21 said:


> Explain? :cheers:


Well,







is obsessed with shiny crashbarriers, Struma motorway, asphalt quality, Struma motorway, comfortable asphalt, Struma motorway. :lol:

So all comments on Struma intergalactico, other than superextraoverpositive, are NOT welcomed.

I hope this helps

Slainte!:cheers:


----------



## transport21

Zaro said:


> Well,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is obsessed with shiny crashbarriers, Struma motorway, asphalt quality, Struma motorway, comfortable asphalt, Struma motorway. :lol:
> 
> So all comments on Struma intergalactico, other than superextraoverpositive, are NOT welcomed.
> 
> I hope this helps


I understand now. After reading a full thread on the autobahn I saw more words of struma than anything else. :lol:



> Slainte!:cheers:


Go raibh maith agut! Slan go foil!!


----------



## Radish2

The Struma Motorway














































Beautiful ending of the Struma motorway *with extremly reflective blue arrow signs*







[/


----------



## Majestic

Behold!


----------



## Radish2

and a few by me, in the other direction


----------



## transport21

A very good modern motorway! I have to agree good scenery in the background in some of the pics. Is there any major viaducts or cut and cover tunnels designed on any part of it?

Did I hear right that its length is only just over 20km?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice pics.

There don't seem to be reflectors on the sections without barriers?


----------



## ethernal

Oh my God!!!

The Scenery is f...ing brilliant!!! :eek2:

Regards


----------



## Timon91

ChrisZwolle said:


> There don't seem to be reflectors on the sections without barriers?


It's still Struma, you know  hno:


----------



## Radish2

ChrisZwolle said:


> Nice pics.
> 
> There don't seem to be reflectors on the sections without barriers?


No, unfortunately not, I ahve one pic where a few reflectors can be seen, but that´s it.


----------



## Zaro

transport21 said:


> A very good modern motorway! I have to agree good scenery in the background in some of the pics. Is there any major viaducts or cut and cover tunnels designed on any part of it?
> 
> Did I hear right that its length is only just over 20km?


It's Struma, it doesn't need any viaducts or tunnels to add more value.:lol:

Anyway, the stretch is just 19 km long. In fact, part of the planned route passes trough a very mountainous and picturesque terrain where there will be tunnels. No construction kick off date though. 
:cheers:


----------



## bgplayer19

Allow me to add more pictures of the "magnificent STRUMA" :master:





































Sorry for the dirty glass...


----------



## Verso

Lovely. Bosnek - funny name.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Hah I get the feeling I'm in Bosnia everytime I pass and see that sign :lol:


----------



## transport21

Zaro said:


> It's Struma, it doesn't need any viaducts or tunnels to add more value.:lol:
> 
> Anyway, the stretch is just 19 km long. In fact, part of the planned route passes trough a very mountainous and picturesque terrain where there will be tunnels. No construction kick off date though.
> :cheers:


Cant forget the shiny barriers also!!! :lol:


----------



## Radish2

bgplayer19, did it really look like that, that day or you used the Sepia mode of your camera? I like the colors.


----------



## Ivanski

*EC to release funding for Bulgaria’s Lyulin motorway*



















The European Commission is expected to announce on May 12 a decision to unfreeze 115 million euro under the Ispa pre-accession aid programme, allocated for the construction of Lyulin motorway near Sofia and technical support for the preparation of road projects, the Government’s press office said.

EC blocked the money on July 23 2008, following revelations about a conflict of interest and fraud at the National Road Infrastructure Fund (NRIF), which was later on restructured into an agency controlled directly by the Cabinet.

Moreover, the EC forced Bulgaria to pass a conflict of interest law and amend its public procurement legislation.

Sofia imposed a financial sanction of 652 000 euro and carried out several audits at the roads agency, giving the EC grounds to renew the financing.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU Funds, Meglena Plugchieva, and experts of the roads agency checked the ongoing renovation of the Sokolovtsi – Smolyan – Srednogortsi road, which is financed with 10.6 million euro under the Phare pre-accession programme of the European Union.

An audit by KPMG identified a possible conflict of interest at the contractor, Entechnos, which comprises Greek companies Entechnos and Actis as well as Bulgarian firm Avtomagistrali-Cherno More. One of the managers of Entechnos is the father of former NRIF head Atanas Dimov.

http://sofiaecho.com/2009/05/12/717660_ec-to-release-funding-for-bulgarias-lyulin-motorway


----------



## paF4uko

bgplayer19 said:


> ^^ Hah I get the feeling I'm in Bosnia everytime I pass and see that sign :lol:


There's also a village called Bosna in North-eastern Bulgaria. Kosovo exists too.


----------



## Verso

paF4uko said:


> There's also a village called Bosna in North-eastern Bulgaria. Kosovo exists too.


"Srbija" should be near; Kosovo can't be independent.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ No _Srbija_ in Bulgaria  

But we've got a town and a village called _Trstenik_ just like on Peljesac peninsula in Croatia


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You know the city of Lille in France? The Belgians say "Rijsel" in Dutch. However, they have a town called "Lille" themselves too... Why translate it if you already have such a town in your own language?

Similar to Aachen, the Dutch call it "Aken". Funnily enough, there's also an "Aken" elsewhere in Germany.


----------



## Turnovec

ChrisZwolle said:


> You know the city of Lille in France? The Belgians say "Rijsel" in Dutch. However, they have a town called "Lille" themselves too... Why translate it if you already have such a town in your own language?
> 
> Similar to Aachen, the Dutch call it "Aken". Funnily enough, there's also an "Aken" elsewhere in Germany.


^^ :lol:


----------



## x-type

ChrisZwolle said:


> There don't seem to be reflectors on the sections without barriers?


those are rare in Bulgaria and Romania. i have noticed that also brand new refurbished main roads don't have them.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ Dangerous at night, especially if the road markings are not reflective or insufficient either.


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Those things were very common during communism, 20 years ago, but since the fall of the iron curtain i don't know why but i haven't seen any being put on the new rehabilitated roads and the old ones dissapered without a trace...


----------



## Turnovec

Sofia Ringroad at Mladost 4, BPS. Thanks to Repcho from gtsofia.info


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> You know the city of Lille in France? The Belgians say "Rijsel" in Dutch. However, they have a town called "Lille" themselves too... Why translate it if you already have such a town in your own language?
> 
> Similar to Aachen, the Dutch call it "Aken". Funnily enough, there's also an "Aken" elsewhere in Germany.


I guess Lille in France and Lille in Belgium have nothing to do with each other, so things regarding them developed differently in the past. It doesn't mean "Lille" is an unacceptable word in the Dutch language, they just called it Rijsel. F.e. we call Prague "Praga", but "praha" also exists in Slovenian language, and it means fallow ground (and "prah" means dust). "Pula" could easily be a Slovenian word (though it isn't), but for some reason the official expression is "Pulj". And I'd understand, if Romanians changed the name.


----------



## paF4uko

Turnovec said:


> ^^ No _Srbija_ in Bulgaria
> 
> But we've got a town and a village called _Trstenik_ just like on Peljesac peninsula in Croatia


You have also Novo Selo all over the Balkans, sometimes you have several of them in the same country. In Slovenia the equivalent is Nova Vas ("vas" - like the word for village in Old Bulgarian) and in Croatia there are both. 



ChrisZwolle said:


> You know the city of Lille in France? The Belgians say "Rijsel" in Dutch. However, they have a town called "Lille" themselves too... Why translate it if you already have such a town in your own language?
> 
> Similar to Aachen, the Dutch call it "Aken". Funnily enough, there's also an "Aken" elsewhere in Germany.


I know, I have friends from Lille. :cheers:


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Verso said:


> I guess Lille in France and Lille in Belgium have nothing to do with each other, so things regarding them developed differently in the past. It doesn't mean "Lille" is an unacceptable word in the Dutch language, they just called it Rijsel. F.e. we call Prague "Praga", but "praha" also exists in Slovenian language, and it means fallow ground (and "prah" means dust). "Pula" could easily be a Slovenian word (though it isn't), but for some reason the official expression is "Pulj". And I'd understand, if Romanians changed the name.


We call it Pola


----------



## arthur_mkd

Hi everyone, I'm new in forum. Can someone please give me advice, which one is better: Sofia - Varna (Hemus highway) or Sofia - Burgas - Varna? I'd rather drive some extra kilometres if the Burgas - Varna roadway is OK. I have one small child which does not tolerate many curves, ups and downs. Thank you for your answer.


----------



## Turnovec

arthur_mkd said:


> Hi everyone, I'm new in forum. Can someone please give me advice, which one is better: Sofia - Varna (Hemus highway) or Sofia - Burgas - Varna? I'd rather drive some extra kilometres if the Burgas - Varna roadway is OK. I have one small child which does not tolerate many curves, ups and downs. Thank you for your answer.


I'd advice Sofia-Veliko Tarnovo-Varna [Hemus Motorway]. Maybe 2/3 of the [E772] national road that connects both sides of Hemus was rehabilitated in the recent years and it is a fine road to drive on(not much curves, ups and downs.). You would only have some 7-10 difficult kilometers passing by Veliko Tarnovo as part of the road is closed due to the construction of a new junction. I would advice you to leave aside the signified alternative roads and drive through the city center and ask someone how to get back on the road to Varna(it would save some additional time and kilometers). After Veliko Tarnovo there are many stretches where the road is with 3 lanes and it's a real pleasure to drive on. 

Hemus near Sofia :






























*[E772]* Between Targovishte and Shumen










Sofia - Burgas - Varna is longer and it also passes the last lsopes of Stara Planina through the Rishki pass which has fairly enough curves, ups and downs. 

:cheers:


----------



## Radish2

I love such asphalt color, it looks amazing, when the sky is cloudy and dark, apsolutely amazing, especially if it has shiny crashbarriers.


----------



## arthur_mkd

Turnovec said:


> I'd advice Sofia-Veliko Tarnovo-Varna [Hemus Motorway]. Maybe 2/3 of the [E772] national road that connects both sides of Hemus was rehabilitated in the recent years and it is a fine road to drive on(not much curves, ups and downs.). You would only have some 7-10 difficult kilometers passing by Veliko Tarnovo as part of the road is closed due to the construction of a new junction. I would advice you to leave aside the signified alternative roads and drive through the city center and ask someone how to get back on the road to Varna(it would save some additional time and kilometers). After Veliko Tarnovo there are many stretches where the road is with 3 lanes and it's a real pleasure to drive on...
> 
> Thank you so much for the info, my friend  It's going to be my first drive in Bulgaria, could you also tell me a word or two about your Police, traffic violation tickets (although I have no intention of speeding or any other violations)?


----------



## transport21

Radish2 said:


> I love such asphalt color, it looks amazing, when the sky is cloudy and dark, apsolutely amazing, especially if it has shiny crashbarriers.


The colour of the asphalt and the shine of a crashbarrier are not major factors in how good a motorway is. It the signs, good junctions, good reflectors on the road and a good surface. In fact concrete barriers are a lot safer than those lovely shiny barriers for the median you speak about so much. :cheers:


----------



## Radish2

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Dangerous at night, especially if the road markings are not reflective or insufficient either.


It´s true, that reflectors are missing, but markings are mostly very good and the signs reflect very good aswell, but the roads would look better with such reflectors, more complete.


----------



## transport21

Radish2 said:


> It´s true, that reflectors are missing, but markings are mostly very good and the signs reflect very good aswell, but the roads would look better with such reflectors, more complete.


It more about safety than the look of the road.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ It's kinda cool though, a while ago, I was driving a curvy road behind a truck at night, and he had his big lights on, and you could see the reflective markings, reflectors + cat's eyes in a cool way, it looked like a runway.


----------



## panda80

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ It's kinda cool though, a while ago, I was driving a curvy road behind a truck at night, and he had his big lights on, and you could see the reflective markings, reflectors + cat's eyes in a cool way, it looked like a runway.


actually when you are travelling by night in romania and bulgaria it's advisable to stay behind a truck because you can see the road much better.i usually find a truck that's going at around 100km/h and drive behind him at night.


----------



## Ivanski

Turnovec said:


>


That picture of the junction near Pravets looks awesome.


----------



## Zaro

transport21 said:


> The colour of the asphalt and the shine of a crashbarrier are not major factors in how good a motorway is. It the signs, good junctions, good reflectors on the road and a good surface. In fact concrete barriers are a lot safer than those lovely shiny barriers for the median you speak about so much. :cheers:


You're once again questioning, even underestimating, the benefits of the shiny crashbarriers and colour of the asphalt. 

:cheers:


----------



## autobahnracer

In fact, my favorite motorway in Bulgaria is "Hemus". I love the combination of viaducts and tunnels through a montanious terrain. It looks amaizing, even though there are not more than a 70-80 km constructed from Sofia and 100 km from Varna


----------



## Ivanski

I agree, imagine how it would like if it was finished or near that stage :yes:


----------



## panda80

the curious thing about hemus is that the hardest part, through the balkans is constructed since long time ago and the easier part, through the danube plain is not going to be build soon.


----------



## Ivanski

Well our lame ass politicians obviously can't handle even the easier challenge.


----------



## Mateusz

Why whole route can't be A5 ? But later on after some kilometres changing to A6


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Good question! It is really funny to call a 19km. stretch a motorway and give it a number ... 



and802 said:


> no particular plan. some must-see places (Veliko Tarnovo, Melnik, Belogradchik,Plovdiv, Black sea coast, some other places) you see I had been living in Bulgaria 10 years ago for a while, and now it is a time for deja-vu. the only concern is my 3 year old kid, who seems not to understand a new deal in Europe (some countries with no borders, others with border hassles).
> 
> the most important thing is get from Hungary to Bulgaria within one day and end it up with nice place on Bulgarian side - that is way Belogradchik was on my mind ...


Well, if you want to go to Belogradchik right after you cross the border you have 2 options:

1. Take the north part of Sofia's ring road and after few kilometres switch on Lomsko Shose to Kostinbrod (national road 81) and then via the Petrohan pass reach Berkovica, Montana and then further on E79 to Rujinci where you take the road to Belogradchik. There is an alternative route Montana-Belogradchik going west of E79 but it is in bad condition, mind that! 

2. Take the north part of Sofia's ring road and leave where A2 Hemus starts ... the first 10-15 km. of Hemus after Sofia aren't in good condition too, but it's bearable. Then leave the motorway at Botevgrad and take E79 to Vratsa and Montana. It's in good condition(bg parts of it were rehabilitated over the last years) with only few km. in bad condition when you go around Vratsa. From Montana the road to Belogradchik offers the same options via both routes. 

Route 1. is shorter, but it is a lot more difficult as Petrohan is a mountain pass... Route 2. is longer but it takes less than 2 hours to reach Montana via it. 

Sofia-Veliko Tarnovo is about 3 hours drive. First part of the road is on Hemus(it ends near Yablanica, just like it used to 10 years ago) and the road from Yablanica to Veliko Tarnovo E772 is in good shape as big parts of it were renovated during the last several years too. Plovdiv is about 2 hours away from Sofia via A1 , and the rest depends on your choice. 

I would suggest you going to Tryavna when you reach Veliko Tarnovo. Probably you have visited the place when you lived in Buglaria but just to reccommend it to you as a nice place. :cheers:


----------



## Ivanski

A5 Lyulin connects Sofia ring road to Daskalovo road junction (near Pernik), which is the biggest road facility in the area. 










On that point another connection will be made to get on our Glorious Struma A6 motorway and collect some decent sun tan from the shiny carshbarriers there.


----------



## and802

Turnovec said:


> Well, if you want to go to Belogradchik right after you cross the border you have 2 options:
> ................
> 
> ...............I would suggest you going to Tryavna when you reach Veliko Tarnovo. Probably you have visited the place when you lived in Buglaria but just to reccommend it to you as a nice place. :cheers:


many thanks for your directions. 

definately I will be visiting Tryavna. it is on my to-do list as well.


----------



## wyqtor

Ivanski said:


> On that point another connection will be made to get on our Glorious Struma A6 motorway and collect some decent sun tan from the shiny carshbarriers there.


I LOLed on reading that :lol: . But I thought Lyulin connected to Struma seamlessly, i.e. only the road number changes at a certain point, like A1-A13 (I think) in Switzerland. How does the connection actually work out?


----------



## Ivanski

That's what i've read about Lyulin on the net ,but it could be sort our the way you say by just changing the signature.:dunno: I'm not completely sure how it's planned we gotta know it by the end of the year though. If anyone knows more - speak now or be silent forever


----------



## and802

*E85 Ruse - Veliko Turnovo*

good day collegues,

could somebody let me know the road condition on E85 route between Ruse and Veliko Turnovo ? is it nice paved road or rather our Eastern European standard, which can be almost anything ?


----------



## Turnovec

and802 said:


> good day collegues,
> 
> could somebody let me know the road condition on E85 route between Ruse and Veliko Turnovo ? is it nice paved road or rather our Eastern European standard, which can be almost anything ?


^^ It's ok  Even the expressway going through Russe and the bridges after it were renovated lately. The only problems that you might find are that there is a small part of it and a bridge closed near Byala(at the middle of the road) for reconstruction at the moment and there might be a few km. bypassing on a not so good pavement roads via couple of villages. Also there are a lot of TIR trucks traveling on that road.


----------



## and802

many thanks for quick response !

so otherwords guys in trucks are the only noticable issue. what the hell ! this is our reality. it could be nice to live in a country without big transit truck involvement ...


----------



## bgplayer19

does anyone know whether the Lyulin-Sofia Ring Road junction is finished?


----------



## Radish2

Ivanski said:


> That's what i've read about Lyulin on the net ,but it could be sort our the way you say by just changing the signature.:dunno: I'm not completely sure how it's planned we gotta know it by the end of the year though. If anyone knows more - speak now or be silent forever


It will go on directly only with changing roadname, it can be seem because of the sahpe of the bridge columns. I hope it will be as good, because the Struma motorway is still after 3 years one of the smoothest motorways in europe.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hey Radi, do you got any holiday pics from Struma?


----------



## Zaro

ChrisZwolle said:


> Hey Radi, do you got any holiday pics from Struma?


No construction update => no pics. 

Actually Struma intergalactico was scheduled to have been completed for Athens 2004. 

Or it may be a real intergalactic route, since it is invisible to all men but one.:lol:


----------



## Radish2

No new pics, because I´ve showed it quite often here, I will wait til the first part of the Ljulin motorway opens to take some pics, I have some pics of high quality romanian nationalroads, since we passed through Romania this time, the condition was better then I expected there. But on the Bulgarian side, the Vidin Montana road was one of the worst roads I´ve ever seen, i am really dissapionted and it is a fucking shame that this road is way worse then any Romanian road you pass from Hungary to Bulgarian border!!! Why the **** has noone wanred people from Romania that the road is of poor quality? Now Boiko might repair it though.


----------



## Turnovec

The technical project for the construction of the Northern speed tangent in Sofia is ready. 










[red] - Northern Speed tangent
[blue] - Sofia ring road, northern part

up right - Sofia-Kalotina(Serbian border)
down left - [A2] exit Sofia-Varna.

It will be 16km. long(6 less than the Northern part of the ring road) - with 3 lanes and a shoulder in each direction with 5 junctions in 2 levels of the most important boulevards. The projected speed is 120 km/h. 

The project will contender for funding by the Operative Programm Transport of the EU 2007-2013.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

"Speed tangent". Fancy for "bypass"?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Well, that's how they call it here _Skorostna tangenta_ - Speed tangent. It's not part of the ring road(bypass), nor part of the inner city road network... but with a vision in the future, with the enlarging of the city to become a kind of a city highway. yep - probably a bypass is a good translation.


----------



## and802

*Plovdiv - Thessaloniki*

good day collegues again,

could you please give me a hint how to travel from Plovdiv to Thessaloniki ? any particular road section/border crossing I should avoid ?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I guess you need to go from Plovdiv to Sofia, and then south via Blagoevgrad to Thessaloniki. Otherwise you would have to cross mountainous regions of southern Bulgaria.


----------



## panda80

and802 said:


> good day collegues again,
> 
> could you please give me a hint how to travel from Plovdiv to Thessaloniki ? any particular road section/border crossing I should avoid ?


If you go via sofia you would experiment some traffic jams(sofia bypass, vladaja pass) and the road is very long.
I think the best road to choose would be plovdiv-borovo-jundola-yakorouda-razlog-simitli-kulata-Thessaloniki.Another variant is to go Yakorouda-gotse delcev-drama-Thessaloniki.The new border crossing between gotse delcev and drama doesn't appear on most maps but road should be in good condition as it was opened in 2006 i think.AFAIK there are no problems at borders.


----------



## and802

panda80 said:


> If you go via sofia you would experiment some traffic jams(sofia bypass, vladaja pass) and the road is very long.
> I think the best road to choose would be plovdiv-borovo-jundola-yakorouda-razlog-simitli-kulata-Thessaloniki.Another variant is to go Yakorouda-gotse delcev-drama-Thessaloniki.The new border crossing between gotse delcev and drama doesn't appear on most maps but road should be in good condition as it was opened in 2006 i think.AFAIK there are no problems at borders.


panda80. many thanks for a quick response. I think I wil take a Plovdiv-Yakoruda-Razlog-Simitli-Kulata-Thessaloniki route. cheers


----------



## panda80

and802 said:


> panda80. many thanks for a quick response. I think I wil take a Plovdiv-Yakoruda-Razlog-Simitli-Kulata-Thessaloniki route. cheers


Yes, it's a good choice.The road razlog-simitli got rehabilitated 2 years ago, and simitli-kulata is a good road too.I've been on this route in summer 2007 and haven't encounter any problems.Have a nice trip!


----------



## Radish2

If you go through Sofia you would drive on the awesome Struma motorway and it would also be faster then going over the mountain roads.


----------



## Radish2

Ok, altough it´s a motorway topic I will show these pics becuase otherwise noone will notice them and it´s important for me that people from here see them. I was in the Rila mountain today and went from the Kirilova poljana meadow 7 km away from the Rila monastery directly to the peaks and took these pics, extremly steep rockwalls.






























These are pics from a different place in the mountain which are also beautiful


----------



## Mateusz

Is it somewhere near Struma motorway ?


----------



## Radish2

Yes, 70 km away from it, but it can´t be seen from the E-79 nationalroad, ofcourse.


----------



## Buddy Holly

It can't be seen 70km away? Are you sure?


----------



## Timon91

70 km is quite far :lol:


----------



## panda80

Buddy Holly said:


> It can't be seen 70km away? Are you sure?


It's 70km from Struma but maybe just 40km from E-79 nationalroad.


----------



## autobahnracer

40 or 70 km away doesn't matter )))))) 
 
It cannot be seen from the Struma motorway neither from the E-79 road simply because it's on the opposite side of the Rila mountain.


----------



## Zaro

autobahnracer said:


> 40 or 70 km away doesn't matter ))))))
> 
> It cannot be seen from the Struma motorway neither from the E-79 road simply because it's on the opposite side of the Rila mountain.


A be ne e on the opposite side, ama who gives a shit anyway. :nuts:


----------



## panda80

autobahnracer said:


> 40 or 70 km away doesn't matter ))))))
> 
> It cannot be seen from the Struma motorway neither from the E-79 road simply because it's on the opposite side of the Rila mountain.


However, Rila mountain can be seen from E-79, and also Pirin.The view of these 2 mountains from the road is impressive.


----------



## autobahnracer

Zaro said:


> A be ne e on the opposite side, ama who gives a shit anyway. :nuts:


Sorry, i didn't express myself clearly )
Of course Rila and Pirin are visible from the E-79 route and the view is quite impressive! 
The place where Radi was, as well as the Rila Monastery, it's not exactly at the other side of Rila, but it isn't visible from the E-79 cause it's behind the "Orlovtzi" peak ))) 
:nuts:


----------



## horiababu

So do you finally have any information about he opening of Hainboaz (Pass of the Republic)? It should have been completed as of 31 July.


----------



## Buddy Holly

panda80 said:


> It's 70km from Struma but maybe just 40km from E-79 nationalroad.


I was joking. The human eye can't see something 70km away.


----------



## Verso

Buddy Holly said:


> I was joking. The human eye can't see something 70km away.


I see stars, which are light years away.


----------



## bozata90

horiababu said:


> So do you finally have any information about he opening of Hainboaz (Pass of the Republic)? It should have been completed as of 31 July.


This is quite a strange case... It is being postponed indefinitely for now.
The problem is that the former president of our National agency¨Road infrastructure¨ awarded the contract to the company of his brother... (That is why the EU cut the ISPA programme.) Now the new government wants to make quality tests to see if it meets all the standards. Only then the pass will open.


----------



## Buddy Holly

Verso said:


> I see stars, which are light years away.


Good for you. Do you see highways that are 70km away?


----------



## Verso

We were talking about mountains. Yes, I can see them from 70 km away.


----------



## Buddy Holly

He was talking about E-75, and as far as I can tell, E-75 is not a mountain. Now stop this nonsense.


----------



## Turnovec

... and a video of the Ring road between Dragalevtzi and Simeonovo again thanx to LG from gtsofia.info


----------



## Turnovec

The scenery around Bebresh Viaduct of the Hemus [A2] Motorway:


----------



## Turnovec

Hemus [A2] Motorway, Vitinya tunnel 1125 m.


----------



## bgplayer19

Ivanski said:


> Sofia ringroad


I'm fed up with this!Why the hell is there only 1 destination :bash::bash::bash:
For me it must have at least 3-4

example: ^ Pernik ^
Blagoevgrad
Athens
Belgrade


----------



## wyqtor

^^Even the *names *of the roads in that particular direction are very inspiring and may be written on signs: Lyulin and (of course) Struma. :lol:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

There are also more lanes than the sign indicates...


----------



## Ivanski

All roads lead to Pernik :yes:

Some foggy photos of Trakia A1 by Bobby Dimitrov.


----------



## Le Clerk

Ivanski said:


> Sofia ringroad
> 
> between Dragalevtsi and Boyana.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> between Dragalevtsi and Simeonovo:


Sofia ringroad looks realy good. How much of the Sofia ring does this 2X2 section covers?


----------



## Buddy Holly

That's 2X3, not 2X2.


----------



## Le Clerk

Yes, sorry, 2x3. How much of the ring does it cover percentagewise?

The Bucharest ring is 1x1 mostly and the traffic is awful because of that! :bash:

Only now there are extension works for 2x2 which will be completed this fall for about only 1/4 of the ring.


----------



## blagun

Le Clerk said:


> Yes, sorry, 2x3. How much of the ring does it cover percentagewise?


 Less than 5 km (with one interruption) from the southern part and about 6-7 km (with 1 interruption) from the north-eastern part.


----------



## JloKyM

Buddy Holly said:


> That's 2X3, not 2X2.


Actually it is 2X3(express lanes) + 2X2(local lanes)


----------



## Le Clerk

blagun said:


> Less than 5 km (with one interruption) from the southern part and about 6-7 km (with 1 interruption) from the north-eastern part.


OK. Thank you. :cheers:

So, the plan is to complete the Sofia ring (about 60 km long I understand) with such expressway at 2x3? Are they working on it now?


----------



## blagun

Le Clerk said:


> OK. Thank you. :cheers:
> 
> So, the plan is to complete the Sofia ring (about 60 km long I understand) with such expressway at 2x3? Are they working on it now?


Northern arc will be part of the transite motorways system - connection between Sofia-Kulata (Greek border - Motorways Lulin/Struma), Sofia-Kalotina (Serbian border), Sofia-Varna (Motorway Hemus) and Sofia-Plovdiv-Burgas/Svilengrad (Motorways Thrakia/Maritsa). It will be completed after 2013.

Southern arc will be urban expressway. At the moment they are working only on the intersection point with Sofia-Dragalevtsi-Mt Vitosha.










ORANGE = Northern transite arc
WHITE = Southern urban expressway
GREEN = 2*3 lanes in use


----------



## Turnovec

edit


----------



## Turnovec

Some photos of the Mezdra-Botevgrad-Hemus Motorway stretch of [E79]


----------



## Turnovec

Botevgrad bypass (2x2) 


















































































































































Taking left to enter Hemus Motorway [A2] towards Sofia






































And here we're on Hemus


----------



## wdw35

Turnovec said:


>


Lol! Blue e-road signs!
That's gotta be the first time I see that!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ I have seen it before, also in Kosovo.


----------



## Ivanski

Blue is the new green, it's all about fashion around this region. The pics are cool but someone gotta clean up this jungle growing around the crashbarriers, it hides their awesome shininess.


----------



## Turnovec

The west entrance of Veliko Tarnovo, left to right [E772]


----------



## Le Clerk

That's really cool man ... and that autumn red of the trees. :drool: Very beautiful pic!


----------



## panda80

The whole Veliko Turnovo is a nice, cool city.And also the area around it has many beautiful touristic spots.Fortunately it's just 3hours of driving from Bucharest:banana:


----------



## Turnovec

^^ :cheers: 

Isn't Bucharest even closer? It's about 100 km. to Ruse and than 60-70 more from Ruse to Bucharest.

Here's the [E85] road that goes under the VT old town and continues north towards Bucharest(up - left on the photo)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That's the nice half of the city though  Further to the left is commieblockland.


----------



## panda80

Turnovec said:


> ^^ :cheers:
> 
> Isn't Bucharest even closer? It's about 100 km. to Ruse and than 60-70 more from Ruse to Bucharest.
> 
> Here's the [E85] road that goes under the VT old town and continues north towards Bucharest(up - left on the photo)


I think you need 3 hours to reach Veliko because you have to stop for paying the bridge and at the border crossing point.Also if you don't have vignette you have to stop and buy it.


----------



## Ivanski

Sofia main east 'gate' Tsarigradsko shousse blvd.



rtzakov said:


>


----------



## Turnovec

Road junction 'Baikal' of [E79] at Dupnitsa


----------



## Radish2

Who has taken these clean and beautiful shots of the sacret landscape?


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Boby Dimitrov - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobydimitrov/


----------



## Singidunum

What is the current condition of A1 patch from Sofia to Serbian border?


----------



## Capt.Vimes

Singidunum said:


> What is the current condition of A1 patch from Sofia to Serbian border?


There's no motorway between Sofia and the Serbian border. Most of the road is 2x2. The road is in very good condition.


----------



## Radish2

But a motorway to Serbian border is planned.


----------



## Singidunum

I know it's planned - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...g/800px-Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg.png

but are there any pics of the current road?


----------



## Radish2

There are pics of that road on previous pages. The road is indeet awesome, except the 2 X 2 part, because it has bad markings that are faded out and have to be repainted. But the 1 X 1 part looks very clean and very modern, it looks awesome.


----------



## Ivanski

*А1 motorway*




























source


----------



## Turnovec

Singidunum said:


> I know it's planned - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...g/800px-Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg.png
> 
> but are there any pics of the current road?


The whole road Sofia-SRB border has been rehabilitated 2 years ago. Sofia-Slivnica is 2x2, Slivnica-SRB border is 2 lane, with short 2x2 stretch just before the border.


----------



## Marek.kvackaj

good photos of roads in Bulgaria

btw - car plates in Bulgaria are similar to those in Slovakia = e.g. BA 216 AT (Bulgaria 6.5 mil people, Slovakia 5.5mil. people)

I think that there is combination over 450 000 for BA (Bratislava) car plates (then after BA we have BD, BR and BX)


----------



## Ivanski

Bulgaria is about 7.5 mil actually. As for the plates they seem similar - locals are with X/XX NNNN XX (X-letter, N-number) system as the first (or first two) letters stand for the region of registration, as we use only letters that have equivalent in Latin alphabet (C,A,M,T,P, etc.) I dunno if the rest symbols are placed random though.


----------



## Singidunum

Turnovec said:


> ...


Thanks :cheers:


----------



## Radish2

I commented that road in the transportation thread in the Bulgarian forum, and I will post what I posted there aswell. 

WOW, That looks fucking incredible, it looks truly like a masterpeace, the asphalt is black and looks thick and very smooth and clean, the markings are shiningly white and the rest of the road is incredible aswell, oh and how much I love that kind of bridges with the brilliantly shining zinc railing, which make new Bulgarian nationalroads like this one and motorways like the Struma motorway look like roads that could easily appear in Sciense fiction movies that show civilisations and High speed magnet trains on Mars or beyond our solar system. I would really like to see that fucking masterpeace, that can easily be compared to highspeed nationalroads of reach western european countries! Awesome


----------



## Angelos

ehmm its look like an ordinary repabedroad ??


----------



## Turnovec

^^ And that's what it is - ordinary 1st class national road. Radi just gets overexsitied or too Strumatic sometimes.


----------



## Radish2

Angelos said:


> ehmm its look like an ordinary repabedroad ??


No, it does look very good.










That looks like an ordinary regionalroad, the Bulgarian road looks like some road on another planet, where future mashinery drives on.


----------



## RawLee

Then I suppose you wont like "Avatar",as it has no roads in it (judging by the trailers),although it is set in Alpha Centaury.


----------



## Radish2

RawLee said:


> Then I suppose you wont like "Avatar",as it has no roads in it (judging by the trailers),although it is set in Alpha Centaury.


I don´t know this movie, but there are definately sciense fction movies, where vehicles drive on other planets, and the road does look great and moern, it doesn´t have some special things, like electronical signs, but the materials used make it look llike from a sciense fiction movie.


----------



## RawLee

Avatar is pouring even from the tap these days...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hey, there is also a 16 kilometer gap between the A1 and O-3 near Edirne around the border with Turkey. I never noticed that, most maps sign it as a continuous motorway.


----------



## bozata90

ChrisZwolle said:


> Hey, there is also a 16 kilometer gap between the A1 and O-3 near Edirne around the border with Turkey. I never noticed that, most maps sign it as a continuous motorway.


Actually, there is one more gap near Svilengrad, where only half of the motorway is built...


----------



## Le Clerk

Turnovec said:


> Some news that might be helpfull for the romanian forumers here
> 
> 2 new stretches of reconstructed 1st class road were opened last week in Bulgaria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Montana-Lom [81-II] length 41km. 8 bridges, 10 junctions. Price 6 mil EUR by the PHARE programm.
> 
> Pleven-Nikopol [II - 34] length 45 km. Price 12.5 mil EUR(4.5 by the PHARE transborder cooperation Bulgaria-Romania fund).
> 
> A new ferryboat link Nikopol-Turnu Magurele must start working very soon as well :cheers:


That's good news! I just checked Romania's road map for Turnu Magurele and I see there a national road but do not know the condition of it as I've never driven there and I don't think we have a member from there. But with the new ferry, I think the traffic will increase. :cheers:


----------



## scurt/2

Le Clerk said:


> That's good news! I just checked Romania's road map for Turnu Magurele and I see there a national road but do not know the condition of it as I've never driven there and I don't think we have a member from there. But with the new ferry, I think the traffic will increase. :cheers:


Maybe the future (2030?) Bucharest-Sofia motorway should follow this path: Alexandria-Tr.Magurele-Nicopole-Plevna-Sofia...


----------



## Ayceman

scurt/2 said:


> Maybe the future (2030?) Bucharest-Sofia motorway should follow this path: Alexandria-Tr.Magurele-Nicopole-Plevna-Sofia...


I doubt we'll see a Turnu Măgurele - Nicopole motorway bridge (Турну Мъгуреле - Никопол ), maybe a standard DN bridge. The plans currently say that the motorway will be București - Giurgiu, possibly by upgrading the 2x2 carriageway.


----------



## Turnovec

> *8 Firms to Compete for Bulgaria Trakiya Motorway Construction*
> 
> Eight bids have been successfully entered in the tender for the construction of the 32-mile Trakiya Motorway section between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora.
> 
> The "Road Infrastructure" Agency reported that 66 companies had entered documentation for the tender but only eight met the criteria to go into the final tender. The names of the eight companies will be revealed later today, with firms from Croatia, Austria and Turkey said to be amongst them.
> 
> The bidding companies are required to have had an income of no less than BGN 200 M over the last three years, to have built at least 35 km of highways in the last five years, and to provide funding of BGN 20 M on their own.
> 
> The final contractor is set to be chosen before the end of April, with construction set to start on May 3 according to Regional Development Minister, Rosen Plevneliev.
> 
> The GERB government has promised the completion of the Trakiya, Maritza, and Lyulin Motorways by the end of its term in 2013, and tangible progress on the Struma and Black Sea Motorways. A total of nine tenders for nine lots from the various highway projects are to be held over the next four years.


and an update of the works on Lyulin Motorway



benjaminn said:


> *Ето снимки на АМ "Люлин" от преди няколко дена, правени от Vladislav от другия форум:*





benjaminn said:


>





benjaminn said:


>


----------



## Le Clerk

Is there a map of U/C sections or delivery dates for motorways in Bulgaria? 

And, BTW, which are the "Black Sea" motorways? :cheers:


----------



## panda80

Le Clerk said:


> Is there a map of U/C sections or delivery dates for motorways in Bulgaria?
> 
> And, BTW, which are the "Black Sea" motorways? :cheers:


U/C there are just 2 parts:

-Lyulin motorway from Sofia bypass to Dragichevo junction (where E79 to Greece and E871 to Macedonia split) - 19km.
- a small section of Maritza (the motorway from Plovdiv to Kapitan Andreevo border crossing with Turkey).

Black Sea (Cherno More) is the motorway from Varna to Burgas, along the Black Sea. Almost 10km near Varna are constructed, with the famous Asparukhovo bridge, the other sections will come in the next 5-7 years. In the article they use the plural form "motorways" because they are reffering to the Black Sea and Struma *motorways*.

What surprised me in the article is the fact that nothing about Hemus motorway is mentioned.


----------



## Turnovec

Panda is right about everything  

Here's the plan of everything that must finally kick off this year in Bulgaria:

All the project are part of the Operative program Transport of the EU for the period till 2013.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ Thanks. It'd be a good idea to extend the Black Sea Motorway all the way to the Romanian border some times in the future, and the motorway from Constanta to be extended to the border with Bulgaria. It'd be the first motorway connection between the 2 countries, except if the one on Corridor IV gets completed earlier. :cheers:


----------



## Turnovec

^^ Black Sea Motorway was included as the last lot of Trakya [A1] Motorway few months ago. It's construction will be granted by OP Transport, but for the following period - after 2013... The road north of Varna is with 2x2 expressway profile up until Golden Sands and a little bit further i think, and the terrain up to the BG-RO border is mostly pure plains, so it won't be difficult turning it into a motorway some time in the future. I prefer though if our governments focus more on the [E79] connection. After the bridge at Vidin-Kalafat is built in 1.5 years tme it will require some good motorways both on Bulgarian and Romanian territory. We are already taking measures as big parts of the Botevgrad-Vidin road are already(or will be soon) reconstructed as 2x2 expressways. :cheers:


----------



## Ivanski

A recent photo update of the Sofia ring road construction mess , 10x to _Chilio_


----------



## Le Clerk

Turnovec said:


> ^^ Black Sea Motorway was included as the last lot of Trakya [A1] Motorway few months ago. It's construction will be granted by OP Transport, but for the following period - after 2013... The road north of Varna is with 2x2 expressway profile up until Golden Sands and a little bit further i think, and the terrain up to the BG-RO border is mostly pure plains, so it won't be difficult turning it into a motorway some time in the future. I prefer though if our governments focus more on the [E79] connection. After the bridge at Vidin-Kalafat is built in 1.5 years tme it will require some good motorways both on Bulgarian and Romanian territory. We are already taking measures as big parts of the Botevgrad-Vidin road are already(or will be soon) reconstructed as 2x2 expressways. :cheers:


I also agree we need to completed the southern branch of Corridor IV (Timisoara-Calafat/Vidin-Sofia) first. It's the most important transborder transportation system between RO and BG. But in the long run, we could consider connecting the seasides....that would be great for tourism and the economy in general. Imagine driving from Constanta to Varna in just 30-40 mins! :cheers:

But I know it's a longer term project.


----------



## Turnovec

Le Clerk said:


> Ussually that's a scheme used by companies to win the bid and then ask for a raise of the price. How much can companies ask over the agreed price in public procurement contracts in Bulgaria? Here is 50% and unless the price is a fixed one, the company may ask for a raise depending on the agreed circumstances.
> 
> Also, if the price is dubiously low, the authorities ask for clarifications and if these are not enough, they refuse the winning bid and reorganise the tender.



This time the tender conditions are very tough. It was announced before the offers submission that the price offered and contarcted will be the final one, no matter what obsticles appear during construction. Also any possible changes in the construction plan are due to be paid by the contractor, not the state. The timeframe is strict too, any delays are due to be paid by the contractor as well. This is the reason why there were such big gaps between the different offers i guess. The other companies secured themselves by calculating a lot bigger risk than Trace Group.


----------



## autobahnracer

Yes, but at the other hand, Trace Group is located in Stara Zagora, so they know very well the terrain and maybe that's why they have calculated less risk (the realistic one) ...


----------



## Ivanski




----------



## FloatingShift

It was announced today that the offer clarifications produced by Trace Group were deemed to be sufficient and the company was chosen as the contractor for the this stretch. It seems the decision is not final yet, but it's a step.


----------



## so0okol

Ivanski said:


> http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/14821036.jpg


Nice photo.
Roads too.


----------



## Stelian

Trace Group is the winner and the commision denied the plead of Strabag so hopefully they will start the construction in 3th of May


----------



## Radish2

I hope construction will start wy earlier and Struma motorway tender will start this or next month aswell and the construction in a few months, because the Struma motorway is very needed, since the condition of the E-79 nationalroad is not that great anymore, since it is aging and this winter is cold and snowy.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Radish2 said:


> I hope construction will start wy earlier and Struma motorway tender will start this or next month aswell and the construction in a few months, because the Struma motorway is very needed, since the condition of the E-79 nationalroad is not that great anymore, since it is aging and this winter is cold and snowy.


I think Struma tenders for lot 1 and 4 are scheduled for the beginning of next year.And choosing a company to engineer lot 2(till your beloved Blagoevgrad)is right after that.Hope they manage faster:cheers:


----------



## Radish2

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> I think Struma tenders for lot 1 and 4 are scheduled for the beginning of next year.And choosing a company to engineer lot 2(till your beloved Blagoevgrad)is right after that.Hope they manage faster:cheers:


True, I hope that they will manage it faster aswell.


----------



## Turnovec

> Bulgaria Road Agency Confirms Trakiya Highway Tender Winner
> 
> The Bulgarian Agency 'Road Infrastructure’ has confirmed that the Bulgarian consortium 'Unified Highway Trace' has won the contract for construction of a new section of the Trakiya Highway
> 
> The tender on offer was for construction of a 32 km stretch of highway to link the towns of Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora and Bulgarian media reports had already suggested on Wednesday that "Unified Highway Trace" had won it.
> 
> The Bulgarian alliance submitted the lowest bid - BGN 137,86 M - in competition with three other approved applicants. Cost had been declared as one of the most important criteria.
> 
> The low price of the winning bid - approximately one third of the highest figure, and at a lower cost per kilometre than the consortium had received for a similar contract in 2005-2007, has been explained by the consortium’s management as reflecting local transport and material costs - the consortium's operation is based near Stara Zagora.
> 
> Four other hopeful bidders had their submissions disallowed, for undisclosed reasons. One of the excluded groups, Austrian "Strabag", later filed an official complaint with the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC), seeking to have the tender award annulled.


So the construction of 32 km. of Trakia motorway [A1] mu st kick off in early May :cheers:


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## Turnovec

Also the tender for lot 3 of Trakia Motorway [A1] was officially opened today. it will be with slightly relieved conditions, comapred with the one for lot 2, in order to avoid the big gap between the price offers that was encountered at the end of the tender for lot2. Hopefully in a couple of months we'll have a contractor for that 36 km. as well so the works could kick off some when in the summer :cheers:


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## Stelian

Turnovec said:


> Also the tender for lot 3 of Trakia Motorway [A1] was officially opened today. it will be with slightly relieved conditions, comapred with the one for lot 2, in order to avoid the big gap between the price offers that was encountered at the end of the tender for lot2. Hopefully in a couple of months we'll have a contractor for that 36 km. as well so the works could kick off some when in the summer :cheers:


Right, the construction of all three lots must begin till August2010.The constructors have 25 months to finish the job.And the contract says very clearly that there cannot be any delay or change in the price.Which means that in summer of 2012 there will be motorway link between Sofia and Burgas.


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## Ivanski

Our forumer *Chilio* provided us with a photo reportage of the current condition of the U/C motorway Lyulin A5.


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## Turnovec

Several archive shots(from commie times) of the Asparuhov bridge, part of Chermo more motorway


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## Radish2

So yesterday I went from Blagoevgrad to Sofia, to accompany my mother, because she had to return to Germany and it was again a great trip. We took the bus at the morning at 6:30 pm, so the sun was just rising. I was very surprised how awesome the road Dupnica Sofia and the Struma motorway still are. When the bus entered the new asphalt on the road after Dupnica, nothing could be felt anymore, the raod was as smooth and as even as glass. It was just really incredible, because really nothing could be felt. After 4 years there was no fucking unevenness on the whole road. After that we entered the motorway with a bit rougher asphalt but so even, that I thought, the bus is going with 20 km, altough the bus was going with 100 km per hour and that on the whole motorway. Just incredible masterpeace, that are the smoothest roads I've ever seen, and I've seen thausands of kilometers of roads in europe.


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## Le Clerk

Turnovec said:


> Several archive shots(from commie times) of the Asparuhov bridge, part of Chermo more motorway


Wow, where is that? 

Any newer pics?


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## wyqtor

Le Clerk said:


> Wow, where is that?
> 
> Any newer pics?


It's just south of Varna.


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## Le Clerk

I must have rode it on my way to Sunny Beach a few years ago (I remember going through such a viaduct) but don't tell anyone cause it's embarrassing. :gossip: However, one doesn't get to see it when riding it unfortunately.


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## Turnovec

^^ :colgate:

Here it is today


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## autobahnracer

Turnovec said:


> ^^ :colgate:
> 
> Here it is today


^^ It's beautiful ! I have never seen it at night...


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## PhirgataZFs1694

An outstanding report from the construction of Lylin Motorway[A5] by our dear forumer *Chilio* (the order in which they are taken is form Pernik towards Sofia):






















Chilio said:


> 21.05.2010 г. Пътен възел Даскалово - АМ Люлин, в почти цялата и дължина, включително неснимания досега участък от пътния възел до събирането със стария път след Големо Бучино...
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> Започвам с пътен възел Даскалово... извинявам се за лошото качество на снимките, голяма част са от движение.
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> Далечен поглед от оттатък ЖП линията:





Chilio said:


> Нататък терена е трасиран, а малко по-нататък се работи много активно.
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Chilio said:


> Поглед назад...
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Chilio said:


> И стигаме до високата естакада над Голямо Бучино,където стана трагичния инцидент. Работи се много активно по нея, не е вече спряно за разследване.
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Chilio said:


> Вече навътре в прохода се работи по значително по-ниски, но по-дълги.





Chilio said:


> На самия проход, където магистралата ще пресече през тунел под стария път, са започнали пробиването на терена в югозападна посока.
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Chilio said:


> За тук става въпрос.
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Chilio said:


> Още малко поглед назад към планината, преди да излезем окончателно от нея.
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Chilio said:


> И стигаме до пътния възел със софийския Околовръстен път. По който се работи, макар и не много активно.





Chilio said:


> Новия път към Люлин...
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And two quality shots from *spawn* :


spawn3 said:


> Строежа на Люлин при Голямо Бучино.
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## zugry

*Silistra - Ayton or Silistra - Karnobats?*

Hi!

I'm new on this forum, but I will travel soon to Bulgaria and I'd need a little help.
I want to go on this route: Silistra - Alfatar - Provadia - Dalgopol - Ayton - Burgas - Malko Trnovo. Can you tell me if the road between Silistra and Ayton is ok? I saw it is included in a national program of reparations. Are they working on?

Also, as an alternative, I think about Silistra - Shoumen - Karnobats. Last year was ok, there are any problems this year?

Thank you very much!


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## ChrisZwolle

Hmm, the advancements on the A5 are widely ranged from almost completed to earthworks. I cannot see how the entire motorway will be opened this year. Some sections, especially closer to Pernik seem to require a lot of first-stage construction.


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## panda80

zugry said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm new on this forum, but I will travel soon to Bulgaria and I'd need a little help.
> I want to go on this route: Silistra - Alfatar - Provadia - Dalgopol - Ayton - Burgas - Malko Trnovo. Can you tell me if the road between Silistra and Ayton is ok? I saw it is included in a national program of reparations. Are they working on?
> 
> Also, as an alternative, I think about Silistra - Shoumen - Karnobats. Last year was ok, there are any problems this year?
> 
> Thank you very much!


I used Silistra-Shumen-Aytos(not Ayton)-Burgas road exactly 2 years ago and it was ok. There were some bad parts, but nothing special. The road Silistra-Shumen is quite bumpy, but you can do 90-100km/h without problems. I never used Alfatar-Provadya road, so I don't know it's condition. But if you want to go to Turkey, I suggest you the road Silistra-Shumen-Omurtag-Kotel-Yambol(you won't enter the city, but you will use a large bypass)-Elhovo-Lesovo-Edirne.


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## zugry

*neah*

Thank you Panda80, but I expect local guys to help, they are more probably to pass over there.

Apropo, exista pe softpedia un thread "Traversarea Bulgariei" unde ai putea sa postezi informatii mai noi


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## paF4uko

Silistra - Shumen (national road I-7) is planned for renewal this summer (if it's not already been renewed). I recommend taking road II-73 from Shumen to Karnobat and then Trakiya motorway to Burgas.


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## tanashubav

zugry said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm new on this forum, but I will travel soon to Bulgaria and I'd need a little help.
> I want to go on this route: Silistra - Alfatar - Provadia - Dalgopol - Ayton - Burgas - Malko Trnovo. Can you tell me if the road between Silistra and Ayton is ok? I saw it is included in a national program of reparations. Are they working on?
> 
> Also, as an alternative, I think about Silistra - Shoumen - Karnobats. Last year was ok, there are any problems this year?
> 
> Thank you very much!


I suggest you want to travel from Romania to Turkey trough Silistra. So I'll advise you to use the roads as follow:
Silistra - Shumen road I-7
Shumen - Karnobat road II-73. Karnobat - Lesovo road I-6 then road I-7. 

I've been traveling Provadiya-Aytos-Burgas-Malko Turnovo a month ago, so I won't recomend this road to anyone! Its to narrow in some sections, and too crappy in others!


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## zugry

From Karnobats I'll go to Burgas, is the same road I followed last year. But, someone post on a romanian forum that Shoumen - Karnobats is full of holes on the road hno: and he didn't recomend it.

What do you mean by "narrow" and "crappy"?


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## paF4uko

zugry said:


> From Karnobats I'll go to Burgas, is the same road I followed last year. But, someone post on a romanian forum that Shoumen - Karnobats is full of holes on the road hno: and he didn't recomend it.
> 
> What do you mean by "narrow" and "crappy"?


II-73 is much better than I-7 in the mountain section... The last one is actually MISSING at some places... hno:


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## zugry

which is better? 

Silistra - Shumen - Karnobats - Burgas, via 73

or 

Silistra - Dobrich - Varna - Burgas?

Anybody has been recently through those roads?


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## Capt.Vimes

zugry said:


> which is better?
> 
> Silistra - Shumen - Karnobats - Burgas, via 73
> 
> or
> 
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> 
> Anybody has been recently through those roads?


I would choose the second one. I will ask my father tomarrow, he travels more.


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## paF4uko

zugry said:


> which is better?
> 
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> 
> or
> 
> Silistra - Dobrich - Varna - Burgas?
> 
> Anybody has been recently through those roads?


The 2nd one is in much better condition in the section Dobrich - Varna - Burgas, however there's much more traffic... I don't know anything about the Silistra - Dobrich section...


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## pmalenkin

^^ A photo of the Silistra-Dobrich road: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15916788


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## zugry

So, Silistra - Shumen - Karnobats - Yambol - Lesovo - Hamzabeily is the most recomended route? 

Nobody on Shumen - Karnobats recently? are there any holes in the road or not? :nuts:


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## Turnovec

zugry said:


> Nobody on Shumen - Karnobats recently? are there any holes in the road or not? :nuts:


See here the report of Panda80 from December 2009... From the opposite direction though - Greekborder-Svilengrad-Yambol-Shumen

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50435643&postcount=166
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50436533&postcount=167
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50437365&postcount=168
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50439039&postcount=171
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50487931&postcount=176
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50490339&postcount=182
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50503221&postcount=185
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50504511&postcount=186
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50505669&postcount=187
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50507475&postcount=188


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## panda80

^^ I used a slightly different route, Svilengrad-Topolovgrad-Yambol-Kotel-Omurtag-Shumen-Silistra. And between Topolovgrad and Yambol I used secondary roads. But this month, on my way to Turkey I used also the road Yambol (on the bypass)-Elhovo-Lesovo-Hamzabeyli. The road was ok with some exceptions around Elhovo where it was very bumpy and couldn't travel at more than 50-60km/h for some kms.

I never drove road 73 from Shumen to Karnobat, but from a short browsing in GE, it seems to be very good. So the route Silistra-Shumen-Karnobat-Yambol-Elhovo-Lesovo seem to be the best to transit through Bulgaria on the road from Silistra to Turkey.


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## neaguionutu

Hello!

I intend to leave on June 12 in Bucharest with the destination Thessaloniki, Greece and get back on June 15 to 16 back to Bucharest!

The route that I want to use is: Bucharest-Giurgiu - Russe - Byala-Pleven - Lukovit-A2 Hemus - Sofia (by city or belt) - Pernik - Struma Motorway-Dupnica-Blagoevgrad-Sandanski-Kulata-Promachonas-Thessaloniki and back !
Round Trip - 1400 KM
What are the tolls? Fees? Bulgaria?
Gasoline in Bulgaria? Gas price and where the best gas?
Roads status on the route indicated in Bulgaria?
Struma highway is in use on only the portion Pernik - Dolna Dikanya?
Radar? Police?
Who was the last time by car along the route indicated above?
Excuse me if I misspelled English, speak good English, but do not write well.

Thank you!


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## Le Clerk

^^Guys, you should ask these questions on the Bulgarian forum. This thread is turning into a traveling info point. :weird:


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## neaguionutu

Le Clerk said:


> ^^Guys, you should ask these questions on the Bulgarian forum. This thread is turning into a traveling info point. :weird:


Offtopic
I guess I was wrong topic. I believe thousands of excuses and I'm sorry that I wrote on this topic.


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## Le Clerk

neaguionutu said:


> Offtopic
> I guess I was wrong topic. I believe thousands of excuses and I'm sorry that I wrote on this topic.


It's OK dude. :cheers: Ask here.


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## wyqtor

It's shaping up to be Lyulinnic!


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## ChrisZwolle

jtybinka said:


> I`m not construction expert so I don`t know how many years concrete should survive


Concrete can last very long, as it deteriorates very slowly, allowing concrete roads to be neglected by the government very easily (look at the U.S. for example). Concrete usually lasts at least 20 years without major maintenance, but it is known some concrete roads are still in operation with the original pavement after 50 years.


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## x-type

ChrisZwolle said:


> Concrete can last very long, as it deteriorates very slowly, allowing concrete roads to be neglected by the government very easily (look at the U.S. for example). Concrete usually lasts at least 20 years without major maintenance, but it is known some concrete roads are still in operation with the original pavement after 50 years.


i think that he asked for pylons, not for pavement


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## jtybinka

x-type said:


> i think that he asked for pylons, not for pavement


yes I mean pylons


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## ChrisZwolle

It depends on when it was constructed. Longevity has increased considerably in recent decades. Most new concrete pylons (for bridges, overpasses, etc.) usually have a lifespan of at least 100 years. However, structures build in the 1960's and 1970's are often already nearing their lifespan, mostly because of concrete rot (rust in the reinforced concrete).


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## Turnovec

> Bulgaria Signs Trakiya Highway Contract with Greek 'Aktor'
> 
> Business | July 14, 2010, Wednesday
> 
> The Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency is signing Wednesday with the Greek company Aktor the contract for the construction of Lot 3 of the Trakiya highway.
> 
> Greece's Aktor placed the lowest price offer of EUR 111.6 M in a tender for the construction of 35.7 kilometers of Bulgaria's Trakiya highway that would link the town of Nova Zagora and the city of Yambol, in southern Bulgaria. 10 other companies submitted bids for Lot 3.
> 
> The Greek company announced that they will not use subcontractors and will hire 1 000 new workers for the highway project, of whom up to 90% will be Bulgarian.
> 
> The groundbreaking of the road construction is expected for the beginning of August.
> 
> “Aktor” is the largest construction company in Greece with over 45% share of the market


So the Trakia Motorway story gets one more huge step close to a happy end.  The contract for the last remaining Lot 4(Yambol-Karnobat) will be signed in couple weeks time hopefully. 

Currently the works on Lot 2(Stara Zagora - Nova Zagora 32 km.) are on course. There 3 working sites open - at km.210 - 216, km. 232-237 and km. 237 - 242. 2 more should be opened very soon:










:cheers:


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## jtybinka

You have really very atractive prices,
Our last tender in Poland - 536 milion EUR for 41 km A4 (Rzeszow-Jaroslaw)
on flat terrain and we have even company from China on the market and even from Skopje Makedonia
and Czech prices are much higher then Polish

PS
I`m in Svaty Vlas for 2 weeks and I`m really very happy then soon Trakiya will be ready ,
What about connection from Sofia to Serbian border ?


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## ChrisZwolle

There are several reasons for that.

First, labor cost in Bulgaria is cheaper. There is a significant income difference between Poland and Bulgaria, it wouldn't surprise me if wages are twice as high in Poland. Secondly, the area where the Polish A4 will run through is rather densely populated for a countryside. It will most likely require more expropriations. Third, this particular Bulgarian section does not cross any major waterways, so less bridges are needed, which would significantly lower the construction cost. Polish A4 crosses several smaller and larger rivers coming from the Beskidy mountains.


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## jtybinka

ChrisZwolle said:


> There are several reasons for that.
> 
> First, labor cost in Bulgaria is cheaper. There is a significant income difference between Poland and Bulgaria, it wouldn't surprise me if wages are twice as high in Poland. Secondly, the area where the Polish A4 will run through is rather densely populated for a countryside. It will most likely require more expropriations. Third, this particular Bulgarian section does not cross any major waterways, so less bridges are needed, which would significantly lower the construction cost. Polish A4 crosses several smaller and larger rivers coming from the Beskidy mountains.



Well, I`m not sure about labor cost becasue in Romania labor cost in theory should be cheaper as well compared to Poland, but prices per km in Romania are not so much lower.
I`m very surprised becasue in Bulgaria they build significantly cheaper even compared to Romania


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## Radish2

jtybinka said:


> Well, I`m not sure about labor cost becasue in Romania labor cost in theory should be cheaper as well compared to Poland, but prices per km in Romania are not so much lower.
> I`m very surprised becasue in Bulgaria they build significantly cheaper even compared to Romania


I hope that it's aswell how the quality is like.


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## rossiankov

When the tenders are fair, the competition among the companies is big and this lowers the cost/km. And in the crisis, companies will do everything to win such big tenders as this is fresh money in bad times. Also the terrain of the motorway is easy. I also hope that the quality will be good.


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## Radish2

rossiankov said:


> When the tenders are fair, the competition among the companies is big and this lowers the cost/km. And in the crisis, companies will do everything to win such big tenders as this is fresh money in bad times. Also the terrain of the motorway is easy. I also hope that the quality will be good.


Yes, that's true, hopefully the quality will be good.


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## Le Clerk

ChrisZwolle said:


> There are several reasons for that.
> 
> First, labor cost in Bulgaria is cheaper. There is a significant income difference between Poland and Bulgaria, it wouldn't surprise me if wages are twice as high in Poland. Secondly, the area where the Polish A4 will run through is rather densely populated for a countryside. It will most likely require more expropriations. Third, this particular Bulgarian section does not cross any major waterways, so less bridges are needed, which would significantly lower the construction cost. Polish A4 crosses several smaller and larger rivers coming from the Beskidy mountains.


I don't think labour costs count very much in the cost of a motorway. What matters more is the expropriation costs, relocation of utilities (if needed), art works if needed, terrain, but also the level of competition in tenders.


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## ChrisZwolle

If you have 100 people working, 3 shifts per day, 2 years of construction, € 1,000 per month, that'll sum up to € 7.2 million in wages for say a 10 km section. It's probably still 20% of the price per km.


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## Turnovec

^^ I think price depends most of all on the difficulty of the required works. For Example Lyulin costs already more than 10 mln. EUR per km. as there are a lot of viaducts. tunnels etc. facilities that are lacking in the Trakia lots projects. 




> Bulgaria Back on the Road
> Views on BG | July 19, 2010, Monday
> 
> http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=118250
> 
> Andrew MacDowall in Sofia, Business New Europe
> 
> _After years of hold-ups, Bulgaria's vital motorway construction programme appears to be flowing once again._
> 
> Anyone who has travelled on one of Bulgaria's major cross-country roads will be aware of the importance of the country's position on transcontinental transportation and trade routes, as well as the need for the highways themselves to be improved. Trucks from Turkey heading west are ubiquitous, and those from a wide range of farther-flung countries are also common. As the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East have experienced rapid growth in recent years, volumes have risen.
> 
> However, sweeping six- or four-lane motorways become two-lane affairs with little warning, with major HGV routes passing through the centres of bucolic villages or becoming trapped in suburban bottlenecks. Meanwhile, surfaces are inconsistent - much improved on some stretches, terrible on others. The variance in quality along what are actually single continuous roads is due to the incomplete nature of Bulgaria's infrastructure investment programme, which, for all its high ambitions, has been hamstrung by political disputes, corruption, funding shortages and material price volatility. In January 2008, for example, the EU suspended much-needed payments to the Bulgarian National Road Infrastructure Fund after allegations of graft. The patchy progress in such a vital area is perhaps indicative of Bulgaria's struggle to realise its economic potential.
> 
> *Nexus*
> 
> Bulgaria lies on four of the 10 Pan-European transport corridors identified by the EU as crucial transcontinental links needing substantial investment to enhance Europe's transportation infrastructure. While one, along the Danube, is largely a water-borne transit route, the three others are overland routes which cross the country, occasionally intersecting and coinciding.
> 
> Corridor IV runs from Central Europe through Romania to Istanbul and Thessaloniki, with the branches dividing at Sofia. Corridor VIII is an east-west route across the Balkans from Constanta on Romania's Black Sea cost to Durres on the Adriatic in Albania. Corridor IX, meanwhile, runs from Helsinki to Alexandropoulos on Greece's Aegean coast, cutting north-south across the heart of Bulgaria from the Danube port of Ruse.
> 
> These are far more than just theoretical lines on bureaucrats' maps. They reflect not only the recent growth of inter- and intra-continental trade, with the rise of the Middle East and emerging Europe, but age-old patterns of commerce and natural transport routes; corridor VIII, for example, broadly follows the Roman Via Egnatia. They also follow key proposed energy transit lines; the path of Corridor VIII is similar to that of the Ambo oil pipeline and IV that of the Nabucco gas pipeline. Finally, in a region that has had regular outbreaks of conflict over the past two centuries, the corridors are also strategically important for defence purposes.
> 
> The development of major roads is important both for these regional reasons and to stimulate and support Bulgaria's economic growth. Its transportation infrastructure lags behind that of most other EU members, and it has not been able to capitalise on its position as much as it should have done. Now it appears that momentum behind the motorway-building programme is being restored. The centre-right government headed by Boiko Borisov, elected last summer, has pledged to complete the Trakiya, Maritsa and Lyulin motorways by the end of its term in 2013, and make substantial progress on the Struma and Black Sea motorways.
> 
> Perhaps the most publicised of Bulgaria's troubled major road projects is the Trakiya Motorway. The route of the motorway runs from Kalotina on the Serbian border to Burgas, the country's second-largest port city, on the Black Sea, passing close to Sofia and Plovdiv, nominally the country's second city (often it is reported as running from Sofia to Burgas, but the Kalotina link will also be important). It is one of the more complete of the motorways, but it was held up in 2005-2006 by a dispute with the Portuguese contractor and has remained unfinished despite this being the main route from the capital to the country's main tourist area. The June tender for the construction of a 47.7-km stretch of the motorway, between Yambol and Karnobat in the east-centre of the route, attracted 13 bids, with Bulgaria's Holding Roads placing the lowest at BGN175m (€89.45). The same month, Greek outfit Aktor was ranked top bidder for the construction of the 35.7-km link between Nova Zagora and Yambol. In February, Unified Highway Trace, another Bulgarian firm, won the tender for a 32-km section between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora with a BGN137.86m bid. Work is expected to start by August, and once these sections are complete, the main Sofia-Burgas stretch of the Trakiya, following Corridor VIII, will be complete.
> 
> The government has also announced that another 31 km of the Maritsa motorway, between Novo Selo and Lyubimets, will be complete by year-end. The Maritsa route runs from an interchange with the Trakiya at the village of Orizovo to the Turkish border at Kapitan Andreevo, where it links to the Turkish Avrupa Otoyolu (Europe Motorway) to Istanbul, making part of Corridor IV. Only 38 km of 117 km has been completed thus far, but Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev has said that a central 67 km stretch from Orizovo to Harmanli will be finished by June 2013, finally linking Istanbul with Sofia and other major Bulgarian cities with an unbroken European-grade motorway.
> 
> Plevneliev has also faced down vocal opposition for a substantial cash injection for the Lyulin motorway project, which will link the western outskirts of Sofia to the nascent Struma motorway (Sofia-Greece) near the industrial city of Pernik, bypassing a notorious bottleneck at Vladaya. The project, like the Trakiya, has been hobbled by long and controversial delays, with Turkish contractor Mapa Cengiz demanding a huge price hike from an original bid of €138m to €215m for the 19-km road. A compromise total of €181m was eventually arrived at, with the Bulgarian government agreeing to stump up an additional BGN86m in June. At a time when Bulgaria is paring back its budget and under pressure to make further cuts, this has aroused some controversy, despite the expectation that much of the cost can be met by EU funds. Attempting to cool criticism, Plevneliev has stated that the motorway is "62% ready" – despite only 5 km being fully complete – after significant progress this year, and parliament has set a deadline of May 2011 for completion.
> 
> *Foot on the pedal*
> 
> Despite the worsening fiscal situation, with the European Commission demanding that Bulgaria cut its deficit from 3.8% this year to 3% in 2011, some analysts argue that pushing ahead with infrastructure projects should be an absolute priority for the country, as it can help both stimulate growth in the short term and support it in the future. "Targeted investment in infrastructure represents a virtuous form of government stimulus," Paulius Kuncinas, regional editor for Eastern Europe and Asia at publishing and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group, tells bne. "While we are all aware of fiscal constraints facing EU nations, the lack of public investment could undermine a country's competitiveness and growth potential. It is, therefore, encouraging that Bulgaria is trying to balance austerity with selective investment in infrastructure that in fact has an economic multiplier."
> 
> But even if the Trakiya, Maritsa, and Lyulin projects are completed on time – and given the past, that should by no means be seen as a certainty – it won't be the end of the story. The Hemus motorway, which should run from Sofia to the growing port of Varna on the Black Sea, and the Struma, are still far from completion. And it appears the government has decided not to prioritise them, at least for the next year, and perhaps for this parliamentary term (though rehabilitation of finished stretches of both is ongoing).
> 
> A change of government in 2013 - or even before - could once again hold up progress. But after some difficult years, a concrete commitment to vital road infrastructure is at least an encouraging sign.


And some new photos of Lyulin Motorway Construction by FloatingShift:



FloatingShift said:


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## rossiankov

This is probably the first optimistic article about the infrastructure of the country that I've read for years. All of them before that were talking about the corruption and failed tenders and how the economy is suffering because of this. 

Let's hope that they finish Lyulin in time.


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## Turnovec

And some more shots by FloatingShift of the opened a month ago Dragalevci Junction of the Sofia Ring road:

































































And one very strange 2 roundabouts project in Veliko Tranovo on the national road Sofia-Varna that is still unfinished but was opened for local traffic yesterday:










photos by Hakkinen, gtsofia.info


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## ChrisZwolle

1976: Approximately 300,000 Turkish gastarbeiters return from vacation, causing a 60 kilometer traffic jam before the Yugoslavian border. Waiting times were up to three days.








source


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## Turnovec

^^ This looks more like "The Big Excursion" from 1989 as i see a lot of soviet or bulgarian made vehicles on that photo. 

Couple of new photos from the starting point of Lot 2(31 km. long) of Trakia motorway near Stara Zagora. They have already cleared 6 km. of the soil bed and are starting pouring the gravel bed of the motorway.


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## Turnovec

Turnovec said:


> ...photos from the starting point of Lot 2(31 km. long) of Trakia motorway near Stara Zagora. They have already cleared 6 km. of the soil bed and are starting pouring the gravel bed of the motorway.


^^
































































Source foto.stroitelstvo.info


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## Tego

^^ That's exactly what I read last.  And I hope it stays last.


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## bartezzzzz

A quick question - how much km of motorways and expressways is at the moment in Bulgaria?
thnx for help


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## Turnovec

^^

*Motorways in use:*








Trakia - planned total length 443, in use 280 km.







Hemus - planned total length 433, in use 151 km. 







Maritsa - planned total length 117, in use 38 km.







Cherno More - planned total length 103, in use 10 km.







Struma - planned total length 156, in use 23 km. 

So in use there is a total of 502 km. of Motorways.

Can't tell exact numbers about the expressways though... 


And here is the plan for the route of the Northern Speed tangent, that will link the traffic from the southern part of Sofia(both Trakia and Hemus exits) with the future motorway towards Kalotina and the Serbian border.

The starting point of the drawing is here










http://sofia.bg/pressecentre/images/12_CCT_aerophoto_trase.jpg


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## Capt.Vimes

It seems that the planned distance for Trakia includes Sofia-Kalotina. So it will be Trakia-Sofia Nortnern Speed tangent-Trakia?


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## bartezzzzz

Thanks, Turnovec!



> Can't tell exact numbers about the expressways though...


Anyone? Maybe some estimations?


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## tanashubav

bartezzzzz said:


> A quick question - how much km of motorways and expressways is at the moment in Bulgaria?
> thnx for help


Administratively there isn't such type of road as "expressway" in Bulgaria. We have some 2x2 section that are part of the major roads and the speed limit there are the same as they are at every major road - 90km/h.

Very roughly the length of 2x2 roads in Bulgaria is about 250km. The longest sections are Burgas - Sozopol - 25,8km. and Sofia - Slivnitsa 22,5km.

This sections (2x2) are build in order to release heavy traffic problem and not to be an alternative to a motorway at the same direction.
Now for the first time the Bulgarian government is thinking about some specific "speedways" instead of motorways. We are talking about Veliko Turnovo - Ruse, Ruse - Shumen, Botevgrad - Vidin etc. I hope they will think over and will build a normal motorway instead of some type of expressway!


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## bartezzzzz

ok, so... 502 km of motorways and approx. 250 km of "expressways"?
thnx for help!


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## tanashubav

bartezzzzz said:


> ok, so... 502 km of motorways and approx. 250 km of "expressways"?
> thnx for help!


Actually the correct length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:

Trakiya (A1)
There are two parts:
Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
Total: 242,938km.

Hemus (A2)
There are two parts:
Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
Total: 145,643 km.

Maritsa (A3)
One section between Harmanli and Svilengrad.
Total: 39,500 km.

Cherno more (A5)
One section near Varna.
8,221 km.

Struma (A6)
One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
17,232 km.

Оverall
453,534 км.


The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:

Trakiya motorway:
Two "LOT"'s(sections): LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31km. and LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 35km. It's scheduled for 3-th of september the start of construction of LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49km.
All three LOT's at Trakiya must be completed till summer of 2012.

Liylin motorway:
The entire planned length is under construction. It is total 19km. About 70 % of the work is done. Opening is scheduled for 01.06.2011.

Maritsa motorway:
A short section of 1,5km. near town of Harmanli is under construction. It includes a bridge over Maritsa river. It would be opened at 30.08.2010.

Overall under construction:
86.5km.


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## Turnovec

^^ You gotta update the info in wikipedia then -> http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Автомагистрали_в_България


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## tanashubav

*Speed cameras and police check points in Bulgaria*

http://antiradar.braindumpz.com/

A realy helpfull site. Unfortunately still only in bulgarian but easy to navigate even for non cyrilic users (google translate ).


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Pictures from construction of the bridge over Maritsa river near Harmanli on Motorway Maritsa A1(aka A3)

















Sofia entrance from Trakia Motorway A1 on "Tsarigradsko shose" boulevard(special 10x to one of our mods) with some highrises along and passing next to the construction site of an underground station:


JloKyM said:


> Извинявам се за лошото качество, но поне се вижда как изглеждаш елипса и бенчмарк откъм входа на София, както и организацията на движението заради строителството на метрото


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## BG_PATRIOT

Some pictures from Lyulin highway
10x to FloatingShift

for more pictures CLICK HERE



FloatingShift said:


> Отново малко снимки от строежа на АМ Люлин. Донякъде се повтарят със снимките, публикувани в другия форум, но реших все пак да ги постна, защото през следващите две седмици отново няма да съм тук. Правени са на два пъти с два дни разлика.





FloatingShift said:


> На първия голям мост вече се правят пътните плочи. И пак малко критика – пространствата между гредите се запълват с бетонни елементи, върху които се лее пътната плоча. На няколко места тези елементи са поддали и са се счупили на две – изглеждат като риск за случайно минаващите под моста в бъдеще и мисля, че не трябва да се оставят в този вид.


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## Le Clerk

Awesome section! Love the viaduct and the tunnels! :applause:


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## g.spinoza

But some of the pieces of concrete are broken (you can see those in the next to last picture and in the previous one)... they don't seem very safe


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## Stelian

^^ 
they willl replace it then 
the safety and quality of this particular motorway are a top priority.
Lulin is beeing watched very closely by the national agency,the media and even by the mighty BB  who inspected it a few days ago and was very dissapointed of the progress.
now they're working 24/7 on this one and I hope they meet the deadline.


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## g.spinoza

^^ glad to read that!


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Makaza viaduct. part of Kardzali(BG)-Alexandropolis(GR) 2x1 road on corridor IX.
35tall,2006finished


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## Stelian

Lulin 25/08/2010 thanks to *Floating Shift*


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## PhirgataZFs1694

On road I-8 SRB border-Sofia, after Slivnitsa up to near Sofia:


vycanismajoris said:


> Едно клипче от днес. За съжаление апаратът ми прегря от жегата и не успях да снимам до София hno:


A full motorway(2x2,130kmh) is planned next to this road(Slivnitsa-Sofia 2x2, SRB-Slivnitsa 2x1, both 90).:banana: It will be part of Trakia Motorway A1 that currently starts from Tsarigradsko shose boulevard in the EASTERN part of the city going east to Plovdiv. It will be extensively used by gasterbaiters. It will be part of a branch of corridor X towards Istanbul and Asia.


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## vycanismajoris

Here's one video from Sofia valley and the road between the serbian border and Sofia. Unfortunately our mother star fucked the camera before reaching the capital


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## Tego

^^ It depends on the point of view.  I'm in a way glad it did before entering Sofia, 'cause looking to the right just before the ring road, it's not a real pretty sight right now.


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## vycanismajoris

dp


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## vycanismajoris

Tego said:


> ^^ It depends on the point of view.  I'm in a way glad it did before entering Sofia, 'cause looking to the right just before the ring road, it's not a real pretty sight right now.


 Tell me about it. One of the ugliest views in the whole Sofia valley  They promote their "chalga" music pretty loud btw, with huge woofers right next to the road. So, the music in this video is a kind of response


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## Tego

^^ Well, it *is* a good reminder for some lost travellers where they are.


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## vycanismajoris

One of those is needed :cheers:


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## x-type

what is the reason to make cut&cover instead of normal tunnel here? they've destroyed the hill and will bury it again


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## christos-greece

^^ Major works i see in those photos above; the road in those photos above is the same road?


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## Blaskovitz

x-type said:


> what is the reason to make cut&cover instead of normal tunnel here? they've destroyed the hill and will bury it again


Because ground is too floppy and too thin?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^I don't know why but all three tunnels on Lyulin Motorway are being built as cut&covers.


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## TrueBulgarian

I think it has something to do with nature and welfare protection etc.  
They just wanted to build it the cheapest possible way, while still observing the environmental rules.


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## Turnovec

Finally Trakia's case seem to be closing to a happy end :cheers:




> Bulgaria Gives Go-Ahead to Trakiya Motorway Last Section
> 
> Bulgaria's prime minister will launch the construction works of the last section of Trakiya highway, linking the city of Yambol and the town of Karnobat, with a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.
> 
> The Bulgarian Road Infrastructure picked "Holding Roads" as winner in the tender for building of the 49km section of Trakiya Highway, also known as Lot 4.
> 
> The offer of the Bulgarian company is BGN 174,705,600 M, VAT excluded.
> 
> Bulgaria's tie-in "Unified Highway Trace" won the tender for the construction of the 32-kilometer-long section of the Trakiya, linking the city of Stara Zagora and the town ofNova Zagora, at the end of February and a month later signed a contract with the Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency.
> 
> The Bulgarian consortium submitted the lowest bid - BGN 137,86 M – in competition with three other approved applicants. 4 000 jobs will be created by the project in the Stara Zagora region.
> 
> Construction works are scheduled to be completed in 25 months. The price of the construction is estimated at about BGN 138 M, 30-35 % of the funds will be made available by the end of the year.
> 
> Greece's Aktor placed the lowest price offer of EUR 111.6 M in a tender for the construction of 35.7 kilometres of Bulgaria's Trakiya motorway, that would link the towns of Nova Zagora and Yambol, in southern Bulgaria.
> 
> Though still under construction Trakiya is the Bulgarian highway project which is closest to completion. It will connect the capital Sofia with the Black Sea city of Burgas. A total of 328 km of the 443-km highway have already been built.


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## Des

Great news! The improvement of the road / highway infrastructure in Bulgaria and surrounding countries will bring a lot of new economical development and tourism to the region. I see bright times ahead!


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## becs

So, atm we had 31.8 km (LOT 2) + 35.7 km (LOT 3) + 47.7 km (LOT 4) = 115.2 km U/C on Trakia Motorway and 19 km on Lulin Motorway. Thats 134 km in total.

And there will be officially opened 31 km of Mariza Motorway after 12 days.

I think its gr8.


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## alwn

i saw different figures about Trakiya motorway:

443 total lenght (planned)/ 328 in use; 115 u/c

but Sofia- stara zagora section has 208 km lenght
karnobat- burgas is 35.2 km
among them is this missing section of 115 km actually u/c (lot 1-3) 
looking on the map i can see an extension of this motorway to the serbian border (forecasted) which can not be longer than 40 km 

so if add we reach 358km total lenght (plus maybe 40 to the serbian border) from which 243 km are in use and 115 u/c.

So where is the difference to 443km total lenght planned; 328 km in use?


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## Radish2

vycanismajoris said:


> Tell me about it. One of the ugliest views in the whole Sofia valley  They promote their "chalga" music pretty loud btw, with huge woofers right next to the road. So, the music in this video is a kind of response


fucking chalga music should not be allowed, European people are arriving there and are not interestred in fucking chalga music. New roads are being built to please Europeans and Bulgarians ofcourse, that feel awesome when driving and look great and Chalga does not fit at all. If I had a very loud soundsystem I would play my goa trance as loud as possible and show signs to the Chalga losers, who should not be tollerated.


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## Turnovec

alwn said:


> i saw different figures about Trakiya motorway:


Correct numbers(thanks to tanashubav from teh previous page) are: 

Trakiya (A1)
There are two parts:
Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
Total: 242,938km.

U/C ~115 km.


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## domogled

Could you please tell me if you have any idea about a future plan for a motorway linking your cities Botevgrad and Vidin? I know that section is part of the fourth pan European transportation corridor-its southern branch. I'm asking you guys, because I took a glimpse on your map showing the actual and planed/future motorways of Bulgaria and saw all but none project of such kind in the foreseeable future. I think it is a natural question since our Bulgarian neighbors fought a long battle for the Vidin-Calafat bridge and managed in the end to convince the Romanian side to place the bridge there as it is a major link to Europe for our neighbors. 
As I notice, it is easier for you to link Sofia with the Serbia -A1.
anticipated thanx


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## Radish2

Yesterday I went to the uber futuristic looking Mc'Donalds with speakers inside and outside the building and many many other very modern looking things. You can look and touch the quality Struma Motorway, it's crashbarriers and kiss it's beautiful asphalt. I have a few pics of the construction of the Ljulin Motorway aswell.









The beautiful Struma Motorway asphalt, here you can see that it has a lot of stones which is very good because it shows that the asphalt is very stable. We went there with a Fiat Coupe with hard suspension and could still feel nothing, altough driving with high speed, and that after 4 years!!! 




























Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pics of the Struma motorway, the great Mc'Donalds and the new E-79 nationalroad because I did not take the camera with me, but soon I will go there again and will take pics of it.


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## koynov

Radi nothing personal but how can you kiss the asphalt:nuts::nuts::nuts: This is just a road hno:


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## Radish2

koynov said:


> Radi nothing personal but how can you kiss the asphalt:nuts::nuts::nuts: This is just a road hno:


I would not kiss any asphalt except the asphalt of the Struma motorway and E-79 nationalroad Dupnica - Dolna Dykania, because these roads are the smoothest and most even roads in Bulgaria, people with the worst suspension can speed on these roads without feeling anythng.


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## EEH

domogled said:


> Could you please tell me if you have any idea about a future plan for a motorway linking your cities Botevgrad and Vidin? I know that section is part of the fourth pan European transportation corridor-its southern branch. I'm asking you guys, because I took a glimpse on your map showing the actual and planed/future motorways of Bulgaria and saw all but none project of such kind in the foreseeable future. I think it is a natural question since our Bulgarian neighbors fought a long battle for the Vidin-Calafat bridge and managed in the end to convince the Romanian side to place the bridge there as it is a major link to Europe for our neighbors.
> As I notice, it is easier for you to link Sofia with the Serbia -A1.
> anticipated thanx


This is a very reasonable question.

The local traffic between Vidin and Botevgrad now is very low and the existing 1x1 road (in excellent shape, btw) is pretty enough. Even the trucks comming from the Lom port (you know there is a ferry there from the Romanian bank) on the Danube cannot contribute so much as a highway to be needed. 

The completion of the Vidin-Calafat bridge will definitely increase the traffic through this corridor, but we don't know what the Romanians will do with their road infrastructutre there as we remember they are not willing to facilitate the traffic through that section of the country. Does Romania plan a highway from Calafat to the border with Hungary? 

If not, passing through there will not be faster than passing through Serbia. Then why spending money for a highway Botevgrad-Vidin? If we want to make the pass through Romania a real alternative to the route through Serbia, both Romania and Bulgaria should sit, talk, make decisions and realize the highway projects in both countries. I haven't heard of any such talks to have taken place, not to mention about decisions made.


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## domogled

Thanks a lot EEH for your comprehensive reply and observations. I do believe as well in a high traffic increase in the bridge's post completion phase.
As for the Romanian side's plans for the southern branch of the iv-th pan European corridor, I heard rumors about a motorway named A7. The starting point of it seems to be planed north west of Lugoj, dividing the iv-th corridor in its two branches. Its southern one, The hypothetical A7 motorway should stretch along towards Caransebes then passing the Timis-Cerna corridor and bypass Orsova and my hometown Drobeta Turnu Severin soewhere 20-30 kms in the north, and then going to Craiova and ultimately ending in Calafat-Vidin bridge. Also I heard that another possible version would be that after passing Drobeta Turnu Severin A7 should go south directly to Calafat from a junction point placed somewhere in between Drobeta Turnu Severin and Craiova. As I mention, all those are just rumours, yet I heard that starting with 2013 the UE will focus on this southern branch as it was genuinely supposed to be the first one to be built and financed and not the norhtern branch (romanian A1 with all its sections towards Constanta) which is now under heavy construction.
I just thought that maybe you guys have any idea about plans on your side 
To be honest I do not expect anything in the way you suggested form our authorities as it seems they have different opinions on which regions deserves to be linked by motorways. I think they had/have strong benefits from other sections of the northern branch altogether with the other motorway naming here A3 which is placed basically in the same region. 
So, to conclude, unless U.E. won't push our governors (Romanian) to do something for the above mentioned A7, I am nothing but skeptical in relying my confidence on our authorities. 
I believe the bridge, will stir and darken the waters enough to push them in the right direction and the increased traffic ratio will add more pressure


----------



## nenea_hartia

domogled said:


> I believe the bridge, will stir and darken the waters enough to push them in the right direction and the increased traffic ratio will add more pressure


The bridge would be a strong argument for some to chose the southern branch of Corridor IV, but I believe most of the traffic crossing today through Romania will continue to use its northern branch if our country will (finally) complete A1 motorway, or at least some important stretches of it. This is still questionable though. However, it will be pity to see a fantastic achievement as the Danube Bridge II standing isolated in the middle of a very good, but only 1x1 road on both Romanian and Bulgarian banks of Danube. hno:


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## waddler

^^ Exactly, a motorway is pretty much needed on both sides for this to work.


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## ionut

^^ There will be in RO a motorway on The Pan-European Cooridor IV SOUTH BRANCH connecting Lugoj/A1 to Caransebes, Severin, Craiova and finally Calafat.

Probably we will be asking for EU funding starting 2013.


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## waddler

^^ Just asking, when do you think it'll be finished? Including the Bulgarian side because it is AS important for this bridge. I'd go for a 2016 - 2020 :nuts: Awesome.. I hope I won't die till then :shifty: :lol:


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## ionut

waddler said:


> ^^ Just asking, when do you think it'll be finished? Including the Bulgarian side because it is AS important for this bridge. I'd go for a 2016 - 2020 :nuts: Awesome.. I hope I won't die till then :shifty: :lol:


Well, the new EU financing cycle will start in 2013. If we presume that RO will ask for financing for the Lugoj-Severin-Craiova-Calafat motorway (Corridor IV-South), than it will take a few years to acquire the financing, to make the feasibility study and stuff. Then the tendering (minimum 1 year). Then the construction itself (around 2 years for every segment Lugoj-Caransebes, Caransebes-Severin, Severin-Craiova, Craiova-Calafat).

If the construction will start on all the segments in the same time... altough I cannot see how this can be done (RO gov will need to co-finance the construction AND to finance utilities works and expropriations)... let's say 3 years.

So... 2013+2+1+2=2018 the finished Corridor (Lugoj-Calafat, via Craiova). This is by far the most ambitious deadline... probably around 2025 is more likely. My 2 cents.

:cheers:


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## Radish2

why does noone at least comment my Ljulin motorway photos, I understand that noone has sence for humour here, but noone even comments the pictures of the Ljulin motorway, which is a shame.


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## koynov

Radish2 said:


> why does noone at least comment my Ljulin motorway photos, I understand that noone has sence for humour here, but noone even comments the pictures of the Ljulin motorway, which is a shame.


Because Radi , there are a lot of Lulin motorway photos before yours. In bulgarian section there are new photos which present full lenght from the motorway.


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## Radish2

koynov said:


> Because Radi , there are a lot of Lulin motorway photos before yours. In bulgarian section there are new photos which present full lenght from the motorway.


I know, but there are no photos that show this perspective at the Bulgarian motorways thread. On my pics the pgrogress of the Daskalovo junction can be seen very well, also where the new motorway will connect to the *Struma motorway*


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## Turnovec

domogled said:


> Could you please tell me if you have any idea about a future plan for a motorway linking your cities Botevgrad and Vidin? I know that section is part of the fourth pan European transportation corridor-its southern branch. I'm asking you guys, because I took a glimpse on your map showing the actual and planed/future motorways of Bulgaria and saw all but none project of such kind in the foreseeable future. I think it is a natural question since our Bulgarian neighbors fought a long battle for the Vidin-Calafat bridge and managed in the end to convince the Romanian side to place the bridge there as it is a major link to Europe for our neighbors.
> As I notice, it is easier for you to link Sofia with the Serbia -A1.
> anticipated thanx


This fall, as the governemnt announced the tender for construction of the 2x2 express way Botevgrad-Mezdra(Mezdra-Vratsa is already 2x2 along with the Botevgrad bypass) will finally start. 

You can see more in the site fo Operative program Transport -> http://optransport.bg/en/page.php?c=35&d=13&q=Vratza+-+Botevgrad










All in all the governemnt plans a 2x2 expressway expansion for the Botevgrad-Vidin road and not a full profile motorway.

:cheers:


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## domogled

Thanx Turnovec for info, link and especially for the map  :cheers:
As my country mates came with their updates (tnx guys) it seems that in the following years after 2013 we'll have a motorway and you will have an expressway with the Danube 2 bridge in the middle :nuts:
To be honest I really thought the Danube2 is of a greater importance for you than it seems it will be for us, after all as I heard the main contributor for bridge's construction apart of the UE is the Bulgarian government. 
I presume that for you now, a more important link to the west o Europe and north might go through the Serbian existent and upcoming motorway network.
Anyway, time will tell and traffic values will speak that's for sure. I eagerly wait to see the bridge done  . :cheers: :banana:


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## Le Clerk

ionut said:


> Well, the new EU financing cycle will start in 2013. If we presume that RO will ask for financing for the Lugoj-Severin-Craiova-Calafat motorway (Corridor IV-South).


We'll have to ask for financing for that and the EU will it push through out throat, because it's part of Corridor IV. Same goes for A5, which will also come for financing starting 2013, as part of Corridor IX. 



> So... 2013+2+1+2=2018 the finished Corridor (Lugoj-Calafat, via Craiova). This is by far the most ambitious deadline... probably around 2025 is more likely. My 2 cents.


I think you are extending the deadlines too much. The EU money will have to be spent by 2020, 2021 at most, so that's your deadline. The Lugoj-Calafat section is much shorter that the Northern section of C IV anyway. 

But, to turn back to the discussion, IMO a lot of traffic will turn to the existing roads which have been rehabilitated recently for the entire section in between Timisoara and Calafat AFAIK. Just look how much international traffic takes currently the existing road on C IV (North Branch). So the bridge will change IMO the transport patterns in Romania and in Bulgaria.


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## EEH

domogled said:


> Thanx Turnovec for info, link and especially for the map  :cheers:
> As my country mates came with their updates (tnx guys) it seems that in the following years after 2013 we'll have a motorway and you will have an expressway with the Danube 2 bridge in the middle :nuts:
> To be honest I really thought the Danube2 is of a greater importance for you than it seems it will be for us, after all as I heard the main contributor for bridge's construction apart of the UE is the Bulgarian government.
> I presume that for you now, a more important link to the west o Europe and north might go through the Serbian existent and upcoming motorway network.
> Anyway, time will tell and traffic values will speak that's for sure. I eagerly wait to see the bridge done  . :cheers: :banana:


The Danube bridge at Vidin-Calafat was a very necessary alternative for Bulgaria due to the problems in Serbia in the 1990-s and some years after 2000. Now the situation has changed and passing through Serbia is quite easy and fast. We don't even need international passports but ID cards only. This is the reason Bulgaria is not giving much priority to the infrastructure leading there. As I said, the 1x1 road is in excellent condition and any further improvement (2x2 or more) is not urgent.

Botevgrad-Vidin road
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/28457074.jpg
and 











Le Clerk said:


> But, to turn back to the discussion, IMO a lot of traffic will turn to the existing roads which have been rehabilitated recently for the entire section in between Timisoara and Calafat AFAIK. Just look how much international traffic takes currently the existing road on C IV (North Branch). *So the bridge will change IMO the transport patterns in Romania and in Bulgaria.*


This is what I hope too.


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## domogled

I see  neither we don"t need any passports or visas for Serbia, yet I think the merchandise/freight in transit will look for the shortest and safest routes available and still Serbia is a not UE member, not that it might be of a major obstacle in their infrastructure development. 
I understand that the route through Serbia suits you best now. We'll see if the Serbians will have the funds and the need (that's something I bet they have ) to build motorways to suit the best expectetionsof yours, theirs and perhaps the ones in transit south and southeast. As for the ones coming from the south or east of you, they might have to choose which will suit them best. 
Yet I believe that in post completion phase of the Danube's second bridge and with supposedly increased traffic values an upgrade to the existing 1x1 would be required. After all, the section in between Varna and Botevgrad is placed on an European corridor and it would be such a pity not to ask UE for funds on that particular corridor as (we) your neighbours in the north might eventually do it  

Our planned/rumored A7 links at its supposed end Craiova to Calafat due to the position of the latter on that IV corridor, and its nearness to the bridge but thinking solely from our interest/point of view I doubt a motorway section in between Calafat and Craiova would be of a major economical interest if it will prove to be of a lesser one from your behalf and the traffic from south of bridge will be poor. 
Anyway as I said, I'm eager to see the bridge done and the routes the freight carriers will choose to follow. 
:cheers:


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## panda80

domogled said:


> I see  neither we don"t need any passports or visas for Serbia, yet I think the merchandise/freight in transit will look for the shortest and safest routes available and still Serbia is a not UE member, not that it might be of a major obstacle in their infrastructure development.
> I understand that the route through Serbia suits you best now. We'll see if the Serbians will have the funds and the need (that's something I bet they have ) to build motorways to suit the best expectetionsof yours, theirs and perhaps the ones in transit south and southeast. As for the ones coming from the south or east of you, they might have to choose which will suit them best.
> Yet I believe that in post completion phase of the Danube's second bridge and with supposedly increased traffic values an upgrade to the existing 1x1 would be required. After all, the section in between Varna and Botevgrad is placed on an European corridor and it would be such a pity not to ask UE for funds on that particular corridor as (we) your neighbours in the north might eventually do it
> 
> Our planned/rumored A7 links at its supposed end Craiova to Calafat due to the position of the latter on that IV corridor, and its nearness to the bridge but thinking solely from our interest/point of view I doubt a motorway section in between Calafat and Craiova would be of a major economical interest if it will prove to be of a lesser one from your behalf and the traffic from south of bridge will be poor.
> Anyway as I said, I'm eager to see the bridge done and the routes the freight carriers will choose to follow.
> :cheers:


It's hard to find places in Bulgaria or any other country from where it will be easier to go to Central or Western Europe through Calafat-Vidin. Maybe only the region around Vidin. For the ones situated near Sofia-Svilengrad corridor, as for the ones that live south of it, the route through Serbia is much more convenient. For the ones that live around Varna-Shumen-Ruse axis, the route through Ruse-Giurgiu-Bucharest-northern branch of CIV is the best. For the turks, the route through Egnatia motorway (Greece) seems the best, and the second choice is the route through Serbia. So I think the Vidin-Calafat bridge is only of regional importance, serving just 2-3 counties in Romania and 2-3 counties in Bulgaria. It may also serve traffic from Bucharest-Craiova to Central Serbia or Montenegro, but that's a mainly seasonal touristic flow.


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## ChrisZwolle

I think you have to consider the Vidin-Calafat Bridge will also be used by east-west traffic. There are plans for a motorway in Serbia from E75 to the Bulgarian border near Vidin. All in all, it would create a nice corridor between Beograd and București, especially considering the accession of Serbia into the European Union may not be that far away. (could've been earlier if it wasn't for the stupid Dutch government).


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## panda80

ChrisZwolle said:


> I think you have to consider the Vidin-Calafat Bridge will also be used by east-west traffic. There are plans for a motorway in Serbia from E75 to the Bulgarian border near Vidin. All in all, it would create a nice corridor between Beograd and București, especially considering the accession of Serbia into the European Union may not be that far away. (could've been earlier if it wasn't for the stupid Dutch government).


I said it may serve mainly the east-west corridor from Bucharest to Belgrade, from an international point of view. This route is just 10km longer than the traditional one through Drobeta, and less curvy. I am a real supporter of the bridge as it's only the second one between Romania and Bulgaria and our Danube border stretches for several hundred km. I also support more bridges, for example an important one will be at Silistra-Calarasi and another one at Turnu-Magurele - Nikopol. This bridges are really very good for that regions.But my post was just a response for those who consider that the bridge will bring a large traffic increase on the roads Sofia-Vidin and Calafat-Drobeta-Timisoara.


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## bozata90

ChrisZwolle said:


> I think you have to consider the Vidin-Calafat Bridge will also be used by east-west traffic. There are plans for a motorway in Serbia from E75 to the Bulgarian border near Vidin. All in all, it would create a nice corridor between Beograd and București, especially considering the accession of Serbia into the European Union may not be that far away. (could've been earlier if it wasn't for the stupid Dutch government).


But until Serbia joins the EU (which may take longer than you think - i t is a sad conclusion, but it is true) the transport operators will avoid Serbia. Because leaving the EU means border control, another TIR-carnette and other possible difficulties. This means that there is a high potential for this bridge if there was a good road on both sides.


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## EEH

Well noted. Especially when Romania and Bulgaria join the Schengen Agreement (hopefully next year), passing through both countries via the Vidin-Calafat bridge will be even easier and faster.
There was also a proposal that both countries issue common vignettes so that when you cross the border you don't need to stop and buy a new one. If this happens next year, the traffic through the border will be completely facilitated. 

On the other hand, when passing through Serbia, you have to stop three times to pay highway taxes. When combined with the 2 mandatory stops at the borders with Bulgaria and Hungary, this means 5 mandatory stops. During summer season when the Turkish gastarbaiters travel to and from Turkey, the jams at those stops may cost you half a day just waiting to continue.


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## sallae2

Radish2 said:


> Here is one of them while going back, shows the smoogh and very even E-79 nationalroad while finest electronic music was playing in the car.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oJtWTY3sSo


^^

embeded 
(for those who prefer not to leave skyscrapercity)

The video shows driving on the E-79 Nationalroad Dupnica bound.
Astral Projection - Unbelievable Technology was playing during the journey, a fine electronic ambient track.


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## Radish2

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=5BZRWGWF

and here is the long one, watch and enjoy. And please excuse my appearance, I shaved after I returned from the great journey, I usually do not look like that.


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## PLH

Radish2 said:


> fucking idiots, no sound.


Hi Radi:hi: Wanna take a break from the forum?


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## Radish2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4MIfhDzYs0

And here is a *video* of the Ljulin construction side, not only pics like from the others, ofcourse finest electronic music is playing in the car.


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## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> http://www.megavideo.com/?v=5BZRWGWF
> 
> and here is the long one, watch and enjoy. And please excuse my appearance, I shaved after I returned from the great journey, I usually do not look like that.


That's the E-79? Looks dirty, and I thought I saw a couple potholes too.


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## Radish2

Maybe there are Potholes on all your Greek or whatever roads, but there is no pothole or dirt on the E-79, that's why the camera not shaking altough I shaked to the music. 

By the way
http://www.vimeo.com/14838964

Here is the full lengh video, watch the masterpeace road and listen to the high quality electronic music.


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## Radish2

and I want comments on my videos, noone is showing videos in the forum which are selfrecorded and when I do, they do not get commented.


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## Radish2

I can't understand, all videos get commented here on this forum, but mine do not get commented, why? I don't think they are that uninteresting, I guess most here just listen their own folk music and don't have any taste for music, that's why the videos are being ignored, because it does not play rock or folkmusic. haha


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## koynov

RAdi Radi :nuts::nuts::nuts:. Please stop with this E79 and Struma. Struma is still not a highway, but expressway. And the road is really dirty, there is a lot of sand. One day when the real highway is ready you can talk how good it is.:cheers:


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## tanashubav

Radish, is everything O'K with you? Calm down please :cheers:


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## Radish2

koynov said:


> RAdi Radi :nuts::nuts::nuts:. Please stop with this E79 and Struma. Struma is still not a highway, but expressway. And the road is really dirty, there is a lot of sand. One day when the real highway is ready you can talk how good it is.:cheers:


It is a real highway, the signs are green, it will never be a real highway, if you mean to replace the 90 km/h sign with 120 km/h sign, it is dirty, but it is very good and the video is also very good.


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## koynov

Radish2 said:


> It is a real highway, the signs are green, it will never be a real highway, if you mean to replace the 90 km/h sign with 120 km/h sign, it is dirty, but it is very good and the video is also very good.


Our minister said that they will change the speed in 130 km/h after Lulin highway is ready.


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## Kate.Kuj

Gee. You post like you have squits. And man, get yourself together or let someone hug you. :nuts:


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## Radish2

Kate.Kuj said:


> Gee. You post like you have squits. And man, get yourself together or let someone hug you. :nuts:


I get hugs, don't worry about this man. I put effort into recording the long videos and uploading them,to show Bulgaria and it's roadnetwork on a good side with great electronic music playing to demonstrate, that Bulgaria can be nice while listening electronic music instead of dumb folklore or Chalga.


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## vycanismajoris

Poor little kid.


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## waddler

Which one of them? :lol: :jk:


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## Radish2

vycanismajoris said:


> Poor little kid.


You are a poor little kid you fool. I try to put the country on a good light and show how fun it is to drive with psychedelic electronic music and you say I am a poor kid? You have the right to say that I am a poor kid only when you have something better to present that shows good sides of the country. If you check on youtube there are a lot of videos about mountains, towns, landscapes etc in Bulgaria, undermined with music, My selection was electronic music, because it fits very well driving on such new looking roads and nice landscape.


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## Maxx☢Power

lol


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## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> Maybe there are Potholes on all your Greek or whatever roads, but there is no pothole or dirt on the E-79, that's why the camera not shaking altough I shaked to the music.
> 
> By the way
> http://www.vimeo.com/14838964
> 
> Here is the full lengh video, watch the masterpeace road and listen to the high quality electronic music.


I'm from America, Radi. Don't be comparing me to Greece.


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## EEH

OK guys, let's finish this argument. 
Here is another video of Trakia highway (E-80) in Bulgaria in HD.


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## Stelian

rakcancer said:


> According to the map above there is a missing part of A1 of Sofia ring. Is there any plans to connect two parts of A1 in the future?


the northen part of Sofia ring road is 2 by 3+1 road but it can't be a motorway cause it's in the city


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## JloKyM

Part of Sofia's ringroad in urgent need of renovation


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## AUchamps

JloKyM said:


> Part of Sofia's ringroad in urgent need of renovation


Looks like Struma in 5 years future.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

panda80 said:


> ^^The crashbarriers are shiny and guarantee a psychedelic drive.


Good job!kay:You know how to feed the troll:lol:


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## Capt.Vimes

Stelian said:


> the northen part of Sofia ring road is 2 by 3+1 road but it can't be a motorway cause it's in the city


No, it is not in the city.


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## Radish2

JloKyM said:


> Part of Sofia's ringroad in urgent need of renovation


I think the plain is drawn into the pic, I don't know of Boeing 747 starting from Sofia, too few people in one direction to fil such a big airplane. 

and no, Struma wont look like this in 5 years, it will still be a good motorway.


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## Stelian

Capt.Vimes said:


> No, it is not in the city.


Well in reality it's not in the city yet but formally it is part of it.So my logic was that it can't be shown as a motorway on any map cause it's a part of the ringroad.


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## Stelian

JloKyM said:


> Part of Sofia's ringroad in urgent need of renovation


 I think that part is in urgent need of shiny crashbarriers


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Stelian said:


> Well in reality it's not in the city yet but formally it is part of it.So my logic was that it can't be shown as a motorway on any map cause it's a part of the ringroad.


Om the other hand, until the city urbanizes the areas around it, speed limit will be the same as on a real motorway-130kmh:banana:

Pictures from *[A5] Lyulin Motorway* Sofia-Pernik:


















mandjasgrozde said:


> Малко снимки от днес. Качеството не е върха, но става колкото да се види докъде са нещата.


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## sotonsi

As a point of interest, it does look odd on that motorway plan to have motorways to Serbia, Turkey and Greece, but not Romania. It just seems bizarre that there is no route north from the A2 to Bucharest. Romania feels the same way, and isn't planning a motorway south from Bucharest into Bulgaria either, but I'd have thought that having a link between these two EU countries would be sensible.


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## nenea_hartia

sotonsi said:


> As a point of interest, it does look odd on that motorway plan to have motorways to Serbia, Turkey and Greece, but not Romania. It just seems bizarre that there is no route north from the A2 to Bucharest. Romania feels the same way, and isn't planning a motorway south from Bucharest into Bulgaria either, but I'd have thought that having a link between these two EU countries would be sensible.


Yeah, strange enough for both countries. I don't understand it either. But to defend my country , the existing road between Bucharest and Giurgiu, at the Bulgarian border, is 2x2 and in very good shape.


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## TrueBulgarian

The plans, at least for now, are to build two 2x2 roads from Ruse to Veliko Turnovo and Shumen. Unfortunately we haven't heard anything specific so far. The reason there are no plans for a motorway is that the traffic was too low. In the last few years that has changed dramatically but we still have enough motorways to build before we even start to think about one to Ruse. At the moment all of the motorway constructions is in Southern Bulgaria, due to the large volume of traffic and lobbyism. We actually had a big discussion about that in the Bulgarian section, as people from the northern parts feel that nothing is been done to improve the infrastructure there. My point is that in the next few years things are going to change, with the focus gradually shifting to the north so you could expect something new but most probably after 2020.


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## nenea_hartia

I'm afraid 2020 is a realistic term for my country too, as I've seen no plan yet for a motorway between Bucharest and Giugiu. Let's hope we'll be still alive in 2020, and I'll pay the first round of beers in Giurgiu or Ruse, you pick the place. :cheers1:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

BTW, our current government is constantly restating its plans to rebuild the road(*E-79*) from *Botevgrad(A2 Hemus Motorway)* to *Vidin/Calafat(Danube Bridge-II)* as a *2x2* road.


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## wyqtor

^^ Unfortunately, ours doesn't have any major plans for infrastructure linking to the bridge.


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## Le Clerk

^^ We've been presenting for several weeks already pics from the site, with 4 major viaducts linking road and rail to the bridge, as well as the fact that the constructor says all will be ready by summer next year.:weird:


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## wyqtor

Yeah, I know that - but I meant no motorway/express road/4-lane road. Anyway, with Via Carpatia what I said may (fortunately) not be true anymore.


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## Turnovec

ChrisZwolle said:


> However, I wonder how and when they will widen the southwestern part of the ring road. It runs through a densely populated area, and shifting the ring road outside the city is not possible due to the Vitosha Mountains.


There goes the answer to your question  
The municipality will take money from the Regioanl Development fund in order to build 5.1 km. more of the Sofia ring road ... between the current end at Bratya Bukston blvd. and the roundabout of Lyulin Motorway. 

Here is a more detailed map and a google translated article with more info:


----------



## cyberdude

Turnovec said:


> There goes the answer to your question
> The municipality will take money from the Regioanl Development fund in order to build 5.1 km. more of the Sofia ring road ... between the current end at Bratya Bukston blvd. and the roundabout of Lyulin Motorway.
> 
> Here is a more detailed map and a google translated article with more info:


Материала бъка от доста грешки, не е само бъркането на лента и платно. В целия текст и на схемата се говори за 5 км. от Околовръстното, но това в никакъв случай не е целия участък до пътния възел на Магистрала Люлин, както подвеждащо е написала авторката. По-скоро става дума само за участъка от бул. Бъкстон до естакадата над ЖП линията София-Перник. За да се забележи това е достатъчно просто да се видят километричните означения. За частта от жп линията София - Перник до автомагистрала "Люлин" от км *55+100* до км *58+690.58 * се знае само, че е проектиран от ЕТ "Нела", но повече подробности за него не са обявявани.


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## Le Clerk

wyqtor said:


> Yeah, I know that - but I meant no motorway/express road/4-lane road. Anyway, with Via Carpatia what I said may (fortunately) not be true anymore.


The C IV south branch has been planned for what now....4-5 years? And it's planned to enter under the EU financing budget after 2013. Via Carpatia only acknowledges something that has been decided long before.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

A long waited update on the progress of *[A5] Lyulin Motorway*. Special 10x to *mandjasgrozde* :bow: The pictures have been taken from Daskalovo junction-the junction of *Lyulin Motorway[A5]* and Extraterrestriallol *Struma Motorway[A6]* with Sofia-MKD road . 


mandjasgrozde said:


> Почва да му се вижда края.






mandjasgrozde said:


> И две панорамни снимки.


----------



## Turnovec

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.../1000px-Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg.png
> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rala_Lulin.jpg/350px-Avtomagistrala_Lulin.jpg


^^ I guess it's not necessary to post each time there is update on Lyulin those 2 photos as well...


----------



## Gadiri

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


>


There is no previous connection with Romania for the Pan-European corridor IV ?


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Turnovec said:


> ^^ I guess it's not necessary to post each time there is update on Lyulin those 2 photos as well...


Why not? I doubt that even Chris will manage to follow our conversations without the use of google maps. Remember that we refer different to our motorways:lol:It helps non-bulgarian people get the message faster and saves their time. I personally love a report beginning with a map. Anyway, I will stop posting maps if they are already posted on the same page:lol: and if somebody else joins your plead I will stop posting maps at all since it wastes my time a lot:lol:.


Gadiri said:


> There is no previous connection with Romania for the Pan-European corridor IV ?


I don't understand what you want to ask... Our government plans to build a normal 2x2 national road from Botevgrad to Vidin-Danube Bridge II- Calafat on corridor IV...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Gadiri said:


> There is no previous connection with Romania for the Pan-European corridor IV ?


No. People have always complained about the lack of good infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria. There is only 1 bridge across the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria - a second one is under construction near Vidin. There are of course, land crossings in northeastern Bulgaria.


----------



## nenea_hartia

Another financing cycle of the EU should start in 2013, and both Bulgaria & Romania will probably ask for financial help for the southern branch of the Pan-European Corridor IV.


----------



## AndreiB

Looking at the Bulgarian map, and considering our network of planned motorways, I believe an essential connection of the two capitals could be done at Giurgiu/Russe. The A2 motorway runs quite close to the border, and Bucharest is only 55 km away from Giurgiu. That is quite a short stretch of motorway, with the Giurgiu-Russe bridge being the only obstacle in the way. Both of our Infrastructure plans seem to ignore each other, which is not good for the synergy of the region. Obviously the cost of doubling the Russe-Giurgiu bridge would be enormous, but surely auxiliary infrastructure could be built first, with the bridge being funded at a later time.


----------



## HighwayFan

AndreiB said:


> Looking at the Bulgarian map, and considering our network of planned motorways, I believe an essential connection of the two capitals could be done at Giurgiu/Russe. The A2 motorway runs quite close to the border, and Bucharest is only 55 km away from Giurgiu. That is quite a short stretch of motorway, with the Giurgiu-Russe bridge being the only obstacle in the way. Both of our Infrastructure plans seem to ignore each other, which is not good for the synergy of the region. Obviously the cost of doubling the Russe-Giurgiu bridge would be enormous, but surely auxiliary infrastructure could be built first, with the bridge being funded at a later time.


^^ Reasonable comments! kay:


----------



## paF4uko

ChrisZwolle said:


> No. People have always complained about the lack of good infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria. There is only 1 bridge across the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria - a second one is under construction near Vidin. There are of course, land crossings in northeastern Bulgaria.


There are also ferries at Orjahovo and Nikopol. 
Which, however, does not change the fact that nothing is happening in the northern part of the country...


----------



## Turnovec

Another update on the works at Daskalovo Junction, the place where shiny Struma will flow into Lyulin :lol:



Alex_bg said:


>


----------



## Le Clerk

Nice pictures! Can't wait to see the junction when ready. Do you have any render of the junction?

Thanks. :cheers:


----------



## EEH

Its nothing special. Pretty much the same as the existing junction in Sofia on the 4th km of Tsarigradsko Shose blvd but with one more branch - one straight bridge for the mainstream traffic and a roundabout below it with the respective connections for all directions.


----------



## Le Clerk

Why didn't they do a clover leaf?


----------



## Le Clerk

AndreiB said:


> Looking at the Bulgarian map, and considering our network of planned motorways, I believe an essential connection of the two capitals could be done at Giurgiu/Russe. The A2 motorway runs quite close to the border, and Bucharest is only 55 km away from Giurgiu. That is quite a short stretch of motorway, with the Giurgiu-Russe bridge being the only obstacle in the way. Both of our Infrastructure plans seem to ignore each other, which is not good for the synergy of the region. Obviously the cost of doubling the Russe-Giurgiu bridge would be enormous, but surely auxiliary infrastructure could be built first, with the bridge being funded at a later time.


I think the existing semi-express 2x2 road in between Bucharest and Giurgiu is alright for now or the near future. However, when C IV will be ready, as well as Bucharest's motorway ring, there will be need for a motorway to Giurgiu because international traffic will increase. But that's a pretty long perspective - at least 5 years from now on. 

I think, as *nenea_hartia* mentioned, that both countries will need to start working at the south branch of C IV rather. That's how the new bridge could be fully exploited.


----------



## mediar

Le Clerk said:


> Why didn't they do a clover leaf?


Because of the terrain and the sharp edge between the two main directions.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ OK. Thanks.


----------



## JloKyM

Brussels blvd towards Sofia Airport after reconstruction


----------



## mcarling

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Why not? I doubt that even Chris will manage to follow our conversations without the use of google maps. Remember that we refer different to our motorways:lol:It helps non-bulgarian people get the message faster and saves their time. I personally love a report beginning with a map. Anyway, I will stop posting maps if they are already posted on the same page:lol: and if somebody else joins your plead I will stop posting maps at all since it wastes my time a lot


Please continue posting the maps. They are helpful.


----------



## nenea_hartia

mcarling said:


> Please continue posting the maps. They are helpful.


+1

Plus, it's always refreshing to see what EU integration means for RO and BG in our small Balkan side of Europe. No connection at all between our two countries. hno:


----------



## mediar

Another great update of Ljulin motorway - http://forum.gtsofia.info/index.php?topic=3405.msg195296#msg195296


----------



## panda80

JloKyM said:


> and Struma, and Hemus..


I was refering to works that will start this year, not the next one.


----------



## Turnovec

Latest update of Lyulin by FloatingShift



FloatingShift said:


>


----------



## neaguionutu

Will you please tell me how many kilometers of highway can be used in Bulgaria?

Thank you very much!


----------



## autobahnracer

About 450 km.


----------



## Le Clerk

Fantastic pictures of Lyulin Motorway!


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

One more map of Sofia's motorways network:









*Built
U/C
Project phase
Existing*


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Varna, newly opened boulevard towards the airport:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Some photos, posted by *mediar*, for signature lovers:
(I have translated the necessary parts in english in red)


mediar said:


> Между другото прегледах техническия проект на ЛОТ 4/LOT 4 и не ми харесаха пътните знаци, заложени в него, по точно големите табели встрани от пътя. И едно сравнение:
> 
> Стар участък от ам. Тракия/old section near Plovdiv:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ЛОТ 1/LOT1:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ЛОТ 4/LOT4:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Или на най-новите участъци табелите ще са като на най-старите, а не нещо по-добро. Не виждам какъв е смисъла от надписи, само и изцяло написани с главни букви, които изглеждат крещящо? Не може ли табелите да са като на ЛОТ 1, с нормален шрифт и без тези ограничения 60 и 40 на стрелките?


As you can see, we don't have any definite rules for signatures.

Btw, I've just realised that *Trakia Motorway [Burgas-Sofia]* signed as *A1* on new lots.:banana:


----------



## Djurizmo

One question for браћа Бугари: I traveled several times to Istanbul and I always take exit to Plovdiv in order to go towards Svilengrad (as we can see in first photo in above post), but on ViaMichelin I realized that it's faster to go to Čirpan and than towards Parvomay. What is better solution?


----------



## autobahnracer

Djurizmo said:


> One question for браћа Бугари: I traveled several times to Istanbul and I always take exit to Plovdiv in order to go towards Svilengrad (as we can see in first photo in above post), but on ViaMichelin I realized that it's faster to go to Čirpan and than towards Parvomay. What is better solution?


Through Cirpan and Parvomay the distance is a little bit shorter, but the road is in very bad condition. I wouldn't recommend it.


----------



## tanashubav

Djurizmo said:


> One question for браћа Бугари: I traveled several times to Istanbul and I always take exit to Plovdiv in order to go towards Svilengrad (as we can see in first photo in above post), but on ViaMichelin I realized that it's faster to go to Čirpan and than towards Parvomay. What is better solution?


You do it the right way


----------



## Turnovec

Couple of good news from Bulgaria.

On 1st December the the tender for Lot 1 of Maritsa Motorway [A3] was finally kicked off. The stretch is between Orizovo and Dimitrovgrad with an overall length of 31.6 km. The indicative price is 104 mln. EUR. The contractor must be chosen by February 2011 and the works must start somewhen in spring next year. Lot 2's tender , between Dimitrovgrad and Harmanli with total lenght of 34 km. must be opened in the following days as well. 

Also yesterday the first 1200 m2 of asphalt were laid by Trace group at km. 210 of Lot 2 of Trakiya Motorway [A1]


----------



## Turnovec

Another great update on Daskalovo Junction of Lyulin Motorway by FloatingShift :cheers:



FloatingShift said:


>


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

> - Да поговорим за автомагистала "Струма", след инцидента на Е-79 още повече възниква въпросът кога ще стане тя?
> 
> - Мисля, че този инцидент е повод да се форсира стартът на магистрала "Струма". *Средно дневно по Е-79 преминават по 21-22 000 автомобила, двойно повече в сравнение с магистрала "Хемус", където дневно преминават 12 000 автомобила. По магистрала "Тракия", която в момента се изгражда, средно минават по 16 000 автомобила.* Нашият път Е-79 е най-натовареният и това не е тайна за никого. Резонно е доколкото аз съм информиран приоритетни до момента да бъдат от лот 1 до лот 4 на магистрала "Струма", като единият от лотовете, които е в Кресненското дефиле, е разделен на подлотове, за да се осигури една свързаност между всичките лотове, защото това е неизбежно. Виждате инцидент на един път, който няма обходни пътища, до какви загуби носи. Сегашното правителство прави всичко възможно да се форсират нещата. Премиерът Бойко Борисов е разговарял с Европейската банка и има уверението, че ще се осигури финансирането. Дори една концесия може да реши проблема на магистрала "Струма", концесията не е срамна дума. В Полша по този начин има построени страхотни магистрали. Мисля, че ще се намери инвеститор, който да има интерес от магистрала "Струма".


^^According to this interview with the owner of the biggest road building company in *Southwestern Bulgaria - "Agromah":*
Current *AADT *on *E79(Sofia-Blagoevgrad-GR border/Corridor IV)/I-1* or the route of the future *Struma Motorway[A6]* is *21-22 000.*
Current *AADT* on *Trakia Motorway[A1]* is *16 000.*
Current *AADT* on *Hemus Motorway[A2]* is *12 000.*


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

*Daskalovo* junction is almost fully open. Now only the entrance and exit of *Lyulin Motorway[A5] *remain closed, as well as the viaduct from *Lyulin Motorway[A5]* to *Struma Motorway[A6].*









black-U/C
white-opened


----------



## Stelian




----------



## Nafianna

great photo's, well done.

Some amazing retaining walls there in the cut areas.

That big interchange is awesome. who is contractor on this section.



Keep up with the photo's


----------



## mediar

The interchange is part of Lyulin highway, constructed by Mapa Chingis. The latest photo is of Hemus highway.


----------



## BG_PATRIOT

Mapa Cengiz. A Turkish company with which the government had a lot of trouble due to their constant delays and the poor security measures on the working sites. (2 workers died during the construction) Since there has been constant inspections from government officials at the site and things started moving much faster. :cheers:


----------



## mediar

BG_PATRIOT said:


> (2 workers died during the construction)


4 workers, not 2.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Not in the Struma Motorway.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

nenea_hartia said:


> ^ That bridge is impressive! Where is located?


*[A2] Hemus motorway*. That's *Vitinya viaduct*(not *Bebresh*, which is 120m and is taller). As you can see it has no emergency lanes and before and after there are "end of motorway" signs. The lanes on it are also only 3,50m wide. The speed limit is, of course, 90kmph. Usually with police officers.:lol:

A new map of *Lyulin Motorway[A5]*:


----------



## HighwayFan

nenea_hartia said:


> ^ That bridge is impressive! Where is located?


 About 3 км north of Pravets, 738476 E, 4756493 N.


----------



## nenea_hartia

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> *[A2] Hemus motorway*. That's *Vitinya viaduct*(not *Bebresh*, which is 120m and is taller). As you can see it has no emergency lanes and before and after there are "end of motorway" signs. The lanes on it are also only 3,50m wide. The speed limit is, of course, 90kmph. Usually with police officers.:lol:





HighwayFan said:


> About 3 км north of Pravets, 738476 E, 4756493 N.


Thank you. 

I wish you all the best for 2011 and may it be a far better year than 2010!
Happy New Year!


----------



## hammersklavier

You know, whenever I see the construction photos on this thread (excellent, by the way), I am always stunned by how denuded Bulgaria's hills are...


----------



## Мартин

hammersklavier said:


> You know, whenever I see the construction photos on this thread (excellent, by the way), I am always stunned by how denuded Bulgaria's hills are...


Medditerenean climate.


----------



## Viva_Bulgaria

^^ In fact neither of the two statements is generally true. Usually (not always, of course) the hills in Bulgaria are covered by forests and the climate can hardly be called Mediterranean except for some very southern valleys but there is, of course, some Mediterranean influence.


----------



## hammersklavier

Viva_Bulgaria said:


> ^^ In fact neither of the two statements is generally true. Usually (not always, of course) the hills in Bulgaria are covered by forests and the climate can hardly be called Mediterranean except for some very southern valleys but there is, of course, some Mediterranean influence.


True, but in photos particularly of this interchange


>


the background hills look slightly-to-completely denuded...this effect is exasperated in certain lighting conditions.

Other times, such as


>


Bulgaria looks like the rural parts of the southeastern quarter of Pennsylvania. Quite pretty, really.


----------



## cassini83

hammersklavier said:


> Bulgaria looks like the rural parts of the southeastern quarter of Pennsylvania. Quite pretty, really.


Couldn't agree more! I was born in Bulgaria and currently live in northern Indiana. A few years back I had to go on a trip to DC and it struck me how familiar the hills of Pennsylvania look. A small piece of home in a distant land


----------



## EEH

There are practically all kinds of sceneries in Bulgaria. The video below is shot at about 740 m above sea level, about 35 km from Sofia in the southeast direction. You can see the hills are completely covered with forests. The latitude is almost the same as the one of the junction on the above photo.



EEH said:


> Bulgaria. The tunnel on the Sofia-Plovdiv highway, part of the E80 route from Lisboa to Iran.(HD)


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Few photos from *Trakia Motorway[A1]*:








^^prediction values in euro








^^final values in leva(1euro=2leva)


Lozenec said:


> Не са много актуални, но по-добре да ги има  Снимките са от презентацията на ОПТ.





Lozenec said:


>


----------



## panda80

Will Trakya be ready all the way to Burgas in 2011?


----------



## koynov

No, it will be ready for summer 2012. Maritza is for 2013


----------



## panda80

^^Thanks:cheers:


----------



## Stelian

another photo of Hemus 








from Ikar111


----------



## HighwayFan

Stelian said:


> another photo of Hemus


 This is a very nice photo!


----------



## nenea_hartia

Yup, that viaduct is awesome.


----------



## FloatingShift

hammersklavier said:


> True, but in photos particularly of this interchange
> 
> the background hills look slightly-to-completely denuded...this effect is exasperated in certain lighting conditions.


Actually, hammersklavier, in most cases the hills and mountains in Bulgaria are quite green and covered with lush forests. In a few cases, but not always, the southern (and consequently most exposed to the sun) slopes of some mountains are drier and somewhat denuded - like the example you gave - this is the southern slope of the Ljulin Mountain. But let me quote a few pictures I posted last year in the thread about Ljulin motorway - these show the northern slope of this low mountain, covered with thick beech and oak forests, as well as its central part.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

The climate of Bulgaria is not as humid as the climate in Central, Western Europe and coastal zones. That's why plants tend to dry out in autumn and winter.

Anyway, a Struma pic you may not have seen:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

A map with lane and carriageway widths in Bulgaria(in bulgarian):


----------



## mmihaylov

Ето същата снимка но в малко по-голям формат:










Директна връзка: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx242/mmihaylov/-best-Map-Prioriteti-All-1111_jpg.jpg


----------



## nenea_hartia

What do you know about that project of an expressway between Ruse and the Greek border? Is there any plan in the near future?


----------



## mmihaylov

There is a plan. It is one of the major road project for the next period of EU funding from 2014 to 2020. Only small parts are planned for the period 2007-2013. These are:
- Gabrovo bypass
- Kardjali - Podkova

However they haven't started yet.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

nenea_hartia said:


> What do you know about that project of an expressway between Ruse and the Greek border? Is there any plan in the near future?


Source here:
*2007-2013*
Gabrovo bypass - 2x1 - 23,3km
Kardzali - Dzebel interchange - 2x2 - 8km
interchange Dzebel - Podkova - 2x1 - 24km

*2014-2020*
Ruse - Debelets - 2x2 - 100km
Shipka pass+tunnels - 2x2 - 10,2km
Shipka town - Kazanlak - 2x2 - 22km
Kazanlak - Stara Zagora - 2x2 - 7km
Stara Zagora bypass - 2x2 - 10km
Stara Zagora - Dimitrovgrad - 2x2 - 35km
Kardzali bypass - 2x1 - 14km


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

mmihaylov said:


> Ето същата снимка но в малко по-голям формат:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Директна връзка: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx242/mmihaylov/-best-Map-Prioriteti-All-1111_jpg.jpg


There are two errors on this map. The small two sections on Hemus motorway and Maritsa motorway are not under construction. However, the section on Hemus motorway is planned to be tendered this year.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Deaths for 2010:775 (the lowest figure since 1960 when cars were 10times fewer)

In 2009 more than 120 perished in traffic accidents compared to 2010 and more than 600 were wounded in traffic accidents compared to those in 2010.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=69916895&postcount=1121


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It's heading in the good direction but there has a lot to be done. Bulgaria's traffic fatalities need to decline to around 350 to get to a safe level.


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

I have a question maybe not directly connected with Bulgarian motorways, but with driving in BG - I am planning to make a visit Bulgaria this summer and the idea thet came up to my mind is to visit Istanbul as well, so I would like to leave my car in Svilengrad and go there by bus
my question is - does anybody know any safe parking in Svilengrad to leave the car full of luggage for about 24h? of course I am prepared to pay for the parking
thanks


----------



## MHN

^^
I imagine that when you'll return from Istanbul you'll stay in a hotel in Svilengrad or around at least for one night, so check with the accomodation representatives to let you use their parking for an extra day.


----------



## Djurizmo

Don't want to be rude, but why shouldn't you drive to Istanbul?


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

the idea of accomodation+parking seems good, i`tt try to find a camping or sth like this;
driving to Istanbul? hmm, first of all it`ll be a rented car and I`m not sure if we will be allowed to go outside EU, secondly driving in Istanbul is a bit crazy and finding a safe parking may be difficult; anyway, it`s good to have an alternative plan if we decide to leave the car in Bulgaria
thanks


----------



## TrueBulgarian

I'll repost your question on the Bulgarian section. I am sure that there were some forumers from Svilengrad.


----------



## Djurizmo

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> secondly driving in Istanbul is a bit crazy and finding a safe parking may be difficult;
> thanks


You are very wrong about driving in Istanbul. I'm driving there often. But, your trip, your rules 

sorry for OT


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

Djurizmo said:


> You are very wrong about driving in Istanbul. I'm driving there often. But, your trip, your rules
> 
> sorry for OT


good to hear it, but I doubt if I convice my friends to do that, they don`t fancy such challenges as much as I do


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

А view towards Sofia from the south.
Down below you can see *Sofia's South Ring Road*.
On the left is *Lyulin Motorway[A5]*.You can guess where it is by the viaducts and trenches.
On the right *Trakia Motorway[A1]* is visible as a line.


----------



## panda80

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> good to hear it, but I doubt if I convice my friends to do that, they don`t fancy such challenges as much as I do


I also drove in Istanbul and outside the historical old town traffic is normal, congestion is like in any other major city in Europe. You have motorways that lead quite close to center.


----------



## Fuzzy Llama

And how about on-street parking, are there many problems? Going to Istambul is beginning to look like a fun thing to do, although as a proper student I'd use only the cheapest hostels I could find, without luxuries like hotel parking and such


----------



## panda80

Fuzzy Llama said:


> And how about on-street parking, are there many problems? Going to Istambul is beginning to look like a fun thing to do, although as a proper student I'd use only the cheapest hostels I could find, without luxuries like hotel parking and such


Parking is indeed difficult on the narrow streets of historical center.


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

Fuzzy Llama said:


> And how about on-street parking, are there many problems? Going to Istambul is beginning to look like a fun thing to do, although as a proper student I'd use only the cheapest hostels I could find, without luxuries like hotel parking and such


I couldn`t explain my situation better than you did it ;D;D


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

*Trakia Motorway[A1]*. In the first pictures you can see the end of *lot5*(*Burgas-Karnobat*) near *Karnobat*.



mediar said:


> *LOT 4
> 2 February 2011*





mediar said:


> *LOT 2
> 2 February 2011*
> 
> Строителството на детелината при сегашния край на магистралата върви с пълна сила. В далечината се вижда асфалта на пробния участък. В кръговото се правят колоните на моста над магистралата.
> 
> Part 1:





mediar said:


> Part 2:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

*8,460km* of *Hemus Motorway[A2]* near *Sofia* have been tendered on *30.03.2011*. When built, passing through villages of *Dolni Bogorov* and *Gorni Bogorov* will be avoided.

Did you know that *Struma Motorway[A6]* will bypass *Blagoevgrad* from the west with a series of viaducts and tunnels. I wonder what *Radi* thinks about that.:lol:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Several pictures from the few km of *Maritsa Motorway[A3]* near *Kapitan Andreevo/TR border* by *ogibo*:



ogibo said:


> Май не бързат много със строежа на отсечката до К. Андреево. На тези снимки има леко раздвижване, но като цяло ми се струва че доста се бавят. То пък и за къде ли да бързат след като не се знае още кой ще строи обхода на селото.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Айде и за изплакване на окото малко.


----------



## mediar

*Hemus Motorway [ A2 ]
Varna - Shumen
25 March 2011*

Part 1:


----------



## mediar

Part 2:


----------



## mediar

Part 3:


----------



## mediar

Part 4:


----------



## mediar

Part 5:


----------



## mediar

Part 6:


----------



## mediar

*Hemus Motorway [ A2 ]
Yablanica - Sofia
25 March 2011*

Part 1:


----------



## mediar

Part 2:


----------



## mediar

Part 3:


----------



## mediar

Part 4:


----------



## mediar

Part 5:


----------



## mediar

Part 6:


----------



## mediar

Part 7:


----------



## medicu' de garda

Excelent report Mediat :cheers: . Glad to be able to see the beautiful Yablanita-Sofia motorway again, with it's awsome viaducts and tunnels. To bad that the asfalt is still degraded as I know it. Also, I see that the Shumen-Varna stretch is still bombarded for several kilometres  . It seems that even you had to use the emergency lane at one time.

Seriousy guys, aren't there any funds available for redoing the most degraded parts, at least? I consider BEING FORCED to use the emergency lane for a few km something quite dangerous, apart from mind-bogling. I know that in Romania we have some bad infrastructure (the A1), but still... not that bad


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

medicu' de garda said:


> Excelent report Mediat :cheers: . Glad to be able to see the beautiful Yablanita-Sofia motorway again, with it's awsome viaducts and tunnels. To bad that the asfalt is still degraded as I know it. Also, I see that the Shumen-Varna stretch is still bombarded for several kilometres  . It seems that even you had to use the emergency lane at one time.
> 
> Seriousy guys, aren't there any funds available for redoing the most degraded parts, at least? I consider BEING FORCED to use the emergency lane for a few km something quite dangerous, apart from mind-bogling. I know that in Romania we have some bad infrastructure (the A1), but still... not that bad


*Shumen-Varna* stretch was repaved partially this winter. I think tenders are currently held for stretches on *Trakia[A1]* and *Hemus[A2] Motorways*.

mediar did also a report on U/C part of Trakia Motorway[A1]:


mediar said:


> *LOT 2
> 4 April 2011*
> 
> A few photos, taken from the current end of Trakia Motorway near Stara Zagora. The construction is going strong, with most of the columns inside the roundabout that are part of the new road junction, being finished.





mediar said:


> *LOT 3
> 4 April 2011*
> 
> This is the place where LOT 3 of Trakia Motorway crosses I-55, the road from Nova Zagora to Sliven.
> 
> Part 1:





mediar said:


> Part 2:





mediar said:


> *LOT 4
> 4 April 2011*
> 
> The end of LOT 4 and the beginning of LOT 5 near Karnobat.
> 
> Part 1:





mediar said:


> Part 2:


And another report on *Trakia[A1]* from *Sofia* to *Stara Zagora*:


mediar said:


> *Sofia - Stara Zagora
> 4 April 2011*
> 
> Part 1:





mediar said:


> Part 2:





mediar said:


> Part 3:





mediar said:


> Part 4:





mediar said:


> Part 5:





mediar said:


> Part 6:





mediar said:


> Part 7:


And *Karnobat-Burgas [A1] Trakia Motorway* again:


mediar said:


> *Kanobat - Burgas
> 4 April 2011*
> 
> Part 1:





mediar said:


> Part 2:





mediar said:


> Part 3:





mediar said:


> Part 4:


All in all, a perfect job from *mediar*:bow:


----------



## nenea_hartia

Excellent trip report, mediar!! Although being split in four different forums it is a little hard to follow, but it's a delight to see your pictures. Thank you very much!


----------



## Bad_Hafen

great report 
In Bulgaria there are so many different stiles of road signs. Isn't there some rule?

I'm curious about this letter Dobri*č*? I didn't now you use it. 
http://media.snimka.bg/8359/022974067-big.jpg

Also I've noticed that on the new signs you use Serbian style of signs. 
http://media.snimka.bg/8355/022965028-big.jpg
http://media.snimka.bg/8355/022964783-big.jpg


----------



## mediar

Nope, there aren't any rules for that kind of traffic signs. It depends on the engineer, designed each section of the motorway. Since each engineer has different view of the signs' style, we have a wide variety of different traffic signs. And I think that is a real problem, and official rules should be introduce in that area.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Bad_Hafen said:


> alternative is not what can be called priority, first the routes have to be established and than alternatives. It is stupid to build two roads in one direction when you have zero in other directions.


Actually, you are not right. The south section in Bulgaria of C-IV Sofia-Thessaloniki is well established. It would become the busiest motorway in Bulgaria when build.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

An image from Lyulin Motorway[A5]:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Does anyone know the status of the A1 between Stara Zagora and Karnobat?

As far as I know it will be constructed in 3 sections. Are all already under construction? Which interchanges are planned? When will each section be completed? 

Is there any government website which has up-to-date information about new road construction (in Bulgarian)?


----------



## autobahnracer

ChrisZwolle said:


> Does anyone know the status of the A1 between Stara Zagora and Karnobat?
> 
> As far as I know it will be constructed in 3 sections. Are all already under construction? Which interchanges are planned? When will each section be completed?
> 
> Is there any government website which has up-to-date information about new road construction (in Bulgarian)?


Since last summer all three sections are under construction. The first section (Stara Zagora-Nova Zagora) is completed at more than 30%, the two others (Nova Zagora-Yambol and Yambol-Karnobat) are at ~20-25%(march 2011). They will all be completed until july-august 2012.
You can see the plans of intersections with main roads at wikimapia:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.3960797&lon=26.0142517&z=10&l=2&m=b
you can check out the road agency website http://api.government.bg and http://stroitelstvo.info/infrastructure/ for news about bulgarian infrastructure.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Thanks! Do you know if exits are numbered in Bulgaria, and if they are, if they are distance-based or sequentially numbered?


----------



## autobahnracer

ChrisZwolle said:


> Thanks! Do you know if exits are numbered in Bulgaria, and if they are, if they are distance-based or sequentially numbered?


They aren't numbered at all.  it's messy.


----------



## Botev1912

ChrisZwolle said:


> Thanks! Do you know if exits are numbered in Bulgaria, and if they are, if they are distance-based or sequentially numbered?


I haven't seen numbered exits in Europe. They don't exist in Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Spain. I haven't seen any in those countries. Are there any?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Most European countries have numbered exits.


----------



## danielstan

There are no exit number in Romania, neither.


----------



## sotonsi

Spain, Slovenia and Croatia have exit numbers, though Slovenia hasn't rolled them out fully yet AFAIK.


----------



## Botev1912

I was there last summer. In Croatia there was only the sign Izlaz and no number. In Italy there was only the name of the city. I even drove in Spain and didn't see any numbers. It doesn't say exit 179 for example like here in the US


----------



## Zagor666

Germany also have Exit Numbers


----------



## Botev1912

can anyone show a picture


----------



## YU-AMC

Speaking as of now, how many km or full profile motorways have been completed in Bulgaria? Anything from EU money?


----------



## mediar

Botev1912 said:


> can anyone show a picture


Of course:

Slovenia:









Croatia:









Hungaria:









Austria:









Do you need more photos?


----------



## mediar

YU-AMC said:


> Speaking as of now, how many km or full profile motorways have been completed in Bulgaria? Anything from EU money?


None, but 19km ( Ljulin motorway ) are going to be opened on 15th May. Another 100+ km are going to be completed in the next summer ( 2012 ). I'm talking only about projects, build with EU money.


----------



## Botev1912

mediar said:


> Do you need more photos?


no thanks. That's why I haven't noticed them. They don't look like exit numbers. I thought they were like road numbers or something. I am used to the US system. Those are the US exits


*Can anyone move this and the post above (with the pictures unrelated to Bulgarian Highways) to the thread highways EU vs USA.*


----------



## YU-AMC

mediar said:


> None, but 19km ( Ljulin motorway ) are going to be opened on 15th May. Another 100+ km are going to be completed in the next summer ( 2012 ). I'm talking only about projects, build with EU money.


Thanks. So as of now you guys have approx 800-900km of motorways completed?


----------



## mediar

^^



tanashubav said:


> * The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> *Total: 242,938km.*
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> *Total: 145,643 km.*
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> *Total: 35,130 km.*
> 
> The first 3 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway!
> The section between km. 89+600 till km. 108+510 has one lane only, so it is not a motorway.
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> *8,221 km.*
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> *17,232 km.*
> 
> *Оverall
> 444,164 км.*
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> *
> Trakiya motorway:*
> Three "LOT"'s(sections):
> LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31,5km(from 210+100 till km 241+900);
> LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 34,3km.(from km 241+900 till km 276+200);
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> All three LOT's at Trakiya must be completed till summer of 2012.
> *All under construction at Trakiya:114,880 km.*
> 
> *Liylin motorway:*
> The entire planned length is under construction. It is total 19,135km. About 70 % of the work is done. Opening is scheduled for 01.06.2011.
> 
> *Maritsa motorway:*
> The section from km. 99+820 till km. 108+510 (8,690km.) has one lane only and the second should be completed till the end of 2011.
> 
> *Overall under construction at 02.10.2010:
> 142,705km.*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

> Cherno more (A5)
> 
> Struma (A6)


I thought Cherno More was A4 and Lyulin was A5. :wtf:


----------



## mediar

^^ Actually that wasn't that far away in the past, because the latest cases date back to summer 2009, as far as I remember.

EDIT: I just found one more page with a lot of information about the robberies - http://www.focus-news.net/?id=h2776 ( especially the titles - "Мъж е убит при престрелка с полицията в района на Вакарел", "Агенция „Фокус” припомня:", "Магистралните грабежи, справка Агенция "Фокус" " ). A short history of the latest robberies till November 2009, without the one after that - http://dnes.dir.bg/news.php?id=5544117. Another article for the curious - http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=315041 .

And an article from March 2011, saying that the group, accused for the robberies is acquited, because of lack of evidences - http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=835585

All the articles are in bulgarian, but you can use Google Translator.

---------------------------

If you're not interested in reading them, this is the summary:

6 or 7 robberies in 2009;
3 robberies in 2008;
1 robbery in 2006;
1 robbery in 2005;
30 ( yes, thirty ) robberies in 2004;
more than 5 outrageous before 2004.

The targets are mainly foreigners. In late 2004 the group "The Crocodiles / Крокодилите" was caught and kept in prison ( and the number of the crimes decreased signifficantly ), but set free after a while because of lack of evidences. In April 2011 the group was acquited.


----------



## Radish2

I wanted to ask if the Ljulin motorway is finished and open yet, or not yet? it would be a shame if it is still not opened, really a shame.


----------



## Tego

^^ Two more weeks, Radi. Two more.  The 15th of May, 2011 is the official opening date.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Oxo, Radi is back!:banana:

Historical development of *Trakia motorway[A1]* by *REAKT0R*:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Trakia_highway_historical.gif

Overpass over railway *Nova Zagora-Simeonovgrad*:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

A tiny update from the roundabout(future full cloverleaf) near Stara Zagora on Trakia Motorway[A1] and I-5:


Pacholuu said:


> Малко снимки от кръговото при Стара Загора от 26.04.11г.


----------



## Ekliptiko

Does there exist a map showing average daily traffic for all roads in Bulgaria?


----------



## mediar

No.


----------



## Bad_Hafen

Botev1912 said:


> Croatia are not even in the EU and their roads are much much better than ours (Bulgaria). How can they do it and we can't


As if entering EU equals good roads and being outside equals bad roads. 
Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Norway etc. 
The richer the country the better the roads are, it is as simple as that. Being in EU alone doesn't mean that you autmaticly have good raods and that someone being outside of EU has bad roads. 
Think next time before you write something like that.
Croatia is in every aspect ahead of BG and RO.


----------



## Radish2

Tego said:


> ^^ Two more weeks, Radi. Two more.  The 15th of May, 2011 is the official opening date.


FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCC
CCKKKKKKKKIIINNGGGGG AAAAAAAAAWWWWEEEE
EEESSSSSSSSSSOOOO
OOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE


----------



## vycanismajoris

Bad_Hafen said:


> As if entering EU equals good roads and being outside equals bad roads.
> Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Norway etc.
> The richer the country the better the roads are, it is as simple as that. Being in EU alone doesn't mean that you autmaticly have good raods and that someone being outside of EU has bad roads.
> Think next time before you write something like that.
> Croatia is in every aspect ahead of BG and RO.


What do you know? The mentor is here. Please, don't tell me where the sun goes at night.


----------



## Botev1912

Bad_Hafen said:


> As if entering EU equals good roads and being outside equals bad roads.
> Think next time before you write something like that.
> Croatia is in every aspect ahead of BG and RO.


The EU gives a lot of money for roads. If Croatia is ahead of BG and RO in every aspect why isn't Croatia in the EU yet? I know that your government wants to join the EU, but you can't qualify yet. There are a lot of requirements to join the EU


----------



## nenea_hartia

Bad_Hafen said:


> As if entering EU equals good roads and being outside equals bad roads.
> Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Norway etc.
> The richer the country the better the roads are, it is as simple as that.


You've probably never been to Central & Northern Norway. You would be surprised. 

Overall you are definitely right: money make good roads. Me & Botev1912 were just intrigued how is it that our two countries can't build better roads faster although we are using EU funding. I've been in your country and I admire Croatia. But friendly exposures of the facts would be always preferable to blunt and sometimes rude sentences. At least for me


----------



## Bad_Hafen

^^I have been to central Norway and yes Norway has some crappy roads, but generally they are good if we considered how big is the country and how sparely it is populated. They don't need motorways connecting all parts of the country it is not feasible and not needed. 
And i am not Croat. I am just stating obvious facts.


Botev1912 said:


> The EU gives a lot of money for roads. If Croatia is ahead of BG and RO in every aspect why isn't Croatia in the EU yet? I know that your government wants to join the EU, but you can't qualify yet. There are a lot of requirements to join the EU


I know that EU gives lot of money, but it doesn't mean that non EU countries don't invest in roads.

Croatia is not in EU because of the political problems, when BG and RO considered questions like joining EU, Croatia had war on its territory simple as that.


----------



## Radish2

I guess the new motorway will be very crappy, judging on the pics I have seen and I am really sorry about it. I wanted one fucking more thing to be proud off about bulgaria, but even that seems to be fucking crap. when we entered the overpasses and the roundabout, that were build new, the asphalt was very soft and not very even and was way crappier then any struma motorway or E 79 asphalt, even the new motorway part, that I was on, that replaced the old part near the struma motorway end at daskalovo felt very shitty and like awful quality. I guess I will not come to bulgaria soon, because when I come there, I want to relax and see something nice and new, and not to get in a bad mood and see, how the very very only good thing that ever has been made in Bulgaria slowly begins to age but is still in top shape. The E-79 nationalraod and the Struma motorway have such an amazing asphalt that you can drive with whatever speed you want and the car will never shake, the motorway and the nationalroad til Dupnica have the best grip I have ever felt on any motorway except very new Slovenian motorways maybe, but all other roads feel awful and look shite. but that is so typical for bulgaria. And big respect to the macedonian company Mavrovo, who helped realising 40 km of masterpiece road that the country will probably never ever see til roads will ever exist, I am extremly angry.


----------



## Radish2

Tego said:


> ^^ Two more weeks, Radi. Two more.  The 15th of May, 2011 is the official opening date.





PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> An image from Lyulin Motorway[A5]:


It looks bad. Where are the markings. And I don't like that there is no concrete in the middle but plain earth. Grass will grow fast and they will not cut it frequently, I am affraid. It won be a second Struma motorway.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Radish2 said:


> It looks bad. Where are the markings. And I don't like that there is no concrete in the middle but plain earth. Grass will grow fast and they will not cut it frequently, I am affraid. It won be a second Struma motorway.


Markings are not yet put, Radi.

I think that the only problem of Lyulin Motorway is that it is just too far from Blagoevgrad-the spring of wellness and crashbarrier-shininess, isn't it?


----------



## Radish2

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Markings are not yet put, Radi.
> 
> I think that the only problem of Lyulin Motorway is that it is just too far from Blagoevgrad-the spring of wellness and crashbarrier-shininess, isn't it?


emm no. And ofcourse the markings are put, should I show you a picture? Blagoevgrad is not the spring of shininess and wellness, it is probably Dupnica, with the view of the Rila mountains. It suits very well when someone sees them while drving on roads with grey brown asphalt and glowing markings and nice shiny crashbarriers.


----------



## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> emm no. And ofcourse the markings are put, should I show you a picture? Blagoevgrad is not the spring of shininess and wellness, it is probably Dupnica, with the view of the Rila mountains. It suits very well when someone sees them while drving on roads with grey brown asphalt and glowing markings and nice shiny crashbarriers.


So Radi, when does the next phaser of the Struma open? And for old times sake, can you please use the term whoreson?


----------



## Radish2

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Markings are not yet put, Radi.
> 
> I think that the only problem of Lyulin Motorway is that it is just too far from Blagoevgrad-the spring of wellness and crashbarrier-shininess, isn't it?





AUchamps said:


> So Radi, when does the next phaser of the Struma open? And for old times sake, can you please use the term whoreson?


No, that is not possible. I have grown to a point where I stop using very nasty words, where they are not appropiate. I rethought what I aid yesterday and I think the motorway could be pretty good. It does look pretty good, has shiny crashbarriers and the green balustrade at the bridges with glass looks very well aswell. It looks a lot Slovenian, which I like as design. I just hope the asphalt will be good aswell. What annoyed me was that the roundabout has very bad markings 










And that is not appriopiate for a main motorway junction at all.


----------



## Radish2

mediar said:


> There used to be, untill the latest government. You can compare a brand new section in Bulgaria and a brand new section in Croatia or Slovenia. And you'll see why our newest sections are so cheap. The problem is mainly in the old and poor construction plans and the lack of any additional elements on our motorways.
> 
> For example: Burgas - Karnobat was opened a few years ago. Look at it now:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------
> 
> The entire reportages of the two newest motorway sections in Bulgaria are as follows:
> 
> Chirpan - Stara Zagora - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=63425589#post63425589
> ^^ Tinypic slightly decreased the quality of the photos, so better one can be found in my site - http://mediar.hybridfire.net/photos/trakia-motorway-08-09-2010.html
> 
> Karnobat - Burgas - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=75583693#post75583693
> 
> In comparison, you can visit the threads of the other countries and compare their newest motorways with ours.


The other pics of this section look pretty good though, the asphalt looks still clean and the markings and crash barriers are clean also. But for example the Struma motorway, which is new aswell does not have damaged asphalt yet. Altough it suffers extrem winters every year and is probably the motorway with the toughest conditions the materials have to endure in bulgaria. I am pretty sure about that. But it is top quality and probably as good as a croatian or Slovenian motorway, if not better.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Our mod- *Chilio* has noticed that flyovers of the new Vidin's bypass, part of the adjoining infrastructure of the bridge Vidin-Calafat(RO) over the Danube, are built wide enough to accommodate a full motorway(2x2+e).:banana:


----------



## Radish2

so soon a time will come where people will be able to drive on 60 km long section without any waveand any faded marking when counting the Ljulin motorway, the Struma motorway and the E 79 nationalroad. At the half of that section, they will stop at the Mc Donald's, which ofcourse has shiny chairs outside and eat something and continue their journey towards Greece continueing on another 30 km of perfect road with not one wave and I guess not one missing marking.


----------



## Tego

^^ Sounds idyllic, indeed! Just the McDonald's part spoils it for me... Although considering the shiny chairs, I might give it a second thought. :yes:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

I think that McDonalds strategy makers have read Radi's comments too seriously and got a wrong impression about bulgarians as crows*








and put their shiny chairs on "still the shiniest motorway in the world"-Struma.:lol:


*crows are known for their love for shiny small objects like small pieces of glass, beer caps, which they sometimes carry in their nests


----------



## x-type

ChrisZwolle said:


> SNV. Belgium also uses it.


khm, i'm not too sure. Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia. i find Belgian much different


----------



## Bad_Hafen

But only Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia had Cyrillic version 
And now Bulgaria.


----------



## Radish2

Tego said:


> ^^ Sounds idyllic, indeed! Just the McDonald's part spoils it for me... Although considering the shiny chairs, I might give it a second thought. :yes:


If you don't want Mc Donald's, you go to Shell and buy foot there.


----------



## AUchamps

Tego said:


> ^^ Sounds idyllic, indeed! Just the McDonald's part spoils it for me... Although considering the shiny chairs, I might give it a second thought. :yes:


If Radi says McDonalds is the best, then it's the best.


----------



## Radish2

No, it's not the best and I do not like it a lot. But It just fits in since it has shiny chairs (altough all Mc Donald's do) But there are several Gas stations on the motorway with normal foot available. The Gas stations look like they are from doom 3 outside and inside.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Radish2 said:


> If you don't want Mc Donald's, you go to Shell and buy _*foot*_ there.





Radish2 said:


> No, it's not the best and I do not like it a lot. But It just fits in since it has shiny chairs (altough all Mc Donald's do) But there are several Gas stations on the motorway with normal _*foot*_ available. The Gas stations look like they are from doom 3 outside and inside.


Oh, goody. Do they sell hands also? God gave me two left hands and I am looking for a right one ever since.:lol:


----------



## Bad_Hafen

radi foot fetish :lol:


----------



## Radish2

what is the speed limit of the Ljulin motorway?


----------



## x-type

Radish2 said:


> No, it's not the best and I do not like it a lot. But It just fits in since it has shiny chairs (altough all Mc Donald's do) But there are several Gas stations on the motorway with normal foot available. The Gas stations look like they are from doom 3 outside and inside.


oh come on, if you think that the chairs are the most important thing in retaurant, why do they cook there? you should be happy about restaruant which serves shopska salata, gyuvech, lozovi sarmi, kebapche, shishcheta, pleskavitse, and not that tastelss crap.


----------



## Radish2

Tego said:


> ^^ Sounds idyllic, indeed! Just the McDonald's part spoils it for me... Although considering the shiny chairs, I might give it a second thought. :yes:





x-type said:


> oh come on, if you think that the chairs are the most important thing in retaurant, why do they cook there? you should be happy about restaruant which serves shopska salata, gyuvech, lozovi sarmi, kebapche, shishcheta, pleskavitse, and not that tastelss crap.


Well, Mc donald's is not that great foot and usually I do not care about the chairs a lot. But it just suits on the Struma motorway that the chairs are shiny. the struma motorway crashbarriers are not that shiny anymore unfortunately. But the asphalt is still untouched and people will have 60 km of road without any bump or wave, maybe a tiny wave each 10 km that can not be felt.


----------



## Radish2

I am just hoping a lot, that the motorway will not only be opened for short on May 15th and then closed again, that would be a shame since I am in germany and really thinking of going there to take some videos of it, what do you think?


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

x-type said:


> oh come on, if you think that the chairs are the most important thing in retaurant, why do they cook there? you should be happy about restaruant which serves shopska salata, gyuvech, lozovi sarmi, kebapche, shishcheta, pleskavitse, and not that tastelss crap.


Seriously, guys I am amazed about your knowledge of Bulgaria.:nuts::nuts::nuts:
Firstly, *panda80* and danielstan speak about bulgarian as if they had studied bulgarian philology.
And now *x-type* is obviously a bulgarian cuisine expert!:nuts:



Radish2 said:


> I am just hoping a lot, that the motorway will not only be opened for short on May 15th and then closed again, that would be a shame since I am in germany and really thinking of going there to take some videos of it, what do you think?


Do so, please. We want to hear the expert judge it.:cheers:


----------



## danielstan

My statements about Bulgarian language are not from studies made in Bulgaria, of course, but they are not pure speculations.
I am pasionate about the origins of my mother tongue, Romanian, and I have read a lot of Romanian linguists explaining the influence of other languages in Romanian.
I have studied with my limited powers few slavic languages (at 'tourist' level) in order to find the unexplainable anomalies from Romanian language versus other neo-latin languages.

If anything I said about Bulgarian language is false, please correct me as I am eager to learn.

But I do know that:
Bulgarian uses definite article at the end of the noun - also Macedonian does this (and I don't debate if Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian or not).
No other slavic languages uses articles with nouns!
Romanian uses the same gramatical construction, while all other neo-latin languages put the article before the noun.
I read from a Romanian linguist that also Greek language has this, but I am not able to confirm as I don't know Greek at all.

Another strange thing in Romanian is that some words containing 'a', by declination (transformation in derivate words) are transforming the 'a' in 'ă'.
I guess this has a Bulgarian influence, as many other slavic languages do not have 'ă', while in the main neo-latin languages this does not happen.
Some Romanian linguist believe that Albanian also influenced Romanian in this matter, but I am also unable to confirm.

Some nouns in Romanian are declined from masculin form (male) to feminin (female) form like in many slavic languages:
român (masculin) - româncă (feminin)
ţigan (masculin) - ţigancă (feminin)


----------



## FloatingShift

danielstan, this is a very interesting topic, although it's of the "off" type and I am afraid that the mods may stretch our years, but I can't resist the temptation to comment on it. It seems that in the time of the great migration of the Slavs in the 5th century the Romanian lands became populated by more Slavs than Dacians/Romanians. So the Proto-Romanian language indeed was heavily influenced by Slavic with at some point up to a half of the Romanian vocabulary being borrowed from Slavic, although this share has significantly decreased over time. It is interesting for example that all words related to commerce in Romanian in the Middle Ages were taken from Slavic, as the Dacian population was sedentary, but agrarian, while the Slavs inhabited vast territories and apparently had developed trade networks. Also the way Romanians count was influenced by Slavic - for example "unsprezece" is a direct translation of the Slavic/Bulgarian "единадесет" (one on ten).

And then it’s interesting how the numerous Slavic population in present day Romania was gradually Romanized since the XVth century as some documents from the Brasov city archive show, and Vlahian/Romanian slowly got the upper hand. And I bet that most Bulgarians (I don’t know about Romanians) don't have a clue about this linguistic affinity between our nations that should make us closer.


----------



## danielstan

Slavic population of Romania has Romanized as the Romanian population of Bulgaria and Serbia (so-called 'Vlachs') have forgotten their language.
This is a phenomena accelerated in the last 100 years in many countries where ethnic minorities dissapear in the mass of the majority, due to education, state TV and radio in the official language.
Example: Greater Romania after 1918 had 29% ethnic minorities. Today Romania (without Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and South Dobrudja a.k.a. Cadrilater) has 10,5% minorities (2002 census).
It is a fact that most of German and Jewish minorities of Romania have emigrated to their countries.


----------



## Radish2

so i wont go to bulgaria now unfortunately. No money. If some people would donate, I will go, I need 100 € in order to be able to go to Bulgaria and return with someone I know, then I will record very good videos and write a very detailed report about the Ljulin motorway. If someone will lend me a professional cam I will take the video and send the cam back. So if someone wants an analys and a video, you my donate.


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## Bad_Hafen

her is the report about driving the route Sofia - Vidin - Romania


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## Tego

I am posting a compilation of Bulgarian roads for some of our neighbors who wanted to see what they look like. My appologies for not really being on topic since those are not motorways, but as it was a sincere wish, here goes: 

Vidin - Montana (E79), near Smolyanovtsi:











In the town of Montana:











Montana - Lom (I-81), near Rasovo:











Sofia - Veliko Tarnovo (E772), at the village of Sopot:











Pleven - Lovech (I-35), near Slavyani:











Ruse - Shumen (I-2), near Beli Lom:











Silistra - Tutrakan (I-21), near Nova Popina:











Dobrich - Balchik (I-27), near Dobrich:











Varna - Byala (I-9), near Rudnik:











Aytos - Karnobat (I-6), near Sokolovo:











Burgas - Sozopol (I-99), near Atiya:











Simeonovgrad - Stara Zagora (I-503), at the entrance of the village of Vassil Levski:











Dimitrovgrad - Haskovo (I-5), near Dimitrovgrad:











Mineralni Bani - Petelovo (I-506), near Petelovo:











Haskovo - Kurdzhali (I-5), near Chernoochene:










There are many more I could show, but I don't feel like running out of bandwith, so instead here are two videos:

Shipka Pass, credits to Jlokym:







Maglizh - Gurkovo:


----------



## rossiankov

Thanks a lot for the photos and videos. I am glad all of the roads shown look like high-quality roads.


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## Tego

My point was to pick random stretches from all around the country and in doing so not only to select the main roads. As I said, there's much more to show, but the idea is for people to see a little of what hasn't been shown before (and to save my photobucket account's bandwidth at the same time ).


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## x-type

what is the situation with tunnels on national roads in Bulgaria? do you have some information and photos of them?


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## JackFrost

Tego said:


> I am posting a compilation of Bulgarian roads for some of our neighbors who wanted to see what they look like. My appologies for not really being on topic since those are not motorways, but as it was a sincere wish, here goes:  ]


Whats the story of this road? Has it been repaved yet? Just out of curiosity...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_lnQPryZf8


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## mediar

Yea, it's current state:


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## Bad_Hafen

Tego said:


> My point was to pick random stretches from all around the country and in doing so not only to select the main roads. As I said, there's much more to show, but the idea is for people to see a little of what hasn't been shown before (and to save my photobucket account's bandwidth at the same time ).


thnx love you


----------



## tanashubav

ChrisZwolle said:


> Are there more pictures of the road signs along A5 - Lyulin? This one indicates A6. Not really that weird if you consider the next exit is at Pernik where Lyulin becomes Struma, but it's still a bit weird. I'm particularly interested in the signage in Pernik and Sofia leading up to the Lyulin Motorway.


In fact, the official number of the motorway from Sofia to Kulata is A6. It has two parts called Lyulin and Struma motorway. Lyulin are the first 19km. starting from Sofia, and Struma are the remaining 156km. from Pernik to Kulata.
A5 is the number of Cherno more motorway, and it is shown at all the signs in Varna, where it starts.


----------



## Tego

x-type said:


> what is the situation with tunnels on national roads in Bulgaria? do you have some information and photos of them?


Jeez, that's a hard one!  I'll look through the web when I have more spare time to see if I can find some info / photos, but honestly speaking, I know of very few tunnels on national roads in Bulgaria (that doesn't mean there aren't more). We've got some urban tunnels in cities / towns (e.g. in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo) and I'll look for pictures of those, too.

FYI, we also have many railroad tunnels. 



Bad_Hafen said:


> thnx...


Anytime. 



Bad_Hafen said:


> ...love you


I'll pretend I didn't get that.


----------



## tanashubav

x-type said:


> what is the situation with tunnels on national roads in Bulgaria? do you have some information and photos of them?


There are 4 tunnels at Hemus (A2), 3 at Lyulin (A6), and one at Trakiya (A1) motorways.
The tunnels at the rest of the national roads are shorter, and generally with one tube. There are some more tunnels at E79 road (Kresna gorge) and Iskar river gorge.


----------



## x-type

tanashubav said:


> There are 4 tunnels at Hemus (A2), 3 at Lyulin (A6), and one at Trakiya (A1) motorways.
> The tunnels at the rest of the national roads are shorter, and generally with one tube. There are some more tunnels at E79 road (Kresna gorge) and Iskar river gorge.


i know for those motorway tunnels, so i asked for tunnels at national roads with purpose 
i also know for that one near Veliko Tărnovo.


----------



## Tego

tanashubav said:


> There are 4 tunnels at Hemus (A2), 3 at Lyulin (A6), and one at Trakiya (A1) motorways.
> The tunnels at the rest of the national roads are shorter, and generally with one tube. There are some more *tunnels at E79 road (Kresna gorge)* and Iskar river gorge.


Here's one of those tunnels:











...and another one (they look alike):











These two tubes are on E79 again, at Dupnitsa:











This one's near Trigrad, in the Rhodope Mountains.











Again, in the Rhodopes, near Devin and the recently finished Tsankov Kamak Dam




















This is a short video taken in one of the tunnels in Plovdiv:


----------



## neaguionutu

ChrisZwolle said:


> A5 Lyulin



In July or August I'll go visit my relatives in Thessaloniki, Greece, and will pass through Sofia and I'll try the new A5 Lyulin. How is the road to the corrosive Blvd. Tsar Boris III and start up where Lyulin A5?

Map

Thanks!


----------



## radi6404

By the way, here is a video of the Maritca motorway, we have very little visual material about this motorway unfortunately. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNLIvrctuso

It looks very good, it has great asphalt and markings and hsiny crashbarriers.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

tanashubav said:


> In fact, the official number of the motorway from Sofia to Kulata is A6. It has two parts called Lyulin and Struma motorway. Lyulin are the first 19km. starting from Sofia, and Struma are the remaining 156km. from Pernik to Kulata.
> *A5 is the number of Cherno more motorway, and it is shown at all the signs in Varna, where it starts.*


Any pictures of the signs?

Lyulin Motorway from the air. In the distance-Pernik. The village is called Malo Buchino. This is the first tunnel when coming from Sofia and heading towards Pernik.


gesh01 said:


> Ето няколко снимки от днес като кацах в София.


Another report from Lyulin motorway:


Thracian said:


> Source: Ivaylo Ivanov


One more "plane photographer":


Lozenec said:


> Ето и от мен няколко не много успешни опита да снимам магистралата от птичи поглед, като се прибирах вчера


----------



## mediar

neaguionutu said:


> In July or August I'll go visit my relatives in Thessaloniki, Greece, and will pass through Sofia and I'll try the new A5 Lyulin. How is the road to the corrosive Blvd. Tsar Boris III and start up where Lyulin A5?
> 
> Map
> 
> Thanks!


Lyulin motorway starts where you have put the B point, and goes to east. It still doesn't excist on that map, but you can see it if you switch to satellite view.



PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Any pictures of the signs?


I have one photo, but it's not very clear:










Anyway, I think it says A5.


----------



## radi6404

That is an incredible picture


----------



## danielstan

I want to go from Romania to Greece using the new Lyulin motorway.
What route is best to go around Sofia on the ring road (coming from Plevna/Pleven)? 
By north or by south?


----------



## autobahnracer

danielstan said:


> I want to go from Romania to Greece using the new Lyulin motorway.
> What route is best to go around Sofia on the ring road (coming from Plevna/Pleven)?
> By north or by south?


Coming from Pleven (A2), I think it's better to take the north arc of Sofia ringroad. And then Lyulin motorway.


----------



## cassini83

Let's make a comparison between Bulgaria and Romania:

Motorways:
Romania-372km
Bulgaria-463km

Person per 1km:
Romania-21 466 174/372=57705 p/km
Bulgaria-7 351 234 /463=15877 p/km.

Sq km per 1km:
Romania-238 391/372=640.83 sq.km/km
Bulgaria-110 000/463=237.58 sq.km/km

GDP per 1km:
Romania-$254.16B/372=0.68 billion USD/km
Bulgaria-$96.778B/463=0.2 billion USD/km

All data except the GDP figures is from wikipedia
I took the GDP figures from economywatch.com as I'm quite confident you did too 

See, sometimes the glass could be half-full :lol:


----------



## mediar

But there is no need to say that the romanian motorways are much better that ours.


----------



## dia

mediar said:


> But there is no need to say that the romanian motorways are much better that ours.


Are there ANY roads which are not better than ours according to you ?


----------



## radi6404

dia said:


> Are there ANY roads which are not better than ours according to you ?


Well, they need to have incredible roads, in order to be better then the e-79 and the Struma motorway, and the Ljulin motorway probably, don#t know how it is, but on videos the camera doesn't shake. also the E-80 nationalroad is very good, especially the two laned part which is very smooth and even, the four laned part is very good aswell, now with new markings. if romania has better roads then these, big respect. 

I have driven on new Romanian roads and they were pretty good, looked good and felt smooth, but they were not better as some Bulgarian roads, especially the 60 km towards Greece. Noone will even try to recreate them cause they are smooth masterpieces. :lol::lol::cheers:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

^^Dia was checkmated by radi640.:lol:


----------



## mediar

dia said:


> Are there ANY roads which are not better than ours according to you ?


Yes, of course. At the moment I remember any, but I'm sure there are. Somewhere.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Lyulin motorway on a map:


----------



## cassini83

^^
openstreetmap.org usually gets updated quickly after a new road is open for traffic. You can even see the future path of the northern speed tangent, trakia and maritsa highway at lower zoom levels.


----------



## AUchamps

Romania vs. Bulgaria: Who's better? In fact, who is the Radi of Romania?


----------



## mec17

*please help me with a route*

Hello, do you know how is the road 55 between Gurkovo - Nova Zagora - and then to Svilengrad? the entire route has been rehabilitated? I'm going to go in Greece - Thasos and I have to choose between this road and route Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli. What route do you recommend?
Thanks, Edi


----------



## radi6404

Romania might be better when it comes to women, hwoever i don't know how romanian women are.


----------



## ionut

^^ Guys, are you f***ing serious about the RO vs BG thingy?! Come on, let's grow up and have a beer. Or soda. :weird:

:cheers:


----------



## mcarling

ionut said:


> Guys, are you f***ing serious about the RO vs BG thingy?! Come on, let's grow up and have a beer. Or soda.


Agreed. Both countries have a lot to look forward to with regard to better highways.


----------



## neaguionutu

I want that in future years to go from Bucharest-Sofia- Thessaloniki only on the highway. I'm adepts highways, to just go with the car on the highway.
We made ​​a simulation on GPS Bucharest-London route. Of the 2,600 km of highway route was 2000 km.


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## radi6404

I guess in the next 30 years or more that will be done. but maybe cars will be removed and only public transport be tolerated til then, cause cars need a lot of ressources, or cars wil finally use other energy to move.


----------



## mediar

Hemus motorway near Nevsha:










Photo by Тервел.


----------



## AlexisMD

cassini83 said:


> ^^
> openstreetmap.org usually gets updated quickly after a new road is open for traffic. You can even see the future path of the northern speed tangent, trakia and maritsa highway at lower zoom levels.


It's a Garmin map (picture )


----------



## LG_

mec17 said:


> Hello, do you know how is the road 55 between Gurkovo - Nova Zagora - and then to Svilengrad? the entire route has been rehabilitated? I'm going to go in Greece - Thasos and I have to choose between this road and route Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli. What route do you recommend?
> Thanks, Edi


Hi, the section of road 55 between Gurkovo and Nova Zagora is not rehabilitated yet. There are ca. 20-25 km wich are even still with pavement, but the rest of the 55 is OK. However I would recommend either the route V.Tarnovo-Gabrovo-St.Zagora or V.Tarnovo-Gurkovo-Maglizh-St.Zagora and from there - on the road 5!


----------



## cassini83

ionut said:


> ^^ Guys, are you f***ing serious about the RO vs BG thingy?! Come on, let's grow up and have a beer. Or soda. :weird:
> 
> :cheers:


It's not about Bulgaria vs Romania or Bulgaria vs Macedonia. Just trying to make a point that despite having hundreds of kilometers of highways with hundreds more under construction and for the first time ever having a leadership that plays by the rules with all new tenders, somehow there's that negative view that Bulgaria is worse off than everyone else. A lack of self esteem that's completely unjustified in my opinion.


----------



## mcarling

cassini83 said:


> It's not about Bulgaria vs Romania or Bulgaria vs Macedonia. Just trying to make a point that despite having hundreds of kilometers of highways with hundreds more under construction and for the first time ever having a leadership that plays by the rules with all new tenders, somehow there's that negative view that Bulgaria is worse off than everyone else. A lack of self esteem that's completely unjustified in my opinion.


In my opinion, having a government that plays by the rules with the new tenders (and is generally not corrupt) is more important than the present condition of the highways.


----------



## Tego

cassini83 said:


> It's not about Bulgaria vs Romania or Bulgaria vs Macedonia. Just trying to make a point that despite having hundreds of kilometers of highways with hundreds more under construction and for the first time ever having a leadership that plays by the rules with all new tenders, somehow there's that negative view that Bulgaria is worse off than everyone else. A lack of self esteem that's completely unjustified in my opinion.


Well, you gotta understand Bulgarian mentality to know the reason for that lack of self esteem. Even I don't fully understand it, so you can imagine how hard it would be for a foreigner to do that. Take a look at this:



> *Bulgarians "World's Unhappiest" People*
> 
> Bulgarians are among world's unhappiest people, a survey carried out by British and Dutch scientists cited by the iblnews.com site shows.
> 
> The survey carried out in 112 countries in places Columbia, Switzerland and the Netherlands in the first places of the "happiness rank list." Spain, Greece and Italy are in the middle, while Bulgaria and Belarus are the unhappiest nations in the world.
> 
> Data from the different surveys prove that though Bangladesh's people are the poorest nation in the world they are the happiest people in the world. Almost 100% of the asked Bangladeshi people say that they feel happy despite the fact that most of them live beyond the poverty threshold.


_Source: http://www.novinite.com_

We have highways that look like that:











...but also like that:











However, not like that:











And then again we're the biggest whiners on earth and that is reflected among many Bulgarian forumers here on SSC. I have my own partial explanation for that, but it's neither the place, nor the time to discuss it. I believe though that this mentality is one of the major reasons we haven't been as successful as others in many areas in our recent history.


----------



## mediar

I don't want to sound pessimistic, but the onliest difference between the first two photos is the condition of the asphalt. Everything else is equally bad:



> - липса на каквато и да е поддръжка на озеленяването и разстителността около магистралата и между платната;
> - твърде много билборди;
> - липса на шумизаглушителни стени ( освен на ам. Люлин );
> - липса на светлоотразителни колчета;
> - маркировката по нашите магистрали евтина, много пъти изтрита и с лоши светлоотразителни качества;
> - пълна липса на по-hi-tech технологии по нашите магистрали - телефонни кабини; електронни табла; камери, следяши трафика; осветление на пътните табели;
> - не е решен проблемът със заслепяването от отсрещното движение;


----------



## vycanismajoris

Beautiful patchwork. :yes:


mediar said:


> Hemus motorway near Nevsha:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Photo by Тервел.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

cassini83 said:


> It's not about Bulgaria vs Romania or Bulgaria vs Macedonia. Just trying to make a point that despite having hundreds of kilometers of highways with hundreds more under construction and for the first time ever having a leadership that plays by the rules with all new tenders, somehow there's that negative view that Bulgaria is worse off than everyone else. A lack of self esteem that's completely unjustified in my opinion.


Did someone of you tried to read carefully my post? There was a discussion on the serbian thread about road network in the region and statistics and I just posted some calculations here in order not to be completely offtopic there. I am completely positive and optimistic about road/motorway development here.


----------



## MaxiGuide

I'd say the Shumen-Varna highway (where the patchwork is) is not that bad for driving. There's worse spots on Trakia highway for example.
And I think the roads in general are not that bad (there's some exceptions). Drivers though should get used to the fact that this is not Europe (not yet), roads go through villages, they have these tricky curves and slopes, and so on.


----------



## radi6404

MaxiGuide said:


> I'd say the Shumen-Varna highway (where the patchwork is) is not that bad for driving. There's worse spots on Trakia highway for example.
> And I think the roads in general are not that bad (there's some exceptions). Drivers though should get used to the fact that this is not Europe (not yet), roads go through villages, they have these tricky curves and slopes, and so on.


At some parts it is more then europe. especially when the new struma motorway section will be constructed (passingin directly above the great E-79. So people drive on a new motorway with futuristic look and see the nationalroad with incredible markings and amazing asphalt under them.


----------



## mec17

LG_ said:


> Hi, the section of road 55 between Gurkovo and Nova Zagora is not rehabilitated yet. There are ca. 20-25 km wich are even still with pavement, but the rest of the 55 is OK. However I would recommend either the route V.Tarnovo-Gabrovo-St.Zagora or V.Tarnovo-Gurkovo-Maglizh-St.Zagora and from there - on the road 5!


Thank you very much for the reply. Please tell me if the best route is the road 5: Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli - Greece border.
Thank you again, Edi


----------



## alwn

cassini83 said:


> Let's make a comparison between Bulgaria and Romania:
> Motorways:
> Romania-372km
> Bulgaria-463km
> 
> 
> 
> We have only *328 km *in use not 372
> 
> Bucuresti- Pitesti; 95,5 km (part of A1)
> Pitesti ring 13,5 (part of A1)
> Bucuresti- Cernavoda (part of A2 Bucharest- Constanta) 151 km
> Sibiu ring 17 km (part of A1)
> Campia Turzii- Cluj/Gilau (part of A3 Transylvania motorway) 52 km
> 
> *u/c 284 km*
> 
> Bucuresti- Ploiesti 70 km (part of A3)
> Cernavoda - Constanta 52 km (part of A2)
> Constanta ring 22 km
> Arad- Timisoara 32 km (part of A1)
> Arad ring 12 km (part of A1)
> Orastie- Deva 32 km (part of A1)
> Oradea/ Bors- Suplacu 64 km (part of A3 Transylvania)
Click to expand...


----------



## cassini83

^^
I used wikipedia as a source. Unfortunately some people tend to exaggerate what's been built for a reason that's beyond me hno: I've fixed similar issues in the articles for some Bulgarian highways as well. Anyway... thanks for the correction Hopefully the U/C sections will be completed on time. The whole region needs a more robust highway network.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

All road projects in Bulgaria(construction&rebuilding):


----------



## cassini83

^^
Rebuilding 3093km out of roughly 19000km total national road network is truly impressive. If they can keep up the good work, in 5-10 years Bulgaria will have a completely transformed infrastructure.
BTW is anyone aware of a similar map of the municipal roads? There's around 18000km of them if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## radi6404

A shame that the road to Kiustendil is not renewed, a big shame there, it is very important. Also, why don't they repave the old E-79 nationalroad from Blagoevgrad to Dupnica and at some place from Blagoevgrad to Kresna Gorge? The road is getting worse and worse.


----------



## Ghincks

vycanismajoris said:


> Beautiful patchwork. :yes:


hno: Looks a bit like the M8 in Scotland:lol:


----------



## mediar

Trakia motorway:









Struma motorway:









Hemus Motorway:


----------



## cassini83

Great post! Stunningly beautiful!


----------



## mediar

I want to point out that these photos aren't mine. I took them from pavelpronin.com at Panoramio. He has a great portfolio of great scenery photos of the bulgarian nature. Check it out!


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

a bit off topic question - does anybody know anything about a guarded parking in Svilengrad? I`ll be there in July and would like to visit Istanbul but rather don`t enter Turkey by car - we`re planning to take a bus and want to leave the car in a safe place in Bulgaria; thanks
by the way, what can you say about the route Ruse-Svilengrad and Svilengrad-MK border near Blagoevgrad?


----------



## panda80

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> a bit off topic question - does anybody know anything about a guarded parking in Svilengrad? I`ll be there in July and would like to visit Istanbul but rather don`t enter Turkey by car - we`re planning to take a bus and want to leave the car in a safe place in Bulgaria; thanks
> by the way, what can you say about the route Ruse-Svilengrad and Svilengrad-MK border near Blagoevgrad?


The road Ruse-Svilengrad is very good, excepting the part between Nova Zagora and Harmanli, where there are undergoing rehabilitation works. I don't know whether some sections are already finished or not. But if you want to go from Romania to Turkey, you can also transit Bulgaria through Ruse-Razgrad-Targovishte-Omurtag-Kotel-Yambol-Elhovo-Hamzabeyli border crossing. The road is quite good, excepting Yambol-Elhovo part, where there are some potholes.
From Svilengrad to Macedonia you can go either via Greece (motorway or expressway on almost the whole route) or use the following road: Svilengrad-Plovdiv-Pazardzhik-Velingrad-Bansko-Simitli-Blagoevgrad. Good road on most parts, but just 1+1 and quite crowded around Plovdiv and between Simitli and Blagoevgrad.


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

thank you, it`s generally what I expected - the greek option seems interestnig, but is the A2 motorway still toll-free?


----------



## Tego

All highways in Bulgaria are toll-free. You are supposed to purchase a vignette, which is necessary for any intercity road and that replaces in a way the highway tolls you have in many other countries. I personally kind of like that since I find it really annoying to have to stop at toll booths every now and then.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> a bit off topic question - does anybody know anything about a guarded parking in Svilengrad? I`ll be there in July and would like to visit Istanbul but rather don`t enter Turkey by car - we`re planning to take a bus and want to leave the car in a safe place in Bulgaria; thanks
> by the way, what can you say about the route Ruse-Svilengrad and Svilengrad-MK border near Blagoevgrad?


Didn't you arrange parking with a bulgarian forumer?


panda80 said:


> Svilengrad-Plovdiv-Pazardzhik-Velingrad-Bansko-Simitli-Blagoevgrad. Good road on most parts, but just 1+1 and quite crowded around Plovdiv and between Simitli and Blagoevgrad.


About Greece-petrol there is one of the most expensive in EU.
Actually road *Septemvri-Velingard* is quite picturesque but may be under rehabilitation this summer. Contract was already awarded.

*Bulgaria* and *Macedonia* have three border checkpoints. Here are the roads to them from *Svilengrad*(from south to north):
*1)Checkpoint Novo selo(Strumica,MKD)-Zlatarevo(Petrich,BG)*
*
1.1Svilengrad-Kardzhali-Smolyan-Dospat-Petrich-Zlatarevo-Strumica(398km)*
Highly unrecommendable route. Mostly secondary *2x1* roads with curves but no traffic. On the other hand you will travel through *Rodopi* and *Pirin* mountain. These are one of the most beautiful places not only in *Bulgaria* but throughout all *Europe*.
http://maps.google.com/
*
1.2Svilengrad-Maritsa Motorway[A3]-I-8-Peshtera-Dospat-Petrich-Zlatarevo-Strumica(389km)*
Suprisingly(to me) this route is shorter. You have a motorway and *I-8* is *I class road* although is currently quite worn off between *Harmanli* and *Parvomay* because of truck traffic that exits *A1* towards *Turkey*. *Plovdiv-Peshtera-Dospat* is *2x1*, curvy and beautiful again. But distance on secondary roads is shorter.
http://maps.google.com/
I don't think that longer circumventing routes are worth considering.
*
2)Checkpoint Stanke Lisichkovo(Blagoevgrad,BG - Delcevo,MKD)
*
*2.1Maritsa Motorway[A3]-I-8-Trakya Motorway[A1]-Ihtiman(look for first exit for Ihtiman, I don't remember Smolyan being signed on the motorway)-Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad-Stanke Lisichkovo(370km)
*If you really want to pass through *Stanke Lisichkovo* checkpoint...But ones you are *Dupnitsa* why not try *Gyueshevo* border checkpoint.
http://maps.google.com/
*
2.2Maritsa Motorway[A3]-Velingrad-Simitli-Blagoevgrad-Stanke Lisichkovo(363km)*
More secondary roads.
http://maps.google.com/
*
3)Checkpoint Gyeshevo(Kystendil,BG)-Kriva palanka(MKD)(376km)
*
*3.1Maritsa Motorway[A3]-I-8-Trakya Motorway[A1]-Ihtiman(look for first exit for Ihtiman, I don't remember Smolyan being signed on the motorway)-Dupnitsa-Kyustendil-Gyueshevo(376km)
*This is my recommendation of them all. For both *Skopje* and *Ohrid* this is the best route.
http://maps.google.com/
*
3.2Maritsa Motorway[A3]-I-8-Trakya Motorway[A1]-Sofia-Pernik-Kyustendil-Gyueshevo(393km)*
I don't recommend this route. Traveling through/around *Sofia* would be quite tough. You could try *Lyulin motorway* though:lol:
http://maps.google.com/


A good picture of *Sofia south bypass(South Ring Road):*








^^The bridge is over the urban motorway.


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

Tego said:


> All highways in Bulgaria are toll-free..


i meant the greek A2 

thanky you all for information, I don`t expect any major problems with finding route, road quality etc.; the only possible problem seems to be finding a safe parking plac - maybe there`s a car park next to some hotel in Svilengrad?


----------



## Djurizmo

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> i meant the greek A2
> 
> thanky you all for information, I don`t expect any major problems with finding route, road quality etc.; the only possible problem seems to be finding a safe parking plac - maybe there`s a car park next to some hotel in Svilengrad?


I believe that you can find safe parking easier in Edirne then in Svilengrad. Not that I think that Svilengrad is not safe, but Edirne is big touristic city and it's very close to Svilengrad + cheaper transport to Istanbul.


----------



## ea1969

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> i meant the greek A2


It is still toll-free east of Thessaloniki.


----------



## pobre diablo

Djurizmo said:


> I believe that you can find safe parking easier in Edirne then in Svilengrad. Not that I think that Svilengrad is not safe, but Edirne is big touristic city and it's very close to Svilengrad + cheaper transport to Istanbul.


He can't take the car out of EU.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

*Lyulin Motorway[A5 or A6]* by *Avus*:


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

pobre diablo said:


> He can't take the car out of EU.


It`s not impossible, but i thought parking in Edirne will be more unsafe than in Bulgaria;
Greek A2 is toll free east from Thessaloniki - that means it`s tolled between Thessaloniki and Ioanina, isn`t it?
nonetheless, thank you all!


----------



## bozata90

I do not think that Turkey is a country more dangerous than Bulgaria. Especially with theft issues - you have to bear in mind that in a rather conservative society a theft bears significant stigma...


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## Djurizmo

bozata90 said:


> I do not think that Turkey is a country more dangerous than Bulgaria. Especially with theft issues - you have to bear in mind that in a rather conservative society a theft bears significant stigma...


Absolutely true. Consider my opinion, because last week I was four times in BG, and that every year I'm app. 5 times in Turkey


----------



## radi6404

bozata90 said:


> I do not think that Turkey is a country more dangerous than Bulgaria. Especially with theft issues - you have to bear in mind that in a rather conservative society a theft bears significant stigma...


and that being said by a Bulgarian.

Altough, are you a Bulgarian at all?


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

seems logical and convincing, I think I`ll try it


----------



## Djurizmo

radi6404 said:


> and that being said by a Bulgarian.
> 
> Altough, are you a Bulgarian at all?


Dear, dear, Radi..... :banana:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I've read one time from Dutch Turks that the O-3 between Edirne and Istanbul is notorious for thefts at rest areas.


----------



## mec17

please tell me what route to choose: 

1. Gurkovo - Nova Zagora - Road 55 - Svilengrad - Ormenio or 
2. Gurkovo - Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli - Ormenio.

Thank you very much, Edi


----------



## panda80

mec17 said:


> please tell me what route to choose:
> 
> 1. Gurkovo - Nova Zagora - Road 55 - Svilengrad - Ormenio or
> 2. Gurkovo - Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli - Ormenio.
> 
> Thank you very much, Edi


Road 55 was rehabilitated between Svilengrad an intersection with road 76. I don't know how the part Nova Zagora-intersection with road 76 looks like, but I think it can't be very bad.
If you choose the second route there is a good shortcut between Stara Zagora and Harmanli, through road 504 (Stara Zagora-Opan-Simeonovgrad-Harmanli).


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

mec17 said:


> please tell me what route to choose:
> 
> 1. Gurkovo - Nova Zagora - Road 55 - Svilengrad - Ormenio or
> 2. Gurkovo - Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli - Ormenio.
> 
> Thank you very much, Edi


2. Gurkovo - Stara Zagora - Haskovo - Harmanli - Ormenio. Take Maritsa Motorway(green signs) near Harmanli.
I wish you a nice trip. And be careful because there's a lot of traffic.:cheers::cheers:


----------



## Tego

^^ What PhirgataZFs1694 said, but use the shortcut that panda80 mentioned:



panda80 said:


> ...
> If you choose the second route there is a good *shortcut between Stara Zagora and Harmanli, through road 504 (Stara Zagora-Opan-Simeonovgrad-Harmanli)*.


Here's what a part of it looks like:



Tego said:


> ...
> Simeonovgrad - Stara Zagora (I-503), at the entrance of the village of Vassil Levski:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## sabotagor

I didn't knеw villages have such good roads... some local capital roads are ten times worse lol.


----------



## Tego

^^ I'd go further and even say "most".  But then again, this is a road connecting towns that runs through the village and that's why it's in that condition. In many villages, the streets barely have asphalt at all.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

What *Tego* means is that roads in villages are quite old and sometimes in bad shape. They were asphalted more than 40-50 years ago.


----------



## koynov

radi6404 said:


> why does none comment the motorway, it does look very good.


Because Radi we already commented this highway many times


----------



## AUchamps

koynov said:


> Because Radi we already commented this highway many times


But it is Radi Law that we sing praises of Struma. If we do not, Radi will re-educate us to think correctly. It is righteous to willingly accept Struma Indoctrination by Radi, so that we may never again dare call another motorway(Struma is and always will be a Motorway) superior to that of Struma.

Struma is good, Struma is great, never question why, never think otherwise.


----------



## Verso

What if I say that Lyulin is Strumatic? Is there a better compliment?


----------



## bogdymol

I think that Radi will like this shiny crash barriers from Poland:



ufonut said:


> A8 - AOW - Wroclaw Bypass (unopened part)


more pictures here


----------



## Verso

^ No, B-type.


----------



## TonyLeung

When is the A3 Highway completed ??


----------



## Falusi

Strumatic :drool:...


----------



## radi6404

wow, the polish motorway looks really great. The crashbarriers are not as shiny as many Bulgarian ones, but I love the glass noise protection and dark asphalt


----------



## koynov

Today news



> Bulgaria's Neglected Northern Highway Revived with Start of New Section
> Business | July 18, 2011, Monday
> Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Neglected Northern Highway Revived with Start of New Section
> (L-R) Finance Minister Djankov, Regional Devt MInister Plevneliev, and Shumen District Governor Dimitar Alexandrov break the ground of the new Hemus Highway section as PM Borisov looks on. Photo by BGNES
> 
> The Bulgarian government has launched the construction of an 8-km section of the Hemus Highway, which is supposed to connect Sofia and Varna through Northern Bulgaria.
> 
> The start of the construction was given by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev, and Varna Mayor Kiril Yordanov.
> 
> The 8 km section will be an extension in the western direction of the existing eastern section of the Hemus Highway running from Varna to the city of Shumen. With the extension, the highway will reach the village of Belokopitovo.
> 
> The construction of the new section of Hemus will cost BGN 38 M, and will be fully funded from the state budget. It needs to be completed in 14 months. The Bulgarian company "Avtomagistrali Cherno More" has been picked to construct it.
> 
> PM Borisov emphasized at the ground breaking ceremony that his government has managed to set aside funds from other highway projects that have been prioritized in order to revive the construction of the only highway project in Northern Bulgaria, which has been long neglected. Borisov further reminded that his Cabinet has gotten the European Commission to agree that the Hemus Highway should be eligible for EU funding
> 
> "Our government has made a real breakthrough in order to guarantee the funding for Hemus. We have put in great efforts so that we can economize from other projects in order to fund this section," the Prime Minister said.
> 
> He announced that in 4 weeks the government will give the start of another section of the Hemus Highway, about 11 km long, this time an eastward extension of the existing section from Sofia to Yablanitsa.
> 
> Currently, only 34% of the Hemus Highway have been constructed – that is, 145 km out of a total of 423 km.
> 
> The Hemus Highway is supposed to connect Sofia and Varna on the Black Sea through a shorter route than the southern Trakiya Highway (443 km), passing by several major northern cities – Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo, and Shumen. At present, however, only the start section from Sofia to Yablanitsa and the end section from Shumen to Varna have been completed.
> 
> Earlier in July, the government started the construction of the 8.5 km section of the Hemus Highway connecting it to the Sofia beltway, which is seen as crucial for unloading the heavy traffic in Sofia's suburban area; it will be built by a Bulgarian-Croatian consortium called Hemus A2. The consortium includes Trace Group Hold, the same company currently constructing Lot 2 of the Trakiya Highway, SK-13 Patstroy AD – Pernik, and Constructor-Engineering AD from Croatia.


----------



## medicu' de garda

Can anybody please post a map of Hemus motorway? I'd like to know what major cities it will link (NUTS 3 centers, preferrably), and how. I didn't quite get how it will link Veliko Tarnovo, as it is on the edge of the Balkans, in a quite hilly area.

And please explain, what great advantages would an 8 km extension bring? On the map, it just seems to bypass the main intersection leading to Shumen, but other than that, it doesn't seem to help traffic that much at all. I'd like to be corrected on this :cheers: . 

PS: any news on a thorough rehabilitation of the Shumen-Varna stretch of motorway? Cause last time I used it, 2 years ago, it was absolutely appaling, we had to use the emergency lane. Now I'd much rather go through the horrible traffic of the romanian coast, using our A2 and DN39, knowing that I'd get to keep my tires at the end of the trip. Pity, cause the route through Bulgaria was a bit shorter and had better scenery.


----------



## ETSEF

Does anyone know what the current plans are for the road between the Serbian-Bulgarian border and Sofia, the Sofia ring road (north) and the road between Plovdiv and the Turkish border? 
It seems to me that the cunstruction plans for turning these roads into highways are not developing very fast.


----------



## koynov

ETSEF said:


> Does anyone know what the current plans are for the road between the Serbian-Bulgarian border and Sofia, the Sofia ring road (north) and the road between Plovdiv and the Turkish border?
> It seems to me that the cunstruction plans for turning these roads into highways are not developing very fast.


Sofia - Serbian border it will start somewhere between 2012 - 2013. But the road is ok now, the traffic is low except summer.
About Plovdiv - Turkish border - construction should be start in the next 1 month. Everything is almost ready there with documentation.


----------



## daniel LNC

Hello,
Sofia ring indicator there before, coming from the direction of Botevgrad, to direct you to the new highway?
If you have a picture would be great

Thanks

daniel


----------



## tanashubav

*19.07.2011*



> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 242,938km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> _The first 3 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway.
> The section between km. 89+600 till km. 108+510 has one lane only, so it is not a motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> _Liylin motorway is actually part of motorway A6 from Sofiq to Kulata (Greek border)._
> 
> *Оverall
> 463,299 км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> *
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> Three "LOT"'s(sections):
> LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31,5km(from 210+100 till km 241+900);
> LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 34,3km.(from km 241+900 till km 276+200);
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> All three LOT's at Trakiya must be completed till summer of 2012.
> All under construction at Trakiya:114,880 km.
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west is U/C.
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A3):*
> The section from km. 99+820 till km. 108+510 (8,690km.) has one lane only and the second should be completed till the end of 2011.
> A 2 kilometre section starting from km.111+980 is also uder construction.
> 
> *Overall under construction at 02.10.2010:
> 133,37km.*


----------



## ETSEF

koynov said:


> Sofia - Serbian border it will start somewhere between 2012 - 2013. But the road is ok now, the traffic is low except summer.
> About Plovdiv - Turkish border - construction should be start in the next 1 month. Everything is almost ready there with documentation.


Thank you for your information. But do you, or someone else maybe, know what the plans are for the north ring road of Sofia? That road is in such a bad shape and makes driving very hard because of all the holes. :nuts: There definitely needs to be built a new road there. 

Foreign people (mainly Turkish people that live in Europe) who are coming out of Serbia and who want to go to Turkey are always sended through the north ring road of Sofia. The sign there says 'Tranzit' and sends those people through the north ring of Sofia. That route also takes a lot of time, while the south ring road in Sofia has a much better quality and is a lot shorter. But I guess a lot of Turkish people from Europe do not know that there is a south ring road as well, that even has a better quality. 

So when you are coming from Serbia and you are travelling through Sofia to go to Turkey, isn't it much better to drive over the south ring road of Sofia instead of the north ring road?


----------



## koynov

North ring road will be replace by North Tangenta which will pass closer to the city and it will be the same like south part of the ring road with 3x3 lanes. Construction should start next year, but i think it will be somewhere 2013. 
About road condition yeah you are right, but it will cost too much money for full renovation, turkish can wait for the tangenta 
Still for turkish North ring is better. South part has heavy traffic and it will be longer for them.


----------



## ETSEF

koynov said:


> North ring road will be replace by North Tangenta which will pass closer to the city and it will be the same like south part of the ring road with 3x3 lanes. Construction should start next year, but i think it will be somewhere 2013.
> About road condition yeah you are right, but it will cost too much money for full renovation, turkish can wait for the tangenta
> Still for turkish North ring is better. South part has heavy traffic and it will be longer for them.


I really doubt if it is better to go over the north ring, because I wasn't exaggerating when I said the quality of the north ring is really bad. I have been there many times and it was like our car was battling against the road and it's many (sometimes gigantic and really dangerous) holes. Honestly I do not understand why al those foreign people are sent through a really bad road while all the other people use the south ring which is in an excellent state. That north ring can be called dangerous, really.
I guess I would be happy to go over the south ring, even if it has heavy traffic, if the quality of the north ring does not change very soon. On the south ring you are at least sure that your car does not get damaged because of some gigantic hole in the road. It is sad, but it's true.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

medicu' de garda said:


> Can anybody please post a map of Hemus motorway? I'd like to know what major cities it will link (NUTS 3 centers, preferrably), and how. I didn't quite get how it will link Veliko Tarnovo, as it is on the edge of the Balkans, in a quite hilly area.
> 
> And please explain, what great advantages would an 8 km extension bring? On the map, it just seems to bypass the main intersection leading to Shumen, but other than that, it doesn't seem to help traffic that much at all. I'd like to be corrected on this :cheers: .
> 
> PS: any news on a thorough rehabilitation of the Shumen-Varna stretch of motorway? Cause last time I used it, 2 years ago, it was absolutely appaling, we had to use the emergency lane. Now I'd much rather go through the horrible traffic of the romanian coast, using our A2 and DN39, knowing that I'd get to keep my tires at the end of the trip. Pity, cause the route through Bulgaria was a bit shorter and had better scenery.











Hemus will connect Sofia, Botevgrad,Lovech, Troyan, Pleven, Pavlikeni, Veliko Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Strazhitsa, Popovo, Targovishteq Shumen, Devnya, Provadya, Varna. It would be the shortest and fastest route from Sofia to Bucharest and Ruse. The motorway would pass only 10km north from Veliko Tarnovo.
The new section of it that was actually started yesterday not today would decrease traffic on Shumen's north 2x1 bypass. It would take the traffic from I-7 or Romania/Ruse.
Shumen-Varna section of Hemus Motorway has been only patched up.




ETSEF said:


> I really doubt if it is better to go over the north ring, because I wasn't exaggerating when I said the quality of the north ring is really bad. I have been there many times and it was like our car was battling against the road and it's many (sometimes gigantic and really dangerous) holes. Honestly I do not understand why al those foreign people are sent through a really bad road while all the other people use the south ring which is in an excellent state. That north ring can be called dangerous, really.
> I guess I would be happy to go over the south ring, even if it has heavy traffic, if the quality of the north ring does not change very soon. On the south ring you are at least sure that your car does not get damaged because of some gigantic hole in the road. It is sad, but it's true.


North Ring is patched up. The South Ring road is far from 'excellent state'. It is jammed, narrow 2x1(except for 3-4km) with many traffic lights. Moreover, it is currently under expansion.


----------



## mediar

koynov said:


> North ring road will be replace by North Tangenta which will pass closer to the city and it will be the same like south part of the ring road with 3x3 lanes.


I think you mean 2x3, which means 2 roadways / carriageways with 3 lanes.


----------



## koynov

Yep 2x3, sorry:nuts:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Vitosha said:


> Край.


Thanks, *Vitosha* for uploading them!:bow:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Hey, Radi, did you know that your beloved Boyko Borisov plans to build a 2x2 national road in the Struma gorge instead of a motorway?


----------



## radi6404

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Hey, Radi, did you know that your beloved Boyko Borisov plans to build a 2x2 national road in the Struma gorge instead of a motorway?


At least he will build anything and it is not very important to me whether it will be nationalraod or not. It is important that the motorway Dolna Dikanya Dupnica will pass several times above the current E-79 nationalroad with interesting junctions and pass over the road that goes to radmoir with a shiny bridge and they make a great looking junction where the current motorway ends. It is also important to me that the motorway will be good til Blagoevgrad and Simitli, but as long as the road is divided at the Kresna Gorge it is fine for me.


----------



## LG_

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> You mean lot 4.


Right! I meant the 3th section U/C which is lot 4!

The pics a very interesting, but one of the most interesting would be that of St.Zagora junction and it is missing!


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

radi6404 said:


> At least he will build anything and it is not very important to me whether it will be nationalraod or not. It is important that the motorway Dolna Dikanya Dupnica will pass several times above the current E-79 nationalroad with interesting junctions and pass over the road that goes to radmoir with a shiny bridge and they make a great looking junction where the current motorway ends. It is also important to me that the motorway will be good til Blagoevgrad and Simitli, but as long as the road is divided at the Kresna Gorge it is fine for me.


But the road through the Kresna gorge is the busiest road in Bulgaria apart from city streets. Don't you think it would be dangerous? Yes it would be grade separated and with two-level junctions, but the speed limit will be low and tight curves would remain.
Won't you go sometime to Greece on it?
Don't you think it would hinder Blagoevgrad's economical development?


----------



## radi6404

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> But the road through the Kresna gorge is the busiest road in Bulgaria apart from city streets. Don't you think it would be dangerous? Yes it would be grade separated and with two-level junctions, but the speed limit will be low and tight curves would remain.
> Won't you go sometime to Greece on it?
> Don't you think it would hinder Blagoevgrad's economical development?


No, not really, two lane road with grade seperated junctions is ok for the Kresna gorge. The rest of it will have wide emergency lanes with extremly shiny markings and shiny crashbarriers and blue reflective signs that allow for incredible visibility. so I don't care that part will not be with emergency lanes.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

http://www.mtitc.government.bg

This is the website of the ministry of transport.

Is there also a website of the road authority where you can see planned projects, construction, etc? Much like CNADNR of Romania or NIF of Hungary.


----------



## MaxiGuide

^^ http://www.napi.government.bg/index.php/Home


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ thanks!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Another question; are two-digit road numbers automatically 2nd class roads? So it's always II/11 and not I/11? Same for three-digit road numbers?


----------



## LG_

ChrisZwolle said:


> Another question; are two-digit road numbers automatically 2nd class roads? So it's always II/11 and not I/11? Same for three-digit road numbers?


Yes, that is the meaning! A two-digit number means that the road is 2nd class. There is no numbering like I/11. Same for three-digit numbers!


----------



## tanashubav

ChrisZwolle said:


> Another question; are two-digit road numbers automatically 2nd class roads? So it's always II/11 and not I/11? Same for three-digit road numbers?


The roads owned by the state are 4 classes from first to 4-th. The number of any road grades from West to East an from North to South. So does the kilometre count. The first class roads are from 1-9. All the second class roads start from first class roads. No road from any class start from motorway.

At the other side the motorway numbering in Bulgaria is pretty chaotic. There isn't any logical numbering such as in the other road - at geographic principle. Roughly the motorway numbers are historical - A1 is the oldest started and A6 is the newest one.


----------



## LG_

tanashubav said:


> The roads owned by the state are 4 classes from first to 4-th.


There are no 4-th class roads since 01.01.2005! Now they are owned by the municipalities. On the same date the vignette-payment in Bulgaria started.


----------



## radi6404

My parents are now in Bulgaria and they were very happy about the roads. They said, with high speed the car would shake all the time going through Serbia and as soon as they entered Bulgaria they felt nothing except very soft and even roads were he could speed up to 180 with ease( while feeling no bumps at all til Sofia on the E-80 nationalroad. Then they entered the ringroad which was bad for a few km, but after that they entered the motorway and said it was a great driving experience since they felt nothing til Dupnica.


----------



## tanashubav

*02.08.2011*



> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 242,938km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> _The first 3 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway.
> The section between km. 89+600 till km. 108+510 has one lane only, so it is not a motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> _Liylin motorway is actually part of motorway A6 from Sofiq to Kulata (Greek border)._
> 
> *Оverall
> 463,299 км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> *
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> Three "LOT"'s(sections):
> LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31,5km(from 210+100 till km 241+900);
> LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 34,3km.(from km 241+900 till km 276+200);
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> All three LOT's at Trakiya must be completed till summer of 2012.
> _All under construction at Trakiya:114,880 km._
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west is U/C.
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A3):*
> Four sections:
> LOT 1 from Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> LOT 2 from Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> A 2 kilometre section starting from km.111+980 is also uder construction.
> _All under construction at Maritsa 67,62km._
> 
> *Overall under construction at 02.08.2011:
> 190.3km.*


----------



## bogdymol

*@radi*: what do you think about the newly opened A2 and A4 from Romania? Pictures *here*.


----------



## autobahnracer

))) "The crashbarriers are sooo shiny!I'm getting excited!!!"


----------



## ionut

Our barriers are shinier than yours. :nuts:

:cheers:


----------



## vectom

sorry to ask possibly inappropriate question here, but can anyone give me link with photo report or tell me in a sentence or two, about the road between Sofia and Vidin? I am planing to drive it possibly this weekend, but on a chopper bike, so it would be nice if the road is more or less decent for a hardtail motorbike as this. 

I presume that the road is decent enough and nature beautiful as well, but is there anything I should know more? I see on google maps that there are two possible roads from Sofia up there, one via *Svoge* and another via *Berkovitza*, which one would be nicer in terms of tarmac, and nature/traffic frequency?

How does this *Svoge - Buchin Prohod - Godech - Kalotina road* look like? Anyone went there recently? Cos I might cut it there without detouring to Sofia (I'm departuring/arriving in Nish, Serbia).

many thanks!!!!!


----------



## autobahnracer

You can check out this topic for information on road quality.
As much as i remember, the road leading to Svoge is in good condition. For rest I don't know (Buchin prohod, Godech). On both roads (through Svoge and through Berkovica) there are beautifull landscapes: the one through Svoge passes along with the gorge of the Iskar river and the other one through the "Petrohan" mountain pass.
The road leading to Kalotina is in very good condition.


----------



## Durin

Hi all, great to see some real progress with the motorway construction programme under the current gov't! Great progress! Although not a big contributor to the forum, I've been following this thread with great joy. :nuts:

Strumatism, shiny crash-barriers and and smooth-as-a-babys-face asphalt aside, I find that although under-dimensioned, national, country and city roads in Bulgaria seem quite well maintained - and that expecially compared to Romania, the Baltic countries and Poland up until a few years ago. Although motorway construction might have been halted by lack of funds and corruption scandals a significant deal of work and money must have gone in to maintaining current roads throughout the 90's and 2000's.

Bulgaria now seem to be in a great position going forward with large infrastructure investments. :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*oldest motorway in Bulgaria*

Which is the oldest motorway in Bulgaria?

The plans for A1 Sofia - Plovdiv are the oldest, starting in 1962, but apparently construction didn't start until 1975 and according to German wikipedia, it opened in 1985. According to the Bulgarian wikipedia it opened "in the 1990's". 

However, this would make A4 older, as it opened in 1980 near Varna.


----------



## Falusi

Answer:


----------



## dia

ChrisZwolle said:


> Which is the oldest motorway in Bulgaria?
> 
> The plans for A1 Sofia - Plovdiv are the oldest, starting in 1962, but apparently construction didn't start until 1975 and according to German wikipedia, it opened in 1985. According to the Bulgarian wikipedia it opened "in the 1990's".
> 
> However, this would make A4 older, as it opened in 1980 near Varna.


^^ Bulgarian wikipedia says that the whole section from Sofia to Orizovo was under construction until the 90s, not that they have opened everything, the whole section, in those years . I guess google translate didn't represent correctly the phrase it's not perfectly written in Bulgarian either.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

So I think that settles it. Sofia - Ihtiman opened in 1978, the first motorway of Bulgaria.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Another question about the Bulgarian road numbering system.

Is it correct that not all numbers of second class highways are used? For instance I can't localize II/10 and II/18, and maybe more (haven't gotten further than II/19 yet).

Is there a list of current numbered highways in Bulgaria? Bulgarian wikipedia doesn't seem to have an article about it.


----------



## LG_

Here you are:
http://im.cablebg.net/clients/srepp-04.htm


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Thanks! So II/18 is the Sofia Ring Road, in addition to I/1, I/6 and I/8 which also seem to run across the Ring Road. The eastern section must be quadrupleplexed


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Are there plans for more bridges across the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria? I can think of several locations where a bridge would seem plausible;

* Vidin (under construction)
* Oryahovo 
* Nikopol
* Svishtov
* Silistra

I think this section of the Danube is the most poorly bridged river of Europe, well, apart from the Volga perhaps.


----------



## Viva_Bulgaria

There have been plans about bridges at Oryahovo and Silistra for years but for now there are generally empty talks and good intentions... As far as I have heard, there are more obstacles from Romanian side about these bridges.


----------



## daniel LNC

Viva_Bulgaria said:


> There have been plans about bridges at Oryahovo and Silistra for years but for now there are generally empty talks and good intentions... As far as I have heard, there are more obstacles from Romanian side about these bridges.


why are you so sure the fault lies with the Romanian authorities, you can drill?


----------



## Viva_Bulgaria

I said I have heard (obviously from our media) that there are more problems coming from there. Which does not mean that there are no obstacles from here too. Both sides are actually doing nothing about that.


----------



## daniel LNC

Viva_Bulgaria said:


> I said I have heard (obviously from our media) that there are more problems coming from there. Which does not mean that there are no obstacles from here too. Both sides are actually doing nothing about that.


ok, unfortunately we lost both countries for such misunderstandings


----------



## nenea_hartia

Viva_Bulgaria said:


> There have been plans about bridges at Oryahovo and Silistra for years but for now there are generally empty talks and good intentions... As far as I have heard, there are more obstacles from Romanian side about these bridges.


It seems there are recent plans for two hydro-energy projects. Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has announced that in September 2011, the governments of Bulgaria and Romania are going to sign a Memorandum about these projects. However I don't think our countries will find the money to do it. Maybe using some European funds, but previous experience with Danube Bridge II will probably made EU reluctant.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

nenea_hartia said:


> However I don't think our countries will find the money to do it. Maybe using some European funds, but previous experience with Danube Bridge II will probably made EU reluctant.


What happened there?


----------



## Viva_Bulgaria

nenea_hartia said:


> It seems there are recent plans for two hydro-energy projects. Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has announced that in September 2011, the governments of Bulgaria and Romania are going to sign a Memorandum about these projects. However I don't think our countries will find the money to do it. Maybe using some European funds, but previous experience with Danube Bridge II will probably made EU reluctant.


In fact that is an old project, probably from the 70s... Although I don't think that Bulgaria and Romania signed any final agreement, a friend of mine from Belene has told me that there were some preliminary construction works in the area since before 1989.


----------



## daniel LNC

ChrisZwolle said:


> What happened there?


revolution, we want to put a new bridge over the Danube :banana:


----------



## nenea_hartia

ChrisZwolle said:


> What happened there?


The construction is way, way behind schedule. The EU was forced to extend two times so far the validity of ISPA grant (pre-accession funds). There is an article on Wikipedia written by me, but unfortunately only in Romanian. Maybe using Google Translate...


----------



## neaguionutu

oftopic :
For Bulgaria, which is the best map for IGO 8: TOPMAP Q1.2011, NAVTEQ 2011.Q1 or TeleAtlas 2010.Q4?
I'm interested in the map that have the best coverage and the latest roads and highways?
Thanks!


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

vectom said:


> sorry to ask possibly inappropriate question here, but can anyone give me link with photo report or tell me in a sentence or two, about the road between Sofia and Vidin? I am planing to drive it possibly this weekend, but on a chopper bike, so it would be nice if the road is more or less decent for a hardtail motorbike as this.
> 
> I presume that the road is decent enough and nature beautiful as well, but is there anything I should know more? I see on google maps that there are two possible roads from Sofia up there, one via *Svoge* and another via *Berkovitza*, which one would be nicer in terms of tarmac, and nature/traffic frequency?
> 
> How does this *Svoge - Buchin Prohod - Godech - Kalotina road* look like? Anyone went there recently? Cos I might cut it there without detouring to Sofia (I'm departuring/arriving in Nish, Serbia).
> 
> many thanks!!!!!


*
Sofia-Kostinbrod-/Godech/-Berkovitsa-Montana* or the *Petrohan passage* or simply *II-81* is quite in bad state.

The shortcut you are planning to take and maybe a few small stretches between *Montana* and *Vidin* may be a bit deteriorated also.



nenea_hartia said:


> It seems there are recent plans for two hydro-energy projects. Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has announced that in September 2011, the governments of Bulgaria and Romania are going to sign a Memorandum about these projects. However I don't think our countries will find the money to do it. Maybe using some European funds, but previous experience with Danube Bridge II will probably made EU reluctant.


Those projects won't happen. The one near *Silistra* has some real issues with soils and underground waters and a strong opposition in the city. You can ask for details in Silistra's thread.

And about the one near *Nikopol* I've heard that some parts of the city would be flooded if the project happens so it's highly doubtful as well.


----------



## mediar

Part 5:










This is where the motorway ends.
































































And this is already the old road towards Varna.


----------



## x-type

mediar said:


> I don't know what do you think, but in my opinion, this photo is extraordinary. In this area Hemus motorway has pretty identical view to the croatian A1 near Split - everything is so tidy and clean, something so unlikely for a normal bulgarian motorway.


too much grass for Split  it's more like around Gospić. but that section looks really good, true 

interesting how there is signed end of motorway through that tunnel and across those viaducts. these are 2 large viaducts seen at the most famous photos of Hemus, right?


----------



## mediar

x-type said:


> too much grass for Split  it's more like around Gospić. but that section looks really good, true
> 
> interesting how there is signed end of motorway through that tunnel and across those viaducts. these are 2 large viaducts seen at the most famous photos of Hemus, right?


No, the most popular viaduct at this motorway is the Bebresh viaduct, which is 120m height and he is the one that usually takes place on the photos. He is located right here - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.8273396&lon=23.7985969&z=16&l=0&m=b . The two viaducts that can be seen on my photos are situated around Pravets ( on the map - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.9249117&lon=23.9264202&z=16&l=0&m=b ) and their highest point is 105m high. They, as well as that tunnel, aren't signed as motorway, because they don't have hard shoulders and the lanes there are only 3.50m wide each, instead the regular 3.75m for a motoway.

Other photos of the same viaducts:








http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9443971









http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48199820


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

I think the viaduct closer to the tunnel is called Vitinya viaduct and is the second tallest after Bebresh.

Btw, I love Hemus[A2]-it always makes me feel like I am traveling through Amazonka's rainforest jungles despite we have a rather dry continental climate.

*Trakya motorway[A1]* enters *Sofia* at nightfall. From atop of this hill begins/ends the only *2x3* motorway stretch in *Bulgaria*.


----------



## mediar

*Hemus motorway
Shumen - Varna
29 August 2011*

Part 1:

The beginning of the second part of Hemus motorway near Shumen.














































I don't think it's something normal the asphalt to be in such a bad condition, especially when this stretch was opened only six years ago...


----------



## mediar

Part 2:

The motorway is getting from bad to worse.





































And this is the worst part of the entire Hemus motorway. This is a 13km long stretch, situated between Kaspichan and Nevsha, which has a plethora of pot-holes, patches and unevennesses.


----------



## mediar

Part 3:










Beautiful patchwork.




























I have always wondered why in this section, despite the bad asphalt and guardrails, the grass is always, and has always been good maintained and perfectly cut, unlike the overgrowth on the rest of your motorway network. And yes, the Lada in front of us is a police car.










Well, not everything is lost - there are still a few places, where the asphalt is still in relatively good condition and you can speed up a little bit.










"Nevsha" intersection.


----------



## mediar

Part 4:










And, as you can see, the forest in the middle of the motorway is really well maintained and it doesn't take not a single millimeter of the roadway at all...



















The emergency runway near Provadia.


----------



## mediar

Part 5:



















Unfortunately I haven't taken a closer shot of the giant tree in the distance so you can see how it has bended over the roadway.



















The viaduct near Devnja is still in the same deplorable state as before.



















"Devnja" intersection.


----------



## mediar

Part 6:
































































And finally entering Varna.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Wonderful photo report as always:banana:


----------



## Turnovec

x-type said:


> at some tunnels we also had similar situation like you in BG. but few accidents where the cars hit the edge of the tunnel in high speed changed the situation and showed that shit can actually happen.


From my experience, there are no policemen controling the traffic on Croatian motorways. Or at least there wasn't such a couple of years ago when i traveled the Split-Zagreb motorway, where you have tunnels. My local friend also told me that we can drive with whatever speed we want as there are no places where we could be stopped by police. Maybe nowadays you have video control or whatever else, or you have traffic police operating on your motorways, i don't know.... In Bulgaria on the other hand Police are present at many places along the road, especilly before/after motorway tunnels. Those are their "feeding points" - places where they collect their sallary, if you know what i mean :lol: So most people tend to keep the 80km/h. speed limit before they enter or exit a given tunnel so they won't be forced to pay a ticket or a bribe to the policemen who are regulars on those places. However kleber is right that there shouldn't be poles without crashbarriers and such gaps before tunnels.


----------



## x-type

Turnovec said:


> From my experience, there are no policemen controling the traffic on Croatian motorways. Or at least there wasn't such a couple of years ago when i traveled the Split-Zagreb motorway, where you have tunnels. My local friend also told me that we can drive with whatever speed we want as there are no places where we could be stopped by police. Maybe nowadays you have video control or whatever else, or you have traffic police operating on your motorways, i don't know.... In Bulgaria on the other hand Police are present at many places along the road, especilly before/after motorway tunnels. Those are their "feeding points" - places where they collect their sallary, if you know what i mean :lol: So most people tend to keep the 80km/h. speed limit before they enter or exit a given tunnel so they won't be forced to pay a ticket or a bribe to the policemen who are regulars on those places. However kleber is right that there shouldn't be poles without crashbarriers and such gaps before tunnels.


you will really rarely find police in police marked cars at HR motorways.
on the other hand, there is plenty of them in police unmarked cars, like this one. when they catch you, then it is not good. and there is really plenty of them in various cars.


----------



## Djurizmo

mediar said:


> Part 3:"Nevsha" intersection.


Green exit sign?


----------



## mediar

In Bulgaria, the background color of the exit sign doesn't matter. Neither the number of the arrows. Other examples:




























All of these photos are from Trakia motorway [ A1 ].


----------



## x-type

mediar said:


> In Bulgaria, the background color of the exit sign doesn't matter.


actually it does. the sign with capital letters with Burgas, Istanbul and Svilengrad is old. other signs which you have shown are new, and on new signs colour does matter. and it is quite logical: sign for Stara Zagora and Chirpan is whole blue because it is normal exit, as soon as you exit the motorway, you are on ntional road. the sign wher is only Chirpan indicated has green background because there is one piece of motorway built leading to Chirpan. so, when you exit A1 in direction Chirpan, you are still on motorway which soon ends and you continue on national road to Chirpan. it is very logical.


----------



## mediar

x-type said:


> the sign wher is only Chirpan indicated has green background because there is one piece of motorway built leading to Chirpan. so, when you exit A1 in direction Chirpan, you are still on motorway which soon ends and you continue on national road to Chirpan. it is very logical.


I like your logic, and I wish you were right. But the second sign is situated on this intersection - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.2080255&lon=25.302254&z=17&l=0&m=b , instead of the previous one, which is the beginning of Maritsa motorway.


----------



## LG_

Mediar is right. Unfortunately it can't be found any logic in our motorway's signposting. There are also many mistakes with the E- numbering. The Trakia motorway on the same interchange - Chirpan, is numbered as E80 instead of E 773.:bash:


----------



## x-type

mediar said:


> I like your logic, and I wish you were right. But the second sign is situated on this intersection - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.2080255&lon=25.302254&z=17&l=0&m=b , instead of the previous one, which is the beginning of Maritsa motorway.


i don't understand you.
is this one at the beginning of Marica motorway, so here? is not, then you are right and there is no logic.


----------



## mediar

Yes, the intersection you're showing on the map is the beginning of Marica motorway. But, no, the second photo ( in my post #3675 ) is not taken on that one, but on the next intersection, which is formally known as Chirpan intersection ( it is the one I linked in Wikimapia ).

The location of the three photos is as follows:
First - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.2122054&lon=24.8131156&z=17&l=0&m=b
Second - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.2080255&lon=25.302254&z=17&l=0&m=b
Third - http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.2515042&lon=25.4145527&z=16&l=0&m=b

EDIT: And to point it out - this is the beginning of Marica motorway - http://media.snimka.bg/8355/022964777-big.jpg


----------



## radi6404

sabotagor said:


> Man, I read all your comments on this thread, and I noticed a few things
> 
> 1) You always seem to put hater comments about the Bulgarian motorways (whether it is Struma, Ljulin, Hemous)
> 
> 2) You have posted at least 5 Slovenian motorways images here
> 
> So, why you don't keep your hater comments for yourself? It is obvious on that picture, that this is because of the emergency teams.


Yes, he probably is a villageboy, living somewhere in the deepest Slovenian valley with highest surroundings and therefore is that nationalsocialistic to post hater coments on all Bulgariam motorways or on any motorway that is not Slovenian and probably Austrain. He might be a patriot of Austrai sswell, since it is the neighbouring country and a lot of slovenian towns have austrain names aswell.


----------



## Turnovec

*Sofia Ring Road - Dragalevtsi Junction*


----------



## mediar

Damn, what has happened with the grass inside the roundabout?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

[envirowhacko-mode]that's because all the traffic, everything dies near a high-capacity road[/envirowhacko-mode]

Lack of rain I suppose, especially coined with the recent construction, which leaves little water.


----------



## radi6404

it looks very good though, black asphalt and nice design.


----------



## Malazana

Hi, 
I will have some Romanian friends visiting me and they will travel with car to Plovdiv and they are asking for directions. From what I've been told the fastest road is from Ruse to Gurkovo through Pass of the Republic. Then from Gurkovo you drive to Kazanluk and detour to Tulovo from Maglizh. Then from Tulovo you enter the main road from Kazanluk to Stara Zagora and from Stara Zagora you go on the highway to Plovdiv. If this is the correct and fastest route can you also tell me if it would be hard for a foreigner to follow (road signs etc.).


----------



## LG_

Malazana said:


> Hi,
> If this is the correct and fastest route can you also tell me if it would be hard for a foreigner to follow (road signs etc.).


Yes, that is the best route! About the question if a foreigner could follow it - well it depends on him/her! It's true that BG roads/motorways aren't very well signed, but that route is not so bad!


----------



## panda80

Malazana said:


> Hi,
> I will have some Romanian friends visiting me and they will travel with car to Plovdiv and they are asking for directions. From what I've been told the fastest road is from Ruse to Gurkovo through Pass of the Republic. Then from Gurkovo you drive to Kazanluk and detour to Tulovo from Maglizh. Then from Tulovo you enter the main road from Kazanluk to Stara Zagora and from Stara Zagora you go on the highway to Plovdiv. If this is the correct and fastest route can you also tell me if it would be hard for a foreigner to follow (road signs etc.).


I am also from Romania and have followed the above route several times. I confirm it is the best one, roads are ok, and there shouldn't be any problem with signs. The only confusing place is at Maglizh, there you have only Tulovo signed, not also Stara Zagora. But even if they miss the shortcut, they still can go to Stara Zagora on the main road.


----------



## Malazana

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.


----------



## LG_

Today construction works start at a 8.5 km long section of A2 Hemus motorway! 



> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 242,938km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> The first 3 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway.
> The section between km. 89+600 till km. 108+510 has one carriageway only, so it is not a motorway.
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> Liylin motorway is actually part of motorway A6 from Sofiq to Kulata (Greek border).
> 
> *Оverall*
> 463,299 км.
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> Three "LOT"'s(sections):
> LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31,5km(from 210+100 till km 241+900);
> LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 34,3km.(from km 241+900 till km 276+200);
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> LOT 2 and LOT 3 must be completed till summer of 2012. LOT 4 must be completed by the end of 2012
> _All under construction at Trakiya:114,880 km._
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west is U/C.
> From Sofia Ring road to Yana interchange – 8,460 km - *new*
> _All under construction at Hemus 16,260km_
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A3):*
> Three sections:
> LOT 1 from Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> LOT 2 from Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> both LOTs have to be completed by August 2013
> _All under construction at Maritsa 70,985km._
> 
> *Overall under construction at 26.09.2011:*
> *202,125km *


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Did construction on A6 Dolna Dikanya - Dupnica already commence? I thought it was to start in September 2011.


----------



## LG_

^^Unfortunately it didn't yet! It's scheduled for 1th of October which is saturday! Probably it will start on Monday!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A3 motorway*

A3 near Kapitan Andreevo through time. As you probably know, it was opened to traffic in 2007, and subsequently shut down again due to inferior quality. It's now been repaved.

2003: no motorway









2008: completed motorway









2010: motorway repaving:









Thanks for Google Earth for making these comparisons possible, they released some new imagery of Bulgaria on September 21st.


----------



## moon121

*Hello !

I follow this and the serbian section with big interest!
I will drive next month trough bulgaria

Normally the most take this Route








__________________________________________________
I followed my navigation (Tomtom) 2010










never again between Chirpan and E85 it is a simple lane

my question : can i take this way 










or this one 










or suggest it would take away to the top

*


----------



## cassini83

Check out the Bulgarian road quality map thread.


----------



## LG_

@ChrisZwolle, that section must be between Harmanli and Lyubimetz, which had been opened without its final surface course. The "repaving" was actually "finishing" of that section 4 years after its first oppening! 

Here the result posted by @mediar::bash:



mediar said:


> Marica motorway, opened an year ago - http://imageshack.us/g/405/img5268o.jpg/


----------



## ChrisZwolle

No, the imagery I posted is east of Svilengrad, literally 1 kilometer before it terminates at I/8.


----------



## LG_

OK you are right about the location I've just checked it up in GE. But it seems like the terms of the construction works are similar like Harmanli-Lyubimetz section! Hope the same won't happen there near Svilengrad!


----------



## radi6404

cassini83 said:


> Check out the Bulgarian road quality map thread.


Tehre msut be a special color for raods with incredible road quality, only few sections must own it. For example the Struma motorway, Ljulin motorway, E-79 nationalroad til Dupnica, E-79 nationalraod Dupnica - Dzherman, E79 nationalroad Kucherinovo Blagoevgrad, E-79 nationalroad Kresna Sansdanski, E-80 nationalroad Kalotina Dragoman (the part til Sofia is green IMO cause it is 2 X 2 without divider) Kyustendil Nevestino. Simitli - Bansko Yeah that are the roads IMo that deserve a special forth color for Astral road quality. There might be others aswell.


----------



## LG_

^^ Oh, I see your point! All the roads around Blagoevgrad are with extraordinary quality! 

btw: E80 between Slivnitza and Sofia is in format 2x2 (instead 2x4 or 4x4hno


----------



## keber

radi6404 said:


> I also wish peopel outside Bulgaria to comment them, or are all people rasistic and will only admit good quality to their own roadsß


You probably don't want to hear my opinion. :hahano:
Last time I complained about safety deficiencies of tunnels I was considered a racistic villageboy ...

What happened to shiny white thermoplastic markings on Struma (after min 14:00)? They don't look very strumatic ...

Otherwise very nice surroundings.


----------



## radi6404

^^

Yes, they need to be renwed, but only at some places and that is cause the motorway is enduring a lot of winters and at the other time a lot of sand. The other markings are very white indeet, also all markings of the new E-79.


----------



## uNDiDo

^^ The markings will be renewed next year when all of the construction papers are put in order.


----------



## keber

I thought markings are painted new every year. That would be normal.


----------



## uNDiDo

^^ Not on Struma because this highway lacks the needed construction papers. They will change some things on it to be legalized and that's why they don't repaint it now. :cheers:


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> I thought markings are painted new every year. That would be normal.


The motorway has not be repainted since it is built. But you don't realzie that on the motorway there are thick thermoplastic markings and they only got viped out cause of heavy winters and a lot of dust on the motorway. Do you know how the motorway looked one winter when it wa not cleaned, when the careless government was ruling the country? It was frozen and there was ice and snow on the motorway, a thick layer of snow that forced people to drive 40 km only, it was a very heavy winter though. Do you think such things do not harm the motorway markings? And most of the markings are there still.

I hope very much tough that the markings will be repainted at that one place vey soon, since it is very dangerous to drive at that place.


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> I thought markings are painted new every year. That would be normal.





radi6404 said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecstoizeR-s&feature=player_embedded
> 
> E-79 nationalroad til Sandanski. The new part is still high quality looking, the rest is normal road.


Just look at this Video at 30:05, just look what happens, 10 years old asphalt and how it looks, I guess except the new part til Dupnica that is a masterpeace for Bulgaria aswell, the asphalt there.



AND LOOK AT 34 27, THE DEEP BLACK ASPHALT TURNS TO A FINAL BLACK ASPHALT, THAT IS PROBABLY THE DARKEST ASPHALT IN BULGARIA AND DARKER THEN NEW ASPHALT THAT IS BEING LAID RIGHT NOW, IT IS JUST INCREDIBLE, ONLY HUNGARY AND SLOVENIA HAVE ASPHALT THAT LOOKS AS NICE, ALTOUGH NOT AS BLACK THOUGH; THE SHADOWS CAN HARDLY BE SEEN, THAT BLACK IS THE ASPHALT, THE CONTRAST OF GLOWING THERMOPLAST MARKINGS AND THE ASPHALT ARE EVEN EYETIERING; THAT BIG IS THE CONTRAST


----------



## radi6404

http://www.napi.government.bg/images/api/Za_site_LOT_1_Struma.jpg

On this pic it can clearly be seen that Bulgaria uses thermoplast markings, you can see that a small peace is broken just like a thermoplast marking would break, not just dissapeared as color does.


----------



## czerwony_bo_szybszy

> Maritsa (A3)
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> The first 3 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway.
> The section between km. 89+600 till km. 108+510 has one carriageway only, so it is not a motorway.
> 1 km.
> 
> The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> 
> Maritsa motorway (A3):
> Three sections:
> LOT 1 from Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> LOT 2 from Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> both LOTs have to be completed by August 2013
> All under construction at Maritsa 70,985km


2 sections are unclear for me, so to sum up:
0,000-5,000 In operation
5,000-36,400 Construction
36,400-70,620 Construction
*70,620-72,940 ????*
72,940-89,600 In operation
*89,600-99,820 In operation, but single or dual carrigeway???*
99,820-108,510 Single carrigeway
108,510-111,980 In operation
111,980-117,345 Construction


----------



## radi6404

Comment the videos, people


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## bogdymol

radi6404 said:


> Comment the videos, people


comment


----------



## mediar

bogdymol said:


> comment


repost


----------



## Turnovec

mediar said:


> repost


rerepost


----------



## mediar

Turnovec said:


> rerepost


----------



## AlexisMD

radi6404 said:


> COMMENT!!!


re-comment


----------



## uNDiDo

czerwony_bo_szybszy said:


> 2 sections are unclear for me, so to sum up:
> 0,000-5,000 In operation
> 5,000-36,400 Construction
> 36,400-70,620 Construction
> *70,620-72,940 ????*
> 72,940-89,600 In operation
> *89,600-99,820 In operation, but single or dual carrigeway???*
> 99,820-108,510 Single carrigeway
> 108,510-111,980 In operation
> 111,980-117,345 Construction


It's a mess really... :lol:
As far as I know:

*70,620-72,940* - no information
*72,940-89,600* + *89,600-99,820* - OPENED last year at once so it is in operation -> source
*99,820-108,510* - They are building the other carrigeway

So functional at this time are two parts of the highway: first part from km 72,940 until km 99,820 (then you have only left carrigeway from km 99,820 until km 108,510, which is being built) and second part from km 108,510 until km 111,980.
From km 111,980 until km 117,345 you have construction but this part is devided into two parts - the one from 111,980 until km ~114 is almost done but the other part is in the beginning of the construction which is the border actually (Kapitan Andreevo).

As for the beginning of the highway, only km 0,000 to km 1,500 are actually build as part of Trakia and I don't know about km 1,500 to km 5,000. Then you have the two Lots (Lot 1 and 2) that are being build (no drama here). And then follows km 70,620 to km 72,940 - about this part absolutely NO information.

*EDIT: 70,620-72,940 - It's a connection road, it's gonna be finished with LOT 2. 

SECOND EDIT: 1,500-5,000 - This part is ready, but it hasn't been used until now. It must be layed a new layer of asphalt which will be done by the opening in the mid 2013. *


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## ChrisZwolle

New Sofia Ring Road / Lyulin Motorway interchange.


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## radi6404

It looks very good.


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## bogdymol

The asphalt is so dark... and the road markings are very clear and visible. It can only be an interchange in Bulgaria!


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## Stelian

not sure if this has been posted here so :
*Hemus motorway*


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## radi6404

what? I have gone only one time in Romania and the new Romainan roads were very good. But the nationalroads built in Bulgaria after 2000, like all of the E-79 are still as good as when they were new, however I have travelled only on roads in the west.


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## bogdymol

How about old roads/motorways?



mediar said:


>





mediar said:


> Hemus motorway near Nevsha:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Photo by Тервел.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That used to be a road.


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## radi6404

you can find such pics everywhere, even in Germany. But tourists coming from Serbia, Greece or Macedonia (at Kyustendil) are allowed to drive and enjoy the highspeed motorways or nationalroads, which are so good, they wont know whether to accelerate as much as they can or travel very slow to feel like they are travelling on rubber as long as possible and enjoy the highly reflective signs, or look at the glowing markings or look at the shiny markings or look at the shining balustrades of the bridges, so they feel they enter the most expensive bank in Brussels.


----------



## LG_

> I was always making jokes here, if you can not realize it.





radi6404 said:


> ...
> all nationalraods built in Bulgaria since 2000 still don't have holes or other issues and the tarmac looks great while the traffic there isn't little.
> ...



Still joking?


----------



## radi6404

LG_ said:


> Still joking?


No, not on this one, since the e-79 nationalraod in it's whole leng was made 2000 - 2001 (excpet Dupnica - Dolna Dykania) and it is in near pefect condition.


----------



## radi6404

the struma motorway got new markings which have noise when you drive over them.


----------



## LG_

radi6404 said:


> the struma motorway got new markings which have noise when you drive over them.


It got new markings on 07. October, but they are not relief ones!


----------



## radi6404

a User on forum said, they are relief ones, so why are you telling now, they are not?


----------



## radi6404

What is gong on with the danube bridge at Vidin. People on Serbian forums talk about new bridges being opened so I thought, letäs ask what is going on at the west bridge, it is not being talked about at all so I am wondering whether it is being constructed at all.


----------



## bogdymol

Vidin/Calafat bridge in u/c, but the works seem to advance quite slowly. The connection to the bridge on the Romanian side is completed.


----------



## seem

bogdymol said:


> How about old roads/motorways?


Wtf.. Is this how similar old motorways look like in BG/RO?


----------



## bogdymol

seem said:


> Wtf.. Is this how similar old motorways look like in BG/RO?


Oldest Romanian motorway (A1 Bucharest - Pitesti) is not in perfect shape, but it still looks a lot better than that Bulgarian ones.


----------



## seem

Ok so now I know why you ride horses on a motorway. 

But seriously, what is the speed limit on such a roads then?


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## radi6404

bogdymol,

it does not matter man, cause the new Bulgarian motorways and nationalroads are some of the best in europe and I highly doubt Romanian new ones are better.


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## Malazana

_deleted_


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## radi6404

After you enter the Struma or the Ljulin motorway or one of the various nationalroads you forget about the awful Hemus motorway.


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## Chilio

Radi, there is a thread about the bridge in the bulgarian section of SSC, as well as there is official site of the bridge. Both usually are frequently updated:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=899304
http://www.danubebridge2.com


----------



## LG_

bogdymol said:


> Oldest Romanian motorway (A1 Bucharest - Pitesti) is not in perfect shape, but it still looks a lot better than that Bulgarian ones.


Buchasrest-Pitesti was rehabilitated in 1999/2000 and you can not compare it with G.Varshilo-Pazardzhik and Plovdiv-West - Plovdiv East (parts of A1) and apr. 15 km of A2 near Nevsha, which have not been rehabilitated sinse trey were built in the 80th. In September last year I drove on the Romanian A1 and I can defenitely say that its quality is worse that the A1 Pazardzhik-Plovdiv West which was rehabilitated in the same term. This is not to be said for the new Sibiu belt as well as for the part of A3 in Transylvania, whose quality is very high indeed.

Also all bad parts of A1 will be rehabilitated next year funded by the state budget! The reason it has not comenced yet is first the f*cking concession with the Portugal company that blocked all the development of A1 for 4 years and second the trys of the present goverment to put that rehabilitation into the Infrastructure projects list funded by EU.


----------



## radi6404

And anyway, Bulgarian road construction is mostly luxurious, cause the struma motorway has very expensive asphalt not only on the driving lanes, but also on the emergeny lanes, the Ljulin motorway does not have that though and it looks awful looking at the white emergency lanes.


----------



## nenea_hartia

Chilio said:


> Will there be a motorway on the Romanian side?


No, there are no plans for the near future and this is unfortunate. I really don't understand why. The distance is not so long. This situation is maybe similar with yours regarding a motorway from Sofia towards Serbian border. You are not hurrying either to build one.
But there is a very good 2+2 road between Bucharest and Bulgarian border near Ruse. Speaking of measuring p..ises, I could ask you if there is a 2+2 road on the Bulgarian side . But I won't .

Seriously now, I can't simply understand why Romania isn't interested to build a motorway towards an EU neighbour.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^Actually, what they should do is expand the current expressway by-passing Adunatii Copaceni in both directions: Bucharest and Giurgiu and thus turn the whole connection into a fulll expressway. There is an important Bulgarian and Romanian truck traffic and it's pretty annoting for the hard traffic to go through towns and villages. 

BTW: this reminds me - I uploaded a vid of the express by-pass made with my phone a couple of months ago. At the end, modernisation works can be seen U/C:


----------



## Chilio

As I said, the priority of the government is to build such 2+2 expressways to the Romanian border, not only from A2 Hemus from Veliko Tarnovo to Ruse, but also to the Vidin-Calafat bridge (where on the other side I don't think there will be something similar soon).
And speaking about measuring p...ses - the 2+2 road on the Romanian side is with roundabouts and intersections at same level (p.s. and as I see from Le Clerk's vid with no center-divide at some places), the one planned to be build on Bulgarian soil to the border will be with multilevel intersections without interference of traffic with left turns etc.


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## Le Clerk

^^ I think both countries are full of great plans currently. Romania also has plans for motorways both to Calafat and Giurgiu and in the meanwhile chose to modernize such links. In any case, I think the priorities for both countries in terms of motorways are different from these connections, and I think these priorities are warranted because they are looking to connect with the west mainly, which Romania is doing through Hungary and Bulgaria through Serbia.


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## Chilio

I don't think connecting to Serbia is bigger priority than connecting to Romania. The only reason it will happen sooner is because it's easier - only some 50 km to build, instead of the hundreds missing in northern Bulgaria...


----------



## nenea_hartia

Chilio said:


> And speaking about measuring p...ses - the 2+2 road on the Romanian side is with roundabouts and intersections at same level (p.s. and as I see from Le Clerk's vid with no center-divide at some places), the one planned to be build on Bulgarian soil to the border will be with multilevel intersections without interference of traffic with left turns etc.


Yeah, the roundabout seems to be the latest fetish of Romanian Company for Roads & Motorways (CNADNR). They are acting like they discovered the wheel. OK, roundabouts are good, but not anywhere. We even have motorways under traffic (Sibiu) or under construction (Lugoj) ending in a roundabout. :bash:
Hopefully, both roundabouts will be demolished soon: Sibiu probably next year, by Astaldi, the contractor which is building right now a stretch of Orăştie-Sibiu motorway, and Lugoj... Well, if Romania will start construction of the southern branch of Pan-European Corridor IV towards Danube Bridge 2.


----------



## Le Clerk

Chilio said:


> I don't think connecting to Serbia is bigger priority than connecting to Romania. The only reason it will happen sooner is because it's easier - only some 50 km to build, instead of the hundreds missing in northern Bulgaria...


Yes, the Serbian connection *is currently* more important than the Romanian connection. That's why is being built. 

And it's normal so because its Bulgaria's shortest and fastest connection to western Europe. 

BTW: the whole road from Bucharest to Giurgiu courtesy to my patiance to upload the vid.  :cheers:


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## Chilio

It's the shortest and fastest if you don't take into account border control, which sometimes may take up to 4 or 5 hours (both at the Bulgarian-Serbian border and after that in the Serbian-Hungarian border). As Serbia is not in EU, connecting to Western Europe via Romania, especially after entering into Schengen would be better, and may proove to be faster... Especially after Romania opens the Lugoj-Timisoara-Arad-hungarian border motorway.


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## Le Clerk

^^ I am really curious if there will be any continental traffic shift after the completion of the Vidin-Calafat bridge, i.e. if Turkey-EU traffic will shift partially to this new open route to western Europe. Depending on the traffic, and if the traffic will see a serious shift, then both BG and RO will start on building motorways for this route. :cheers:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Filipdr said:


> The E-80 motorway (on the Serbian side) towards Bulgaria will be finished in mid or late 2013, just to point that out.


We really hope so.



ChrisZwolle said:


> What is not current can come in the future. It's good to reserve numbers for future corridors.


Lately, interest in corridor 8 is dropping down on both sides of the border.hno:


----------



## radi6404

Le Clerk said:


> BTW: this reminds me - I uploaded a vid of the express by-pass made with my phone a couple of months ago. At the end, modernisation works can be seen U/C:


The beginning looks very good, but the rest is not that great, still no markings and so on.


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## Le Clerk

Yes, and no shiny crash barriers either.


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## tanashubav

Le Clerk said:


> BTW: the whole road from Bucharest to Giurgiu courtesy to my patiance to upload the vid.  :cheers:


Is this road is under reconstruction, because the first few kilometers looks astonishing but the rest seems like there are some current roadworks?


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## Le Clerk

Yes, the road is under modernization works currently.


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## JloKyM

Le Clerk said:


> BTW: this reminds me - I uploaded a vid of the express by-pass made with my phone a couple of months ago. At the end, modernisation works can be seen U/C:


At 4:23, a Queen song has started and you changed the station!??!?!? :bash::bash:


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## Le Clerk

JloKyM said:


> At 4:23, a Queen song has started and you changed the station!??!?!? :bash::bash:


yeah, I know.  The radio signal was getting poor.


----------



## uNDiDo

JloKyM said:


> At 4:23, a Queen song has started and you changed the station!??!?!? :bash::bash:


:lol: :master:


----------



## Chilio

Some new picture of the newly built intersection at the current end of A1 Trakiya near Stara Zagora and the works on LOT2 from there to Nova Zagora. With shiny crash-barriers, of course!



mediar said:


> *LOT 2
> 26 November 2011*
> 
> Part 1:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Както виждате, оправили са първата табела над платното, на която преди погрешно пишеше и "Стара Загора".


----------



## Chilio

...


mediar said:


> Part 2:


----------



## Chilio

And the weekly update from the building of Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat:



Vitosha said:


> 28.11.2011, www.danubebridge2.com.
> 
> *Мост/Bridge:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Подготвителни дейности за монтаж на сегмент от връхната конструкция на моста при стълб РВ9
> Preparation for the assembly of a segment of the bridge superstructure at PB9
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Направа на етап от пътната плоча при стълб РВ10
> Execution of a stage of the deck at PB10
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Бетониране на тротоарния блок от връхната конструкция на моста в неплавателния участък
> Concreting of the sidewalk of the bridge superstructure in the non-navigable channel of the river
> 
> *Инфраструктура/Infrastructure:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Асфалтиране на пътния надлез при пътен възел при входа на Видин
> Laying asphalt pavement on road junction Vidin Entrance
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Подготовка за асфалтиране на пътен надлез Кула
> Preparation for laying asphalt on road overpass Kula
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Подготовка за асфалтиране на пътен надлез Кула
> Preparation for laying asphalt on road overpass Kula


----------



## LG_

It's a positive thing, that they fixed the problem with the A numbering of Trakiya motorway at Lot A1 (Orizovo-St.Zagora) - it's A1 now instead of A4! But the E numbering is still wrong! E80 has nothing to do at the route to Burgas! hno:


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## tanashubav

^^You are right! The number at the sign should be E773. E80 will be from Chirpan toward Sofia.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice photos. 

A few comments. 

The road numbers are a bit small. It would be better if they were larger. E80 is indeed erroneous as pointed out. I'd also like to see "m" added to the distance of 500 meters. It could've been an exit number. Speaking of exit numbers, are there any in Bulgaria?

I also like to see these signs to have road numbers on them. All other signs have road numbers, why not these.









So, while these signs are a definite improvement over the older generation, I still see chances for improvement. Maybe it's even better if Bulgaria adopts an existing system, like the Croatian system.


----------



## Chilio

And another report from the same forumer from LOT3:


mediar said:


> *LOT 3
> 26 November 2011*
> 
> Няколко снимки от мястото, на което път 55 между Нова Загора и Свиленград пресича трасето на ам. Тракия.
> Some photos from the place where road 55 connecting Nova Zagora and Svilengrad crosses the future A1 Trakia.
> 
> Поглед на запад ( в посока София ).
> View to the west (in direction Sofia).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Поглед на изток ( в посока Бургас ).
> View to east (in direction Burgas).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> А това е самият надлез, по който ще мине пътят.
> This is the overpass, on which road 55 will be.


----------



## radi6404

Now there is google earth updated imaginary and the disaster Ljulin motorway can be viewed, there is no reason anymore to go to Bulgaria, when I see that peace of ugly road, I get very sick, shame the Struma motorway is connected to that turkish version of a motorway, really, I have nothing against Turks, but they better focus on other things than building motorways.


----------



## keber

I thought you were overwhelmingly impressed with Ljulin motorway. What changed your opinion?


----------



## uNDiDo

^^ :lol: In my opinion Lyulin highway is better than Struma [Lot 0] but obviously it's a matter of taste.


----------



## radi6404

keber said:


> I thought you were overwhelmingly impressed with Ljulin motorway. What changed your opinion?


the fact that the emergency lanes are white and the asphalt has an awful texture even on driving lanes, look Keber, allready after a few months the motorway looks like 5 years of operation. When the Struma motorway opened it looked like some road that no car has ever driven and was looking dramatically different to the scenery. When I was entering the Struma motorway when it was new, I did not change a word with anyone, having my mouth open and eyes focused and looking at the amazing build quality, tears came down my eyes when I saw the impressive proudness of bulgaria which looked like a road that can only be seen on advertisments, if not better. But the Ljulin motorway is very different, when you look at google earth you can see, that the Struma motorway has better asphalt and looks cleaner and more solid then the Ljulin motorway after 5 years of use. The emergency lanes have different colour now, but only cause they are full of dust, remove the dust and you will find the same asphalt. 

*What makes the Struma motorway look that impressive is that you can not recognise how many patters the asphalt has. It looks like all of the asphalt is done with one wide barret instead of several lanes, you can not distinguish the difference. The Ljulin motorway is a joke, it does not look like new with the awful white emergency lanes, any Slovenian road is better. *


----------



## radi6404

Now let's compare









Struma motorway after two years of operation, pic taken November 2008 and the motorway looks, like no car has gone over that asphalt, the asphalt has same colour everywhere, the texture is incredible and it looks like a dream. 










Ljulin motorway, first month in operation, eh, what happened with the emergency lane, somehow it looks aged after just one month uof use, LOL.









Struma motorway 2,5 years of use, this section also looks, like it was opened a week ago, everything is clean and good looking. 









Here on this picture the motorway is opened the first week and it allready looks rediculous, like it has been used for many years









Now here the motorway is more then two years old, but the untouchness can be seen the best here, the motorway looks like a runway for airplanes, that is used once in a month, if ever used. In this pic the motorway definatly looks like one of the best motorways ever built on this earth. The signs are so clean, the asphalt is so unused, the markings after 3 winters are so beautiful









My father complained that the asphalt is very white, that just after one week of operation. 









This pic is two months after the motorway had opened, besides the missing dust there is nothing that looks different to the pictures above.









Ljulin motorway first month of operation. The emergency ale is awful, the right driving lane is much darker then the left one, it does look new here, but it looks like a very cheap motorway constructio, what the ****, you can clearly see where the borret has gone through, that is not how a good motorway looks like, any Hungarian, Slovenian, German, Austrian motorway looks better during the first month, even the new Kosovo motorway does. 









Struma motorway after two years of operation, you do not see any difference in the asphalt color, it seems like it has all been applied at once, since you just can not distinguish, where the tarmac is brighter or darker.


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## uNDiDo

:eek2:

Ok, I must admit that on one or two of the pictures of Lyulin h/w there is a colour difference but I'm not quite sure that this is a proof of "bad" quality.


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## Botev1912

who cares about the color. If the road is smooth everything's fine


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## Le Clerk

radi6404 said:


> Struma motorway after two years of operation, you do not see any difference in the asphalt color, it seems like it has all been applied at once, since you just can not distinguish, where the tarmac is brighter or darker.


Why didn't they cover the right bank into a holding structure or even vegetation because it may run away into the road on a strong rain.


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## Chilio

It actually quite often does. Also bigger stones fall too and tear the fence... Quite often the ditch fills up with stones and sand and the rain water runs on the road, causing risks of aquaplaning etc.

And Radi, please, when you want to manipulate and show your new madness about color of the emergency lane etc, do use your own pictures or ask the authors of the photos if they are ok their pictures to be used with that purpose. Because I see my own pictures used without my agreement (for example the one Le Clerk later cited). Which of course is breach of the SSC rules.


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## radi6404

Any pics posted here are public and available to save for everyone, when you type in Struma motorway in google, your pics will be shown. I do not own such a good camera so I am ot using my own pics, the Ljulin motorway pics are done with my mothers cellphone, the two vertical ones, so stop your hate not allowing ot use pictures for comparison. On the pics it clearly can be seen which motorway looks nicer and better quality.


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## Chilio

Pictures on internet also have authors and using them against the will of the author is illegal. It's not hate, it is the international laws and the forum rules. Three of the Struma pictures you have used are made by me, on two of them you even can see my car and my GPS-navigator... Moreover that they aren't linked to the site where I have uploaded them, but you have downloaded them and then uploaded them to another place without permission. It would be at least a bit more acceptable if you have shown them from the original location, from where the author can be seen.

And comparing quality of motorways on the basis of photos or satellite imaging is complete nonsense!


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## Chilio

So let's move to something more useful and important. Here's another report from our fellow forumer mediar about A1 Trakia, at the very end of LOT4 near Karnobat. It shows the future intersection at the connection of LOT4 and the already functioning LOT5:



mediar said:


> *LOT 4
> 26 November 2011*
> 
> Това са последните ми снимки от ам. Тракия. Показват бъдещия пътен възел между ЛОТ 4 и ЛОТ 5.


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## tanashubav

ChrisZwolle said:


> Speaking of exit numbers, are there any in Bulgaria?


No.


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## Chilio

A report from our fellow forumer ogibo from Svilengrad about A3 Maritsa motorway from the part where it was till now half profile:



ogibo said:


>


The user also commented that the older half of the motorway (which as you see isn't in perfect condition) has been built around 1987, and was once re-asphalted in around 1995...


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## CrazySerb

Thanks for the updateskay:

When are all these sections we are seeing here scheduled to open?
How many kilometers of motorways has Bulgaria opened this year and how many are planned in 2012/13/14?


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## tanashubav

CrazySerb said:


> Thanks for the updateskay:
> When are all these sections we are seeing here scheduled to open?
> How many kilometers of motorways has Bulgaria opened this year and how many are planned in 2012/13/14?


This year was completed Liylin motorway (part of A6) - 19km.
The three sections under construction at Trakiya (A1) are scheduled for 2012 - 115km.
All sections at Maritsa (A3) currently under construction are scheduled for 2013 - 80km.
There are also two sections at Hemus (A2) scheduled for 2013 - 16km.
One section at Struma (A6) scheduled for 2013 - 17km.

For 2012 is planed to start the construction of two sections at Struma - LOT 2 (45km.) and LOT 4 (15km.) and few short but expensive section around Sofia, part of the western and northern ringroads with total length of 24km.


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## uNDiDo

Maybe it's because the current E-79 road goes through places which don't have the proper view towards the Pirin mountain. We'll see!

I don't know where will the 13 km tunnel finish, to configure what will be the scenery there. It's important to notice that the highway is wider and gives you better prospective to watch. Now the current road has many curves and goes through the jungle-like forest and is tough to see Pirin's peaks.


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## radi6404

Well, I guess I know that mountain better then most people here, i have been to many places and the only places were you have big height differences and see peaks or slopes from big height differences are the place between Predela and Razlog, a valley south of vihren, the Banderiza Valley with view to Vihren and Todorka and a place near Razloshki Suhodol, however Razloshki suhodol the peak can be seen from 2000 m close. At south Pirin there is a valley with Bjala reka, the slopes visible are not very high though, there are some nice valleys in middle Pirin close to the Greek border oh and indeet there is a place at the Sinanica peak, where you have a beautiful peak that goes quite low to the mountain.

Pirin mountain can be seen from E-79 from a distance about 15 - 20 km.

you will not see Pirin peaks at all, since they are too far away and the rocks at the kresna gorge are too close, they might be seen better though. When you look at the rila mountain, it is one valley after another, a lot of valleys have side valleys where even no one has been.


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## Chilio

Come on, this is not mountains and nature thread, it's about highways...

So, today was published some upsetting information about Sofia's Northern Speed Tangent (Северна скоростна тангента) which is supposed to replace the rather narrow and longer northern section of the ring road. Previously, it was said that the tangent, which is about to connect 4 motorways (A5 Lyulin and the connection to Serbia from west to A2 Hemus and A1 Trakia in the east of Sofia) and also 4 euro-corridors is to be complete motorway with 3 lanes in direction and hard shoulders. Today the chairman of the National Agency for Road Infrastructure Lazar Lazarov said, that the Northern Speed Tangent will be an expressway with 2 lanes in direction (and most probably without hard shoulders). It will be tendered shortly and is supposed to be ready in 3 years.


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## Chilio

Weekly update from the construction of Danube bridge 2 at Vidin-Calafat:



bmbg said:


> http://danubebridge2.com/g-bg-most-11-dec.php
> 
> Мост:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Строителни дейности по моста
> Constriction works for the Bridge
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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> 
> Направа на временни опори за изграждане на връхната конструкция на моста (на румънския бряг)
> Execution of temporary piles for the construction of the bridge superstructure (on Romanian side)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Строителни дейности при стълб РВ9
> Constriction works at PB9
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> Инжектиране на каналообразувателите в пилоните (в частта за вантите)
> Grouting of prestressing tendons in the pylons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Инжектиране на каналообразувателите в пилоните (в частта за вантите)
> Grouting of prestressing tendons in the pylons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Строителни дейности при стълб РВ9
> Constriction works at PB9
> 
> 
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> 
> Монтаж на инсталацията за доизграждане на пътната плоча
> Assembly of the installation for finalizing the construction of the bridge deck


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## Chilio

...


bmbg said:


> Инжектиране на каналообразувателите в пилоните (в частта за вантите)
> Grouting of prestressing tendons in the pylons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Инжектиране на каналообразувателите в пилоните (в частта за вантите)
> Grouting of prestressing tendons in the pylons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Строителни дейности по моста
> Constriction works for the Bridge
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> Строителни дейности по моста
> Constriction works for the Bridge
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Бетониране на етап от връхната конструкция на жп естакадата към моста
> Concreting of a stage of the superstructure of the railway approach to the Bridge
> 
> Инфраструктура:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Асфалтиране директното трасе към моста
> Laying asphalt on the direct route to the Bridge


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## radi6404

We can have a bit offtopic about mountains for example, everywhere there is, Slovenia, Austria, each country with mountains has some discussions about them, so I wanted to add my two cents.


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## Bad_Hafen

Chilio said:


>


awful it looks like gravel road


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## radi6404

That is just different color, if you go through it, you do not feel it and it is at one place only.


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## Chilio

It's not different color, it's 4-5 cm deep and the whole upper layer of asphalt is missing (that's why you see the color of the lower layer of different asphalt), people aren't blind, so stop pretending there isn't a problem.


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## ChrisZwolle

Radi reminds me of this guy:









There are no problems with Struma.


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## radi6404

Chilio said:


> It's not different color, it's 4-5 cm deep and the whole upper layer of asphalt is missing (that's why you see the color of the lower layer of different asphalt), people aren't blind, so stop pretending there isn't a problem.


Any motorway after 6 years of use has such things once in 10 km, the M5 in Hungary aswell, in other countries they get fixed, in Bulgaria it is not being fixed, that is why it is still there.


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## GROBIN

ChrisZwolle said:


> Radi reminds me of this guy:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are no problems with Struma.


:lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## uNDiDo

:hahaha::lol:

Struma is not perfect, but it's not bad. It's decent. And with the scenery goes to excellent. 

Now radi will be :storm:


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## Bad_Hafen

Chilio said:


> It's not different color, it's 4-5 cm deep and the whole upper layer of asphalt is missing (that's why you see the color of the lower layer of different asphalt), people aren't blind, so stop pretending there isn't a problem.


it looks like this motorway will not survive winter, potholes must emerge with asphalt condition like this.


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## radi6404

It endurred 5 winters without any problem you fool, you can see that most of the asphalt, except that place is incredible and it endurres winters with no problem, it is after the Hemus the motorway with highest altitude in Bulgaria and has a lot of snow, dust rain, fog, ice and for that it's condition is more then good.


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## Bad_Hafen

^^based on this photo fool is sure it will be pothole after winter


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## radi6404

No, it is not, that is one place where this happened many years ago and the Struma motorway does not get holes, I don't want if you understand that or not, but it is not a motorway which is getting holes, maybe in 5 years, but the asphalt is just not the type of asphalt that gets holes, the asphalt will endurre landing of ery heavy Antonov airplanes without getting holes and people who are inside will have a very smooth landing. The motorway has no tracklines from trucks, it is all the same, tracks could not deepen the right lane of the motorway at all, while on other motorways they appear after two years of use.


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## rakcancer

This is one fascinating thread about pothole in Struma motorway .
I didn't follow whole thread so quick questions to my Bulgarian friends: when is an opening day for bridge between Bulgaria and Romania? Is it going to be 2+2 ? How is it going to be connected to highway systems in both countries, as a motorway itself?


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## Chilio

Yes, Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat is going to be 2+2 and a single railway in the middle. It is going hopefully to be connected with an expressway 2+2 south to Botevgrad with A2.
Completion deadline fo the bridge is end of 2012. The expressway itself is going to be built in next period 2014-2020, except the very near part - the Vidin bypass (seen on pictures here), and also some existing parts between the towns of Mezdraa and Vratsa. No news for serious plans of expressway or motorway on the Romanian side for now.


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## GROBIN

Guys ! No need to be rude nor to get mad at each other ! *radi6404* - please chill out ! Everyone has the right to have his/her own opinion ! Relax ! Go take a nice beer :cheers: with *Bad_Hafen* & see your debate with him as something positive: people are actually _interested_ in the Struma motorway ! 

Now I join *rakcancer* & ask the same question on _other _Bulgarian motorways ! 

EDIT: *Chilio* was faster


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## SeanT

We ARE interrested in STRUMA and all bulgarian motorways, as all other european developments of motor/expressways as well.


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## gmacruyff

Read the Romanian highway forum and it will tell you more about whats happening via the new bridge.


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## rakcancer

Chilio said:


> Yes, Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat is going to be 2+2 and a single railway in the middle. It is going hopefully to be connected with an expressway 2+2 south to Botevgrad with A2.
> Completion deadline fo the bridge is end of 2012. The expressway itself is going to be built in next period 2014-2020, except the very near part - the Vidin bypass (seen on pictures here), and also some existing parts between the towns of Mezdraa and Vratsa. No news for serious plans of expressway or motorway on the Romanian side for now.


Thank you Chilio. I checked http://www.danubebridge2.com There is a lots of useful informations including maps. I can see now where is this bridge situated. It is actually a bit outside of Vidin away from existing ferry pier. Expressway would be a good thing of course but on the other hand I don't see how and with what would be connected on the Romanian side. It doesn't look like this is most important transportation corridor in the region. Correct me if I am wrong.


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## Botev1912

radi6404 said:


> The motorway has no tracklines from trucks, it is all the same, tracks could not deepen the right lane of the motorway at all, while on other motorways they appear after two years of use.


what other highways have tracklines after 2 years of use? Examples?


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## Chilio

gmacruyff said:


> Read the Romanian highway forum and it will tell you more about whats happening via the new bridge.


Bypasses of some of the towns on the road north, i.e. of Drogbeta Turnu Severin, Caransebes etc. But the road form Calafat to Lugoj (which are more than 250 km), although in quite better condition than few years ago, will remain 1+1 for a long time... It's good that from Lugoj via Timisoara and Arad to the Hungarian Border there will be a new motorway soon enough, but the very near connections to the bridge unfortunately aren't priority to the Romanian government. I hope things will change in the near future.
Bulgarian official plans for expressway in the next financial period after 2014 aren't soon enough for me too. It means that after opening of the bridge maybe for 4 or 5 years on the Bulgarian side also some 150-160 km will be 1+1 before opening of the expressway.


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## Le Clerk

Chilio said:


> Bypasses of some of the towns on the road north, i.e. of Drogbeta Turnu Severin, Caransebes etc. But the road form Calafat to Lugoj, although in quite better condition than few years ago, will remain 1+1 for a long time... It's good that from Lugoj via Timisoara and Arad to the Hungarian Border there will be a new motorway soon enough, but the very near connections to the bridge unfortunately aren't priority to the Romanian government. I hope things will change in the near future.


^^ The official plans, sactioned by the EU as well by the adoption of the CIV south corridor, is to build a motorway from Calafat to Lugoj. That is possible to come under EU funding during 2014-2020 but it will come in competition with CIX (Ploiesti-Albita/Moldovan border), also under EU finance from 2014. It'll be interesting to see what the Gov will choose as a priority, or whether the Gov will leave out one of the 2 routes. One possible answer is that the Gov annocuned the start of construction works of Bacau motorway by-pass next year, also part of (extended) CIX. But we'll see. Nothing is finally decided as yet. :cheers:


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## Chilio

Maybe some plans of upgrading the road Calafat-Craiova-Bucurest will also be usefull, as a it will attract some of the traffic in northern direction. A lot of Romanian, Ukrainian and Polish heavy truck travel on E79 on it's southern part, coming from the Thessaloniki port, and now they go diagonally through Bulgaria to Danube bridge 1, but maybe will travel all along the E79 on the Bulgarian soil to Vidin after opening of the Danube bridge 2.


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## Le Clerk

The road between Calafat and Craiova is being currently modernised having in mind the completion of the bridge. As for Craiova-Bucharest, there are also major by-passes works for Craiova and cities all the way to Bucharest, but no road expansion to express. There is a plan for a motorway on this route (Craiova-Bucharest), but there is currently no money for that.


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## Chilio

Some very good news about Bulgarian legislation today. Some project for changes in the Road law were announced. Finally they defined what an expressway would be (скоростни пътища) - road with center-divide, at least 2 lanes in each direction, only multy-level intersections (no roundabouts!), protective fences on both sides etc. Expressways will probably have the speed-limit at 120 km/h. They are also planning to update the speed limit at motorways to 140 km/h.
Other good news are changes in the road law concerning advertisement billboards - they will not be allowed anymore in the fenced area of the motorways, and the existing ones will be surrounded by chrash-barriers and other safety measures until contracts expire and then will be dismantled. On other roads billboard will no longer be placed nearer than at least 8 meters from the edge of the pavement.


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## ChrisZwolle

That is interesting. Do you have a source for that? I can't find it on news.ibox.bg


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## Chilio

It's actually a bit more official than some news sites 

News:
http://www.mrrb.government.bg/index.php?lang=bg&do=news&id=3168

Project for the changes in the road-law:
http://www.mrrb.government.bg/index.php?lang=bg&do=law&type=8&id=476



> „(8) Скоростните пътища са национални обекти. Те са специално изградени и означени пътища за движение само на моторни превозни средства и притежават следните характеристики:
> 1. имат самостоятелни платна за движение във всяка посока с разделителна ивица между тях, като всяко платно е с с най - малко две ленти за движение;
> 2. пресичането с други пътища, улици, железопътни и трамвайни линии е само на различни нива;
> 3. вливането и отливането на движението се осъществява само от пътни възли на различни нива;
> 4. връзките към прилежащи територии са чрез локално платно, отделено от директно трасе с разделителна ивица с ширина не по – малко от два метра;
> 5. имат предпазна телена ограда;
> 6. имат площадки за принудително спиране;
> 7. имат площадки за отдих.





> „(3) За автомагистрали и скоростни пътища се забранява специалното ползване на пътищата чрез изграждане на рекламни съоръжения в обхвата на пътя и в обслужващата зона.”
> „(4) За пътищата от първи и втори клас, които не попадат в приложното поле на ал.3, както и за пътищата от трети клас се забранява изграждането и експлоатацията на рекламни съоръжения в обхвата на пътя или в обслужващата зона на разстояние по-малко от 8 м., измерено хоризонтално от края /ръба/ на пътната настилка до целия габарит на рекламното съоръжение.”





> § 7. В Закона за движението по пътищата (...) се правят следните изменения и допълнения:
> 1. В таблицата на чл. 21:
> а) създава се нова колона с наименования „Скоростен път” и показатели по отношение на допустимата стойност, както следва:
> Категория А 90
> Категория В 120
> Категории С, D 90
> Категории В+Е, С+Е, D+Е 90
> Категории Т -
> Категория М -
> Самоходни -
> машини
> 
> б). в колона „Автомагистрали”, на ред 2 числото „130” се заменя със „140”.


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## ChrisZwolle

Thanks!

Do you know when the 140 km/h limit takes effect? Maybe even January 1st?


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## Chilio

This is still a project for changes in the law. It has to be voted by parliament to become a real law.


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## LG_

These are really god news indeed! An expressway(скоростен път/speedway) in Bulgaria will be just a motorway without shouders and probable 3,50 m wide lanes instead of 3,75 m for motorways! Everything else will be the same!


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## mcarling

LG_ said:


> An expressway(скоростен път/speedway) in Bulgaria will be just a motorway without shouders and probable 3,50 m wide lanes instead of 3,75 m for motorways! Everything else will be the same!


With a speed limit of 120 km/h, shoulders are needed -- even if only 2.0 meters wide.


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## mcarling

Chilio said:


> Here's some nice texture of the Struma motorway...


Those are some of the longest, deepest, most *strumatic* potholes I've ever seen. Every motorway should have such *strumatic* potholes! I would trade shiny crash barriers for such *strumatic* potholes any day!


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## Chilio

mcarling said:


> With a speed limit of 120 km/h, shoulders are needed -- even if only 2.0 meters wide.


Some other countries, for example France, have their expressways with speed limit at 110 km/h with absolutely no shoulder... Germany also has (or at least recenty had) some autobahn stretches without hard shoulders. So I dont't see such a big difference.


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## mcarling

Chilio said:


> Some other countries, for example France, have their expressways with speed limit at 110 km/h with absolutely no shoulder... Germany also has (or at least recenty had) some autobahn stretches without hard shoulders. So I don't see such a big difference.


If there is no shoulder, some idiots who break down will stop their vehicles in the traffic lane. The faster the traffic, the more dangerous that problem is.


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## BND

LG_ said:


> These are really god news indeed! An expressway(скоростен път/speedway) in Bulgaria will be just a motorway without shouders and probable 3,50 m wide lanes instead of 3,75 m for motorways! Everything else will be the same!


So maybe something like Hungarian expressways:


Falusi said:


> M85, Enese bypass, almost ready:


3,5m wide lanes, soft shoulder, grade separated


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## Chilio

More likely without the soft shoulder, like for example Bulgarian national road 5 (E85) between Stara Zagora and Kazanlak:









picture source - [email protected]

But in fact, it has something like a soft shoulder where it is not on bridges:








picture sourse - [email protected]



But of course it will need some upgrade to become an expressway to the definition of the new law. New safer type of crash-barriers and fences for example.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Ruse - Byala I-5/corridor 9 AADT is 12 000.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

A wonderful winter report from the highest/*1550m*/ mountain pass in *The Balkan mountain*/BG - Stara planina or Стара планина/ *The Trojan - Karnare pass I-35* by *Svetlix*:


Svetlix said:


> *Троянски проход / Троян - Кърнаре / Беклемето*
> 
> Дължината му е ~45 км.
> 
> Това е най-високия Старопланински проход (1550 м н.в.). Всяка зима бива затварян поради невъзможността да бъде поддържан. Проблемният участък е около 500 м само. Но там навяванията са доста сериозни и често се образуват преспи с височина до 4-5 м.
> 
> Вчера (14.01.2012 г.) решихме да се поразходим до курорт Беклемето и да видим до колко е проходим този проход през зимата. Бяхме решили, че ще караме до където е възможно с колата. Ето какво видяхме:
> 
> Това е табелата точно до п. възел Абланица:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> След това има още няколко табели на ключови места, които ни информират, че този проход е затворен за движение.
> 
> След Балканец ..
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> следва продължение ...





Svetlix said:


> Въпреки, че изглежда доста заснежен, реално изкачването до горе е елементарно. Пътят не е хлъзгав и е добре обработен. Тук-там има някое друго коловозче ... но определено са се постарали!
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Svetlix said:


> Тази снимка е точно преди ханчето до курорт Беклемето
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> Точно след последната отбивка за курорта, пътят е така ..
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> От тук вече, придвижването е възможно само с моторна шейна или верижна техника ... и то само до някъде!
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> Ето и малко снимки от 11.04.2010 г. Това е 3-тия ден след пускането на прохода, след зимен сън. Всички снимки са правени от вр. Горал Тепе (върха с паметника). Това реално са снимките по проблемния участък по билото.
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Svetlix said:


> Ето някакъв ориентир, за височината на преспите и навяванията, които се образуват зимата. На снимката виждате и какъв е асвалта на кофти участъка по този проход. За съжаление в Събота по обективни причини, нямаше как да се види какво става с ремонта му.
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## tanashubav

Map of Bulgarian motorways as of November 2011:










Green - motorway
Red - u/c
Yellow - planned

http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Автомагистрали_в_България


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## Chilio

Few pictures from the Danube bridge 2 at Vidin-Calafat from the official site:



katani said:


> Все пак се появиха нови снимки в сайта на моста. Малко, но от сърце!
> А свързването на неплавателната част на моста с РВ9 наближава. Бавно, но сигурно:
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> Пътна инфраструктура:


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## ChrisZwolle

The first "skorostni putishta" of Bulgaria?


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## Chilio

^^ You probably mean the picture of the Vidin bypass 2x2?


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## ChrisZwolle

Yes, the second to last "Patna infrastruktura" photo.


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## Chilio

Well, for "skorostni patishta" they'll need to install also fences on both sides (protecting from animals and pedestrians)... There are other (not so few) sections looking like the one on the picture already existing, but not classified as expressway (skorostni patishta)... yet. Maybe they will be easily converted later after changes in the law are voted.


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## radi6404

Yes, the Blagoevgrad Bypass for example with lengh of 10 km has motorway Standart at some part, it has emergency lanes, fence, motorway asphalt and not a lot of curves.


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## autobahnracer

radi6404 said:


> Yes, the Blagoevgrad Bypass for example with lengh of 100 km has motorway Standart at some part, it has emergency lanes, fence, motorway asphalt and not a lot of curves.


Wooow! The Blagoevgrad bypass is 100 km long !


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## radi6404

I am wondering why noone from the Bulgarian section commented on my constructive comments of the Ljulin motorway. That the asphalt is aktually not that great and the bridges are not done very well, when you pass where the bridge starts you feel it very well on the Ljulin motorway. the Struma motorway altough 6 years has much better asphalt, it is much more even and feels much mroe like motorway. The Ljulin motorway asphalt feels like the final asphalt is missing, the asphalt is very soft and it is very slippery which makes a winter drive more unsafe as on other Bulgarian roads. The struma motorway asphalt is more rough and you have much more control over your vehicle and much more grip, people want to drive on motorways in winter, not slip over them and the Ljulin motorway is dissapointing. I agree that the asphalt is very even and has no bump yet, but the Ljulin motorway is nothing I like to feel, it is just a plain motorway unfortunately. It does look great, but the other Bulgarian roads that have been build in Bulgaria the last years have amuch better feeling.


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## Chilio

A5 Lyulin motorway on 05.01.2012


Kosiosl said:


> By koisosl at 2012-01-21
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## Chilio

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Kosiosl said:


> By koisosl at 2012-01-21
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## radi6404

I find it rediculous and absolutely ignorant that people only post about the Ljulin motorway now, instead of other motorways like the Struma motorway for example. It is such an ignorance to do that and I know it is not being posted about the Struma motorway on porpuse, cause I like it and talk about it, that is absolutely ignorant and pathetic.

Ok, I know why no pics were posted about it now, because it looks like a place for a place for snowmobiles now, another test for the motorway.


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## Chilio

^^ A6 Struma - this morning:



mandjasgrozde said:


> След новия сняг...


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## ChrisZwolle

Check out the top-notch plowing on this road, all snow is meticulously removed so we can all enjoy the spotless soft asphalt and the mind-boggling shiny crash barriers.


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## uNDiDo

The crashbarriers aren't shiny anymore, are they?


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## Bad_Hafen

how bad that Struma looks so old and worn out, maybe that's the reason why they don't clean it.


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## Chilio

And some more pictures from A5 Lyulin:



Kosiosl said:


> By koisosl at 2012-01-21
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Kosiosl said:


> By koisosl at 2012-01-21
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## Chilio

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Kosiosl said:


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Kosiosl said:


> By koisosl at 2012-01-21
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## Chilio

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Kosiosl said:


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## Chilio

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Kosiosl said:


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## Chilio

Some kinda mistaken sign:



Kosiosl said:


> За Видин по А1 ?????????????
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It shows that ahead is the road to A1 and also to Vidin. But you don't go to Vidin via A1 but via E79, which is different road, although they put it in the same box 



Kosiosl said:


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## ChrisZwolle

I can't say I'm pleased with the signage. It's far too basic. There need to be road numbers on the signage.


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## Chilio

^^ At the few places there actually are road numbers, they are mistaken or misleading  
But one of the main reasons for this is - the connections to the main roads A1, A2, E79 etc. are not built yet (for example the Northern Speed Tangent, as a shorter, wider and faster bypass of Sofia instead of the rather not suitable existing Northern part of the ring road).
It is also unfortunately a tradition to do signage incomplete and with a lot of mistakes... Note the way the word "transit" is written for example


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## rtifosi

Are there any news about the construction of the A6 of Dupnitsa section?


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## Chilio

Section between current end of A6 at Dolna Dikaniya and Dupnitsa is being built at the moment (mainly ground works and columns for the intersections). And should be opened about the spring of 2013, although some disputes and work on archeological sites discovered on it's way may delay the work.
Next section between Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad is being tendered. Construction is expected to start about late autumn this year.


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## mediar

Just look at the white line on the right - it's peeling. They should have been really high quality...


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## radi6404

Why do I say the motorway is average quality? On the Struma motorway that did not happen the first year, for sure not. It was the only true motorway in Bulgaria and by far the best motorway Bulgaria has ever built, I hope the sonw and ice wont destroy it, but I guess it will endure even this without anything happening, cause that is a motorway with German standarts, aswell as the E-79 nationalroad from Dolna Dykania to Dupnica which has not even one single wave after 6 fucking years, big respect to the builders of those masterpeaces, I really hope the next section of Struma motorway will have Struma motorway quality and not Ljulin motorway quality.

When driving on the Struma motorway with 180 you think your car is adhsessed to the road and the asphalt is holding it and when you drive on the Ljulin motorway you think you will slip over because the asphalt has any grip at all, Bulgaria did a great job with roads the last time, but the Ljulin motorway is not really that great. 

The E 79 part and Struma motorway are probably the best works, since there are no holes or deformations yet after many years, also the older asphalt made 2001 is very good still. The one made by Todini, it is very smooth and has no holes after 11 years now. On the Blagoevgrad bypass you can speed as much as your car allows for example.

The E 80 nationalroad to Kalotina got one hole I noticed and that has to be fixed, otherwise it is very good still.


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## Chilio

An update at the construction of A1 Trakiya near the end of LOT3:




xemyc said:


> Ето малко снимки от днес от края на ЛОТ 3 до с. Хаджи Димитрово. Всичко до където се вижда е асфалт.
> _Here are few pictures from today from the end of LOT3 near village Hadji Dimitrovo. To the distance all you can see is asphalt._
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> Това е краят на ЛОТ 3 - детелината на път Сливен-Ямбол.
> _This is the end of LOT 3 - the cloverleaf intersection with road Sliven-Yambol._


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## Chilio

Update from the construction of Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat from the official site www.danubebridge2.com

*Мост / Bridge*









Строителни дейности по моста
Construction works for the Bridge









Строителни дейности при стълб РВ9
Construction Works at PB9










Кофриране на етап от пилоните при стълб РВ11
Shuttering of a stage of the towers of PB11









Монтаж на защитни елементи при стълб РВ12
Assembly of vessel impact protections at PB12









Монтаж на защитни елементи при стълб РВ12
Assembly of vessel impact protections at PB12









Кофриране на етап от устой А2
Shuttering of a stage of abutment A2









Кофриране и армиране на колона от подстъпите към моста
Shuttering and reinforcement of a column of the approach to the Bridge

*Инфраструктура / Infrastructure*









Бетониране на конструкции при жп надлез Брегово
Concreting of structures at railway overpass Bregovo









Изпълнение на дренажи зад подпорните стени на жп надлез Брегово
Execution of drainages behind the Retailing walls at railway overpass Bregovo


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## PhirgataZFs1694

More pictures from Trojan - Karnare I-35 mountain pass through The Balkan mountain:

(10x to Svetlix)



Svetlix said:


> Нямам нищо против, даже бих се радвал
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> Благодаря за отзивите!
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> В бързината си забравих да сложа 4-те най-интересни снимки. Те не са авторски но всеки път като ги видя и се кефя на макс. Те от южната страна на прохода и са снимани от парапланер.
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> От тук се сетих и за *забележителностите в региона*:
> Курорт Беклемето привлича доста туристи през всички сезони. Лятото е едно прохладно и приятно място за почивка, а зимата събира скиори от цяла северна България. Една от най-добрите писти за биатлон и ски бягане се намира точно на Беклемето.
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> В близост до Беклемето са хижите Дерменка и Козя Стена, от там минават множество туристически маршрути.
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> В близост до билото по ужния склон има и площадка за парапланеризъм. Лятото там се събират доста ентусиасти, които правят полети от там.
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> Последните 2 снимки са авторски


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## Chilio

Another A1 report by fellow forumer Mediar:



mediar said:


> *LOT 4
> 23 January 2012*
> 
> These photos are taken at the place of the future cloverleaf interchange, joining the already finished LOT 5 of Trakia motorway with the previous one - LOT 4, which is still under construction.


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## Chilio

And another report from mediar, this time from LOT3 of A1 Trakiya
Pictures made at the intersection with road 554 south of Nova Zagora. Noted - the wrong signage with A4 instead of A1 which is ridiculous...



mediar said:


> *LOT 3
> 23 January 2011*
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> Part 1:
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> Северната част на пътния възел, намиращ се южно от Нова Загора.
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> Тук магистралата отново е маркирана под номер А4, в разрез на всички други табели, включително и новите на ЛОТ 2. Да не говорим и за цветущия начин, по който са скрили тези части от табелите, които все още не са валидни.
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## Chilio

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mediar said:


> Part 2:
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## Chilio

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mediar said:


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> Синият билборд маркита границата между двата ЛОТ-а, като на ЛОТ 2, изненадващо, все още не е асфалтирано северното платно.
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## Chilio

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mediar said:


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## ChrisZwolle

Are you sure they are wrong signs? The information signs say A4 too...


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## Chilio

Many many years ago (70-ies) the concept was to build a motorway on the road from central Europe to Asia - thus then it was supposed that A1 would be from Serbian to Turkish border. So in older documents A1 is used for the part of Trakiya from Sofia to Orizovo, and then from there the Maritsa motorway heading to Kapitan Andreevo is also numbered A1. But in some of these old documents the part of Trakiya from Orizovo to Burgas is A3, not A4... In newer documents all of Trakiya is A1, and Maritsa is A3.
But it looks like it's hell of a mess in all documents of the National Agency Road Infrastructure, and also in the tenders and projects used for the LOTs...


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## Chilio

And another report from mediar, this time from the beginning of LOT2 near Stara Zagora. Not much new here - few more crash-barriers, already broken cement curbs... And a new type of crash-barrier on the bridge that is installed for the first time in Bulgaria...



mediar said:


> *LOT 2
> 23 January 2012*
> 
> Завършвам серията от репортажи на ам. Тракия с няколко снимки от началото на ЛОТ 2 край Стара Загора. Тук не се забелязват кой-знае какви видими разлики от предния ми репортаж през ноември - освен поставената мантинела между и край пътните платна, както и телената ограда против животни, нищо друго не се е променито. Разбира се става дума само за първия километър и нещо, който може да се види от надлеза на детелината. По-нататък положението сигурно е различно.
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> За съжаление не всичко е така перфектно - имаме вече поддали и счупени бордюри.
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> За пръв път виждам такъв тип мантинела в България. Дано не е и за последен.


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## Chilio

Part 2:



















Temporary intersection between the widened parts and the 1+1


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## Chilio

Part 3:

Road goes temporary into the locals, while the main part is being constructed on a bridge




































Roundabout with road to Bistritsa


















Then traffic goes temporarilly in the southern main+local


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## Chilio

Part 4:

Future junction road for cabin-lift to Vitosha (left) and new road to some districts













































Junction with road to Simeonovo (left) and Studentski grad (right)


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## Chilio

Passing under roundabout junction to Dragalevtsi road


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## Chilio

Going right through the disproportional cloverleaf intersection with Bulgaria boulevard toward center


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## Chilio

Update from the official site of the construction of Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat (pictures are from recent weeks):



nikolla said:


> *Mост/Bridge*
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> View to pier PB9
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> Изглед към моста в плавателната част на реката
> View to the bridge in the navigable part of the river
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> Изглед към моста в неплавателния участък на Дунав
> View to the bridge in the non-navigable part of Danube
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> Изглед към стълб РВ9
> View to pier PB9
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> Изглед към моста в неплавателния участък на Дунав
> View to the bridge in the non-navigable part of the Danube
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> Защитни елементи за моста, подготвени за транспортиране
> Anti-ship-collision protecting elements, ready for transportation
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> Големи сегменти за връхната конструкция на моста, подготвени за транспортиране
> Large segments for the main structure of the bridge, ready for transportation


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Our fellow forumer *krasen* has spent time and effort to sum up road strategy of the ruling party when they came into power and their current plan:
Two years ago:









Current plan:









Yellow - Motorways 140kmh
Blue - Expresways 120kmh 2x2x3,5m /no emergency lanes/ grade separated multilevel junctions emergency stops every ~1km
Red - first class roads 90kmh 2x3,75m or 2x3,5m

Small correction: the road Kardzhali - GR border will be 2x3,5m


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Our state television makes regular reports about projects, financed by "OP Transport". In this episode, devoted to expressways, it's stated that *Sofia -Kalotina/SRB border/* road is used by *20 000!!!* cars and *3 000!!!* lorries a day.

These figures are quite high, IMHO. AFAIK, the border has an AADT of around 5-10k, so these numbers might be real only up to Dragoman but no further. Or are true in summer "gasterbait" time.

Anyway this road is planned as an expressway:bash: and should be built in this period of OP Transport 2007-2013.


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## mcarling

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Our fellow forumer *krasen* has spent time and effort to sum up road strategy of the ruling party when they came into power and their current plan....


It seems that the only change is that a few sections previously planned to be motorways are now planned to be expressways. I hope they will be built in such a way that they can easily be upgraded later.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

mcarling said:


> It seems that the only change is that a few sections previously planned to be motorways are now planned to be expressways. I hope they will be built in such a way that they can easily be upgraded later.


That's what they say officially. Unfortunately we haven't seen a single technical plan to judge ourselves.

I personally keep my expectations low since on ministry council, when expressways were introduced for approval, were mentioned sharp turns and danegerous sections and due to the fact that many officials keep on declaring that the only difference is the absence of emergency lane, which we all know is not true.


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## Radish2

That is a pic from the Bulgarian forum of E-79 at Dolna Dykania. Looking at the asphalt and markings and considering the extreme winter we had this year it seems this road will never age. the asphalt looks like it is a week old.


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## Chilio

Here's a map about A6 Struma about tenders and expected schedules, unfortunately only in Bulgarian, so I had to translate:









*Dragichevo <-> Dolna Dikanya * 19km - *built *since 2007

*Dolna Dikanya <-> Dupnitsa *16.7 km -* u/c*
Contractor: Consortium "Struma 1" (Impreza, Glavbolgarstroy Infrastructural Constructions and Patstroy 92)
Price of contract: 58,5 mln leva = 29,96 mln euro
Scheduled completion: October 2013

*Dupnitsa <-> Blagoevgrad* 37 km *announced tender*
Procedures for choosing contractor started
Expected price about 200 mln leva = about 102,25 mln euro
Expected schedule for completion: Summer 2014

*Blagoevgrad <-> Sandanski *64.5 km
Expected price about 1,4 bln leva = 700 mln euro (due to long tunnels under Natura2000 protected areas and natural reserves)
After 2014 (for projects, tenders and later starting construction)

*Sandanski - border-crossing Kulata *15 km - *construction to start shortly*
Tender won by Aktor, Contract to be signed in March 2012 after appeals have been already rejected by court
Price by contract: 55.9 mln leva = 28.58 mln euro
Scheduled completion: Spring of 2014


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## Botev1912

Radish2 said:


> That is a pic from the Bulgarian forum of E-79 at Dolna Dykania. Looking at the asphalt and markings and considering the extreme winter we had this year it seems this road will never age. the asphalt looks like it is a week old.


how old is that road? if it's less than 10 years old I don't see anything unusual. Older roads have problems after extreme winters because they become weaker and get damaged more easily than newer roads.


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## Radish2

it is 7 years old.


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## Chilio

Some new photos from the official site of the construction of Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat:


mediar said:


> *Mост/Bridge
> 27 February 2011*
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> Транспортиране на готов сегмент до депото
> Transportation of a segment to the site
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> Кофражни работи на пистата за производство на сегменти
> Shuttering works at the stand for segment production
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> Армиране на скелет за голям сегмент за връхната конструкция на моста
> Reinforcement of a framework of a big segment for the bridge superstructure
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> Геодезически проверки на кофражната форма за произвоство на сегменти
> Geodesic measuring of the shuttering frame for segment production
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> Изглед към моста
> View of the Bridge
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> Декофриране дъното на връхната конструкция на жп естакадата към моста
> Stripping of the lower part of the superstructure of the railway approach to the Bridge
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> Обработка на бетоновата повърхност при връзката на жп естакадата с моста
> Treatment of the concrete surface right at the place where the railway approach and the bridge are connected
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> Подготовка на връхната конструкция на моста за работа при зимни условия
> Preparation of the Bridge superstructure for works in winter conditions
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> Подготовка на връхната конструкция на моста за работа при зимни условия
> Preparation of the Bridge superstructure for works in winter conditions


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## Chilio

yamboliya said:


> Снимки - магистрала Тракия , пътен възел Ямбол север до село Хаджидимитрово
> Pictures -construction of Trakiya highway, raod junction Yambol north
> :banana:


(Server where pictures are uploaded experiences some technical problems, if you don't see them, check back a little bit later)


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## radi6404

Typical bulgarian road. They know how to design roads to look great. Always those eye catching signs and the dark grey asphalt with a light brown touch.


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## Chilio

Google has updated Maps/Earth satellite images and now A5 Lyulin and A6 Struma (LOT 0 Daskalovo-Dolna Dikanya) are completely visible with date of image 18.08.2011.


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## OwnTheNight

When is the Maritsa Highway A3 completed ?


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## gmacruyff

"Black sea Highway"-mentioned in a few websites today.!


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## User-_

Can maybe someone tell me when the trakia motorway between stara zagora and karnobat will open ?


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## Chilio

^^ Till the end of the year, but most parts will open June. Stara Zagora-Nova Zagora-Yambol should be opened at the end of June. The rest - some time later, but not later than December.


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## gogu.ca

how many km of motorways it will open this year in bulgaria


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## LG_

^^
1. 114,8 km of A1 Trakiya Motorway
2. about 1,7 km of the Sofia Ring highway (which isn't a motorway)

*total: 116,5 km*

That's for sure. Perhaps some more sections will be opened this year as sections of A3 Maritza motorway (mainly these which still posses only one carriageway), or the section Shumen-Belokopitovo of A2 Hemus motorway - about 7,5 km long, which delays becouse ot archeological finds


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## PhirgataZFs1694

OwnTheNight said:


> When is the Maritsa Highway A3 completed ?


lot 1 Takiya Motorway[A1]/Chirpan - Dimitrovgrad September 2013
lot 2 Dimitrovgrad - Harmanli August 2013

That's how village and town names will look like in English if we were to translate them literally:lol:









There used to be a bigger list. Maybe another bulgarian forumer could dig it up...


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## Chilio

The Sofia Ring Road south part, which was mentioned, at the Bistritsa junction and future junction for cabin-lift to Vitosha:



begleca said:


> *10.03.2012*


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## Chilio

Video from fellow forumer gradinka from the construction of LED lighting on the Daskalovo junction of A5/A6:


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## Chilio

Photo update from the official site of bridge over Danube at Vidin-Calafat:
www.danubebridge2.com 11.03.2012

*Mост/ Bridge*









Доизграждане на пътната плоча
Construction works for the bridge deck









Строителни дейности на площадката при стълб РВ9
Construction works at pier PB9









Строителни дейности по връхната конструкция на моста при стълб РВ9
Construction works for the bridge superstructure at pier PB9









Монтаж на голям сегмент от връхната конструкция на моста при стълб РВ11
Assembly of a big segment of the superstructure of the bridge at pier PB11









Строителни дейности по моста
Construction works for the bridge









Строителни дейности по моста
Construction works for the bridge









Строителни дейности по моста
Construction works for the bridge









Кофриране на етап от пилоните при стълб РВ12 (+монтаж на защитни елементи)
Shuttering of a stage of the piles of pier PB12 (+assembly of vessel impact protection)


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## rtifosi

Hello.
Yesterday I drove to Greece and back.
If I may, I would like to share with you a couple of things.
1. If someone use the new round from Sofia to Pernik juction will notice that the road that connects the Blv Slivnitsa to the new road is in very bad conditon.
Craters everywhere. It is not just a matter of the comfy driving, but a matter of safety, cause lots of them are quite deep and wide.
2. On the A6 Struma highway, at the part that there is a discent and after that a biggy hill there is an accumulation of hard snow on the fast (left) lane, and it is kind of hard to the car. Feels like driving on pebbles.
Other than that the road is clear and perfectly drivable.
Drive safe!


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## Chilio

The west part of Sofia Ring Road, connecting Slivnitsa boulevard to the new Lyulin motorway, for which you write, is being tendered and later this year will begin reconstruction - 2 lanes locals / 3 lanes main / 3 lanes main / 2 lanes local (same as the south part of the ring road). So until then all that they will do is temporarily fill the craters with cheap asphalt...


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## Chilio

A report from Danube bridge 2 Vidin - Calafat by fellow forumer rast:


rast said:


> Hello
> I made new video of PB9-PB10. For best expirence use full HD option.
> Enjoy!


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## Chilio

An update of A6 Struma construction of LOT1 Dolna Dinakya - Dupnitsa:



7588 said:


> Снимки от вчера от началото на участъка на Лот 1:


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## Chilio

and more...


7588 said:


> пак


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## Chilio

The roundabout intersection between Sofia Ring Road and A6 Lyulin, now with LED-lighting:



7588 said:


> новото осветление на ПВ АМ Люлин - ОП 18.03.2012


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## Chilio

And a weekly photo update from the official site of Danube bridge Vidin - Calafat:

www.danubebridge2.com 18.03.2012

*Main Bridge*

_*Control of the concrete consistency and temperature and preparation of concrete samples for the tensile strenght test*_









*Concreting of a stage of the deck of the bridge superstructure in the navigable channel of the river*









*Concreting of a stage of the deck of the bridge superstructure in the navigable channel of the river*









*Preparation for the grouting of the strained cables at Pier PB9*









_*Construction works for the bridge superstructure at Pier PB9*_









_*Construction works for the bridge superstructure at Pier PB9*_









*Shuttering of the final stage of the towers at Pier PB12*









Unfortunately there hasn't been any update of the bridge's adjoining infrastructure for more than two months now (including Vidin bypass as an expressway with several two-level intersections).


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## Le Clerk

Cool shots! Thanks for the regular updates! :cheers:


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## lukaszek89

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> That's how village and town names will look like in English if we were to translate them literally:lol:
> 
> There used to be a bigger list. Maybe another bulgarian forumer could dig it up...


I always wondered what does Dupnica in Bulgarian mean Now I know it's the same as in Polish.


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## Chilio

Well, not exactly... these are humoresque translations, more like partly how the names sound, and not exactly what they mean.


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## LG_

It's official - on 5th of April the construction works at the Kulata-Sandanski Motorway section (LOT 4 of Struma motorway A6), which is 15 km long will start. 
The main contractor is the Greek company Aktor. 
Yesterday the contracts were signed.


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## daniel LNC

LG_ said:


> It's official - on 5th of April the construction works at the Kulata-Sandanski Motorway section (LOT 4 of Struma motorway A6), which is 15 km long will start.
> The main contractor is the Greek company Aktor.
> Yesterday the contracts were signed.


source: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=137698


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## bogdymol

Chilio said:


> A report from Danube bridge 2 Vidin - Calafat by fellow forumer rast:
> 
> 
> rast said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello
> I made new video of PB9-PB10. For best expirence use full HD option.
> Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Great video! Thank you! :cheers:


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## Chilio

A report from fellow forumer from the construction of LOT1 of A6 Struma - Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa (in the opposite direction):



mandjasgrozde said:


> ^^ Да се включа по темата :cheers:
> 
> На връщане от Дупница цъкнах няколко снимки:


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## Chilio

part 2:



mandjasgrozde said:


>


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## Chilio

part 3:



mandjasgrozde said:


> Разклона за с. Делян


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## Chilio

and final part 4:



mandjasgrozde said:


> Надлез над пътя Д. Диканя - Гълъбник
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> Пътния възел при края на ЛОТ 0, разорана е цялата детелина


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## Chilio

Some new pictures of construction of Danube bridge at Vidin - Calafat and the adjoining infrastructure:

www.danubebridge2.com

Road intersection at the entrance of Vidin (to the left is the new belt-way):









Road intersection of the beltway with the road to Kula village:









Road to Bregovo overpassing the railway lines:


















And two pictures of the bridge construction:


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## daniel LNC

Chilio said:


> A report from fellow forumer from the construction of LOT1 of A6 Struma - Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa (in the opposite direction):


Hi Chilio, where will be bypassed to Dupnitsa Dolna Dikanya somehow this route?

http://maps.google.ro/maps?hl=ro&tab=wl


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## Chilio

I'm not quite sure I understand your question... This section (LOT1) runs along the old road and ends 3-4 kilometers before reaching Dupnitsa. So the Dupnitsa bypass is not part of this construction. It is part of LOT2 which is tendered with the project-making together, so when the tender finishes, then will be known which trace for a bypass is chosen.


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## Le Clerk

Chilio said:


> Some new pictures of construction of Danube bridge at Vidin - Calafat and the adjoining infrastructure:


Hi! I read the Bulgarian Transport MInister said the bridge will be completed by November this year. Can you confirm? :cheers:


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## Chilio

It's been said several times by different officials, incl the Prime minister too. But yesterday there was some rather strange statement, that the bridge will be constructively completed till the end of November, but maybe there wont be time to put the asphalt layers on it untill then!?!

And few more pictures:



vui4o14 said:


>


On the 4th picture you can see the connection of the elements in the middle between PB8 and PB9 (the bridge over the non-navigable part connecting to the first part of the bridge over the navigable chanel)


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## Radish2

LG_ said:


> It's official - on 5th of April the construction works at the Kulata-Sandanski Motorway section (LOT 4 of Struma motorway A6), which is 15 km long will start.
> The main contractor is the Greek company Aktor.
> Yesterday the contracts were signed.


so the quality of that part of the Struma motorway will be just "as good" as the motorway on the other side of the border, a nice selection of construction company, really.


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## Le Clerk

Chilio said:


> It's been said several times by different officials, incl the Prime minister too. But yesterday there was some rather strange statement, that the bridge will be constructively completed till the end of November, but maybe there wont be time to put the asphalt layers on it untill then!?!


Thank you. I feel the works have picked up pace though I couldn't estimate the completion this year. 



> And few more pictures:
> 
> On the 4th picture you can see the connection of the elements in the middle between PB8 and PB9 (the bridge over the non-navigable part connecting to the first part of the bridge over the navigable chanel)


The works are getting some awesomeness from now on! :rock:


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## Radish2

the road looks like it is very new and those markings are not even the final markings, the asphalt looks as if it has been paved yesterday. when you dismiss the old almost faded markings. 










Where will this road lead, is it the road that will connect the E-79 with the new Struma motorway? I hope not, they should make a grade seperated change for it.


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## Le Clerk

sorinm said:


> poze noi de la Vidin - Calafat
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> sursa: http://danubebridge2.com


:drool: :cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Chilio said:


> I'm not quite sure I understand your question... This section (LOT1) runs along the old road and ends 3-4 kilometers before reaching Dupnitsa. So the Dupnitsa bypass is not part of this construction. It is part of LOT2 which is tendered with the project-making together, so when the tender finishes, then will be known which trace for a bypass is chosen.


Dupnica will be bypassed on the west.
In order noone to be confused the contract is "design and build" contract.


Radish2 said:


> the road looks like it is very new and those markings are not even the final markings, the asphalt looks as if it has been paved yesterday. when you dismiss the old almost faded markings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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> 
> Where will this road lead, is it the road that will connect the E-79 with the new Struma motorway? I hope not, they should make a grade seperated change for it.


pffff calm down. This is just a temporary detour to build the motorway overpass over your existing "masterpiece with fading markings".


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## Ansteyfox

*A1*

On 26th June 2012, I will be travelling from Plovdiv Airport towards Obozor, how far along the A1 Motorway will I get?

Will it be fully open by then?

Many thanks


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## LG_

^^
Well the section from Stara Zagora till Yambol East will be opened ot 30th of June! Perhaps on your drive back to Plovdiv you will be driving on the new motorway and in that way you will be one of its first users!


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## Chilio

Some pictures of the worst condition motorway section in Bulgaria - the A2 eastern part between Shumen and Varna, Source - news article at www.dnes.bg:









































































Last pictures show how advertisement business has declined with the finance crysis.


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## ChrisZwolle

This may be the worst-quality motorway in Europe, or at least in the European Union. Romania and Poland gave up their "contestants" about 5 years ago.


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## Chilio

Two years ago I drove in Macedonia on the motorway connecting Veles to Skopje which was quite worse than that... Actually A2 Hemus is not that bad, it's quite bumpy and not very pleasant to drive, but there aren't real dangerous potholes (almost all of them are filled)...


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## bogdymol

How fast can you *safetly* drive on this motorway? I suppose that there aren't needed police speed checks.


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## Chilio

Well, I usually go to the seaside by it (cause like many Romanian tourists do, I like Albena resort), so I never had problems safely driving at about 110-120 km/h on it. BTW Romanian tourists coming to the Bulgarian seaside resorts in majority also use this particular section of A2, after entering Bulgaria at Danube bridge at Ruse. So you may look at it as the most important (or at least most used by) for Romanians motorway section in Bulgaria.


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## Chilio

A bit of update I made (sorry for the low quality cell phone pics) from the Southern part of the Sofia Ring Road.

Work on the approaches on both sides of the Bistritsa junction transit bridge














































The next part is functioning at half-profile since September, now they advance with the northern lanes (on the right side)


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## Chilio

The bridge for the new planned boulevard Kliment Ohridski, coming from the Darvenitsa district and going to the ski-lift to Vitosha. Now used as a "warehouse" for construction materials... and the lamps that they change.














































On the already functioning at full profile part Simeonovo-Dragalevtsi-Boyana they change the lights because the poles were dangerously thin. Here you can see the new ones, still without lamps.


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## Chilio

End of the section where the new poles are already erected...




























Start of the section where the old dangerous ones are still not dismantled


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## tanashubav

Construction of a 15 km. section near Greek border of A6 Struma motorway was started today. So this is how motorway statistics looks like today:

*05.04.2012*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as folowing:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Stara Zagora 207,762 km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 242,938km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> _The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> _Liylin motorway is actually part of motorway A6 from Sofiq to Kulata (Greek border)._
> 
> *Оverall
> 465,979 км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> *
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> Three "LOT"'s(sections):
> LOT 2 from Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora 31,5km(from 210+100 till km 241+900);
> LOT 3 from Nova Zagora to Yambol 34,3km.(from km 241+900 till km 276+200);
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> _All under construction at Trakiya:114,880 km._
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> There are two sections under construction:
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west.
> 8,460km from Sofia Ringroad to Yana intersection.
> _All under construction at Hemus:16,260 km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A3):*
> Four sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> _All under construction at Maritsa 79,895km._
> 
> *Struma motorway (A6):*
> Two section
> LOT 1 from Dolna Dikanya to Dupnitsa 16,780km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> 
> *Overall under construction at 01.10.2011:
> 242,815km.*


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## bogdymol

Nice pics Chilio. Are you driving a Chevy?


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## Chilio

^^ yup, but it's my wife's car... I usually drive a quite older Opel.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

> *Bulgaria Starts Construction of Hwy to Greek Border
> 
> April 5, 2012*
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> *The construction of Lot 4 (the southernmost section) of the Struma HIghway starts on Thursday, April 5, 2012.*
> 
> Bulgaria is holding Thursday, April 5, the groundbreaking ceremony of the 15-km Lot 4 of the Struma Highway.
> 
> On March 19, the Greek company Aktor and the Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency signed the contract for the construction of Lot 4 of the Struma Highway leading from Sofia to the Bulgaria-Greece border.
> 
> The construction of the road section will cost BGN 59 M, and is supposed to be completed in 23 months.
> 
> Its launch was delayed by seven months because another bidder in the public procurement tender, "Trace Group Hold," appealed the selection of Aktor.
> 
> The construction works will require moving the tracks of the Sofia-Kulata railway line as well as building special facilities to protect a number of endangered animal species, including tortoises. The highway will have 5 overpasses, three underpasses, 2 railroad underpasses, and 7 bridges.
> 
> The construction will be funded from the EU Operational Program "Transport" and has to be completed in 25 months.
> 
> The Lot 4 section runs from Kulata-Promachonas to the southwestern Bulgarian town of Sandanski.
> 
> The construction of Lot 4 of the Struma Highway will also have a positive effect on the Sofia-Kulata railway because it will necessitate a change of the route of a 3.3-km railroad section.
> 
> The new railway route will be transferred to a straight section that will allow the trains to go at a speed of 160 km/h, which is about the highest speed that can be reached by trains in Bulgaria.
> 
> The total cost of the Struma Highway – from Sofia to Greece – is estimated to be about EUR 1.1 B. The total length of the highway is slightly over 173 km.
> 
> The Struma Highway starts 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.
> 
> Lot 2 (from Dupnitsa to Simitli, 45 km) and Lot 3 (from Simitli to Sandanski, 60 km) will be harder to build because of the rough terrain, and the Borisov Cabinet has made it clear it plans to complete Lots 1 and 4 by the end of its term in 2013, and to have made progress on the other two.
> 
> The Struma Highway is a priority for the Bulgarian government in 2011 because of the importance of the traffic and economic ties with Greece, and because it is a part of Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 4 (from Central Europe to Thessaloniki and Athens via Vidin and Sofia).
> 
> The highway will be the first one in Bulgaria to feature special facilities for wild animals such as bears and hares.


Thanks to ВОДА:


ВОДА;90142623 said:


> *Source:* http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=138224


And thanks to tanashubav for regularly updating statistics.


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## tanashubav

Map of the current status of the Bulgarian motorway system (06.04.12):








*Legend:*
*Green* - existing
*Red* - under construction
*Yello*w - project

http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Автомагистрали_в_България


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## Arbenit

Hi, I am curious to know about how is work/construction of motorway from Chirpan/Orizovo to Dimitrovgrad (31.4 km) going? Any news/photos?


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## Chilio

I made some amendments to the map to reflect the downgraded sections from Motorways to Expressways, also to add some of the other planned Expressways:


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## ChrisZwolle

Is the planned 140 km/h speed limit already implemented in Bulgaria?


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## LG_

^^
No, still not! 
I am guessing that it will be implemented by the end of the construction of Lot2 & Lot3 of Trakia motorway, which is planned for 30.06.


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## rtifosi

Thank You all for your posts and all the info!


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## PhirgataZFs1694

> *Bulgaria's Govt to Complete Sofia-Black Sea Highway July 1
> 
> April 6, 2012
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> About 1/3 of the Trakiya Highway from Sofia to Burgas is still uncompleted.
> 
> Map from chambersz.com*
> 
> Bulgaria's first major highway, "Trakiya", linking Sofia to the Black Sea coast at Burgas is to be completed ahead of schedule, Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova announced.
> 
> In her words, the builders of the 360-km highway has committed to completing it ahead of schedule with July 1 being the most optimistic deadline for the still uncompleted Lots 2 and 3.
> 
> At the same time, the accelerated completion of the Trakiya Highway is not supposed to affect its quality because the government will be "following the builders' work very strictly", Pavlova said on TV7 Friday.
> 
> About two-thirds of the Trakiya Highway have already been completed, with the full completion being projected for the late summer/fall of 2012. When completed, it will be the first major highway in Bulgaria, not counting the 19-km Lyulin Highway completed last year.
> 
> Another important road project for which the government is starting tenders is the four-lane road between Burgas and the largest Bulgarian Black Sea resort Sunny Beach.
> 
> Pavlova stressed the importance of the start of the construction of Lot 4 of the Struma Highway linking Sofia to Greece. The Sandanski-Kulata section of the Struma Highway was formally started on Thursday.
> 
> She added that the authorities will not be cutting just ribbons "but cables as well" because of the new government regulations prohibiting the use of wiring on street poles in towns with population over 10 000.
> 
> The minister also spoke about the need to rehabilitation of the communist-era panel-construction residential buildings that are used by the majority of the Bulgarian population.
> 
> The Bulgarian government is launching a communist-era construction rehabilitation campaign as of July 1, 2012, she said, providing grants of BGN 5000 per apartment, plus low-interest credits from private banks.
> 
> Entire buildings in a total of 36 cities and towns can apply to join the program, the only condition being that the buildings must have been constructed before April 1999.


Thanks to *ВОДА*:


ВОДА;90185055 said:


> *Source:* http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=138279


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## Chilio

A report from fellow forumer from construction of A3 from the area where it will be crossing with the road Haskovo-Dimitrovgrad:



mandjasgrozde said:


> Малко топли снимки:
> 
> Пътния възел с пътя Хасково - Димитровград
> посока София:
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> разорано за листата на детелината:


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## Chilio

more:



mandjasgrozde said:


> от другата страна посока Турция:
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> докато рибарите кротко си ловят рибка, багерче леко ги позатрупва


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## Chilio

and few more


mandjasgrozde said:


> Началото на първия ЛОТ - поглед назад:
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> Малко лирическо отклонение, но нивите наоколо само като ги гледах ми идваше да отида да паса


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## Chilio

Update from the official site of the Vidin-Calafat bridge
*www.danubebridge2.com*

Main bridge:

Concreting of a stage of the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Stripping of a stage of the deck of the superstructure in the non-navigable part of the river









Stripping of the key segment of the superstructure of the bridge between the piers PB8 and PB9









Construction of the deck of the bridge superstructure at pier PB10









Transfer of the crane installation for the assembly of vessel impact protection at pier PB12









Stripping of the pylons at pier PB12









Construction works for the bridge


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## Chilio

and few more...

Reinforcement of the monolithic part of the superstructure of the bridge at A3 (on the Romanian side)









Reinforcement of the monolithic part of the superstructure of the bridge at A3 (on the Romanian side)









*Adjoining infrastructure:*

Concreting of a protective jacket for a telecommunication cable along the new railway route to the bridge









Excavation for a telecommunication cable along the new railway route to the bridge









Assembly of imposts at road overpass Bregovo


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## cassini83

Don't get me wrong but since we already have a thread dedicated to the bridge and the same pictures have been posted in the Vidin thread I don't see the point of having them in the highways thread as well.


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## Chilio

Not everybody goes everywhere and bridge progress is connected with all threads - with the international highways thread surely too, as it is an international corridor and E-route. It's common practice - same as with Ada bridge in SRB etc.


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## medicu' de garda

Thanks for the photos, Chilio :cheers: . It's great to see works on the bridge going at a steady and rapid pace. The bridge just might open at the end of the year. 

Two things bug me: how come works on the superstructure in the non-navigable part of the bridge have slowed down so much? Progress is barely visible. Or have they routed all the available concrete for casting the piers? And the second thing, how come there isn't any vessel colission protection on the lateral sides of the piers? The bridge seems (to me) vulnerable to a head-on collision. How does that design work?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

medicu' de garda said:


> Thanks for the photos, Chilio :cheers: . It's great to see works on the bridge going at a steady and rapid pace. The bridge just might open at the end of the year.
> 
> Two things bug me: how come works on the superstructure in the non-navigable part of the bridge have slowed down so much? Progress is barely visible. Or have they routed all the available concrete for casting the piers? And the second thing, how come there isn't any vessel colission protection on the lateral sides of the piers? The bridge seems (to me) vulnerable to a head-on collision. How does that design work?


1. Working schedule maybe...

2. All sides of the piers will be surrounded by protective concrete elements when completed.


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## Chilio

Update from the eastern end of LOT4 near Karnobat, where it will connect to the already existing part to Bourgas (pictures are made about 2 weeks ago):



mediar said:


> *LOT 4
> 30 March 2012*
> 
> С малко закъснение от седмица и нещо пускам снимки от края на март, показващи напредъка и строежа на ЛОТ 4 от ам. Тракия край Карнобат.
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> Сегашното трасе на път 795 и новото в ляво.
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> Надлеза на път 795 и строящата се магистрала под него. Новото тук - мостът е вече пред завършване, с готови подходи към него, а трасето на магистралата отдолу вече е застлано с чакъл.
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> В далечината също има напредък, макар и основата от чакъл да не стига много далеч. Предполагам, че в изминалите две седмици има развитие по въпроса.
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> Вижда се от къде ще минат двете рампи, а пръстта ще е в пространството между тях.


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## Chilio

Construction of A2 Hemus 7,5 km section which will connect the motorway with the Sofia Ring Road... At the moment km 0 is about 8 km away from the Ring Road on a non-motorway road. 




7588 said:


> Началото при с.Яна:


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## Chilio

A1 Trakya update at the Nova Zagora interchange (end of LOT2/LOT3):




mediar said:


> *Nova Zagora interchange
> 30 March 2012*
> 
> Още няколко снимки от магистралата. Датата е същата като от предния репортаж, но тези са от пътния възел Нова Загора, където се съединяват ЛОТ 2 и ЛОТ 3.
> 
> Part 1:
> 
> Движим се от север на юг по път 554, които премоства магистралата.
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> Ако си спомняте, преди месец имаше снимки от сериозното пропадане на асфалта поради недобро слягане на насипа. Сега целия мост и подходите към него са преасфалтирани.
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> Не всичко е станало като по учебник. Тук новия асфалт е дошъл по-висок от бордюрите, които по-напред напълно изчезват под него.
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> В далечината - ЛОТ 2.


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## Chilio

Part 2:



mediar said:


> Part 2:
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> ЛОТ 2


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## Chilio

Part 3:



mediar said:


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> ЛОТ 3, посока Бургас


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## Chilio

And part 4


mediar said:


> Part 4:
> 
> Тези по-тъмни петна в кръга, предполагам, че са местата, където ще бъдат засадени дръвчета или някакви храсти.
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## Chilio

And from another fellow forumer update from A6 Struma's LOT2 Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa:



mandjasgrozde said:


>


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## Chilio

part2



mandjasgrozde said:


>


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## Chilio

part3



mandjasgrozde said:


>


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## Chilio

part4



mandjasgrozde said:


> Весели празници! :cheers: :cheers:


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## Chilio

And a video-update from fellow forumer mlazarov of the two-level crossing at Burgas ring-road with direct transit trace of the expressway Burgas-Sozopol:


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## Chilio

And another update from another forumer at the Nova Zagora interchange of A1 Trakya (LOT2/LOT3 construction):



Azuro said:


> Малко снимки от днес
> Детелината за Нова Загора:
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## Chilio

Part 2:



Azuro said:


> Some overpasses in direction to Yambol


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## Chilio

Part3, pictures taken between Nova Zagora and Yambol (LOT3):



Azuro said:


> Тези са снимани някъде между Нова Загора и Ямбол


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## Chilio

Construction of A3 Maritsa, LOT1:



Toto65 said:


> Началото на лот 1:


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## Chilio

Some pictures of Bebresh viaduct on A2, taken by a fellow forumer yesterday:



Didoni said:


> Вчерашни снимки под виадукт Бебреш


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## Chilio

And few more


Didoni said:


> Паметната плоча определено е интересна


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## ChrisZwolle

Has the structural integrity of this bridge been rated by experts? It doesn't look too solid considering it's not really old (1980's).


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## Chilio

And two smaller bridges on A2 Hemus around km 28 with metal construction:



Didoni said:


> И два метални моста на АМ Хемус (около 28-ми км)


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## Chilio

The tunnel Vitinya on A2 Hemus:



Didoni said:


> Тунел Витиня - 14,04,2012
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> Винаги са ми приличали на изплезени езици


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## Chilio

Weekly update from Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat official site

www.danubebridge2.com

*Main bridge:*

Construction works for the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Construction of a wall at abutment A1









Transverse tensioning of cables of the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Transverse tensioning of cables of the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Reinforcement of the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Executing of hydro-insulation for the bridge superstructure









Preparatory works for the assembly of the cables at PB10









*Adjoining Infrastructure:*

Construction of noise muffling wall near the new railway route









Construction of noise muffling wall near the new railway route


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## Chilio

Great update from fellow forumer rosi87 from the construction of the south section of Sofia Ring Road between Mladost and Simeonovo junctions. First bridge across the ring road is new Kliment Ohridski boulevard which will link Darvenitsa district to the lift to Vitosha.



rosi87 said:


> Ред е и на околомръсното:
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> Бул. Кл. Охридски посока София:


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## Chilio

Then the transit bridge for the main lanes of the Ring Road and the roundabout Bistritsa junction under it:




rosi87 said:


> Няколко снимки от насипа и естакадата:


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## Chilio

and few more...


rosi87 said:


> и последно:


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## keber

ChrisZwolle said:


> Has the structural integrity of this bridge been rated by experts? It doesn't look too solid considering it's not really old (1980's).


I agree, Brebesh viaduct would need renovation. I quite doubt it would withstand a powerful earthquake without significant damage. Structural integrity (when looking at above pictures) looks ok despite visible rebar, except in case of extreme events.


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## ChrisZwolle

What do you think of truck traffic load? They're currently replacing a number of large bridges in Germany due to excess load (mostly bridges from the 1960's), they call it "ersatzneubau". Quite a costly project. Currently traffic volumes in Bulgaria are not very high, but this bridge looks quite worrisome.


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## radi6404

I have a question about the Struma motorway construction, where is this road going?








And why did they build it, so the people who drive to dupnica or other direction leave the E-79 nationalroad and enter this road? How long is that and why do they have to leave the E-79 nationalroad?


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## radi6404

Why the **** does noone ansewr here? I visit once in some months and even then noone ansers here cause they don#t want "spam" about the struma motorway. It is unbelievable how hateful people are here and ignore someone fully,when he does not behave to their rules.


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## Verso

Radi, "E79" is a European road, not a national road. Road number "1" is a national road.


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## Chilio

Radi, are you ok? You post a question at midnight and expect answers the very same minute? Cursing and abusing less than an hour after you posted isn't the right way to behave. If you expect people to be helpful and answer, try to be more polite!

The reason they built this detour is that they need to build some piece of infrastructure - overpass or underpass. So temporarily the road needs to go around the construction site. Then, when the underpass/overpass is ready, the road will go again straight through it under/over the A6 motorway.


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## Chilio

Some new pictures from the LOT1 of A3 Maritsa motorway construction, made by an enthusiastic forumer who went there by bicycle 



REAKT0R said:


> Същия ден и аз снимах там, как не сме се засекли :lol:
> 
> Ще качвам в реда по който съм снимал. Движих се с колело и от 50 км изминати за деня, поне 7 са по магистралата.
> PT1
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> 13+260 looking west by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 14+280 west by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 15+060 east by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 15+400 east by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> Пресичане с път 807 by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 16+280 east by DimoDimchev, on Flickr


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## Chilio

and few more



REAKT0R said:


> PT2
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> 16+??? east by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 7+???south by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 7+??? south by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 5+???north by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> 5+??? north by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> km 5 lookingsouth by DimoDimchev, on Flickr


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## Chilio

Two pictures of LOT1 of A1 Trakiya (Orizovo-Stara Zagora) taken from the overpass at Plodovitovo. The first section of the LOT to the west from the overpass (with lighter asphalt and grassy median with crashbarriers in the middle) was opened for traffic in 2006, the second part (with darker asphalt and crashbarriers on both sides) - in october 2007:



REAKT0R said:


> Направих още 2 снимки на магистралата от надлеза на пв Плодовитово. По нея сме се спускали с колела през 1999 докато участъка още се строеше...
> 
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> km 164 east by DimoDimchev, on Flickr
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> km 164 west by DimoDimchev, on Flickr


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## Chilio

Few pictures from the intersection near Yambol at LOT4 of A1 Trakiya, where it is supposed to connect to nationalroad I-7. The first 15 km of the LOT4 are supposed to open for traffic on July 1 this year, but it looks highly unlikly. On the pictures first the construction of cloverleaf interchange, than in the distance the part to the west that should be open July, and lastly 3 pictures of nationalroad I-7 (under reconstruction also supposed to be finished by July 1) that will connect the open part of the motorway to the existing main road to Karnobat at the Petolackata junction. 




yamboliya said:


> Ето няколко снимики от стреожа на магистрала Тракия от днес край Зимница , посмъртно няма начин да са готови на 1 юли , а също и през септември т.г.!
> първата снимка е малко кофти некъв гаден дъжд о*ра стъклото ми...
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## LG_

ChrisZwolle said:


> What do you think of truck traffic load?


Well, some time ago I also used the old road of the Vitinia pass purposely, to have a look on the "over side" of these bridges and then I also was shoked from the condition of the Bebresh columns! I really have warries about the stability of the bridge not becouse of the truck traffic load but because of an eventual earthquake.


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## Le Clerk

Wow! Nice report and progress as well at the bridge. It looks like completion is possible this year. :cheers:

BTW: asphalt is on in some pics. :drool:


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## eucitizen

Just a question, the border controls will be done on wich side? I guess that as Romania and Bulgaria are going to join Schengen, there will be just some removable booths, right?


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## ChrisZwolle

I assume border checks will be executed at the toll plaza, considering the traffic volumes are likely not too high and border checks are rather lax anyway.


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## Chilio

Video report from construction near Yambol of A1 by our new fellow forumer Gavasoff:





As for Danube bridge 2 - toll plaza and possible border control boots are built on the Romanian bank.


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## Chilio

Video update from the construction of the South section of Sofia from a forumer from another Sofia infrastructure forum. Visible are the Bistritsa roundabout junction and the transit viaduct above, in the distance to the right the intersection to Mladost district, to the left - the viaduct for future new Kliment Ohridski blvd.


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## Chilio

In the end of the above video the prime minister Boyko Borisov appears at the construction site with a Bayern Munich t-shirt. Earlier today he went to to see the advance of construction of A1's LOT4 near Yambol... with a t-shirt of Real Madrid...




increce said:


> Бойко днес е бил на инспекция на АМ Тракия ЛОТ 4.
> 
> Като цяло нищо особено - в срок били работите и т.н. Снимковия материал обаче е култов:lol: Човека си се разкарва с анцуга на Реал Мадрид, ако не греша и не му дреме:bash:
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> Последната снимка си е пълна класика - стил Живков сред ТКЗС-арски работници.:lol:
> 
> --------------
> http://focus-news.net/?id=n1648392


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## PhirgataZFs1694

A new route planned to be tolled PPP expressway:
http://infrastructure.bg/shimg/oo_1819695.jpg


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## Chilio

An update of A1 railway overpass in costruction near Kermen:



AlexMitrany said:


> Вчера минах с влака покрай моста над Тунджа до с. Завой и останах приятно изненадан от напредъка на строителството. Другата естакада която минава над ж.п. линията е пред завършек. :cheers:
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> Тук се вижда и работата по подмяна на ж.п. линията по линията Пловдив - Бургас.





AlexMitrany said:


> Ето още няколко снимки от естакадата до Кермен.
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> Снимките са от вчера 04.05.2012


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## YU-AMC

ahh when I looked at the pictures, I was like this must be Hristo Sotichkov...


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## PhirgataZFs1694

YU-AMC said:


> ahh when I looked at the pictures, I was like this must be Hristo Sotichkov...


With Real Madrid's outfit? Never...:lol::lol::lol:


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## YU-AMC

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> With Real Madrid's outfit? Never...:lol::lol::lol:


Yeah a good one. lol


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## Radish2

So now people, who are travelling on one of the highest quality motorways in all of europe now see, how it continues. Judging on the out of universe high quality asphalt, they think, the motorway was finished just one year ago and they allready continue it. Let's just prey to god, that the new section will be just as high quality, as the old section. Since the LJulin motorway is not as good as the Struma motorway looking at the asphalt. The Struma motorway asphalt is not as soft and feels much more solid than the soft Ljulin motorway asphalt, but I think the Ljulin motorway is good enough to use. But ofcourse the Struma motorway is Bulgarias baby when it comes tomotorways since it is the motorway who has to endure the heaviest weather conditions in Bulgaria and it mostly isn't even cleaned properly. Ice and snow are on the motorway for months and it does not get even one hole of it, I am wondering what the Macedonians have done there so the motorway is so solid. But this motorway is the motorway that is built for fun, it is a motorway where people can speed up as much as they want, blasting loud msuic on their great audio systems, getting great skinny girls inside their cars from abroad or from Bulgaria which will say, omg, your motorway is so great, it errects me, so we can do it later, if you want. That is how good the Struma motorway is. 

It is better than all Slovenian and Croatian roads I have seen, comparing and beating the Hungarian M5 motorway, which is another high quality motorway.

Cheers and keep the motorway clean and new.


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## Radish2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_motorway


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Radish2 said:


> So now people, who are travelling on one of the highest quality motorways in all of europe now see, how it continues. Judging on the out of universe high quality asphalt, they think, the motorway was finished just one year ago and they allready continue it. Let's just prey to god, that the new section will be just as high quality, as the old section. Since the LJulin motorway is not as good as the Struma motorway looking at the asphalt. The Struma motorway asphalt is not as soft and feels much more solid than the soft Ljulin motorway asphalt, but I think the Ljulin motorway is good enough to use. But ofcourse the Struma motorway is Bulgarias baby when it comes tomotorways since it is the motorway who has to endure the heaviest weather conditions in Bulgaria and it mostly isn't even cleaned properly. Ice and snow are on the motorway for months and it does not get even one hole of it, I am wondering what the Macedonians have done there so the motorway is so solid. But this motorway is the motorway that is built for fun, it is a motorway where people can speed up as much as they want, blasting loud msuic on their great audio systems, getting great skinny girls inside their cars from abroad or from Bulgaria which will say, omg, your motorway is so great, it errects me, so we can do it later, if you want. That is how good the Struma motorway is.
> 
> It is better than all Slovenian and Croatian roads I have seen, comparing and beating the Hungarian M5 motorway, which is another high quality motorway.
> 
> Cheers and keep the motorway clean and new.


OMFFFFFFFFFFFG!!! That's poetry. From what you say I can conclude that Struma motorway is like crops the more snow in winter the better preserved:lol:

BTW it is L*y*ulin motorway not L*j*ulin.


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## Chilio

Few pictures from construction of A3 Maritsa near Topolovgrad:



Standaman said:


> Здравейте,тези дни бях командировка в Харманли и се разходих да направя няколко смимки от ПВ Тополовград.Работи се по трасето макар и с бавни темпове според мен, но аз не мога да давам оценка за това, има консултант който трябва да го прави.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^Actually this is near Harmanli and this will be the site of Harmanli-Topolovgrad road II-76 and A3 junction.


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## Chilio

*Vidin-Calafat bridge construction *

weekly update, 06.05.2012
www.danubebridge2.com 

*Main Bridge*

Assembly of vessel impact protection at pier PB9









View of the final in-situ segment between piers PB9 and PB10









Construction works at the superstructure of the bridge









Construction works at the bridge


















Construction works at pier PB12









A stage of the construction of the strut at pier PB12


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## Chilio

Erection of a sheet piling wall for the assembly of a segment at pier PB12









*Adjoining infrastructure:*

Asphalt paving of road overpass Bregovo









Installation of Italian gutters along the slopes of the embankments of the adjoining infrastructure









Landscaping at Kula junction


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## eucitizen

When are you planning a motorway, or an expressway, from Vidin to Sofia? Is it a far future plan?


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## Chilio

For the next euro-funding period - 2014-2020. It will be an expressway between Botevgrad and Vidin 2x2 without hardshoulders, but with lots for emergency stopping, protective fences and only multylevel intersections. Project max speed is supposed to be 120 km/h. Small part of it is supposed to be in construction even before 2014 (from Botevgrad to Mezdra). Some parts between Mezdra and Vratsa are already 2x2 but need improvement. From Sofia to Botevgrad it is the A2 Hemus.

Here's a map of existing motorways&expressways+such in construction+such in project. It's not completely up to date, but still gives quite a good view about what is planned.


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## Radish2

I am wondering why noone has shown the pictures and reportage of the Struma motorway, since the progress of the construction went on and is pretty far now. Some sections are reaedy to be paved as it looks like. Let's prey that it will be as good as the old section and not be as crappy as the Lyulin motorway.


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## ChrisZwolle

Forza Struma!


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## Radish2

I do not want to spa the thread, but the last reportage has not been shown and it shows quite a few pics that show big progress on the construction.


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## gmacruyff

Is there any plans to build a bridge at Silistra.?


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## Capt.Vimes

gmacruyff said:


> Is there any plans to build a bridge at Silistra.?


Yes, but nothing specific yet about the exact location or when we can expect it to be finished. A bridge between Oryahovo and Becket is also in the plans.


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## dragosdd

Chilio said:


> *Vidin-Calafat bridge construction *
> 
> weekly update, 06.05.2012
> www.danubebridge2.com



Keep up the good work!


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## Chilio

This is maybe the way the contractor of LOT3 of A1 Trakiya is testing the overpass' strenght?



NotToday said:


> Една "забавна" снимка:


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## dragosdd

Funny, but more to the peculiar side.









So, how serious is the planned Ruse-Istanbul motorway? In Romania, the news has been met with enthusiasm but also with disbelief. 



Especially since our former governments were so reluctant to the Vidin-Calafat bridge, this planned motorway of yours came as a pleasent surprise.


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## Chilio

It's planned not as a motorway, but as an expressway. Not so big difference though, as by the changes in the law speed limit on expressways will be 120 km/h and the only difference will be that there wont be a hard shoulder everywhere, but some shorter emergency stopping lanes at every km. The big question is if there will be a real investor to take this project on concession. If it becomes reality, it will be a private toll road, not one built with money from the government or EU.


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## Chilio

Another update of the south section in construction of Sofia's Ring Road:


Celeborn said:


> 12.05








Celeborn said:


> 12.05 Част 2


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## Chilio

And the same as short video (avaible in HD too):


Celeborn said:


> И горното като кратко клипче в HD


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## Chilio

Driver of the heavy truck that hit the overpass on the construction site of LOT3 of A1 was not wearing his seatbelt, and the result is:










Fortunately, he hasn't suffered any hard injury.


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## neaguionutu

Hello! 
What's new on the Struma motorway? 
As stage works on the portion Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa? 
But the portion Sandanski - Kulata?


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## Chilio

^^ In the last few days they finally started active working with a lot of heavy machinery, so progress on LOT4 of A6 Struma will be also probably seen very soon.


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## Radish2

When will the western part of the ringroad be build? It is about time something happens there aswell.


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## Chilio

The tenders for the two lots of the western part of Sofia's Ring Road were held, now commission evaluates the offers and has to choose the contractor. Usually after that other contractors appeal which takes a month or so more until the court decides and the contract finally can be signed. After the contract is signed, the contractor has a month or so for "mobilization" of workers and machinery. So, knowing at what stage is now the tender, real construction will start probably in some 3 or 4 months, not earlier.


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## Radish2

Very good, it is about time something happens there.- there are 4 KM of motorway missing, so when it is build it will be very good. I hope there will be direct ramps to the Ljulin motorway, maybe two laned each so it feels like a real motorway and european.


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## Chilio

Road intersection of A5 Lyulin and the Ring Road already is built so the direct route goes to the motorway. So the main lanes of the western part of the Sofia Ring Road will be direct continuation of A5.


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## Chilio

And the usual weekly update from the official site of Danube bridge II Vidin-Calafat

13.05.2012
www.danubebridge2.com

*Main bridge*

Construction works at the bridge









Construction works at pier PB10









Mounting bearings at the railway approach to the bridge









Reinforcing works at the railway approach









Reinforcement of the road slab of the bridge









Construction of the slab of the bridge at pier PB11









Construction works at the bridge


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## Chilio

Dismantling anchorages from the pylons at PB12









Shuttering a stage of the strut at pier PB12









Preparation for concreting of the strut at pier PB12


















No new pictures from the adjoining infrastructure...


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## ChrisZwolle

No news is good news, I presume.


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## Radish2

This night my parents will infrom me. they went for vacation to Bulgaria. So they will see if the motorway has got some damage or not.


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## Chilio

There were news even the first morning hours after the quake - they said completely no damage to Lyulin motorway, which was closer to the epicenter and also more vulnerable because of the more complicated structures - viaducts and tunnels.
And in normally built, a motorway should not suffer any damage at such magnitudes, even at higher ones. So I don't see why to worry so much. As Chris said, no news is good news.


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## uNDiDo

The motorways are perfect, the old houses in some villages though are not so fine...


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## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> This night my parents will infrom me. they went for vacation to Bulgaria. So they will see if the motorway has got some damage or not.


Does anyone have a Men in Black flashy thingy to flash at Radi? That way, we can erase his memory of Struma forever.


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## bat_naso

cassini83 said:


> Not to understate what you're saying but frankly the road signs were the last thing I had to worry about on my trip today. In this day and age to go to a place you've never been before, without a GPS is just nuts. I've barely driven in Bulgaria or in Europe for that matter, but I have some 200000 km under my belt in the US so I'm looking at it from a foreign and somewhat impartial perspective. And still, I successfully navigated over 550 km of Bulgarian countryside without paying any attention to road signs. Again... I don't want to understate the need for a more unified approach to roadroad signs but hey, why stop in a single country? Why not have a unified road sign system across the EU. Having different standards in different countries is just silly. From a more practical point of view, fixing the potholes and resurfacing some roads that are in a deplorable state is much more important IMO. Also a few times I was driving at the speed limit (130 km/h) and got passed by cars doing 180-200. Here's another idea that's also cheap and will have quite a real impact. Put some cameras on all highway exits, have an OCR software read the license plates and check if their average speed was over the speed limit. If it was, then send the violators a ticket in the mail. I'm sure it's been done in quite a few places and it costs about the same or less than changing all the giant highway signs.


Thank you for the insightful post! For us in Bulgaria, at this point, having a highway or a motorway is much more important than the road signs themselves. Resurfacing some of the older roads is another great point, and to be fair the current government has been busy doing just that. There are new secondary roads being refurbished all the time in order to make up for lost time by previous administrations (former communists, etc). Also, there has been an emphasis on adding cameras on key places where people are most likely to speed, and the results are promising. 

Anyways, things are not all bad. By the end of next year Trakia should be finished, as well as Maritza and most of Struma. Who knows, maybe the new road from Svilengrad to Russe will also be underway???


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## bat_naso

pure nonsense - just regulate the distance between and from the road as well as sizes, etc. instead of banning billboards altogether! Another example of why EU is way behind US in terms of capitalism and private enterprise - the government gets involved in too many things.


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## bat_naso

Le Clerk said:


> Wow! Nice report and progress as well at the bridge. It looks like completion is possible this year. :cheers:
> 
> BTW: asphalt is on in some pics. :drool:


do you think Romanians would use a new high speed road between Russe and Svilengrad to get to Turkey?


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## bat_naso

danielstan said:


> Slavic population of Romania has Romanized as the Romanian population of Bulgaria and Serbia (so-called 'Vlachs') have forgotten their language.
> This is a phenomena accelerated in the last 100 years in many countries where ethnic minorities dissapear in the mass of the majority, due to education, state TV and radio in the official language.
> Example: Greater Romania after 1918 had 29% ethnic minorities. Today Romania (without Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and South Dobrudja a.k.a. Cadrilater) has 10,5% minorities (2002 census).
> It is a fact that most of German and Jewish minorities of Romania have emigrated to their countries.


Don't forget the origin of most people in northern Dobrudja - which had been part of the Bulgarian kingdom from 681...Also, it is not historically correct to make the statement that all Vlachs are romanian. This is the same as saying all south-slavs are Bulgarian or Serbian...


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## Stelian

Radish2 said:


> This night my parents will infrom me. they went for vacation to Bulgaria. So they will see if the motorway has got some damage or not.


and they left you alone hno:


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## Radish2

so I got information by my parents, that the Struma motorway does not have any damage, nor does the Ljulin. So it is one of the best motorways in europe.


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## bogdymol

^^ We should throw a party for Struma motorway great success!


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## Botev1912

Radish2 said:


> so I got information by my parents, that the Struma motorway does not have any damage, nor does the Ljulin. So it is one of the best motorways in europe.


a road that doesn't have any damage after a weak 5.8 earthquake doesn't mean anything. You know 5.8 is a joke compared to 7 and 8 that happen on the west coast of USA and in Japan


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## Radish2

bogdymol said:


> ^^ We should throw a party for Struma motorway great success!


And it should take place at the Mc donald's on the motorway, however with some expensive dinners isntead of Mc Donald's foot. 

By the way, the earthquake was 6 on richter scale.


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## AUchamps

Guys, like I said. Men in Black flashy thingy to Radi so that he can forget all about Struma. We've got the technology.


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## keber

Radish2 said:


> so I got information by my parents, that the Struma motorway does not have any damage, nor does the Ljulin. So it is one of the best motorways in europe.


Let's joy and dance for this mighty success:


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## vectom

ok, if I'm posting in a wrong thread, move my post and warn me in front of everyone here  
also, sorry for English, but lazy to dig out pseudo bulgarian this morning.

anyway, I'm most probably going from Sofia to V.Trnovo this Friday. Going back the same way through Sofia on Sunday/Monday.

I'm not concerned about going there, the route is pretty straightforward.

But I want to go to Sokolski manastir around Gabrovo on Sunday, and continue to Sofia afterwards. I am riding a chopper bike with not so soft tail, so I depend upon weather (wind, rain, above the sea levels, etc). What I generally avoid are fast roads, however, as it's two wheels and easy riding bike, wouldn't mind of a good asphalt and sceneries.

Google Maps suggests three options. One is going back on the road where I came from to V.T., which I would like to avoid. Second and third suggestions all go south to join the motorway Plovdiv - Sofia, and to continue that way. Still, it's a motorway and some 50km longer route than if I take local roads straight west direction of Gabrovo. I have no idea in which state this roads are, and Bing or Google Maps avoid them in their navigation.

Which route do you suggest? Thanks in advance.


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## Chilio

Well if you go to Gabrovo, I would suggest then going through Shipka pass on E-85 over the mountain, quite scenery and breathtaking views, and good condition, especially the south side which was completely reconstructed a year or two ago. Then after reaching the valley, don't go to Plovdiv and the motorway, but take E871 toward Sofia. Parts of it also were reconstructed lately. If you have time, visit also Koprivshtitsa (some 10-12 km detour from that route). And when you visit Sokolski monastery, it is good idea to visit also the ethnological and crafts settlement Etara (on the road to the monastery on the outskirts of Gabrovo).


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## Chilio

Meanwhile, speaking of motorway, which most of the users here don't wish to avoid, here's a report of the progress on A1 Trakiya LOT2 between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora:



vankkata said:


> АМ Тракия Лот 2 км237+000 посока запад
> 
> 
> 
> АМ Тракия Лот 2 км237+000 посока изток
> 
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> АМ Тракия Лот 2 км228+178 посока запад
> 
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> АМ Тракия Лот 2 км228+178 посока изток надлез Хан Аспарухово-Пшеничево


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## Turnovec

vectom said:


> But I want to go to Sokolski manastir around Gabrovo on Sunday, and continue to Sofia afterwards. I am riding a chopper bike with not so soft tail, so I depend upon weather (wind, rain, above the sea levels, etc). What I generally avoid are fast roads, however, as it's two wheels and easy riding bike, wouldn't mind of a good asphalt and sceneries.
> 
> Google Maps suggests three options. One is going back on the road where I came from to V.T., which I would like to avoid. Second and third suggestions all go south to join the motorway Plovdiv - Sofia, and to continue that way. Still, it's a motorway and some 50km longer route than if I take local roads straight west direction of Gabrovo. I have no idea in which state this roads are, and Bing or Google Maps avoid them in their navigation.
> 
> Which route do you suggest? Thanks in advance.


Chilio gave you the best options. Just go via the Shipka pass and then on E871. There are plenty of sites to stop and look at by the road. Like the Shipka monument, on the highest point of the pass, the Shipka memorial church on the south end of the pass... and later on E871 the small historical towns of Kalofer, Karlovo, Sopot... You can also take a short detour to Anevo Kale, close the village of Anevo.


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## Radish2

Why does noone care abourt my posts here? I remember the time when I talked about the Struma motorway and noone answered. that is ok since it was all the same. but questions or statements I post here are just being ingored and that is really unfair behaving. For example the Greek companies, it is a fact that those companies failed on rearlier projects and are failing now, so my question is not something to be ignored.


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## mediar

Because nobody has a clear answer of your question? Is that enough? Or you're expecting at least 10 posts with "I don't know" and "Me neither"?


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## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> Why does noone care abourt my posts here? I remember the time when I talked about the Struma motorway and noone answered. that is ok since it was all the same. but questions or statements I post here are just being ingored and that is really unfair behaving. For example the Greek companies, it is a fact that those companies failed on rearlier projects and are failing now, so my question is not something to be ignored.


Men in Black flashy thing. There, now you know nothing about highways Radi.


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## Radish2

AUchamps, I suggest you use the man in black flash to yourself, not spamming this topic and annoying me.


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## tanashubav

cassini83 said:


> Green - highway
> Red - highway under construction
> Yellow - planned


The years 2012 and 2013 would really be a milestone of Bulgarian motorway construction history. Newly opened motorways in 2012 are about to be 79km and in 2013 143km.


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## radi6404

that happened only due to boiko borissov, only he managed to get things done so the motorways are being built. Let's see the quality oft he motorways when done. I am not too impressed by the Ljulin motorway, altough it is not too bad either.


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## cassini83

^^ Let's not forget the European taxpayer's contribution. The government's role was making the tender process competitive and fair and I think we can all agree they did a great job. Not something I expected to see in my lifetime. Now they just need to figure out a proper road maintenance schedule and I think by 2020 or so we should be able to have road infrastructure on par with the rest of the EU.



tanashubav said:


> The years 2012 and 2013 would really be a milestone of Bulgarian motorway construction history. Newly opened motorways in 2012 are about to be 79km and in 2013 143km.


Truly an incredible rate for a country of this size. :banana:


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## AUchamps

Radish2 said:


> AUchamps, I suggest you use the man in black flash to yourself, not spamming this topic and annoying me.


That simply will not happen, for it is you that must forget that Struma ever exists.


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## gogo3o

cassini83 said:


> ^^ Let's not forget the European taxpayer's contribution. The government's role was making the tender process competitive and fair and I think we can all agree they did a great job.


+1


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you *lot 2* of *Struma Motorway E-79/I-1 Dupnica - Blagoevgrad*(Radi's from there):
















10x to *COD* and *krasen*


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## ChrisZwolle

How do you pronounce Blagoevgrad? Is it like Bla-groov-grad or more like Bla-go-yev-grad?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> How do you pronounce Blagoevgrad? Is it like Bla-groov-grad or more like Bla-go-yev-grad?


Bla-go-yev-grad is closer.

But it's not pronounced [yev] but [ev] like in "pet". 

In Bulgarian [e] is always read and pronounced like [e] in pet.

You can use this thread as well for further questions on bulgarian language, if you wish.


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## radi6404

you pronounce it blagoevgrad with hard L and hard R. Otherwise the pronanciation is the same.


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## sallae2

Forvo - How to pronounce: Благоевград (Blagoevgrad)


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## Chilio

Final touches are applied to Sofia Ring Road's south section between Simeonovo Junction and Mladost Junction. Some 2,6 km (even 3,9 if we count the rehabilitated Mladost section) of urban motorway standard will be open for traffic tomorrow (maybe to be mentioned in the openings' thread?).


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## radi6404

I am wondering when they wil finally build the west section of the ringroad to the Kalotina nationalroad. It is urgently needed and more important than a few kilometers of south ringrouad. the rwestern ringroad is in poor condition so they should finally build a motorway there.


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## Chilio

^^ It's beeing tendered at the moment and construction will start in few months.

Here's a video report from the air from the new section of the south part:
http://btvnews.bg/bulgaria/s-helikopter-nad-novata-otsechka-ot-okolovrstnoto-shose.html


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## radi6404

you said that a few months ago aswell and it is being tendered still.


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## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> How do you pronounce Blagoevgrad? Is it like Bla-*groov*-grad or more like Bla-go-yev-grad?


Why "g*r*oov"?



sallae2 said:


> Forvo - How to pronounce: Благоевград (Blagoevgrad)


The second pronunciation is weird, isn't it?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

radi6404 said:


> I am wondering when they wil finally build the west section of the ringroad to the Kalotina nationalroad. It is urgently needed and more important than a few kilometers of south ringrouad. the rwestern ringroad is in poor condition so they should finally build a motorway there.


The South Sofia Ring Road is far more important than the West...
It is currently the second most jamed boulevard in Sofia with 100 000AADT as far as I remember a newspaper article.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Verso said:


> Why "g*r*oov"?
> 
> The second pronunciation is weird, isn't it?


Yes it is. The first speaker is 100% a bulgarian old lady. The second speaker is either a foreigner learning bulgarian or a macedonian.


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## Chilio

Some pictures of the section of the Sofia Ring Road, opening tomorow:



fnm said:


> Малкo снимки от днес с телефона.





fnm said:


>





fnm said:


>


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## Chilio

some more...



fnm said:


>





fnm said:


>





fnm said:


>


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## radi6404

Now the crashbarriers of this section are impressed. you would think they are done the way on porpuse, to represent italian elegance, like you see on [Iitalian style cafes. the asphalt is very dark also, great work, I think I must see this road.


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## ChrisZwolle

The last sign still has Cyrillic-only. I thought they changed the "standards" to bilingual.


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## bogdymol

@Chilio and fnm: great pics kay: The motorway looks nice!

@Radi: what do you think about *this motorway*?



ChrisZwolle said:


> The last sign still has Cyrillic-only. I thought they changed the "standards" to bilingual.


They should have changed to bilingual signs... most of the foreigners that will drive in Bulgaria won't know what it's written there.


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## Chilio

Actually parts of the sign are bilingual (the exits to left and right from the roundabout), and only the straight direction is only in cyrillic. But those who come from that side and go to this direction will not be going through the roundabout, but on the transit viaduct above it. And the new signs before the main road going to the viaduct and the local split are bilingual.


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## radi6404

bogdymol, you first have to cmment this road, then I wil comment the romanian motorway.

By the way. My arents reported that there is no damage on the Ljulin and Struma motorway and that even the old Struma motorway is stil as smooth as it ever was, bsically as smooth as one year after opening.


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## bogdymol

radi6404 said:


> bogdymol, you first have to cmment this road, then I wil comment the romanian motorway.


-->



bogdymol said:


> @Chilio and fnm: great pics kay: The motorway looks nice!


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## TrueBulgarian

Chilio said:


> Actually parts of the sign are bilingual (the exits to left and right from the roundabout), and only the straight direction is only in cyrillic. But those who come from that side and go to this direction will not be going through the roundabout, but on the transit viaduct above it. And the new signs before the main road going to the viaduct and the local split are bilingual.


Still, they're right. It should have been bi-lingual. Anyway, looks great. So much improvement than what it was just a couple of years ago!


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## radi6404

bogdymol said:


> -->


the romanina motorway looks very good and very modern. the shiny crahsbarriers make it look very clean. the asphalt and markings look great aswell. the motorway is very good, but IMO it is not as per with the struma motorway and nationalroad I1 Dupnica - Dolna Dykania, which when they were new had a very unique look at them and do that even now. the asphalt of those roads looks somehow untouched, it looks like heavy duty sphalt. the romanian mtorway shown on that video can compare with the Ljulin motorway.


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## mediar

radi6404 said:


> Now the crashbarriers of this section are impressed. you would think they are done the way on porpuse, to represent italian elegance, like you see on [Iitalian style cafes. the asphalt is very dark also, great work, I think I must see this road.


Fortunatelly, the new crashbarriers not only represent italian elegance, but also show the new bulgarian standards in that aspect. Unfortunately, the new type of guard rails wasn't used at the new parts of Trakia motorway, except for the bridges ( http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/2791/imag0086qv.jpg / http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/5717/imag0443qx.jpg )


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## Chilio

Some 16 pictures from a helicopter of the South part of Sofia Ring Road, including some of the older part too: http://www.dnevnik.bg/photos/2012/0...se_na_okolovrustnoto_ot_ptichi/?pic=1#picture


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## tanashubav

bogdymol said:


> @Radi: what do you think about *this motorway*?


This video clearly shows why Bulgarian motorways are the cheapest in Europe. Guess why?!
BTW, what is the price for km. of Arad bypass?


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## Chilio

update of the progress on LOT2 of A1 Trakiya, due to open for traffic on july 1st:



vankkata said:


> 42°20'25.44"С 25°39'57.38"И


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## ChrisZwolle

I want to see the other side of that overhead signage at photo #3


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## bogdymol

tanashubav said:


> This video clearly shows why Bulgarian motorways are the cheapest in Europe. Guess why?!
> BTW, what is the price for km. of Arad bypass?


141,5 M € / 12,25 km = 11,55 M € / km

This price includes all the costs, except expropriations (I think). It's quite expensive because on 12 km we have 4 interchanges, a 150-m main span bridge over Mures river, 2 railway overpasses, lightning poles every 30 m and a lot of electronics (CCTV system, 6 electronic signs with variable messages, traffic counters at every interchange etc.).



ChrisZwolle said:


> I want to see the other side of that overhead signage at photo #3


Use a mirror :tongue3:


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## Chilio

No, you don't... you'll get disappointed  They are of the same type as already seen, as they are standartized in the projects of the three LOTs of A1.
By the way, I'm sure you will also disapprove the signage on the Sofia Ring Road, as I was very disappointed yesterday too - at least the ones overhead the local lanes on both sides are too small and with tiny letters, and of course not enough data as road numbers etc.


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## radi6404

tanashubav said:


> This video clearly shows why Bulgarian motorways are the cheapest in Europe. Guess why?!
> BTW, what is the price for km. of Arad bypass?


Which does not mean they are not good. I don#t like the critizism of Bulgarian motorways and roads in general. why are you doing it, while you may be right about minor things like signs, the roads built in the alst years have prooven very stable. Look at them, the E- 80 road, The struma motorway, the E- 79 til dupnica, all these new roads are stil very good. 

if you think bulgarian raods are bad I advice you go to Serbia and look at the road dimitrovgrad - Nis.It is doen at the same time and section a bit later than above mentioned roads. Check the condition of it and look if there are holes and waves, you will find them. However you will not find them on the new bulgarian roads. So stop talking bad about them.


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## tanashubav

^^No one said that BG motorways are bad or with low quality. They are cheap because They didn't have no cctv, no lightning, no electronic signs and many other. It's not fatal for shure but is definitely difference


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## TrueBulgarian

tanashubav said:


> ...


They can be upgraded, you know


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## bogdymol

tanashubav said:


> ^^No one said that BG motorways are bad or with low quality. They are cheap because They didn't have no cctv, no lightning, no electronic signs and many other. It's not fatal for shure but is definitely difference


In fact those 12 km of Arad bypass are the most high-tech km of motorway in Romania. The rest of Romania's small motorway network are just standard motorway, with (almost) none of this things.

Anyway, the sections that are now u/c won't have lightning (Arad bypass does because it's an urban motorway), but they will have some electronic equipment installed.


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## LG_

TrueBulgarian said:


> They can be upgraded, you know


Yes, for sure they can, as the illumination of the Daskalovo and Lyulin junction at Lyulin Motorlay, which are LED and it was realy nice surprise to see them!

Personally I really do prefer to have max. kilometers of motorway with the available financial resource than having less with electronic sings and illumination.


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## mediar

Chilio said:


> No, you don't... you'll get disappointed  They are of the same type as already seen, as they are standartized in the projects of the three LOTs of A1.
> By the way, I'm sure you will also disapprove the signage on the Sofia Ring Road, as I was very disappointed yesterday too - at least the ones overhead the local lanes on both sides are too small and with tiny letters, and of course not enough data as road numbers etc.


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## Andrej_LJ

Road signage in Bulgaria is just horrible, no standard whatsoever. 
I quickly drew in Paint some signs regarding the southern section of Sofia’s Ring Road and here they are. I am interested in your opinion, whether you find them readable, informative or they have too much information. I am especially interested in the opinion of the foreigners regarding the clearness of the use of cyrilic/latin alphabets as well as international road numbering and country codes. 

Signs are in direction from east (A1 Traiya highway Plovdiv) towards the west (roads to Macedonia and Greece):

1) Interchange at blvd. Kliment Ohridski









*NOTE: The A3 symbol should be A6 (Struma motorway).

2) Interchange at Simeonovsko shosse










3) Interchange at blvd. Cherni Vryh 









NOTE: P+R parking terminal at the future last station of metro line M2, station Hladilnika also signed.

4) Interchange at blvd. Bulgaria


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## bogdymol

^^ Your signs look nice. I just made a minor change so that there would be no confusion for people that are driving and are seeing that sign:


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## Chilio

Talking about Radi, he asked about the West part of Sofia's Ring Road, so here is some more precise information. At yesterday's opening of the South part, Lazar Lazarov from National agency Road Infrastructure said, that there are court appeals, which delayed the start of works on west section were due to be already started. He also said he hoped that not more than a month, month and a half and the work will start.


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## uNDiDo

For those of you who are mocking Radi, I damn you to see no highway like Struma finished in your country :troll:


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## Chilio

More from A1 LOT2:



vankkata said:


> km 234+600
> 
> посока изток
> 
> 
> посока запад
> 
> 
> надлеза





vankkata said:


> km 238+520
> 
> Посока Запад
> 
> 
> Посока Изток


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## Chilio

And some from A3 Maritsa's LOT1:



poletar said:


> Снимки от вчера
> ЛОТ1 участъка 6+000 - 8+420
> Другата седмица обещавам да ви кача още


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## bgplayer19

what you see on the photos above are only temporary signs, the official ones will be 5x3metres and will be the first of their kind. They are to be placed in the following weeks as one of the builders stated, he's a fellow member of the forum.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Trakya motorway:



ИванТ;92459910 said:


> *Автомагистрала "Тракия" (2011.10.16):
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> **Автомагистрала "Тракия" (2011.10.16):
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> *


BTW, lot 2 *Stara Zagora - Nova Zagora* opens on *1 July*.

I -16 Sofia-Mezdra(Iskar river gorge) is under rehabilitation:



ИванТ;92460334 said:


> Освен проблемната крайпътна растиелност, по национален път "16" се наблюдава и чести свличания на скална маса, затова ремонтът включва и укрепване на склоновете и инсталация на създадени за това мрежи.
> 
> *Национален път "16" (2012.06.16):*
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> *
> Национален път "16" (2012.06.16):*


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## Nima-Farid

what happened to the road??


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## Chilio

A report from LOT1 of A6 Struma (Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa):




7588 said:


> Хайде - малко снимки от днес. Работи се с голям размах - свалят се баири и се правят насипи по 20-30 метра, видях камиони на доста подизпълнители - ДЛВ, Надежда, даже са се включили и Геотехмин:
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> началото
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> на мосто, по който ще мината Е79 към Радомир, вече слагат гредите
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> на моста му трябва само асфалт
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> това е точно срещу моста в посока Дупница
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> след язовира


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## mman2012

Hi everyone, is there any recent (and updated) material about the proposed completion of the Sofia - Varna highway? Any change the work will be resumed soon and what the latest (maybe final) route for it?

Thanks


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## Chilio

^^ No. It's still in the far future, except two short sections under construction at the moment of 8-8,5 km on both sides - from Sofia Ring Road to the begining of A2 near Yana, and on the other side from Belokopitovo to Shumen. The rest is waiting projects and funding. Maybe in European financial period 2014-2020. But still, there are projects to build the section from Yablanitsa (current end of A2 if comming from Sofia) to Veliko Turnovo as a motorway, and the remaining part from Veliko Tarnovo to Belokopitovo as a expressway.


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## TrueBulgarian

Nima-Farid said:


> what happened to the road??


Rock-slides... That's why they are putting in more safety nets.


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## mman2012

Chilio said:


> ^^ No. It's still in the far future, except two short sections under construction at the moment of 8-8,5 km on both sides - from Sofia Ring Road to the begining of A2 near Yana, and on the other side from Belokopitovo to Shumen. The rest is waiting projects and funding. Maybe in European financial period 2014-2020. But still, there are projects to build the section from Yablanitsa (current end of A2 if comming from Sofia) to Veliko Turnovo as a motorway, and the remaining part from Veliko Tarnovo to Belokopitovo as a expressway.


Any funding secured for the second version (motorway + express?), or yet 2014-2020 budgets?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

mman2012 said:


> Any funding secured for the second version (motorway + express?), or yet 2014-2020 budgets?


It is possible that there will not be enough money even in 2014-2020 financial period(80% EU funds + 20% budget or loan) because there are a lot more and very expensive projects as well.

Moreover it might not be built as a motorway(Sofia - Veliko Tarnovo)+expressway(Veliko Tarnovo - Varna), but as an expressway(Sofia - Veliko Tarnovo)+expressway(Veliko Tarnovo - Varna) :bash:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Trakiya motorway [A4] Hadjidimitrovo/Yambol-west/Yambol-Sliven/I-53 junction:


yamboliya said:


> Макар и леко да се съмнявам , мисля че ако запазят темпото си на работа и при добро време и без други неочаквани проблеми ще успеят да отворят на 15 юли ЛОТ 3. Снимки от днес , до пътния възел край Хаджидимитрово


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## Kate.Kuj

cassini83 said:


> That's what the plan calls for. Two lanes in each direction, grade separated interchanges, no emergency lanes and 120 km/h speed limit.
> Also a word of advise for those of you who label the maps. Before using a literal translation of a given word, look it up on google image search. That way you'll know that "speedway" means something completely different


These "speedways" lets call them expressways without emergency lines are crap. There are a lot of accident.


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## Chilio

Some pictures of the freshly opened on July 1st LOT2 of A1 Trakiya (Stara Zagora - Nova Zagora):



io_bg said:


> Малко снимки от вчера по новата отсечка на магистралата. Според мен е добре с изключение на няколко неравности. Също има доста паркинги.
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> Бяха паднали два знака, единият се вижда на долната снимка, а другият беше на края на завоя. Отгоре на надлеза имаше чакаща патрулка, но явно на униформените им беше много трудно да слязат и да вдигнат опасните знаци hno:
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> А тук табелата би трябвало да е синя


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## Chilio

And a video about it's construction:


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## mman2012

Chilio said:


> ^^ There is a link "bigger resolution" up there


I know, still no good 

Great pics


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## tanashubav

A 35km. strech of A1 Trakia motorway between Nova Zagora and Yambol will be opened tomorrow.


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## gmacruyff

tanashubav said:


> A 35km. strech of A1 Trakia motorway between Nova Zagora and Yambol will be opened tomorrow.


What is the planned date,for everything to be finished ? i.e. Yambol-Karnobat


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## Botev1912

Is Trakia highway open from Plovdiv to Burgas? Can you go to the Black sea only using the highway now?


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## mediar

Botev1912 said:


> Is Trakia highway open from Plovdiv to Burgas? Can you go to the Black sea only using the highway now?


No, but you can check the progress of the construction here:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=42.5129699707031&lon=26.1598205566406&zoom=10


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## syst3m

It will be completely finished in 2013 until the end of 1st or 2nd trimester


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## svt11

gmacruyff said:


> What is the planned date,for everything to be finished ? i.e. Yambol-Karnobat


They will try for December, if they can't - May 2013.


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## tanashubav

А 34.3km. section of A1 Trakiya between Nova Zagora and Yambol (from km 241+900 till km 276+200) was opened for traffic today. So this is how motorway statistics looks like today:

*12.07.2012*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Yambol 276,200km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 311.37km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A3)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> _The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Struma (A6)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> _Liylin motorway is actually part of motorway A6 from Sofiq to Kulata (Greek border)._
> 
> *Оverall
> 534,41км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> *
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> One "LOT"'(section):
> LOT 4 from Yambol to Karnobat 49.08 km. (from km 276+200 till km. 325+280).
> _All under construction at Trakiya:49,08 km._
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> There are two sections under construction:
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west.
> 8,460km from Sofia Ringroad to Yana intersection.
> _All under construction at Hemus:16,260 km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A3):*
> Four sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> _All under construction at Maritsa 79,895km._
> 
> *Struma motorway (A6):*
> Two sections
> LOT 1 from Dolna Dikanya to Dupnitsa 16,780km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 31,78km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 177.01km.*


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## cassini83

Almost done!


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## ChrisZwolle

So it ends at II/53 west of Yambol, not I/7.


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## cassini83

It does for now. The section of II/53 to I/7 is part of LOT4 but should be opened to traffic by the beginning of the next month, ahead of the final stretch.


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## pistacik

tanashubav said:


> А 34.3km. section of A1 Trakiya between Nova Zagora and Yambol (from km 241+900 till km 276+200) was opened for traffic today. So this is how motorway statistics looks like today:


It was to be open on 1st of September, wasn't it? Anyway, good news. Also opening stretch of LOT 4 in advance is good news. I will use the road on September, I am looking forward to drive it. Good job!


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## cassini83

That's right. It was supposed to be opened on September 1st based on the contract. We're getting another section ahead of time and on budget. :banana:


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## vectom

excellent news guys, I really like how motorway network grows fast in Bulgaria! 

Will they ever, in some mid-future, start connecting Sofia with the rest of E80 to the west? Right now the road between Sofia and Kalotina is in excellent condition, but what I can't get so far is why Bulgaria doesn't start constructing a motorway there. It wouldn't be more than 50 kilometers, and motorway from Serbian side will be fully finished quite soon (in a scope of 2 years, depending which section). Wouldn't be interest of Bulgaria to connect there, as in that case one could have full motorway profile road to all western/central European areas, also being the shortest link compared with alternative no-motorways routes through Romania? Are any news/plans about that in Bulgaria right now?


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## Chilio

Update from the construction of LOT1 of A6 Struma (Dolna Dikaniya - Dupnitsa):



7588 said:


> пресни, пресни


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## Chilio

Some shiny crashbarriers on the E79 overpass over the new motorway section:



7588 said:


>





7588 said:


>


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## Chilio

Some temporary detours of the E79 around the construction zones...



7588 said:


>


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## Chilio

part 2
And actually, I am surprised that there is much traffic 



Andrej_LJ said:


> АМ Люлин (18.7.2012):


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## Chilio

and part 3:



Andrej_LJ said:


> АМ Люлин (18.7.2012):


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## sallae2

Why is northern part of ring road not closer to the city?


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## Chilio

Because many years ago there were plans that the city will be enlarged to the north. But than came the changes and the free market. And people started deciding by themselves where they want to live and by their home... So these comunist plans for northern neighbourhoods never came through.


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## AUchamps

Chilio said:


> Because many years ago there were plans that the city will be enlarged to the north. But than came the changes and the free market. And people started deciding by themselves where they want to live and by their home... So these comunist plans for northern neighbourhoods never came through.


Is that what you call it? "the changes"? You mean the death of Soviet Marxism oppressing the satellites like your nation. Now, as you said, the people can choose where they want to live and how they want to live.


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## cassini83

I don't think he meant it in a negative way. It's just that it was built before there was any indication the northern expansion will stop. There's a project for a grade-separated bypass, closer to the city. The tender should be let within a year or two.


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## mcarling

cassini83 said:


> I don't think he meant it in a negative way.


Agreed. If those words had been chosen by a native speaker of English, it would seem negative to me. Knowing that the writer is not a native speaker of English, I don't read any tone into it. It's just a neutral statement of historical facts, kindly answering the question posed about the location of the ring road.


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## autobahnracer

AUchamps said:


> Is that what you call it? "the changes"?


Destruction is a better term for what happened. 


AUchamps said:


> Now, as you said, the people can choose where they want to live and how they want to live.


Absolutely! People can choose to either live in ruined Bulgaria or migrate and have a normal life in some other country. Thank you sooo much for letting us free! :banana:


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## YU-AMC

Chilio said:


> Because many years ago there were plans that the city will be enlarged to the north. But than came the changes and the free market. And people started deciding by themselves where they want to live and by their home... So these comunist plans for northern neighbourhoods never came through.


Any plans to move the airport out of city? In case if they have to construct 2nd runway would would they do? I don't see any space where they could lay down another runway. Any plans of that nature?


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## TrueBulgarian

YU-AMC said:


> Any plans to move the airport out of city? In case if they have to construct 2nd runway would would they do? I don't see any space where they could lay down another runway. Any plans of that nature?


There were some plans but I doubt that anything will happen in the next 20 years, apart from a new terminal building and/or renovation of T1 in 5-10 years. There's just not enough traffic to justify a second runway.


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## Capt.Vimes

autobahnracer said:


> Destruction is a better term for what happened.
> 
> Absolutely! People can choose to either live in ruined Bulgaria or migrate and have a normal life in some other country. Thank you sooo much for letting us free! :banana:


No politics, kindly please


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## AUchamps

Capt.Vimes said:


> No politics, kindly please


What is a good forum to discuss that with the same ppl from here? It's no fun to discuss it with completely different ppl, and Off-Topic gets lost in the shuffle.


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## Radish2

autobahnracer said:


> Destruction is a better term for what happened.
> 
> Absolutely! People can choose to either live in ruined Bulgaria or migrate and have a normal life in some other country. Thank you sooo much for letting us free! :banana:


Maybe Bulgaria is ruined because of the negative attitute towards it. Most people have a negative attitute towards Bulgaria which surely plays a role. People must not only think of leaving but how to improve the country.


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## JackFrost

^^unfortunately ordinary people are too "little" to change anything in their countries. and until it is absolutely normal to have the mob and corrupt politicians laying hands on eu money in bulgaria (or my native hungary), dont expect your country to improve in near future...


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## autobahnracer

Sorry, guys! We should discuss roads in Bulgaria here


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## Radish2

Jack_Frost said:


> ^^unfortunately ordinary people are too "little" to change anything in their countries. and until it is absolutely normal to have the mob and corrupt politicians laying hands on eu money in bulgaria (or my native hungary), dont expect your country to improve in near future...


the politicians in Bulgaria are no more as corrupt as they were. The problem now is that there is hardly any growth in Bulgaria. The politicians themselfes are fine, since boiko borissov has a good name. They say only good things about him in the German news.


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## AUchamps

autobahnracer said:


> Sorry, guys! We should discuss roads in Bulgaria here


But again, it's no fun to have this discussion with completely different ppl. Why can't we talk about it with members that we know and respect on here? We already talk about anything and everything.


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## Groningen NL

AUchamps said:


> But again, it's no fun to have this discussion with completely different ppl. Why can't we talk about it with members that we know and respect on here? We already talk about anything and everything.


You should start a thread about politics in Bulgaria in the appropriate ssc section and invite the ppl from the international section 

It's not against the forum rules to discuss politics, but it is forbidden to comment OT, thats all.


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## AUchamps

Groningen NL said:


> You should start a thread about politics in Bulgaria in the appropriate ssc section and invite the ppl from the international section
> 
> It's not against the forum rules to discuss politics, but it is forbidden to comment OT, thats all.


So, what is the appropriate section, and once I create the thread, then can I come back and say "hey, everyone here, come talk politics in this thread" and link it? Because obviously it's no fun if only 1 or 2 ppl come over. We need everyone here to post there too.


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## GogoSabev

Hi AUchamps,

We have plenty of threads about such topics in the Bulgarian section, and they are all quite active. You're welcome to join any discussion you like 


*Political Discussions

Bulgaria and its neighbouring countries

Historical discussions*

Ps. You'll need to use Google Translate to understand some of the writing in Bulgarian. Btw, where are you from? 

Cheers


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## GogoSabev

Lets carry on the discussion in any of the treads above and keep this one on topic


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## Groningen NL

AUchamps said:


> So, what is the appropriate section, and once I create the thread, then can I come back and say "hey, everyone here, come talk politics in this thread" and link it? Because obviously it's no fun if only 1 or 2 ppl come over. We need everyone here to post there too.


I guess you can start a thread in the skybar section. Just post a link in your signature or sent the ppl you want to invite a personal message.

(Using Google translate in the bulgarian section is not going to work)

Allright, good luck and let's start disscussing the Bulgarian motorways andere roads again


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## pistacik

Any news about Trakia highway - stretch between road 53 and road 7? It was supposed to be open until end of holiday.


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## soterman

soterman said:


> Hi to everyone again...
> 
> I studied your incredible work (http://dev.ivanatora.info/roads/) and I might need your insight on travelling from Varna to Plovdiv.
> 
> Would you object to this route: Varna, A2 (Shumen) onto 4 (Targoviste), south to Omyrtag, Kotel, down to Gorno Aleksandrovo, turn west on 6 towards Sliven, turn south for the A4 and travel until Plovdiv.
> 
> Is this ok planning or I am travelling in circles;


Having returned home and enjoyed the trip to Bulgaria very much, I'll give you some updates on the roads. The information is 4 days old.

Going out of Varna on the A2 there's a deviation, you have to get off the highway and drive around 10km on the side road (surface ok) before you join A2 again. 

The surface of the A4 just before Plovdiv (last 20km maybe) is older tarmac, which makes a lot of noise inside the car, so speed much come down to 90-100kph.

Other than that, the roads I used where exactly as your project has them. Many thanks and keep up the good work!


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## Radish2

Hah, the old stoney surface, it feels almost like Gravel, but it has prooven durable.


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## Strzala

Entrance to Varna from south and section of A2 highway:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJvHYujXlM


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## Chilio

pistacik said:


> Any news about Trakia highway - stretch between road 53 and road 7? It was supposed to be open until end of holiday.


It is supposed to open August 24th half-profile, September 10th - full profile.


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## soterman

Radish2 said:


> Hah, the old stoney surface, it feels almost like Gravel, but it has prooven durable.


Exactly the noise of travelling on stone. Almost white in colour!


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## Chilio

Here is the intersection of A1 Trakiya with I-7 near Yambol (Zimnitsa):



Me4ok said:


> Пътен възел с I-7, посока София
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## Chilio

And speaking of the mess with motorway numbering, it's again A1 there:



Me4ok said:


> Ето тези табели, които снимах


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## ChrisZwolle

A1 makes most sense for this motorway, connecting the capital Sofia with the port of Burgas. National road numbering should reflect domestic traffic patterns, not that small proportion of overall traffic that drives all the way from Serbia to Turkey.


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## Chilio

That's also the logic we implemented when naming the threads for the motorways in the Bulgarian infrastructure subforum. And also it continues uninterrupted from Sofia to Burgas, and from Sofia to Svilengrad it is a TOTSO near Chirpan


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## sallae2

http://memegenerator.net/Skeptical-Black-Kid/images/popular


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## TrueBulgarian

:lol:


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## Radish2

Well, it is A6, the higher, the better. The highest motorway number aktually has the Struma motorway and that is for a good reason, because it's quality of road surface and technical enginerring is worth of the mark 6, where the highest marks are the best. the motorway is really stable, it has endurred all kinds of extremes without any damage at all. Earth quakes, extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme rain, extreme snowfalls, ince for many months on the surface, sand and dust for many years on the surface, and yet it does not even have any waves, I hope the next stretch of the struma motorway will be as good.


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## ChrisZwolle

Higher numbers indicate less important motorways generally 

The main reason being that the Struma doesn't connect to other large Bulgarian cities.


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## Radish2

That was a joke Chris, and besides that I do not think that the road numbering in Bulgaria is based on the importance of motorways since aktually the Struma motorway is being built and is very important to Bulgaria, also connecting many bigger towns in the southwest of Bulgaria and connecting some major roads like the nationalraod to Bansko. Which is why the Struma motorway is being constructed at the moment and two of the stretches are being build while another one is being prepared for construction. now when you look at the Hemus motorway you see that the road number says A2, yet it does not connect many large cities and only very short stretches are being constructed.


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## Chilio

The reason why A6 is being constructed at the moment is not it connecting it to big towns in south-west or Bansko, but connecting it to Greece, Thessaloniki and it's major port, and Athens.


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## Capt.Vimes

Radi, you should become a geography teacher. :lol:


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## syst3m

hi all,

it came to my attention today that the road junction "petolachkata" (the star), which is the main route towards the south black sea side resorts and de tour from A1 Thrakia motorway (well at least until the last LOT from A1 is finished), is going to be reconstructed into roundabout as from today. The vehicles coming from/to Burgas on I-6 will no longer drive with priority over the others ....:nuts: instead standart rules for roundabouts are going to be applied


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## Chilio

Which is the correct decision to avoid traffic jams as the most cars are not coming any more from the older priority road.


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## Chilio

some update from the official site of the construction of Danube bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat dated 20.08.2012

Earth works for the bridge approaches


















Construction of the superstructure of the railway approach to the bridge









Construction of the medial diaphragm of the vessel impact protection at pier PB9



























Construction of a scaffold and shuttering for the medial diaphragm of the vessel impact protections of pier PB9









Preparation for the assembly of the segment of the bridge superstructure at PB11









Reinforcement of an element of the bridge superstructure at PB11


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## ChrisZwolle

So another 17 km of A1 will open tomorrow?

http://btvnews.bg/bulgaria/pavlova-reorganizira-trafika-do-moreto-v-pochivnite-dni.html


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## ChrisZwolle

It will be open Friday from Yambol-West to Yambol-East (Zimnitsa), ONLY in the eastbound direction. From Sunday, it will be open in both directions. 

According to the Bulgarian news where the minister explained the situation.


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## mediar

That's right. It seems you understand bulgarian pretty well.


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## ChrisZwolle

A quick question about Bulgarian city names.

I sometimes see Ruse and Burgas being spelled as Rousse and Bourgas. Is this French, or what?


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## Chilio

Part 3:



galin_gradev said:


> За малко ще слезем от магистралата, защото участъка на разкопките не е много проходим.
> Малко след това:


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## Chilio

Part 4:



galin_gradev said:


> След мен се вдига голяма пушилка:
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## Chilio

Part 2:



galin_gradev said:


> Продължаваме:


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## Chilio

Part 3:



galin_gradev said:


> За малко ще слезем от магистралата, защото участъка на разкопките не е много проходим.
> Малко след това:


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## Chilio

Yes, it's because during the years, there were no specific rules how Cyrillic letter should be transliterated, and as many years ago the French language was more popular as diplomatic international language, much of the signage and other stuff was transliterated so that French-speaking persons would read it correctly.

Returning to the motorway construction theme, here is a great report about A6 construction between Dupnitsa and Dolna Dikanya:

Part 1:



galin_gradev said:


> Днес в командировка на път за София, реших да "инспектирам" :lol: участъка между с. Делян и ПВ Долна Диканя. Ето какво се получи:
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## Chilio

Part 4:



galin_gradev said:


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## Chilio

Part 2:



galin_gradev said:


> Продължаваме:


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## Chilio

Part 5:



galin_gradev said:


> След горната снимка пак слизаме за малко на Е 79.
> Продължаваме:


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## Chilio

Part 7:



galin_gradev said:


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## Chilio

Part 7:



galin_gradev said:


> Приближаваме:
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## Chilio

Part 6:



galin_gradev said:


> На следващата снимка се вижда моста по който ще минава пътя за с.Гълъбник.


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## Chilio

Part 9: 



galin_gradev said:


> Все по-близо до ПВ Долна Диканя:
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## Chilio

Part 9: 



galin_gradev said:


> Все по-близо до ПВ Долна Диканя:
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## Chilio

Part 8:



galin_gradev said:


> Този мост съм го снимал и предни. Отдолу има черен път който води към базата на Маврово. На близо асфалтова база има втория в търга- благоевградската Агромах.
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## ChrisZwolle

Well, that's not a certainty for sure!


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## svt11

This is video from newest part and also LOT 3 and 2


Senna 1 said:


> Новия участък,край Зимница.


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## ChrisZwolle

Definitely indicated as A1, not A4 in that video.

What's "NAR"?


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## Chilio

National Agency for Roads? Should be (N)ARI - (National) Agency for Road Infrastructure...
Where is NAR written? I haven't watched the whole video...


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## ChrisZwolle

At rest area exits. I assume it's some kind of abbreviation for a rest area?


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## syst3m

NAR Kabile exit at 5:54 mark, means National Archeological Reservation/Reserve


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## Radish2

The motorway looks very good. The noise protection walls, the crashbarriers, the asphalt. However it is a big eyesore to see the emergency lanes having a different colour, that is a very big dissapointment and the Slovenians are faulty, they started that crap.


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## alex.krastev

^^
These are not noise protection walls, but rather bird protection walls. If you look closely, you'll see birds drawn on the walls, in order to "scare" birds away from the motorway lanes.


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## metacatfry

I don't know about Slovenian colouring of emergency lanes, but it has been a intermittently used feature of Danish motorways for many decades to have a different colour. I guess it is partly to differentiate the lane from the normal driving lanes, and partly because the surface can have a different texture, more rough, more noisy, with better friction and so providing better stopping distances.


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## radi6404

If you thinkthey do that on porpuse and for savety reasons, you are very wrong. they do it only for one reason, and it is to save money, whether the motorway would look worse or not is not important to them, nor is it important to them that in case of an accident or repairs people could use the emergency lande and have the same driving confort as on the driving lanes. Because of the same superior quality asphalt of the Struma motorway tracks sometimes drive on the emergenlcy lanes when it goes up, so they allow other traffic to overtake them easily.


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## metacatfry

You are probably right that saving money is another important reason.


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## LG_

ChrisZwolle said:


> Definitely indicated as A1, not A4 in that video.


Actually Trakiya motorway is signed just at Nova Zagora junction as A4, at all the rest junctions (Stara Zagora, Yambol-West and Yambol-East, Karnobat) is signed as A1.


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## mediar

alex.krastev said:


> ^^
> These are not noise protection walls, but rather bird protection walls. If you look closely, you'll see birds drawn on the walls, in order to "scare" birds away from the motorway lanes.


Well, there're two real noise protection walls and you can see them in the last video at 07:02 on the left and 13:40 on the right.


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## Chilio

Weekly update from official site of Vidin-Calafat bridge construction (www.danubebridge2.com) 27.08.2012

Main Bridge

Construction works for the bridge (view from Romanian side)









Work with revision machine for access under the superstructure of the bridge









Stripping the railway approach to the bridge









That's all this week...


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## JackFrost

tanashubav said:


> А 14,310km. section of A1 Trakiya between Yambol West an Yambol East intersections(from km 276+200 till km 290+510) was opened for traffic today. So this is how motorway statistics looks like today:


i have red that A1 is gonna be finished at the beginning of next year. is that true? (my source was wikipedia:nuts

when is A3 and A6 ready?


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## svt11

Jack_Frost said:


> i have red that A1 is gonna be finished at the beginning of next year. is that true? (my source was wikipedia:nuts
> 
> when is A3 and A6 ready?


It's true, if the weather till the end of the year it's not snowy. If the winter is hard, they'll leave it for April-May next year.
A6 is Struma, Sofia-Blagoevgrad and Sandanski-Kulata in 2015, the other part maybe 2018, noone knows.
A3 - Maritsa - October 2013.


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## syst3m

there is a regulation that the upper asphalt layers should be laid when the temperature is above +5 C. Who knows... maybe the weather will be grateful and the last lot of Trakia could be finished before the end of 2012 ...


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## Turnovec

More photos from Trakiya's Lot 4:



galin_gradev said:


>


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## Turnovec

...


galin_gradev said:


>


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## Turnovec

...


galin_gradev said:


>


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## Turnovec

...


galin_gradev said:


>


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## Radish2

Altough the asphalt is a bit brighter at some places of the emergency lane, the motorway looks impressive to say the least. I want other people here to leave some positiv4e comments aswell, sinc this is how the new Bulgaria looks like.


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## pobre diablo

^^

This is how a normal country should look. No need for celebrations.


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## pilotos

Looks great indeed!





> Altough the asphalt is a bit brighter at some places of the emergency lane


Not sure what you mean here radi, could it just be dust as the emegency lane is hopuflly not used by drivers?


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## radi6404

It is not dust, however there is almost no difference between the driving lanes and the emergency lanes of the asphalt yet. But depending on what asphalt they used it could chang, just like in Slovenia where the driving lanes are much darker than the emergency lane, it does not look very pleasing. 

pobre diablo:
Unfortunately not a lot of countries in the Balkans look like that yet.


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## Rocksmith

i have a question

The part between Dimitrovgrad and Sofia, is it under construction ? is it part of A1 Trakia highway ?


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## cassini83

A1 is part of "Trakia" from Sofia to 30-40 km past Plovdiv, then becomes part of "Maritsa" all the way to the Turkish border. Some 70km of Maritsa is under construction and is scheduled to be opened to traffic by the end of next year. Once complete, you should be able to drive from Istanbul to Sofia on highways only.


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## Chilio

Almost there!




fnm said:


> http://danubebridge2.com
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> Монтаж на инсталация за доизграждане на пътната плоча при устой A3 (на румънския бряг)
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## Chilio

and some adjoining infra:


fnm said:


> Направа на релсов път по жп трасето към моста
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## Rocksmith

cassini83 said:


> A1 is part of "Trakia" from Sofia to 30-40 km past Plovdiv, then becomes part of "Maritsa" all the way to the Turkish border. Some 70km of Maritsa is under construction and is scheduled to be opened to traffic by the end of next year. Once complete, you should be able to drive from Istanbul to Sofia on highways only.


i went a few times from Germany to Turkey.

In a few years you can drive even from London to Istanbul non-stop on highways :cheers:


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## danielstan

And you put your car on train to cross La Manche channel...


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## Dolph

Здравете, много хубав и информативен форум. 
Hello everybody, great and knowledgeable forum.

My first post here, after reading this(underneath), I was like hno:

http://www.blitz.bg/news/article/153606


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## ChrisZwolle

What's this under construction west of Dimitrovgrad? It's in the general area where A3 will be constructed, but it appears to be running right through Dimitrovgrad. Maybe it's a railway?


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## LG_

Yes, it's the new railway line which is beeing curently constructed from Parvomai till the Turkish border.


----------



## tanashubav

At last some good news about numbering of the bulgarian motorways. It was complete mess till now. But since 06.08.2012 this is how it looks:
А1 - Trakiya: Sofia-Plovdiv-Chirpan-Stara Zagora-Yambol-Burgas
А2 - Hemus: Sofia-Veliko Tarnovo-Shumen-Varna
А3 - Struma: Pernik-Blagoevgrad-Greek border
А4 - Maritsa: Chirpan-Dimitrovgrad-Turkish border
А5 - Cherno more: Varna-Burgas
А6 - Lyulin: Sofia-Pernik


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ Official source?


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## cassini83

There's no english translation of the official document so bear with me...

1. Go to http://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/broeveList.faces
2. To the right of 'Брой 61, 10.8.2012 г.' click on 'Изтегли броя' to download the pdf file.
3. Open the file and copy-paste this in search "РЕШЕНИЕ № 666", then click on the highlighted link.
4. Copy-paste the contents of the page in google translate.


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## ChrisZwolle

So that means Serbian border - Sofia is no longer considered a planned motorway?

A2 is also missing in that PDF, I assume that means it will not change (Sofia - Shumen - Varna).


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## cassini83

There will be a grade separated expressway with 2 lanes in each directions and no emergency lanes. The law defines it as different road class due to the lack of emergency lanes, as well as the lower designed speed limit (120km/h vs 140 for a highway) so it doesn't get an 'A' sign. Last thing I heard the tender should be let by the end of September.


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## ChrisZwolle

So this should be the current numbering plan:


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## cassini83

^^ That is correct! Now we just have to wait and see how many years/decades it will take for all the road signs to be changed.


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## sallae2

Why designation A3 ends at Pernik, and change to A6 towards Sofia?

Did someone promised two motorways in Pernik? 

http://i.imgur.com/odWHl.png


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## SeanT

If I´m not mistaken, the future motorway between Varna/Burgas will be signed A5. My question is, why a totally new number? Why can´t it be signed as A1(full length of the section) and the section A4 would probably be signed as A15 in Hungary, I think? What is the reason for that?


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## syst3m

check out this awesome video I found.

I guy goes around BG on his bike.

A lot of interesting video material (with a head-on cam too) featured along the way ... 24 days, 3000 km

http://vbox7.com/play:e86915b1b1


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## tanashubav

SeanT said:


> If I´m not mistaken, the future motorway between Varna/Burgas will be signed A5. My question is, why a totally new number? Why can´t it be signed as A1(full length of the section) and the section A4 would probably be signed as A15 in Hungary, I think? What is the reason for that?


The motorway between Varna and Burgas is numbered as A5 since 30 years. The initial plan made from the government in 1960's and 1970's was to make Bulgarian motorway ring, made by Trakiya, Cherno more and Hemus motorways. Plus that there were Maritsa motorway from Chirpan toward Turkish border.


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## ChrisZwolle

If that motorway would run towards the Romanian border, it would make sense to give the north-south part another number than A1.


----------



## Radish2

I guess by then there was no plan to built the struma motorway at all. Luckily it is being built now.


----------



## tanashubav

ChrisZwolle said:


> If that motorway would run towards the Romanian border, it would make sense to give the north-south part another number than A1.


The different number probably came from the fact, that Varna-Burgas road is generaly not a simple continuation of Trakiya, and most of the traffic there is not comming from it.
Sure there were and there are still plans for a highway from Varna toward Durankulak at Romanian border back in 70's and now. But I belive it's not the reason for numbering of Cherno more.


----------



## EEH

ChrisZwolle said:


> What's this under construction west of Dimitrovgrad? It's in the general area where A3 will be constructed, but it appears to be running right through Dimitrovgrad. Maybe it's a railway?





LG_ said:


> Yes, it's the new railway line which is beeing curently constructed from Parvomai till the Turkish border.


The white line is the new railway (rehabilitated old but it is practically new) from (Plovdiv) Krumovo to the Turkish/Greek borders. The section between Krumovo and Dimitrovgrad was opened this summer. 

Sleeping cars speed test on the new railway





The construction


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## pistacik

I found this video in Romania thread> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJvHYujXlM
Is A2 still closed as one can see at the end of video?

Btw, I drove new stretches of A1 on Sept. 1st. Quality is very good, a far as I could detect from driving in complete darkness. At least asphalt is not so noisy as on older stretches. I hope it will last long. Last lot will connect Bourgas to Sofia and holiday drives will be shorter both in terms of distance and time. Too bad fuel prices are not going to drop.


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## Chilio

Construction of LOT1 of A3 Struma, around the intersection Dupnica-North:



mandjasgrozde said:


> И едно клипче от днес на ПВ "Дупница-север":


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## Chilio

Construction of the 8,5 km connection between Sofia Ring Road and the current beginning of A2 Hemus near Yana:


OracleBG said:


> Ето състоянието на отсечката от АМ Хемус до Околовръстен път на София отпреди няколко дена:


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## Radish2

Impressive new nationalraod opened towards Kiustendil from Dupnica. Kiustendil is an important and very beautiful and modern town in western Bulgaria, it has a lot of clothe and shoe stores and shoe factories and has beautiful historical architecture. The new nationalraod looks very good with some great asphalt and great markings, where they are applied allready. The black nationalroad together with the modern gasstation in that one pic looks really like you are in a welathy country. 



































[/QUOTE]


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## gogo3o

*Progress on A4 Maritsa*


poletar said:


> 3-4 снимки от нашия обекта, да покажа че работим поне ние:
> 
> пилоти за мост над р.Марица
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Насипи км 18+.... и ССНадлкез при км 18+120
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Надлез при км 32+083


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## Chilio

^^ Actually A*4* Maritsa...


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## gogo3o

Tnx:cheers:


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## begleca

And thеn again few photos from Yana - Sofia Ring Road stretch of A2, thanks to ivojekov


ivojekov said:


> от вчера:


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## radi6404

the Struma motorway. here we see that it aktually will become truth. I have been waiting for these pictures for 5 years now. Finally we see them. new asphlat fro the Struma motorway towards Dupnica, it will be truth, the old one is still as good as it always was according to what people say. The Ljulin is also very good, so alltogether with this Bulgaria should have 60 km of very high standart motorway. 



galin_gradev said:


>


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## radi6404

Just look what a thick layer of asphalt they added, I think the motorway will be very smooth and driving on it will feel as gliding on a hoovercraft, the very thikc asphalt will provide extremly confortable drives for cars and buses and their passengers.


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## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> Just look what a thick layer of asphalt they added, I think the motorway will be very smooth and driving on it will feel as gliding on a hoovercraft, the very thikc asphalt will provide extremly confortable drives for cars and buses and their passengers.


Will there be a space-age McDonald's and gas station too?


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## radi6404

McDonald's unlikely, since there is a Mars like Mcdonald's station there allready, but I think there will be a shining futuristic gas station there, which will provide luxiries like touchscreen tv for each table for using tv channels or internet and with a computer, that has telepathic scanning abilities, so the weighters will be able to serve drink and foot to the visitors without them ordering it orally in first place.


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## Chilio

Progress on A3 Struma LOT1 Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa:

part1



mandjasgrozde said:


> Малко снимки от днес, да разведрим обстановката :lol:


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## Chilio

part 2



mandjasgrozde said:


>


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## Chilio

part 3



mandjasgrozde said:


> :cheers:


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## radi6404

Now this looks impressive. People who see this think they are in the future. The old Struma motorway still looks good and the crashbarriers on this picture are still shiny, yet the new motorway has progressed a lot and is expected to be incredible aswell. It looks like on doom3 outdoor maps in this picture.

With the impressive bridge over the motorway with Radomir road and the blue plant in the distance, the many untouched looking motorways this will be a nice place for taking some interesting adds or movies for new cars and so on. The terrain where the Struma motorway passes is thevery good for it, since the motorway descents and goes down to Dpunica so people can see the whole motorway, all the bridges and the futuristic E-79 nationalraod, together with the Rila mountain, the space like plants in the distance and the rough landscape this will be much better than aly place on the Hemus or Trakia motorway, because the landscape and the many new roads + the motorway just make it look like a place in future.

the struma motorway on the quoted picture looks like it has opened yesterday.


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## Chilio

Today the president of the National Agancy for Road Infrastructure Lazar Lazarov stated, that there has been taken final decision the road between Sofia and the Serbian border to be full-scale motorway, not just expressway.
The tender for it will be this October.

Source:http://www.mediapool.bg/пътят-от-софия-до-калотина-ще-е-магистрала-news197541.html


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## gmacruyff

Chilio said:


> Today the president of the National Agancy for Road Infrastructure Lazar Lazarov stated, that there has been taken final decision the road between Sofia and the Serbian border to be full-scale motorway, not just expressway.
> The tender for it will be this October.
> 
> Source:http://www.mediapool.bg/пътят-от-софия-до-калотина-ще-е-магистрала-news197541.html


Good news for Bulgaria!Connecting with Serbia and Turkey is the best move for traffic between Europe and Asia!Will improve the Bulgarian economy also!


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## gogo3o

> *Turkey Quits Key Bulgarian Motorway Project*
> 
> Turkey has decided to exit the project for the construction of a major highway running from Romania to Turkey and Greece via Bulgaria (aka the Ruse-Svilengrad Road).
> 
> Bulgaria and Qatar are to continue negotiating for the establishment of a project company for the construction of the road, Bulgarian Regional Development Minster Lilyana Pavlova has told reporters.
> 
> Pavlova has clarified that Turkey's decision to quit the project is yet to be made official.
> 
> Turkey and Qatar committed themselves to constructing the projected Ruse-Svilengrad motorway at the end of May.
> 
> In early May, Lilyana Pavlova announced that Bulgaria would seek public-private partnership for the construction of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad-Istanbul toll road.
> 
> The Ruse-Svilengrad road is expected to allow a faster connection of the Bosphorus Strait with the Danube Bridge through Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 9.
> 
> The two countries left in the project, Bulgaria and Qatar, are currently preparing a memorandum on its fulfillment.


http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=143501


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## Le Clerk

What's going on? :? Bad news for Romania too.


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## gogo3o

There is not much official info. This project started only with Qatar and Turkey joined in later. Now Turkey is out w/o the partners to point reason, so it will continue with Qatar only. 

We will see what will happen, but IMO it will be better if we build it with own money (including from the state budget, EU funds or a loan). We just don't have enough expirience with PPP or worse, we have bad expirience with the cancelled Trakia highway concession.


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## syst3m

This motorway IMHO was a big balloon (Russe-Svilengrad). Just something for the cameras to flash about our prime minister...Lol. There were many uncertainties about it from the start. E.g. the project was for a toll way? How could it be toll way when BG has a vignette system ?hno:

And also, it cannot be EU funded because it is not part of a corridor ...:nuts: 
just like hemus motorway


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## panda80

syst3m said:


> This motorway IMHO was a big balloon (Russe-Svilengrad). Just something for the cameras to flash about our prime minister...Lol. There were many uncertainties about it from the start. E.g. the project was for a toll way? How could it be toll way when BG has a vignette system ?hno:
> 
> And also, it cannot be EU funded because it is not part of a corridor ...:nuts:
> just like hemus motorway


+1. And traffic doesn't warrant a return of investment there, as there are also other better routes from Turkey to Western Europe and this motorway doesn't pass near big bulgarian cities, that would generate big ammount of local traffic. It is also an expensive project having to pass over the Balkans. The current road through Republika is a pleasure to drive, not congested and with many 2+1 sections. It is enough for many years from now on.

On the other hand how do the works on A2 Shumen-Belokopitovo develop? Haven't seen any news from there for a few months. That's indeed an important stretch of motorway.


----------



## danielstan

It is important for Romanians like me willing a faster route to Albena and other resorts.

Don't know if is important for Bulgarian govt. ...


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## cassini83

^^ A more direct route (Ruse-Shumen) is in the works. Here are the priorities for the next programming period:


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## panda80

danielstan said:


> It is important for Romanians like me willing a faster route to Albena and other resorts.
> 
> Don't know if is important for Bulgarian govt. ...


It's important for Bulgaria also because A2 links the capital Sofia with the 3rd biggest city in Bulgaria, Varna, which is a port at the Black Sea. That small part of motorway also links Russe and Varna so I guess is quite important for Bulgaria, not only for Romanian tourists going to bulgarian Black Sea resorts. There was lot of traffic on the national road there every time I passed. A2 seems to me much important for Bulgaria than Russe-Svilengrad.


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## Le Clerk

gogo3o said:


> There is not much official info. This project started only with Qatar and Turkey joined in later. Now Turkey is out w/o the partners to point reason, so it will continue with Qatar only.
> 
> We will see what will happen, but IMO it will be better if we build it with own money (including from the state budget, EU funds or a loan). We just don't have enough expirience with PPP or worse, we have bad expirience with the cancelled Trakia highway concession.


Thanks. I have some hopes for a PPP on the Romanian side for Bucharest-Giurgiu.  I hope Qatar will go ahead with the financing though.


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## LG_

syst3m said:


> ...
> And also, it cannot be EU funded because it is not part of a corridor ...:nuts:
> just like hemus motorway





> ...
> In early May, Lilyana Pavlova announced that Bulgaria would seek public-private partnership for the construction of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad-Istanbul toll road.
> 
> *The Ruse-Svilengrad road is expected to allow a faster connection of the Bosphorus Strait with the Danube Bridge through Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 9.*
> 
> The two countries left in the project, Bulgaria and Qatar, are currently preparing a memorandum on its fulfillment.


What is now?


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## syst3m

Well, part of corridor 9 is - Bucharest - Dimitrovgrad - Alexandroupolis.
And the project is for Rousse - Svilengrad ... So it depends ... depends on how the EU clerks are seeing this route actually :lol:

The original news for the project was co-financing Bulgaria-Turkey-Qatar (without EU funding) So I don't think it is part of any corridors,but what do I know :lol::lol: In the end maybe it could be granted EU funding ... the other option is to be paid (toll?) faster alternative. As I said before, this project is not even on the drawing board, rather in the sphere of rumors and media and has very unknowns ...


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## LG_

Fact is that an expressway Ruse-*V.Tarnovo* had been planed for the next progrmme periode 2013-2020, as it can be seen on the map above. After that it was said that due to lack of money in the cohesion fund for BG, because another expensive projects such as Kresna tunnel, Shipka tunnel, A2 Hemus motorway, 3. metroline in Sofia and a dozen of railway's projects, the road can be funded by PPP. And now this is how things look like!


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## syst3m

According to BG news agency "Capital daily" the state of Qatar has put on deposit 50 mil USD in the Bulgarian development bank. This deposit is part of promised 200 mil USD in may this year, as a gesture of their real intentions to invest in various spheres in Bulgaria. 

Who knows maybe this motorway shall be constructed after all....


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## Chilio

Weekly update of the galleries of the official site of the contractor for Danube bridge at Vidin-Calafat (probably the pictures are at least few weeks older as on these photos the gap between PB11 and PB12 looks bigger than on the pictures from 17.09). Some of them don't open properly for the moment, but I leave the links with hope that this will be repaired.

www.danubebridge2.com 30.09.2012


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## Chilio

And the next weekly report from the Vidin-Calafat bridge


07.10.2012 www.danubebridge2.com

Main bridge

Finishing works for the pylons at PB11









Laying sleepers on the diaphragms of the vessel impact protection at PB9









Assembly of a drain pipe under the bridge superstructure









Concreting of the railway barrier of the bridge









Concreting of the railway barrier of the bridge









Geodesic measurement of the railway approach section lying on the bridge









Geodesic measurement of the railway approach section lying on the bridge









Preparation for concreting of a stage for the railway approach section lying on the bridge









Laying asphalt on the approach to the bridge


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## Chilio

An outstanding report from a fellow forumer galin_gradev about LOT1 of Struma Dolna Dikaniya - Dupnitsa:


galin_gradev said:


> З
> 
> Полага се минералбетон, което означава че скоро ще има биндер:
> http://prikachi.com/images/709/5359709b.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/880/5359880G.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/0/5360000k.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Изпълнени канавки:
> http://prikachi.com/images/382/5360382Y.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/441/5360441e.jpg
> ttp://prikachi.com/images/476/5360476j.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/576/5360576V.jpg
> Това което се вижда не е все още асфалт, а намазан с битум минералбетон.


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> От по-близо:
> http://prikachi.com/images/789/5360789t.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/840/5360840T.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/42/5361042Q.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/88/5361088m.jpg


...


galin_gradev said:


> *Моля, коментирайте.*
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/175/5361175s.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/269/5361269K.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/334/5361334A.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/343/5361343o.jpg


To be continued...


----------



## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> По спесификация дебелината на битумизирания трошен камък е 12 см. Струва ми се, че тук слагат на 2 пъти по 6 см:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> ...


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> ...


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Ето го моста. През него не може да се мине с кола, защото са сложили строителен шперплат видно от снимките:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> и базата:
> http://prikachi.com/images/610/5361610k.jpg
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/612/5361612A.jpg
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/617/5361617J.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Поглед на юг към следващия мост, този по който ще мине пътя за с.Гълъбник. Валира се пласта от сортирана фракция м/у двата моста. Скоро и тук ще видим минералбетон и биндер:banana::
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/647/5361647q.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/659/5361659t.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/664/5361664S.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/670/5361670o.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/674/5361674p.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/676/5361676B.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Между другото Тодини направиха много читав ремонт на Е-79.
> Тук се връщам обратно да си взема колата. Насипа м/у двата моста:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Селскостопански подлез:
> 
> 
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> 
> Още един:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Моста за с.Гълъбник:


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## Chilio

last post for today, as the user is tired and will continue posting photos tomorrow


galin_gradev said:


> Последен пост за днес, защото много ми се спи вече. Щях да снимам и последните 4 км. между караулката и ПВ Дупница север, но ми падна батерията на фотоапарата.
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/749/5361749r.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/751/5361751m.jpg
> Поглед на север. Мостът е зад мен.
> http://prikachi.com/images/753/5361753W.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/756/5361756g.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/758/5361758A.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/760/5361760n.jpg
> 
> Лека нощ и до утре.


to be continued...


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Следват около 3 км. които са по-назад като изпълнение:
> http://prikachi.com/images/409/5362409n.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/411/5362411T.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/414/5362414z.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/417/5362417O.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/418/5362418T.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> http://prikachi.com/images/420/5362420b.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/421/5362421D.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/423/5362423C.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/425/5362425L.jpg
> 
> На около 1 километър южно от моста при с.Гълъбник пласта от сортирана фракция свършва и има малък участък с изпълнена зона А:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/429/5362429U.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> http://prikachi.com/images/541/5362541u.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/543/5362543d.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/551/5362551M.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/552/5362552J.jpg
> Ето моста, който все още считам за ненужен. Вижда се от Е-79:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/555/5362555i.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Мостът сниман от различни ъгли:
> http://prikachi.com/images/571/5362571P.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/574/5362574O.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/579/5362579z.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://prikachi.com/images/584/5362584n.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/586/5362586L.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Поглед на юг- моста е зад мен. След виждащите се купчини, всичко до разклона за с.Делян е асфалт:
> http://prikachi.com/images/602/5362602Y.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/604/5362604H.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/606/5362606h.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/613/5362613M.jpg
> Пак се качваме на сортирана фракция:
> http://prikachi.com/images/614/5362614a.jpg
> ....и отново асфалт:


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> с.Дрен в далечината:
> http://prikachi.com/images/649/5362649t.jpg
> http://prikachi.com/images/653/5362653W.jpg
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> Част от снимките са срещу слънцето за което се извинявам:
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> http://prikachi.com/images/664/5362664j.jpg


to be continued...


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## radi6404

It looks impressive, it looks like very good work and I believe it will be a great section of motorway. I also like that it is very straight and has no curves, that will allow for easy and fast driving on the motorway.


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> На 1/2 км. южна посока от въпросния мост това което правят май е селскостопански подлез(снимките по-долу). Още един такъв в района на моста и им се решава проблема. Няма през 10 м. да им строят.
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> http://prikachi.com/images/969/5362969F.jpg
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> Погледнах Wikimapia и между селата Горна и Долна Диканя има Диканите резервоар( така е наименован). Не мога да чета карти, но оттока първоначално към с. Дрен ли върви?
> Толкова ли е голям дебита, че такъв мост е наприложим?
> http://prikachi.com/images/30/5363030M.jpg


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## Chilio

...


galin_gradev said:


> Нататък:


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## Chilio

and few more from his pictures...

view from the other side of the valley:









some serious groundworks


















really serious...


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## Chilio

Enough Struma motorway, let's shift to A2 - Hemus (Also part of the same euro-corridor - E79), the section between Sofia Ring Road and the current start of the motorway near Yana village:


7588 said:


> От вчера вечерта:


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## Chilio

and few more (in one you can see the lights of Sofia in the background)



7588 said:


> за първи път снимки от близо от насипа при кариерата:
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> в дъното се вижда Джъмбо:


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## Le Clerk

Guys, we have first relevant pictures from the infrastructure (rail + roads) constructed by Romania for connections with the Vidin-Calafat bridge. The road connection looks like it's at motorway standards.

Enjoy and looking forward for the bridge opening! :cheers:



most said:


> Podul din fata este pentru sensul Calafat, Bechet. In stanga se vede slab sensul spre Craiova iar in spate si mai slab, vama. Dupa trecerea pe sub podul din fata cei care merg la vama vireaza spre stanga.
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> Podul cu directie spre Craiova peste autostrada care merge la vama. Se vede vama in spate.
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> Jos este sensul care merge spre pod impreuna cu calea ferata iar sus este sensul care vine de la pod, traverseaza calea ferata si merge la vama.
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> Podul de intrare in Calafat, peste autostrada si calea ferata care vin de la podul peste Dunare. Aici podul peste Dunare este in stanga.
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> Din aceeasi pozitie, podul care trece peste calea ferata (sensul dinspre Bulgaria) si merge in vama.
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> Podul spre Craiova care trece peste drumul spre vama
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> Dupa cum vedem, din cauza vamii s-au complicat detul de mult sensurile. Nu am remarcat cum fac cei care vin de pe podul peste Dunare si vor sa intre direct in Calafat. Probabil ca din vama vin direct la primul pod dinspre Craiova.


Graphic scheme:



EugenRo said:


>


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## Chilio

A satellite image of the LOT1 of Struma region:


REAKT0R said:


> Да кача и последните снимки: По лот1 се виждат участъци с нанесен асфалт, оформени пътни възли и надлези;


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## gogo3o

Le Clerk said:


> Guys, we have first relevant pictures from the infrastructure (rail + roads) constructed by Romania for connections with the Vidin-Calafat bridge. The road connection looks like it's at motorway standards.
> 
> Enjoy and looking forward for the bridge opening! :cheers:


:cheers:


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## CasperCriss

Very nice pictures guys. The works on the way to the bridge are looking good.


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## gogo3o

An excellent report of the progress on A2 Hemus near Sofia.



galin_gradev said:


> Здравейте колеги. Днес отново съм в командировка в София. Реших стегнато да свърша работните задачи и тъй като времето е прекрасно да отскоча да видя напредъка в участъка СОП- ПВ Яна.
> Тръгваме от Джъмбо:
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> Не че не знаете, но още веднъж конструкция на пътната настилка:
> - плътен асфалтобетон/с полимермодифициран битум/ - 4см E=1200MPa
> - неплътен асфалтобетон/с полимермодифициран битум/ - 6см E=1000MPa
> - битумизиран трошен камък - 18см E= 800MPa
> - пътна основа от несортиран трошен камък - 42см E= 300MPa
> Зона „А” трошен камък с материал група А-1 – земна основа – 50 см.
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> 
> За разлика от Тракия и Струма, тук липсва пласт циментова стабилизация/минералбетон.





galin_gradev said:


> Платното за Варна е готово за биндер. Надлез при км 1+450:





galin_gradev said:


> Машина за канавки:
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> На запад. Магазин Джъмбо в далечината:
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> Пак на изток:





galin_gradev said:


> Надлез за сметището при км 1+990;
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> Сериозно са напреднали със запълването в сравнение със снимките на 7588:
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> Това не са работници, само не можах да разбера какво берат:


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## gogo3o

The report continues on the Bulgarian section:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1235673&page=121


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## mman2012

Le Clerk said:


> Guys, we have first relevant pictures from the infrastructure (rail + roads) constructed by Romania for connections with the Vidin-Calafat bridge. The road connection looks like it's at motorway standards.
> 
> Graphic scheme:


Unfortunately I can confirm that only a small section is at highway status. The rest of the road towards Craiova and the rest of major cities in Romania is a just 1 lane / direction....with no plans to expand soon


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## LG_

^^ The same in Bulgaria: road Vidin-Vratza is a 1 lane per direction, fortunately not very busy!


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## gogo3o

*[A4] Maritsa highway*


poletar said:


> За да не създаваме впечатление, че не се работи, ще кача няколко снимки от днес!
> Снимани са на моста при р."Марица" и по протежението на трасето от км 13+300 до км 5+000
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> км 13+300 Селско-стопански Подлез и двоен водосток ф230см при км 13+330
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> изкопни работи км 13 - км 12
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> км 8+420 Селско-стопански Подлез





poletar said:


> насипни работи км 8 - км 7
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> км 7 - в дясното платно на снимката ( по проект се води ляво) - положен е първи подосновен пласт на пътната настилка
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> км 6 - първи подосновен пласт пътна настилка (ляво платно)
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> любимият на всички ви км 5 (понеже множеството минавате от там) - полагане, а в случая уплътнение на първи подосновен пласт на пътната настилка


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## gogo3o

The report continues here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=70


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## Chilio

And another outstanding report from the construction of LOT1 of A3 Struma by galin_gradev in posts 2760, 2761 and 2762 of the specific thread for the motorway in the Bulgarian infrastructure section.

Here are some selected photos:

View from start of the LOT near Dolna Dikanya to the direction towards Dupnitsa









View from the surroundings of Deliyan village back towards direction Pernik/Sofia









construction of the railway overpass near Delyan village









Future Dupnitsa-North intersection near Dyakovo village, till this place the motorway is supposed to open for traffic next spring, or more likely May 2013


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## PhirgataZFs1694

III-591 near Krumovgrad by *apos*:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

III-106 Blagoevgrad - Stanke Lisichkovo(BG/MK border) more than 1300 vehicles/day.


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## Le Clerk

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> III-591 near Krumovgrad by *apos*:


Very scenic! :drool:


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## most

We have to appreciate serious work on motorways Struma, Trakia, Maritsa and Hemus. 2013 will be a year of many openings.:cheers:


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## cassini83

^^ I'm also quite excited about all the project completions in 2013. BTW there are reports in the Bulgarian media that PB11 and PB12 on Danube bridge 2 are now connected and passing through the bridge is now possible (though still illegal).


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## most

Tomorow, maybe, we will see some pictures of the connection at www.danubebridge2.com. You reminded me about the little motorway between Vidin and Calafat. Thank you!:cheers:
Illegal? Even for workers? They need to work on PB11 and PB12 connection between. For other people I am sure that is illegal.


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## Chilio

part 4


7588 said:


>


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## Chilio

Meanwhile the tender for the "motorway" Sofia-Kalotina (serbian border) has been anounced. The documentation show some disturbing data about specifications of the motorway:


> След приемане на идейния проект, във връзка с осигуряване безопасност на движението, е променен габарита на пътя, изразяващо се в добавяне на ленти за принудително спиране, и габаритът, който трябва да се постигне е следният: Участък от км 1+000 до км 15+500 – Vпр=100км/ч: а) ленти за движение - 4 х 3.50 м; б) водещи ивици - 4 х 0.50 м; в) ленти за принудително спиране - 2 х 2.00 м; г) разделителна ивица - 1 х 3.00 м; д) банкети - 2 х 1.25 м. Общо: 25.50 м Участък от км 15+500 до км 32+447.20 – Vпр=110км/ч: а) ленти за движение - 4 х 3.75 м; б) водещи ивици - 4 х 0.50 м; в) ленти за принудително спиране - 2 х 2.00м; г) разделителна ивица - 1 х 3.50 м; д) банкети - 2 х 1.25 м. Общо: 27.00 м. Парцеларният план е съобразен с новият габрит на пътя.


Which in translation is


> For the sake of safety of traffic, as in the voted conceptual project, the gauge (dimensions) of the road are changed, as follows - hard shoulder (emergency stopping lane) is added, so the dimensions that have to be followed are these:
> From km 1+000 to km 15+500 - project speed 100 km/h: a) active lanes - 4x3.50 m; b) leading strips - 4x0.50 m; c) emergency lanes - 2x2.00 m; d) divider - 1x3.00 m; e) road banquet - 2x1.25 m. In total 25.50 m.
> From km 15+500 to km 32+447.20 - project speed=110 km/h: a) active lanes - 4x3.75 m; b) leading strips - 4x0.50 m; c) emergency lanes - 2x2.00 m; d) divider - 1x3.50 m; e) road banquets - 2x1.25 m. In total 27 m.


Notes:
- Kilometers are being numbered from the border towards Sofia.
- Project speeds don't mean the speed limit will be such. For example almost all project speed of sections of motorways in BG, even the newer ones like Lyulin motorway have been 120 km/h, still all of them have the speed limit of 140 km/h.


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## ChrisZwolle

I don't see much disturbing data except for the 2 m wide shoulders, which really is far too narrow.

The speed limit is usually higher than the design speed, that's nothing uncommon indeed. They can be 20 km/h higher on motorways.


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## Chilio

Another outstanding report from galin_gradev in the local Bulgarian infrastructure section about the construction of LOT1 of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa, this time shot in the opposite direction, showing progress of the part nearest to Dupnitsa - the future intersection Dupnitsa-North where May 2013 the motorway will be temporarilly ending...


galin_gradev said:


> 31.10


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## Chilio

part 2
In few of the first pictures you see also in the background the panorama to Rila mountain, and on the last one you will see the magnificent view to Vitosha mountain with snow.


galin_gradev said:


>


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## Chilio

part 3
Near Dyakovo dam (you can see the police control point on the old road in the background of the first two pictures) and the overpass of the road to Topolnitsa village and the new overpass of E79 over the motorway


galin_gradev said:


> Снимките са м/у ПВ Дупница север и разклона за с.Тополница.


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## Chilio

part 4


galin_gradev said:


> Край.


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## Chilio

galin_gradev also has made a report about the "progress" on A1 Trakiya LOT4 Yambol-Karnobat. But unfortunatelly, there's almost nothing new done, and also they weren't working at all on it... The reports are in posts 3469, 3471, 3473 and 3476 of the respective thread for A1 in the Bulgarian infrastructure subforum...


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## gogo3o

Impressive report, Radi should be proud.
That's my favourite


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Weekly update from the website of the second bridge between RO and BG over the Danube Calafat - Vidin:








^^A view of the Bridge








^^A view of the Bridge








^^Connection of the railway approach section with the Bridge








^^Construction of the railway approach.








^^Preparation for the concreting of the bridge railway barrier. 








^^Execution of the reinforcement for the foundation of a post for the catenary


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## syst3m

outstanding reports :cheers:

I wonder what will happen to that house ?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^Nothing. It will be still smoking under the brand new 40-meter viaduct of the ultra shiny new lot of Struma intergalaktiko.

There was a house on the left that was too close to the viaduct and won't have the privilege to stay in the shadow of the giant.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Bulgaria will make a technical project for expressway Plovdiv - Asenovgrad - Smolyan - Rudozem through the Rodopi mountain along the II-86. It will connect many touristic, ethnical, historical, recreational and mining hotspots along the road to the rest of the country and Greece.


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## gogo3o

Slow progress on *lot 4, [A3] Struma highway*


galin_gradev said:


> ЛОТ 4- 07.11
> Началото при Техномаркет Сандански:
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> От последното ми минаване в края на август, тук нищо не се е променило.


More pics on the Bulgarian section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=97099030#post97099030


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## PhirgataZFs1694

A2 Hemus motorway Yablanitsa - Sofia(the whole west section of A2 from Yablanitsa till Yana + old road Yana - Gorni Bogrov - Dolni Bogrov - Sofia Ring Road junction, for which a bypass is U/C to replace it):


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## begleca

Here you are all the photos from galin_gradev report of lot 4 Struma highway - Sandanski - Kulata 


galin_gradev said:


> Всички в Актор са с Хайлукс:


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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> В района на отбивката за с.Левуново:


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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> Поне бензиностанцията са успели да съборят:lol::
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> От едно и също място-поглед на север:
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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> Повече Тойоти хайлукс има, отколкото техника:
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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> Моля, пак заповядайте .
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> Повечето техника е с благоевградска регистрация:


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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> Ура. Първи (и единствен) водосток:
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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> И тук ненужната пръст се изхвърля навсякъде:


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## begleca

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galin_gradev said:


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## begleca

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galin_gradev said:


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## begleca

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galin_gradev said:


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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


> Най-усилено се работи при обхода на с.Марикостиново, но това ще остане за утре.


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## begleca

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galin_gradev said:


> Ето камари пръст на метри от бъдещата магистрала:
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## begleca

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galin_gradev said:


> От съседния баир:
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## begleca

Amazing report and amazing photos thanks to *galin_gradev*! Enjoy!


galin_gradev said:


> с.Кулата:
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The end!


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Petrich - Goce Delchev III-198 Papaz Chair passage:


galin_gradev said:


> Понеже разбрах, че ви допадат панорамни снимки качвам такива от ремонтирания път Петрич-Гоце Делчев през Папаз чаир:


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## gogo3o

galin_gradev, :applause:

del - double posted pics


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## gogo3o

del


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## gogo3o

del


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## Chilio

@begleca, there's not too much to view on these pics from LOT4 than mud and grass, that's why the update is much too detailed for the International section and can get the foreigners interested in the Bulgarian thread bored. Better pick 3-4 most interesting pics to repost here and just link to the others in the Bulgarian subsection of the forum.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^Motorways are born in mud.:lol:

The report from our top reporter Galin continues:


galin_gradev said:


> Край.


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Few more:


galin_gradev said:


>


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## begleca

Chilio said:


> @begleca, there's not too much to view on these pics from LOT4 than mud and grass, that's why the update is much too detailed for the International section and can get the foreigners interested in the Bulgarian thread bored. Better pick 3-4 most interesting pics to repost here and just link to the others in the Bulgarian subsection of the forum.


I think they are good enough for the thread and show the progress or lack of it. Anyway. Galin_gradev posted some new photos of lot 1 of Struma highway (Dolna Dikanya-Dupnitsa). 



galin_gradev said:


> 08.11 ЛОТ1
> Самоцитирам се:
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## begleca

...


galin_gradev said:


>


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## begleca

There is good progress on the foundations of the viaduct near the village of Delyan.


galin_gradev said:


> Край.


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## rakcancer

Have no clue where these pictures were taken, what motorways are they but they are awesome! Beautiful foliage, beautiful mountains....:applause:


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## Botev1912

LG_ said:


> ^^Finally! I cannot understand why it took so long!?


because this is Bulgaria  They don't care much about this part of the world.


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## uNDiDo

When google it's not up to date then you use another map service - simple as that


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## bgplayer19

it was worth waiting, they have updated absolutely everything, including some national parks which are completely unfamiliar.


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## Chilio

Weekly update from the official Vidin-Calafat bridge site:


velbujd said:


> *Дунав мост 2* 09/12/2012
> http://www.danubebridge2.com/g-bg-most-12-dek.php
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> Полагане на бетон в основата на стълб РВ3


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## Chilio

and few more:


velbujd said:


> Кофриране на железопътната фуга при устой А3 (на румънския бряг)
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> Демонтаж на временния мост за достъп до стълб РВ9
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> Бетониране на жп бариерата на моста


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## gogo3o

They just opened the bids for lot 2 of [A3] Struma highway tender.









google tranlate:


> In the "Road Infrastructure" opened the price bids of the eligible contract participants for selection of contractor for design and construction of Lot 2 of the "Struma": Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad from km 322 to km 359 .
> 
> Commission opened bids:
> Civil Society DMH Sofia composed of "Doush", "NGO Mostovik" Ltd. - Russia "Hydrostroy" - Varna. Offer of 309,969,304 lev without VAT and 20 points in the technical bid and the execution time.
> Consortium "Struma Lot 2" produced by "Impreza" - Italy, "GBS Infrastructure installation technology" AD "Patstroy 92" JSC offers 298,935 000 lev without VAT and the maximum 50 points.
> offer of alliance "OHL - Trace - Struma II", consisting of "Trace Group Hold" PLC, "Obraskon Uarte Lainate" - Spain is 354 648 485 Levs VAT and 41 points. And three parties offer a 22 months period of project implementation. criterion for selection of the most economically advantageous tender through comprehensive assessment, including the following factors: technical proposal (maximum 35 points); price contract performance (maximum 50 points) and execution time (maximum 15 points). were most optimal conditions offered by the second participant. If there is no appeal, the end of the year will be under contract with the selected contractor, said the chairman of the board of road agency Lazar Lazarov. Minister of Regional Development Liliana Pavlova noted that the pre-qualifications were admitted eight companies submitted offers seven one that "J & Avax Pi" - was removed because of the transparent envelope price offer. Pavlova noted that the lowest price is higher than the target price of 240 million euros excluding VAT, which is set because it is tender procedure by new approach - the most economically advantageous tender, auction and not lowest price. not admitted to opening price bids "Actor" ASD - Greece now "Todini - Sally" and Unity "Struma 2012", which includes " PCT Holding "," Aksiona Infraestrukturas "- Spain" HOCHTIEF Solutions "- Germany. plot from Dupnitsa to Blagoevgrad, which is about 37 km will be built on engineering - design and construction. expected construction of Lot 2 to start in early spring next year and be ready in 2015


http://infrastructure.bg/show.php?storyid=1965037


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## PhirgataZFs1694

gogo3o said:


>


Information about design of interchanges and available directions on interchanges might not be quite accurate. Trace of motorway and number and position of interchanges however is correct, AFAIK.


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## Chilio

Also map is turned at 90 degrees (south is to the left) but the pictures of the interchanges are in the correct direction (south is down).


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Trakia motorway[A1] is visible now on Google Earth as well:banana:


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## Turnovec

Some retro photos of the construction of the hardest and highest part of Hemus motorway between 1978-84 including the Bebresh viaduct(still the highest bridge structure on teh Balkans):



nesretnika said:


>





nesretnika said:


>


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## Andrej_LJ

Post them into the Historic as well if you will Tarnovec. Othervise priceless photos!


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## sallae2

Turnovec said:


> the Bebresh viaduct (still the highest bridge structure on the Balkans)


just a note that ...
with 120 m height Bebresh Viaduct is most likely highest at Balkan _*Mountain*_


however, at Balkan _*peninsula*_ there are:
170 m Đurđevića Tara Bridge
200 m Mala Rijeka Viaduct
(both in Montenegro)


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## Turnovec

sallae2 said:


> just a note that ...
> with 120 m height Bebresh Viaduct is most likely highest at Balkan _*Mountain*_
> 
> 
> however, at Balkan _*peninsula*_ there are:
> 170 m Đurđevića Tara Bridge
> 200 m Mala Rijeka Viaduct
> (both in Montenegro)





Đurđevića Tara Bridge:
Longest span	116 m
Clearance below	170 m

The longest pair of spans of Bebresh are 120 and 126 m. each.

Let's name it the heighest road(or motorway) bridge on the Balkans  , 
since wikipedia says that one of the 4 spans the other railway bridge you mentined above - 
Mala Rijeka has is 150.8 m long, which is more than the longest span of Bebresh.


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## sallae2

Turnovec said:


> Đurđevića Tara Bridge:
> Longest span	116 m
> Clearance below	170 m
> 
> The longest pair of spans of Bebresh are 120 and 126 m. each.
> 
> Let's name it the heighest road(or motorway) bridge on the Balkans  ,
> since wikipedia says that one of the 4 spans the other railway bridge you mentined above -
> Mala Rijeka has is 150.8 m long, which is more than the longest span of Bebresh.


A bridge span is a distance between support columns. At bridges span is measured horizontally. It is related to the length of the bridges.

Bebresh Viaduct is 720 m long and has 12 spans, 60 m each.


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## Turnovec

^^ OK I understand. Lost in translation...

So the highest pair of support columns of Bebresh are 120 and 126 m. each.
Is it clear now?
I don't know if it's the highest road viaduct on the peninsula right now, just mentioned it, as it says so in the web pages about it. 
Didn't mean to turn this in to dick measering. If not the tallest it's still a very impressive structure.


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## syst3m

great photos. It is still impressive now and at that time must have been huge thing  One question: the viaducts needеd urgent repairs and parliament voted money for this. Have those repairs started yet or not ?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

sallae2 said:


> just a note that ...
> with 120 m height Bebresh Viaduct is most likely highest at Balkan _*Mountain*_
> 
> 
> however, at Balkan _*peninsula*_ there are:
> 170 m Đurđevića Tara Bridge
> 200 m Mala Rijeka Viaduct
> (both in Montenegro)


When talking about motorway bridges in the Balkans we must add also
Nurdagi or Ataturk viaduct 146m clearance (although in Asia Minor)
Rio-Antirio cable-stayed bridge 164m of higest pillar


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## begleca

And after the archive photos from Hemus highway, here you are some photos of the last section under construction of Trakia highway (Yambol - Karnobat) made last days by our fellow forumer Galin_Gradev. The progress is good since last update in September. The section should be opened in May 2013.

Near Yambol east interchange:


galin_gradev said:


> 10.12
> Мислех си как да започна този репортаж- преди всичко благодаря на Ямболията и Реактор за предоставената информация.
> Напредъкът е видим и съществен и независимо от мудния темп на работа, участъка ще стане до 30.05. Снимките( около 260) са от целия лот, а като начало започваме от ПВ Ямбол изток:





galin_gradev said:


> До км. 293+160, а именно пресичането на магистралата с път с.Зимница-с.Чарда и двете платна са с изпълнен биндер:


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## begleca

Part 2:


galin_gradev said:


> Продължаваме:
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> Надлез на км.293+160. Пътят за с.Чарда все още не е преместен:
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> Погледнат отдолу:
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> Това е положението до с.Чарда. Може да задавате въпроси всякакви.





galin_gradev said:


> В първите 10 км. от трасето дейности не се извършват.
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> Изглед на север към с. Зимница:
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> На югоизток. В дясно се вижда с. Чарда:
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> На изток. Точно на този малък участък пред нас се полагаше биндер при инспекцията на инж. Лазаров:
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> Платното за София е с изпълнена Зона А:


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## begleca

Part 3:



galin_gradev said:


> Платното за Бургас е задръстено от бездействаща техника, поради което трябва да се върна малко назад и да продължа в насрещното:lol::





galin_gradev said:


> Не желая да бъда адвокат на ПСТ, но считам че Лот 4.1 е най-добрия магистрален участък построен до сега. По лотовете на Трейс, обаче ме хваща морска болест, имайки чувството че при всяко следващо минаване се задълбочават неравностите.
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> В далечината ССН на км. 294+980:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is there traffic data available from Bulgarian motorways?


No. Our road agency does not publish traffic data.
We are gathering the data from articles here.

The result so far:
Trakia[A1]
-16 000 12.2010
-30 000 06.2008

Hemus[A2]
-20-25 000 11.2012 Sofia Ring Road - Yana
-12 000 12.2010 Yablanitsa - Shumen
-10 000 10.2008 Yablanitsa - Shumen
-13 000 06.2008 Yablanitsa - Levski
-7-9 000 06.2008 Levski - Shumen

Struma[A3]
-21-22 000 12.2010
-22-25 000 06.2008

Maritsa[A4]
-15-16 000 summer 06.2008
-5-6 000 winter 06.2008

Люлин[A6]
-15-16 000 05.2011 (both carrigeways?)
-30 000 06.2009

Rila[A7] (an extravagant project)
-1 000 06.2008 Gotse Delchev - Dospat - Borino - Devin - Smolyan - Madan - Kardzhali - GR

II-55 Veliko Tarnovo - Gurkovo
-23 829 05.2010


A map from 2005 with 2010 traffic prediction:








Environment assesment prediction from 2003 for Sofia - Pernik route is 60 000 AADT by 2020.


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## Capt.Vimes

Just a note - these data are qestionable. But it's nice that PhgirgataZFs1694 put the effort to collect the articles kay:


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## Chilio

Not much data available because the Road Agency and local authorities use quite archaic ways of collecting it:


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## bogdymol

^^ It was the same way of doing it at the Romanian traffic census...


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## ChrisZwolle

Manual counting is only useful if you only want to know traffic in certain periods. The most reliable form of counting is of course a permanent counter that counts 365 days per year. The next best thing is a temporary air pressure traffic counter in a regular traffic period during 1 or 2 weeks. I've done that many times.


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## TrueBulgarian

Hopefully we'll start getting some more accurate data soon, there's been news in the Bulgarian media about a project co-funded by the EU, which involves replacing some of the manual counting stations with automatic ones.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Pics from *Struma motorway[A3] Dolna Dikanya - Dupnitsa*(Dupnica on map):










galin_gradev said:


> ЧНГ! От вчера:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Author: *galin_gradev*



galin_gradev said:


>


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## PhirgataZFs1694

galin_gradev said:


>


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Last ones:


galin_gradev said:


> Снимките са южно от виадукта:
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> На ССП на км.321+330 към края на лота:
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> Край.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

We have data from a secure source(4MB,EN) - environment decision on lot 3 of *Struma motorway[A3]:bowtie: Blagoevgrad - Sandanski 64km* including *13km tunnel* about future AADT:

*2020:*
3.1Blagoevgrad - Krupnik(2.5km tunnel) 11 057
3.3Kresna - Sandanski 11 750

*2030:*
3.1Blagoevgrad - Krupnik(2.5km tunnel) 14 133
3.2Krupnik - Kresna(13km tunnel) 15 597
3.3Kresna - Sandanski 13 717

*2040:*
3.1Blagoevgrad - Krupnik(2.5km tunnel) 15 512
3.2Krupnik - Kresna (13km tunnel) 17 211
3.3Kresna - Sandanski 15 078

Tunnel would be 2x2.


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## keber

^^ Something is wrong in those numbers.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

keber said:


> ^^ Something is wrong in those numbers.


Why do you think so?


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## sallae2

^^


Lot	*2020* 
3.1	11,057
3.2 
3.3	11,750

Lot *2030* 
3.1	14,133
3.2	15,597	
3.3	13,717

Lot	*2040* 
3.1	15,512 
3.2	17,211 
3.3	15,078

http://www.dodaj.rs/f/47/Vj/1EiuGfLW/bg-aadt.jpg


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## keber

It is also strange that they foresee just about 30% increase in traffic for the next *27 years* to a mere 15k-17k AADT.

On basis of those predictions I wouldn't build a motorway yet.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Sorry. Stupid copy-paste mistake.


> The presented below table shows the traffic estimate in *both directions* as mean annual daily traffic per 24 hours, by sections of the new motorway, for the period 2020 – 2040:


This phrase confuses me. In Bulgarian even more. I am still not 100% sure they do mean direction Sofia + direction Greece = 11 000 AADT by this given the figure is quite low for a motorway indeed.


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## suvi genije

According to Phirgata's map, there are no plans for completing Hemus in following 10 years???


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## PhirgataZFs1694

suvi genije said:


> According to Phirgata's map, there are no plans for completing Hemus in following 10 years???


Yes. The map shows only projects that are supposed to start till 2014.

Struma[A3] Blagoevgrad - Sandanski and Hemus[A2] motorways are planned to be built between 2014 - 2021.
It's still uncertain whether Hemus[A2] will be built till Veliko Tarnovo or till Shumen. There's also a possibility that it might be built in some sections as an expressway(Veliko Tarnovo - Varna).


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## Radish2

keber said:


> It is also strange that they foresee just about 30% increase in traffic for the next *27 years* to a mere 15k-17k AADT.
> 
> On basis of those predictions I wouldn't build a motorway yet.


It is not cetain that it will be a higher grooth of traffic passing than %, because in the future years oil might get limited and therefore very expensive, this will stop people from buying cars and driving as much ae they do now. I also doubt that car manufractures will finally completely swith to alternative sources of energy, since the development of that, especially by the european car manufractures is incredibly slow. It is really a shame nothing happens about it altough it is high time and cars with alternative energy were promised for the year 2000.


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## suvi genije

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Yes. The map shows only projects that are supposed to start till 2014.
> 
> Struma[A3] Blagoevgrad - Sandanski and Hemus[A2] motorways are planned to be built between 2014 - 2021.
> It's still uncertain whether Hemus[A2] will be built till Veliko Tarnovo or till Shumen. There's also a possibility that it might be built in some sections as an expressway(Veliko Tarnovo - Varna).


 So from the old priority (national motorway ring- Trakija, Hemus and Crno more), only Trakija will be completed in few months, and Hemus and CM will be put on long hold.
Btw, Varna-Sumen is motorway or expressway?


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## radi6404

Ofcourse it is that strumatic, would you experience this motorway and the future sections of it, you would say the same about it. I kow that I am a bit extreme about motorways, but I tell you, anyone who has really experienced the Struma motorway has lost words about it's smoothness and quality, anyone was amazed, it is magical and would you experience it, you would mention it somewhere aswell


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## Chilio

As you spoke about bridges across Danube, here's the long awaited update from the official site of the contractor, building the one at Vidin-Calafat:


velbujd said:


> Нови снимки от моста (господ знае от коя дата).
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> Подготовка на крановата инсталация за монтаж на защитните елементи при стълб РВ12
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> Строителни дейности при стълб РВ12
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> Кофриране на жп бариерата на моста
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> Подготовка на дренажни тръби за монтаж
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> Демонтиране на крановата инсталация за монтаж на защитните елементи при стълб РВ11


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## ionuttzu

radi6404 said:


> Ofcourse it is that strumatic, would you experience this motorway and the future sections of it, you would say the same about it. I kow that I am a bit extreme about motorways, but I tell you, anyone who has really experienced the Struma motorway has lost words about it's smoothness and quality, anyone was amazed, it is magical and would you experience it, you would mention it somewhere aswell


You're talking about that motorway like it's the 8'th wonder of the world :lol:


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## radi6404

NO, it is not a wolrd wonder, but it is a great technological achievment for sure.


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## tonylondon

radi6404 is not wolrd but world haha


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## Andrej_LJ

Updated highway map of Bulgaria, with the expected dates of opening of the new sections, as well as expected dates of starting the construction of the new sections, priorities for this year:












A2 E83 HEMUS Highway (Sofia-Varna) route. 










Currently all tenders have started for updating and completing the old technical plans, so construction of the rest app. 270 kilometres can start as soon as possible with the new programme period (2014-2020).


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## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> NO, it is not a wolrd wonder, but it is a great technological achievment for sure.


Struma is salvation, it is hypnotic, it is Strumatic.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Andrey_Lj:bow:


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## syst3m

what is the red U/C thing in the west part of the ring road of Sofia ?


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## Andrej_LJ

syst3m said:


> what is the red U/C thing in the west part of the ring road of Sofia ?


It is the 5-6 km long Western part of the ring of Sofia, which will link the end of Sofia-Pernik-Thessaloniki motorway, with the motorway Sofia - Nish - Belgrade via the new 3 level crossing, and the new Northern ring of Sofia which is due to start in spring this year. It will have several interchanges and a bridge over river Kakach. It is also going to have a direct link to Lyulin district (additional to the one at blvd. Slivnitsa).


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## Chilio

Construction of motorway bridge over Maritsa river of the same name A4 Maritsa motorway:


momchilg said:


>


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## gogo3o

18 participants in the tender for preliminary design of *(A3)* Struma Motorway *Lot 3* "Blagoevgrad - Sandanski" (64km, including long tunnels).









Source: http://infrastructure.bg/show.php?storyid=1993193


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## Chilio

A6 Lyulin motorway:


Turnovec said:


> http://www.flickr.com/photos/raskoll/8430730514/sizes/l/in/photostream/


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## Chilio

Few more of the construction of A4 Maritsa's bridge over the same name river:


poletar said:


> мост над р.Марица км 24+796
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## vectom

radi6404 said:


> NO, it is not a wolrd wonder, but it is a great technological achievment for sure.


If I get it right , Struma motorway is this short completed section going from Sofia down next to Pernik and then shall continue to Dupnica (U/C) and on south planned to end at Kulata on the Greek border?

I don't know if I missed something while passing there. I drove it twice this summer on a motorbike. Nothing so spectacular to notice for it's design, or maybe I missed something. I know that when you go from south towards intersection near Pernik, on your right there is one local turning that isn't de-levelized from the motorway, which is a scandal, if we talk about motorway standards. However, it's maybe there to wait for some petrol station construction or so, no idea. Also, quality of road is criminal at some points, please be real, if you go towards south, that auxilary lane had two or three huge dents measuring few meters or close to ten meters in their length, it was obvious that motorway surface wasn't prepared well before putting surface layers. If you're on a bike, you can die if you ride over them at some higher speed. 
Also, didn't notice any SOS phones, roadside infrastructure was kind of weird, having more than enough technical stops for guys who maintain the road, but not enough petrol stations and almost none roadside rest points with shades (I passed in August on +35 on a bike, so couldn't miss this).
Correct me if I'm wrong or things got improved, but this is what I noticed there. In my opinion, it's just a regular motorway with few serious failures (dents, for example).

edit:
to prevent misunderstanding, I refered to Struma portion when saying about dents, cracked asphalt and non de-levelized side road. Didn't refer to Lyulin motorway part in this post.


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## AUchamps

vectom said:


> If I get it right , Struma motorway is this short completed section going from Sofia down next to Pernik and then shall continue to Dupnica (U/C) and on south planned to end at Kulata on the Greek border?
> 
> I don't know if I missed something while passing there. I drove it twice this summer on a motorbike. Nothing so spectacular to notice for it's design, or maybe I missed something. I know that when you go from south towards intersection near Pernik, on your right there is one local turning that isn't de-levelized from the motorway, which is a scandal, if we talk about motorway standards. However, it's maybe there to wait for some petrol station construction or so, no idea. Also, quality of road is criminal at some points, please be real, if you go towards south, that auxilary lane had two or three huge dents measuring few meters or close to ten meters in their length, it was obvious that motorway surface wasn't prepared well before putting surface layers. If you're on a bike, you can die if you ride over them at some higher speed.
> Also, didn't notice any SOS phones, roadside infrastructure was kind of weird, having more than enough technical stops for guys who maintain the road, but not enough petrol stations and almost none roadside rest points with shades (I passed in August on +35 on a bike, so couldn't miss this).
> Correct me if I'm wrong or things got improved, but this is what I noticed there. In my opinion, it's just a regular motorway with few serious failures (dents, for example).
> 
> edit:
> to prevent misunderstanding, I refered to Struma portion when saying about dents, cracked asphalt and non de-levelized side road. Didn't refer to Lyulin motorway part in this post.


But what about the gas station with the McDonalds that looks like it is from Mars in the next century?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

AUchamps said:


> But what about the gas station with the McDonalds that looks like it is from Mars in the next century?


Didn't it look like it was from DOOM III or smth?:lol:



gogo3o said:


> *18 participants* in the tender for preliminary design of *(A3)* Struma Motorway *Lot 3* "Blagoevgrad - Sandanski" (64km, including long tunnels).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source: http://infrastructure.bg/show.php?storyid=1993193


From Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Poland and Romania.

Very good map btw.


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## Tihi_RSK

Gooo Gooo Bulgaria  Soon new highway 80 is gona conect Serbia and Bulgaria


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Tihi_RSK said:


> Gooo Gooo Bulgaria  Soon new highway 80 is gona conect Serbia and Bulgaria


Btw, we should probably soon sign a contract for E80 SRB/BG border Sofia and Sofia bypass and thus connect SRB to the three motorways around Sofia - Lyulin[A6]->Struma[A3], Hemus[A2] and Trakia[A1].


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## syst3m

Good news indeed ... IMHO , E80 (A7) & Sofia bypasses are vital infrastructures which need to be prioritized ... All motorways going through Sofia need to be interconnected , atm they just end nowhere...

In other news ... Danube bridge 2 could be officially opened on 9th of May (The day of Europe) ... depends only on weather ... till now it has been gracious  and the name of the bridge will not be "Danube bridge 2" but possibly Dunonia bridge (Vidin emerged at the place of an old Celtic settlement known as Dunonia)


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## gogo3o

MichiH said:


> Good job .
> 
> Is it possible to add the date of that version within the map? Thanks in advance.


You can find the dates of all versions here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg

--

btw, I also tried to summarize all BG highways in English here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highways_in_Bulgaria

It will be good if anyone wants to expand, correct mistakes and update the info.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Just another marvelous photos from *Hemus motorway[A2] IC Sofia Ring Road - Yana* from *galin_gradev*'s report*:














































*edited by *REAKT0R*


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## Chilio

Some more incredible high-quality photo-reports of the construction of A2 Hemus near Sofia's Ring Road by galin_gradev. Here are some selected pictures:

The future intersection of the motorway and the old national road to Dolni Bogrov and Burgas























































And a look towards north-east:


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## crimio

Nice motorway!


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## gogo3o

A4, bridge on Maritsa river.:cheers:


poletar said:


> Ето една снимка от моста на Марица под надслов:
> "Ей това тук, Момчил го строи за Вас"


----------



## Turnovec

Danube bridge 2 update.



> A view of the Bridge
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View of the mounted rails of the sidewalk and cycle- way of the Bridge
> 
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> Строителни дейности по моста
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> Кофриране на жп бариерата на моста
> 
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> 
> Работа с ревизионна машина за достъп под връхната конструкция на моста
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Заскаляване на румънския бряг при устой А3


http://danubebridge2.com/g-bg-most-13-fev.php


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## radi6404

Impressive, the bridge is completed, now that the construction stays noone can take it from Bulgaria anymore, only aspahlt and railways need to be added and the bridge is ready for use. let's hope it will be very beneficial to Bulgaria and Romania and improve our economies.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*Maritsa motorway[A4]* lot 1 *Chirpan - Haskovo* bridge over the Maritsa river:










momchilg said:


> Сними от днес от моста над р. Марица
> 
> 
> 
> Бауер на южния бряг





radi6404 said:


> Impressive, the bridge is completed, now that the construction stays noone can take it from Bulgaria anymore, only aspahlt and railways need to be added and the bridge is ready for use. let's hope it will be very beneficial to Bulgaria and Romania and improve our economies.


Radi, you were planing to use Vidin - Calafat bridge this summer, weren't you?


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## neaguionutu

Related to lot 4 Struma near the border with Greece, which will divert traffic between February 10 and October 2 this year, in the area between Sandansky and Kulata by Strumyani - Mikrevo - Drake - Vylkovo - Struma - Lebniţa - Ribnik.
Who can tell me about this deviation, if the deviation has occurred and what route you should follow to get to Kulata to enter Greece.

Thank you very much!


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## radi6404

Don#t expect any more posts to follow here soon. bulgaria suffers their biggest mistakte today in whole history of the country. bulgaria choose to reject the only government who build motorways, so now let's hope Bulgaria will suffer a crysis no man can imagine. I only feel guilt for those who were for Gerb.


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## gogo3o

*A2 Hemus, near Sofia ring road*











7588 said:


> следващите са от надлеза при засипания водоем:


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## AUchamps

radi6404 said:


> Don#t expect any more posts to follow here soon. bulgaria suffers their biggest mistakte today in whole history of the country. bulgaria choose to reject the only government who build motorways, so now let's hope Bulgaria will suffer a crysis no man can imagine. I only feel guilt for those who were for Gerb.


Good.


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## IUnknown

radi6404 said:


> Don#t expect any more posts to follow here soon. bulgaria suffers their biggest mistakte today in whole history of the country. bulgaria choose to reject the only government who build motorways, so now let's hope Bulgaria will suffer a crysis no man can imagine. I only feel guilt for those who were for Gerb.


Radi, Bulgarian people has risen up and started fighting the mafia. BB is the head of the mafia, no one is questioning that anymore, and gerb is his way to become prime minister. Everyone must be proud to be Bulgarian these days.
Bulgarian people realized their strength when they are together against the criminals and there is nothing to stop us building a better country in which the laws are respected by everyone. And be sure that new Bulgaria will build many more motorways and modern infrastructure. So do not tell me that this criminal gang - gerb, was the only choice for us only because they started building several motorways. By the way, are you aware that the economy is (AGAIN) ruined by these gangsters? Right now we have to start building our economy from scratch.
And you tell that this is the biggest mistake and wish us all the bad... Well, you need an urgent visit to a psychiatrist.


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## Botev1912

Haha who will build those highways Dogan, Stanishev, Simeon? Boyko was the best prime minister. At least he tried to build roads. The Bulgarian residents really don't know what they want. A day ago they made him resign, and today they are protesting again because they want him back :nuts:


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## gogo3o

few more of the A2 report



7588 said:


> още малко снимки от вчера:


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## radi6404

IUnknown said:


> Radi, Bulgarian people has risen up and started fighting the mafia. BB is the head of the mafia, no one is questioning that anymore, and gerb is his way to become prime minister. Everyone must be proud to be Bulgarian these days.
> Bulgarian people realized their strength when they are together against the criminals and there is nothing to stop us building a better country in which the laws are respected by everyone. And be sure that new Bulgaria will build many more motorways and modern infrastructure. So do not tell me that this criminal gang - gerb, was the only choice for us only because they started building several motorways. By the way, are you aware that the economy is (AGAIN) ruined by these gangsters? Right now we have to start building our economy from scratch.
> And you tell that this is the biggest mistake and wish us all the bad... Well, you need an urgent visit to a psychiatrist.


Wheteher that applied to Borisov earlier has nothing, but absolutely nothing to do with what he did for the country, the european media only has good words left for him, the reforms, the contruction of many motorways, if you think the other prime ministers wil do it, you have mental problems. 

Botev1912 is absolutely right, only the facts count, not the history. He was the one putting any criminals in jail you fool

I guess you also think, we can#t eat motorways, don't you? Well not in shirt term, but in long term the motorways will help bulgarian economy for sure and then you will eat motorways.


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## IUnknown

Botev1912 said:


> ... today they are protesting again because they want him back :nuts:


Today protests are organized by gerb. All protesters are brought to Sofia with buses and all that is payed by gerb. This is a payed campaign, this is not a protest, this is ridiculos. These people have nothing to do with real protesters who are organized spontaneously in internet. And yes, we know what we want and it will start being obvious to everyone pretty soon. The system will be changed for good. This is just the first battle that we won. You ain't seen nothing yet...


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## IUnknown

^^
^^
Radi, you are a strange person. For example you keep posting crap in this forum about Struma motorway being the best motorway in the world while knowing that it is not even a motorway but expressroad and its condition is far from perfect. Why do you think that you opinion is valuable, moreover you do not even live in Bulgaria? Of course there are many retrograde people like you in Bulgaria and everywhere but the change will become a fact because many progressive people have realized already that everything depends on our strong will and the only limits that we could have are those imposed by ourselves. You can say goodbye to present political system which was designed to serve ex-communist criminals, organized in mafia structures by vicious militia renegades from ex-communist secret agences whose job was to terrorize the people who dared to question the communist system. BB is still a member of the communist party, he never left. Recent document leaks expose him as mafia criminal who had been investigated as such in late 1990's. And you expect from these criminals to build a normal European country? I could imgaine that it's easy for you to say whatever, but you don't live everyday here with these gangsters.


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## radi6404

don't make a fool out of yourself, nothing will be changed and the reputation of such protests is not wanted by the european union, so just elect Gerb back and have more infrastructure, since that is what the country needs.

If you seriously think that the paid people as you say don't protest for Gerb with their hearts than I am questioning your intelligence. Because the few bucks they get are just enough to arrive in sofia, so they don#t have to pay it from their own pockets, only the transport is free, the people want Gerb back.


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## radi6404

IUnknown

And you think Stanishev or dugan are better? do you seriosuly think they are better? Who did not get european money, Stanishev or Borisov? borisov got money and built many kilometers of montorway without stealing. Stanishev stole money and the eruopean money was frozen, so not any kilometer of motorways has been built?

you say you are against communists, but who will you elect, there are only the communits, Ivan Kostov and Gerb, Ataka is too small to rule alone, altough they are not as bad as Stanishev.


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## gogo3o

Could someone move the political posts out this thread? Thanks.


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## syst3m

LoL... do you really think that Boyko is building those motorways ? wrong answer ... we are ..with our money ..and with EU solidarity's money ...


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## gogo3o

Selected photos of *A3* Struma, lot 1 (b/n Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa), taken by *galin_gradev*






















































More in the BG subsection:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=100558596#post100558596


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## Chilio

Meanwhile the minister in resignation Lilyana Pavlova announced, that tomorrow will be signed the contract for LOT2 of A3 Struma between Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad, which means that deadline for it's construction should be around Christmas 2014 (contract time is 22 months).


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^2015:lol:
The time for this lot is not much and it will be a small feat to finish it on time.


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## Chilio

22 months from 25.02.2013 actually do mean 25.12.20*14*.


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## tanashubav

Tender for LOT 2 of A3 Struma motorway was signed at 27.02.2013. So this is how motorway statistics looks like today:

*27.02.2013*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia – Yambol 290,510km.
> Karnobat - Burgas 35,176 km.
> Total: 325.686km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70,430 km.
> Shumen – Varna 75,213 km.
> Total: 145,643 km.
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dolna Dikanya.
> 17,232 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) 30,350km.
> Total: 35,130 km.
> 
> _The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8,221 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19,135km.
> 
> *Оverall
> 548,72км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:
> *
> *Trakiya motorway (A1):*
> One section:
> From Yambol to Karnobat 34,77 km. (from km 290+510 till km. 325+280).
> _All under construction at Trakiya:34,77 km._
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> There are two sections under construction:
> A 7,8km. long section from Shumen East intersection toward west.
> 8,460km from Sofia Ringroad to Yana intersection.
> _All under construction at Hemus:16,260 km._
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> three sections
> LOT 1 from Dolna Dikanya to Dupnitsa 16,780km.
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37,0km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 68,78km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Four sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> _All under construction at Maritsa 79,895km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 199,07km.*


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## ChrisZwolle

When will A1 Yambol - Karnobat be opened to traffic?


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## gogo3o

There are a lot of speculations in the media about Yambol-Karnobat section these days.

Soon we'll know better what's the situation there - our fellow forumer Galin Gradev took a lot of pictures and will upload them. Also he states that if there are no further problems, the section can open for traffic in July 2013.


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## syst3m

ChrisZwolle said:


> When will A1 Yambol - Karnobat be opened to traffic?


There was a short tv reportage on the news today. The section is at ~80% finished. Upper layers of asphalt are not being laid down atm. There are some delays but construction company has assured that motorway could open at the end of June. Maritsa motorway by the end of this year.

Lets hope for the best.


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## Chilio

Danube bridge Vidin-Calafat nears completion, works are at some final details:



cassini83 said:


> 1. Набиване на стойки за еластичната ограда на подходите към моста
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2. Изглед към връхната конструкция на моста, където са поставени стълбовете за контактната мрежа по жп трасето и осветлението на моста
> 
> 
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> 3. Подготовка за полагане на хидроизолация по жп трасето на моста
> 
> 
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> 4. Монтиране на скари за високотоковите и слаботоковите кабели в кутията на връхната конструкция на моста
> 
> 
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> 5. Довършителни дейности по пилоните при стълб РВ12
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> 6. Направа на ограничителни бордюри на моста
> 
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> 7. Подготовка на бетонната основа на моста за полагане на хидроизолация
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 8. Монтаж на защитен елемент при стълб РВ12


The international Bulgarian-Romanian company that will operate the bridge will start working on 12th March, discussion issues about opening date and taxes. Media speculations are that the bridge will be inaugurated on 9th of May, the Day of Europe. In some coincidence the parliamentary elections after the political crysis these weeks have now been set for 12th of May.


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## Chilio

And A2 section from Sofia Ring Road to current km 0 of the motorway near Yana village also nears completion, as seen in another nice report from user 7588 in this thread (from post 3198). Some selected pics:


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## cassini83

Обнових таблицата за текущото строителство в Уикипедия, за да рефлектира лот 2 на Струма. Три неща ми направиха впечатление.

1. Лот 2 като стойност е 1/3 от цялото магистрално строителство в момента.
2. Общата стойност на всички отсечки в строеж вече е над 1 млрд. лева.
3. Отново се строят над 200 км. магистрали :banana:

http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8_%D0%B2_%D0%91%D1%8A%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F#.D0.A2.D0.B5.D0.BA.D1.83.D1.89.D0.BE_.D1.81.D1.82.D1.80.D0.BE.D0.B8.D1.82.D0.B5.D0.BB.D1.81.D1.82.D0.B2.D0.BE

edit: Почти 200 км, тъй като таблицата не рефлектира петнайсетината км. на лот 4.1 на Тракия.


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## gogo3o

Finally, a report from the section of *A2 near Shumen*, tnx to *Shoumenec*:










































More pics: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1235673&page=161 from post #3215


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## Andrej_LJ

*A3 Struma motorway reaches Blagoevgrad by the end of 2014*

Few days ago construction started on the longest and most expensive section of Bulgarian highways of all that were constructed in the last years. The contract for the 37 km long motorway between Dupnitsa-north and Blagoevgrad was signed with one of Bulgaria’s best construction companies GBS (GlavBolgarStroy) for about 185 million Euros. It is due to finish in 22 mounts, so we expect this section to enter service around the end of 2014/beginning of 2015. 

Some details of DUPNITSA-BLAGOEVGRAD section:

Length: 37 km
Cost: 185 mil. Euros (360 mil. Leva)
Due to: end of 2014 (or 22 mounts of construction)
Number of interchanges: 4
Number and length of tunnels: 3, total length of app. 1000 meters
Number and length of bridges: 9, total length of app. 4370 meters

The motorway section in Dupnitsa region (marked with orange):










The motorway section in Blagoevgrad region (marked with orange):










INTERCHANGES
Dupnitsa-south interchange:










Boboshevo interchange:










Kocherinovo interchange:










Blagoevgrad-north interchange:











Updated map of Bulgarian highways as of March 2013:










:cheers:


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## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> When will A1 Yambol - Karnobat be opened to traffic?


A complete report from *Galin Gradev* in the BG section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1185569&page=207 starting from post #4140

*Yambol East interchange*


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## radi6404

Why does the secton from Dupnicato Blagoevgrad have so many bridges and tunnels? The nationalraod does not have even one tunnel, except in Dunpica.


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## ChrisZwolle

Highway 37:








It's not been Strumatized yet.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Andrej_LJ said:


> :cheers:


Andrey, Struma is A3:cheers:



radi6404 said:


> Why does the secton from Dupnicato Blagoevgrad have so many bridges and tunnels? The nationalraod does not have even one tunnel, except in Dunpica.


Beacause motorways have higher requirements for road slopes and curves.



ChrisZwolle said:


> Highway 37:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's not been Strumatized yet.


Google streetview:banana:


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## Botev1912

ChrisZwolle said:


> Highway 37:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's not been Strumatized yet.


Google Street View finally in Bulgaria :yes:


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## syst3m

Botev1912 said:


> Google Street View finally in Bulgaria :yes:



oh nooooes ... busteed :bash:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> Highway 37:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's not been Strumatized yet.


Btw this is a very unused and for now unimportant road though part of the second class highway network. It's interesting about it that a tunnel was built but never finished and put into operation - *tunnel Kashana*:


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## ChrisZwolle

I'm quite appalled by the sorry state of the Sofia Ring Road. It looks more like a country road than a beltway of a major city. Only the southeastern part is okay.


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## radi6404

The western part of the ringroad is marked to be under construction, but I don't know whether it really is or it isn't, since one of the pictures shows the western part with no construction.


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## JloKyM

Well, the traffic on the north side is not very heavy.


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## sotonsi

Also, looking around, certainly the worst signage in the EU - even on the newer motorways. Road numbers may or may not appear, may or may not be right, signs for junctions are often tiny and too late, etc, etc.


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## Chilio

radi6404 said:


> The western part of the ringroad is marked to be under construction, but I don't know whether it really is or it isn't, since one of the pictures shows the western part with no construction.


Pictures on Google Street View are about one year old (shot generally March-May 2012), so the actual state and places under construction and reconstruction can't be seen.

Chris, there are actually quite a lot of projects for the ring road:
- Western part is under construction
- Northern part will be replaced by a new route - the Northern Tangent, which is being tendered
- Link between western part in construction and the already widened south part is being projected and will be constructed/reconstructed in next EU-funding period after 2014 with large portion of tunnel and bridges for the transit traffic.
- Only part with no actual plans in the near future is the link from the south to the eastern part (between Mladost district and the start of A1).


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## sallae2

Chilio said:


> Chris, there are actually quite a lot of projects for the ring road:
> 
> - Western part is under construction
> 
> - Northern part will be replaced by a new route - the Northern Tangent, which is being tendered
> 
> - Link between western part in construction and the already widened south part is being projected and will be constructed/reconstructed in next EU-funding period after 2014 with large portion of tunnel and bridges for the transit traffic.
> 
> - Only part with no actual plans in the near future is the link from the south to the eastern part (between Mladost district and the start of A1).


a map dated June 2011










same map but larger (3543 x 3019): http://stroitelstvo.info/shimg/oo_1100800.jpg

source

Northern Tangent will be nice link to the airport (from Serbia)


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## gogo3o

^^
*The section which was u/c (in yellow) is now completed.
*The section with technical project (brown) is now u/c.
*Northern tangent and another section of the ring road are in tender procedures, but it's not sure that construction works will start this year. EU funds could be insufficient for these projects.









*red - tender


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## syst3m

Romania will lower the crossing tax over danube bridge , rousse - giourgiu from 6 to 2 eur (for cars), it seems that will happen next week, good job Romania!

source: http://ruse.dir.bg/news.php?id=13306211

p.s. the Bulgarian side has lowered the tax to 2 eur in 2010 (I think)


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## mediar

Bulgaria in street view:

Winter
http://goo.gl/maps/O4YlR

Summer
http://goo.gl/maps/SxvYa


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## radi6404

Any pictures of Dupnica- Blagoevgrad construction side?


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## Capt.Vimes

JloKyM said:


> Well, the traffic on the north side is not very heavy.


https://maps.google.com/maps?q=elena&hl=en&ll=42.771255,23.291761&spn=0.222536,0.528374&sll=41.943149,27.982178&sspn=3.170551,4.938354&t=h&hnear=Elena,+Tarnovo+Province,+Bulgaria&layer=c&cbll=42.771255,23.291761&panoid=gE4YsYpfNYp02MiUjsgVrA&cbp=12,241.35,,0,20.29&z=12

There's quite a lot of traffic there. The south side gets more traffic as it acts more like a city street, but the international traffic goes north. I've never understood why that road is in such horrific condition.


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## syst3m

Liljana Pavlova , Minister (in resignation) of regional development: Thrakia A1 should be finished until June

http://dnes.dir.bg/news/liljana-pavlova-avtomagistrala-trakia-13317971?nt=6


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## cassini83

1. Construction works for the Bridge









2. Assembly of the light fixtures of the Bridge









3. Cleaning and preparation of the railway alignment of the Bridge for laying the water-proofing









4. Casting the limiting kerbs of the Bridge at Pier PB12









5. Casting the limiting kerbs of the Bridge at Pier PB12


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## PhirgataZFs1694

I think the sory state of Sofia ring road is due to the fact that it's planned for expansion. So funds for repairs are diverted to toher roads(IMO good desicion). Though it would be good if markings were renewed regularly.

A very goo and extensive map done by a member:









Legend:
Greeen - built motorway
Red - U/C motorway
Yellow - planned motorway
Light blue - 2x2 road
Purple - U/C 2x2 road


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## Bzyq_74

Good map : Oklaski:
If you can, enter on the map the dates of completion of the works for u/c motorways.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Bzyq_74 said:


> Good map : Oklaski:
> If you can, enter on the map the dates of completion of the works for u/c motorways.


This one is even in English. 10x to *AndreyLj*:cheers:


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## gogo3o

4 bids opened in the tender for Northern tangent. Seems that Italian consortium is about to win with an offer of ~96.63 M euro.
http://translate.google.bg/translat...riha_samo_chetiri_cenovi_oferti_za_severnata/









_Northern Speed Tangent highlighted in red_


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## ChrisZwolle

Was II/17 Botevgrad bypass designed as an airstrip? It's mega wide with no raised median.


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## Chilio

Yes, one of those for military and emergency cases.


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## mman2012

Quick question:
Last year there's been quite a media-buzz (also here in Romania) about a new highway in BUlgaria from Ruse towards Svilengrad, financed with Qatar (private?) sources.
Any news on that in 2013 or just political PR last year?

Thanks


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## gogo3o

It was announced as a PPP with Qatar and also the Turkish government was invited to join in, but Turkey has shown interested in a different route and later has withdrawn from the talks.
In October 2012, a tender for a feasibility study was announced. You can find more info in this article \in Bulgarian\:
http://stroitelstvo.info/show.php?storyid=1930041

Since then, there are no other news about this project.


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## ChrisZwolle

Another highway airstrip, A2 near Vetrino (between Shumen and Varna). They even have a mega wide bridge across an interchange.


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## ChrisZwolle

I checked Street View and the Maritsa Motorway (A4) is marked as A1 at every interchange. They have to do some renumbering there. The Chirpan interchange is only marked as I/66.


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## sotonsi

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Chirpan interchange is only marked as I/66.


And it's not marked as E80, despite E80 being signed at the junction before along the A1, and the A1 (Trakia) is signed from Chirpan as E773 only.

With the exception of the bad signs at the I/5 (which sign A1 E80). And of course the junction to the east of that one signs Trakia as A4. :bash:

Also like the 'A' number (ie just an A) on most of the Luylin motorway's interchanges.

There's also some nice E871 signs, with 80km between each one, along the I/6 between Sofia and the I/5. But then, looking at other non-motorways in rural areas that are also E roads, that's typical signage.


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## ChrisZwolle

The Struma Motorway also does not exist. It has expressway signs and it is only signed as E79 along the expressway itself and as road I/1 at on-ramps. There is one sign at Pernik however, that signs the route as "A" with no number. There are also signs with A6 at this location (for direction Kulata from I/6). Additionally, there is a single distance sign with A6 just south of Pernik, other distance signs only carry the E79 designation. Speed limit appears to be 90 km/h.

The A5 is not signed with any number. It's the Cherno More Motorway at Varna.


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## pmalenkin

ChrisZwolle said:


> The A5 is not signed with any number. It's the Cherno More Motorway at Varna.


You can see a sign with "A-5" written in some other parts of Varna.
https://maps.google.es/maps?q=varna...=zgZE8ZGcf5ucuxktj8hg7w&cbp=12,220.65,,0,1.16


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## gogo3o

> *The assembly of the vessels impact protections of the bridge at Vidin has been completed, 15.03.2013*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Around each of the four columns in the navigable channel of the Danube are installed 19 pairs of protections against impacts of vessels and heavy objects. The defenses weigh about 60 tons each.
> All impact protections are casted in the Production Plant of FCC Construccion, situated in the Free Zone Vidin. Thence, using an elephant crane, the elements are loaded on a barge, specially prepared for this purpose and delivered to the pier by water, where they are assembled in pairs and immediately afterwards the tensioning is executed. The assembly of the impact protections is executed with the help of special crane installations, positioned opposite each other at the pier.
> The top, middle and bottom part of the elements will be girdled with concrete diaphragms, which are covered with sleepers.
> The finishing works at Danube Bridge are progressing.
> The laying of the first and the second layer of waterproofing and the bituminous layer of the superstructure of the bridge and the railway track is going on.
> In the process of completion are the installation of the handrails and the installation of the lighting. The installation of the crash barriers is going on.
> The installation of the railway track of the railway approach to the bridge is going on as at the moment are laid sleepers. Completely installed are the catenary poles along the railway track to and on the bridge.


http://www.danubebridge2.com/150313eng.php


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## Chilio

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Struma Motorway also does not exist.


Shhhh! How could you say such a thing... what if Radi reads it?:nuts:


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## Chilio

And some new pictures from the bridge Vidin-Calafat:

17.03.2013 (?) www.danubebridge2.com

Laying of bitominous primer along the railway alignment of the bridge









Assembly of the crash barrier of the bridge









Assembly of the rails of the bridge









Laying of water-proofing with sand along the railway alingment of the bridge









Preparing the concrete base of the bridge for the laying of water-proofing


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## PhirgataZFs1694

We have information that money are set apart for the *~5km* section between *I-2* and *I-7* of *[A2]Hemus motorway* - east part. Currently, only the section between the current end of *[A2]Hemus motorway* and *I-7* is *U/C*.:banana:


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## ChrisZwolle

Will it run south or north of Panayot Volovo?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> Will it run south or north of Panayot Volovo?


South. You can see it in google history imagery.


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## ChrisZwolle

This looks like some kind of control shack for the traffic police. Is it still used?


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## ChrisZwolle

Another airstrip along a motorway, A1 northeast of Plovdiv. The part where the median is paved over is 3.3 kilometers long, sufficient to land large aircraft. In addition, the embankment is much wider, as is this bridge / culvert.


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## syst3m

> This looks like some kind of control shack for the traffic police. Is it still used?


Yes. In Sofia there are at least 4-5 of those that come to my mind.




> Another airstrip along a motorway, A1 northeast of Plovdiv. The part where the median is paved over is 3.3 kilometers long, sufficient to land large aircraft. In addition, the embankment is much wider, as is this bridge / culvert.


I think the section you are referring to is norht-west of Plovdiv, between Plovdiv and Pazardzhik. Yes it was designed so a large aircraft can land. By the way those crashbarriers have been put there like year ago or so. Before that they weren't any and there was 80 km/h speed regulation in those ~3 km without crashbarriers.

http://goo.gl/maps/Z2O5h

P.S. As a 2nd thought there is also the same air-strip section in the north-east of Plovdiv too, like you mentioned.


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## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> This looks like some kind of control shack for the traffic police. Is it still used?
> http://i.imgur.com/cMHRNNn.jpg


Yep. And this is not the only one, we have plenty of them:
http://goo.gl/maps/XtFZT
http://goo.gl/maps/NX85q
http://goo.gl/maps/d4L1o

New model:
http://goo.gl/maps/kVxfg

This one was retired:
http://goo.gl/maps/JBHoL

and turned into this:cheers:
http://edno.bg/assets/SC_2012/178471_431408130252254_841035973_o.jpg


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## ChrisZwolle

I see there is such an airstrip both northwest and northeast of Plovdiv. The Street View photo I posted is at the border of Plovdiv / Stara Zagora oblasts.


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## LG_

As one can see, the picture is taken exactly on the border between Plovdiv and Stara Zagora regions.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

An 48,5m bridge in the middle of nowhere - Veleka river, Strandzha mountain, I-9:


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## Turnovec

ChrisZwolle said:


> I see there is such an airstrip both northwest and northeast of Plovdiv. The Street View photo I posted is at the border of Plovdiv / Stara Zagora oblasts.


There is one more on the road between Borovan and Byala Slatina, but i don't know why it is not present in google street wiev... http://goo.gl/maps/A1YpI


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## Turnovec

E772, Eastern entrance in Veliko Tarnovo 




















E772, Western entrance in Veliko Tarnovo 










E85, Northern entrance in Veliko Tarnovo


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## Turnovec

Sofia Ring Road and bul. Bulgaria interchange in southern parts of Sofia


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## Tachi

This one near Botevgrad is probably also an airstrip


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## IUnknown

New pictures from the official site of Vidin - Calafat bridge www.danubebridge2.com 24 Mar 2013

Transportation of lamp posts for the bridge









Execution of a settling tank for the wastewater of the bridge









Laying bituminous primer along the railway alignment of the Bridge









Installing guardrails for the railway track of the bridge









Casting in-situ concrete ditch for the wastewater of the bridge









Construction works at the Bridge


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## radi6404

why has noone posted pictures o the struma motorwqy for two weeks, has consruction stopped due to the political problems?


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## LG_

^^
No, it has not! Thank God!


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## PhirgataZFs1694

radi6404 said:


> why has noone posted pictures o the struma motorwqy for two weeks, has consruction stopped due to the political problems?


Look in BG section.

*galin_gradev* is constantly making loads of photos for us:banana:


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## syst3m




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## gogo3o

Some news about Struma motorway, lot 3 (Blagoevgrad - Sandanski), which will include long tunnels.



> The tender evaluation committee for the tender "Preparation of the preliminary design of the Struma Motorway Lot 3 "Blagoevgrad - Sandanski" completed its work. The employer issued Decision № ОП-1-РШ-001 / 27.03.2013 and the ranking of the tenderers is as follows:
> First place: "Via Plan – Amberg JV" - with a price offer - BGN 1 999 950 excluding VAT;
> Second place: JV "Sweco - Burda" - with a price offer - BGN 2 395 000 excluding VAT;
> Third place: Consortium "TECOPY Struma Motorway Lot 3 - 2013" - with a price offer - BGN 2 632 000 лв. excluding VAT;
> Forth place: “Struma 2013 Union" - with a price offer - BGN 2 658 948 excluding VAT;
> Fifth place: Consortium "TECNIC" - with a price offer - BGN 2 988 982 excluding VAT;
> Sixth place: JV "Technital - Rutex" - with a price offer - BGN 3 280 000 excluding VAT;
> Seventh place: JV "Via Flavia" - with a price offer - BGN 3 402 000 excluding VAT.
> The participant "Via Plan – Amberg JV" ranked in the first place is chosen as an executor for this tender.
> According to Art. 69, par. 1 of the Public Procurement Law, the following tenders were rehected because their offers did not meet the selection criteria:
> 1. "Geodata Engeneeing s.p.a.";
> 2. "Idom Engenharia and consultoria, S.A.";
> 3. JV "WBI Worldwide Engineering - Patproject - 2000";
> 4. JV "Struma BGI".
> The following tenders were rejected because the technical offers were not in compliance with the requirements of the Technical specification:
> 1. "PRO.ETA.VIP.ITA.CONSULT" JV;
> 2. "Struma Engineering" JV ;
> 3. JV "Sering – I.P. 2013".
> The following tenderers had offered prices with more than 20% lower than the average of the rest of the prices and in accordance with Art. 70, par. 3 of the Public Procurement Law were rejected because the justification provided was not considered acceptable by the evaluation committee:
> 1. JV "Sudop – IKP – Mist ";
> 2. Consortium "ATI - Struma 3";
> 3. Consortium "Mosty";
> 4. JV "MP+DPP - Struma".
> In compliance with Art. 73, par. 3 of the Public Procurement Law, the decision along with the reasons for rejection were sent to all tenderers.
> The contract will be financed under Operational Programme on Transport 2007-2013.


http://www.ncsip.bg/tenders_en.html

^^


> Amberg Engineering Switzerland is a specialised engineering designer for underground structures. For more than 40 years, we have been developing solutions in the fields of underground railway, road and metro tunnels, caverns and infrastructure galleries.
> 
> Amberg Engineering Switzerland is one of the world's leading engineering companies in underground construction. We provide clients with professional and cost-effective solutions, from planning, design, site supervision and commissioning through to renewal and refurbishment of structures. Alongside this, our expertise includes project management and consulting, as well as inspections and state assessments.
> 
> Amberg Engineering Switzerland is, together with the international Amberg Engineering offices, part of Amberg Engineering that is, in turn, part of the Amberg Group. The companies of the Amberg Group use the available synergies and work together as a network.


http://www.ambergengineering.ch/en/about-us/


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## PhirgataZFs1694

gogo3o said:


> Some news about Struma motorway, lot 3 (Blagoevgrad - Sandanski), *which will include long tunnels*.


one 13km tunnel
and
one 2,5km tunnel:nuts:


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## IUnknown

New pictures from the official site of Vidin - Calafat bridge www.danubebridge2.com 31 Mar 2013

View of the Bridge









Assembly of the first meters of the railway route of the approaches to the Bridge









View of the approaches to the Bridge









Construction of a draining shaft for rain waters at abutment A2









Assembly of rails and sleepers along the railway route of the approaches to the Bridge


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## neaguionutu

Hello!

Please indicate on the map the route deviation European road E 79 in the Sandanski-Kulata!
Makaza border crossing point when it opens?

Thank you very much!


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## Malazana

Here's a link to the route in google maps: http://goo.gl/maps/p8vln
You basically need to the exit in Marikostinovo to route 198 and then proceed to Kulata and from then to the border. As for the Makaza border point, no one knows when it'll be opened.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*galin_gradev* has made another super extensive photo report on construction of *Trakia motorway[A1]*, section *Yambol-east - Karnobat*.

It starts here.

First post:


galin_gradev said:


> Приятели, старая се да направя невъзможното за да имате информация от Лот 4.2. Тръгвайки към село като цяло бях скептичен, че ще видя развитие, но реалността ме изуми. Ще получите два репортажа от 29.03 и 03.04, а след по-малко от три седмици, когато отида пак на вилата и до пуска изобщо ще бъдете по-информирани от министъра на регионалното развитие. Не зная как изобщо допуснахме, че холдинг като "Пътно строителна техника" с численост от 1000 души ще изпадне в небитието.
> Показно асфалтиране на аварийна лента по северното платно:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> От надлез на км.293+160 с гледки към гондолите превозващи ЦСО:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> С благодарност към един от големите доставчици на нет в София, чиято флашка използвам.


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## vectom

How true is piece of info that Bulgaria will switch from vignettes to closed tolls system in 2015?


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## Malazana

vectom said:


> How true is piece of info that Bulgaria will switch from vignettes to closed tolls system in 2015?


It's only talk for now. We are supposed to switch the systems following a EU directive, but we'll probably end up being 4-5 years fashionably late. :dance:


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## vectom

well, hope Bulgaria will remain on this ultra cheap vignette system for at least 2020 then  Honestly, I'm not sure that Bulgaria can finance its growing motorway network with current vignette incomes, wouldn't be surprised to see tolls there even earlier than 2015 - it's nice opportunity to generate more state-sponsored work places, if nothing else


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## TrueBulgarian

vectom said:


> well, hope Bulgaria will remain on this ultra cheap vignette system for at least 2020 then  Honestly, I'm not sure that Bulgaria can finance its growing motorway network with current vignette incomes, wouldn't be surprised to see tolls there even earlier than 2015 - it's nice opportunity to generate more state-sponsored work places, if nothing else


The directive only says that the toll system is mandatory for non-car traffic, so I doubt we'll see a toll system soon. I still think that Germany's system of putting more fuel duty is better: 1) fairest 2) cheapest 3) ecological aspect (the less fuel you spend, the less you'll pay etc. We'll see what happens.


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## IUnknown

New pictures from the official site of Vidin - Calafat bridge www.danubebridge2.com 06 Apr 2013

Construction of the railway barrier of the Bridge









Construction of a railroad along the railway route to the Bridge









Construction of a railroad along the railway route to the Bridge









Construction of a railroad along the railway route to the Bridge









Construction of a railroad along the railway route to the Bridge









View to the approaches to the Bridge


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## Capt.Vimes

And while we are enjoying the pictures from the new bridge, the old one got closed for heavy traffic.



> Bulgaria-Romania Danube Bridge Closed for Tractor
> Trailers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tractor trailers and trucks over ten metric tons are banned from using Danube bridge between Bulgaria and Romania Monday.
> 
> On Sunday, a large pothole emerged in the "Bulgarian section" of the bridge, which links Bulgaria's Ruse and Romania's Giurgiu. The pothole is approximately 1 meter (3.2 feet) long and 80 centimeters wide and keeps growing, according to Bulgarian media. Asphalt and concrete debris have fallen over the train tracks, which run underneath the bridge.
> 
> Three vehicles have been reportedly slightly damaged by the pothole.
> 
> Traffic continues to be temporarily restricted to a single lane. Restrictions will be lifted after repairs conclude.
> 
> Bulgarian experts are expected to inspect and start fixing the pothole on Monday. The bridge will be fully closed for all vehicles for about two hours around noon over the inspections.


----------



## syst3m

*Danube Bridge 2 to launch in May*



> In mid-May the second Danube bridge shall be finally opened for traffic at Vidin/Calafat and then repairs of the bridge near Rousse can start. This was announced in Ruse by President Rosen Plevneliev. Tests of Danube Bridge 2, were executed ​​yesterday (April, 9th) and have shown excellent results.
> 
> Currently the shattered concrete construction of the facility near Rousse is temporarily fixed, but the bridge as a whole needs overhaul repairs.
> 
> President Rosen Plevneliev announced its intention to build two more bridges over the Danube, one should connect the highway between Bucharest and Svilengrad. For their construction European funding would be looked up.


http://tv7.bg/news/society/9711569.html

:cheers:


----------



## Recycler

TrueBulgarian said:


> The directive only says that the toll system is mandatory for non-car traffic, so I doubt we'll see a toll system soon. I still think that Germany's system of putting more fuel duty is better: 1) fairest 2) cheapest 3) ecological aspect (the less fuel you spend, the less you'll pay etc. We'll see what happens.


Wrong mate, you can drive across Bulgaria without having to pay for a fuel - the distances are short. That's why the vignette system is better. 
Kalotina - Kapitan Andreevo for instance, it's less than 400 km  You drive across, without paying for fuel at all = no income for the state.


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## syst3m

depends on how much eur/km is the toll rate


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## Chilio

First video of crossing the Danube on the new bridge between Calafat and Vidin:


rast said:


> road from romania to bulgaria


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## panda80

Recycler said:


> Wrong mate, you can drive across Bulgaria without having to pay for a fuel - the distances are short. That's why the vignette system is better.
> Kalotina - Kapitan Andreevo for instance, it's less than 400 km  You drive across, without paying for fuel at all = no income for the state.


In Turkey and Greece the fuel is more expensive so I think that most persons in transit through Bulgaria will buy also fuel there.


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## cassini83

^^ It is now. That might not be the case if the fuel taxes go up


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## radi6404

so i was on holiday in Bulgaria and unlike the bullshit talk here on the forum the Strua motorway does not een have any damage, no holes, no cracks, no waves, it is as good as it always was and that has really amazed me, since the motorway is really smooth, even and has no bumps at all after more than 7 years now. 

I have recorded some videos of the motorway, but i have to remove the voices in order to show them, where my father is talking. I haveof thso recorded a vivdeo of the construction of the Struma motorway and the new stretch looks very good, really black asphalt, many bridges, it goes up and down but it is rather straight and will allow fast passage and high speed.

I have also recorded a video of the Ljulin motorway and one video of the construction of the western Sofia motorway bypass, which is under consgruction finally, so a lot of roads are under contruction right now which is really pleasant to see.

I must say that the Ljulin motorway is a good motorway but does have a few more waves than the struma, the asphalt is a bit too soft for me and it is not as quiet as the struma motorway asphalt. 

The struma motorway asphalt is very similar to thel Slovenian asphalt, my fathers loud Fiat Coupé is very quiet and the radio can be heart very well on the quiet struma motorway and on the quiet slovenian motorways, but we can not understand one word from the radio or from anything else on the loud Serbian motorways or loud Croatina motorways, which are quite poor compared to the incredible struma or slovenian motorwas which in my opinion are the best in europe. Let's hope the next section will be just as good.


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## syst3m

A3 Struma section U/C and snowy Rila mountain in the background 


















More here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=221


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## radi6404

the asphalt seems to e the same on the emergency and drivving lanes, except that is ot the final layer of asphalt.


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## pilotos

How would it be different? The EL accounts for hardly 10% of the total width. As you can see the road width is covered by two times the width of the machine used to lay down the asphalt, imagine now that they had to drive by 3 times instead, in order to use a different quality for EL. That would mean your beloved struma would never be finished  !


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## gogo3o

Video from A1 Trakia





--

The last 34 km section of A1 Trakia motorway (360km total) b/n Yambol and Karnobat is still U/C, but we have reasons to believe that the section will enter in service in Q3 2013.

Regular photo updates in this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1185569&page=235


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## gogo3o

A 8.4 section of A2 Hemus motorway b/n Sofia ring road and Yana interchange probably will enter in service in June 2013.









More photos from user 7588 here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1235673&page=184

The other 8 km section that is U/C (b/n Shumen and the village of Panayot Volovo) is in a huge delay and the progress is very slow.


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## gogo3o

Another great photo report by galin gradev for lot 1 (Dolna Dikanya-Dupnitsa, ~17km) of A3 Struma:

















More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=102227040#post102227040

The construction company GBS is doing amazing job and probably the section will enter in service in June, several months ahead of schedule. GBS also won the contract for lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad, 37 km) with deadline for design and construction in Dec 2014 (only 22 months), so we can expect little miracles from them.

Meanwhile, National Company Strategic Infrastructure Projects is preparing the preliminary project for lot 3 (Blagoevgrad-Sandanski), the longest one with its 64 km and the hardest for construction due to the protected Kresna gorge.

Finally, we have not so much info about the progress of lot 4 (Sandanski-Kulata border crossing to Greece, 15km), but we still know that the traffic will deviated via Petrich from 20.04.2013 and probably the construction works will speed up. The deadline for construction is in March 2014.









More:http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=102227485&postcount=4454


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## gogo3o

Unfortunately, the news for A4 Maritsa motorway are not good for all sections U/C, total ~78km. Delays are expected.

One panoranic pic of the construction of the bridge over Maritsa river:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5843/imageauwa.jpg

--

Also, the tenders for another two motorways are under question, as it's not sure there will be sufficient EU funding - a section of Kalotina motorway (Herakovo-Kalotina border crossing to Serbia, 31 km) and Northern Sofia Bypass motorway (aka Nothern Speed Tangent), 16.5 km. The caretaker minister of regional development Mrs Zaharieva announced that if the EU funding is not sufficient, a loan will be taken from EIB for Northern Sofia Bypass.


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## gogo3o

In conclusion, as of April, 562 km of motorways are in service, another 199 km are under various stages of construction, and 48 km are being tendered.

Table overview in wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highways_in_Bulgaria#Motorways

Map:


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## radi6404

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ot0v3rZsi0&feature=youtu.be


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## syst3m

Danube bridge 2 / january 2013


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## Chilio

radi6404 said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ot0v3rZsi0&feature=youtu.be


I see you always drive (travel) in the left lane, so it's no surprise you can't feel the waves and defects caused by the heavy trucks and other slower traffic, which drive in the right lane... I also see the defect at 3:35 in the right lane till stays unrepaired...


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## syst3m

A3 struma motorway near Drensko hanche
galin gradev strikes again





































more here http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=102381126


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## radi6404

The vitosha mountain is surely one of the more impressive mountains in Bulgaria, it is steep and rocky and has steep slopes and peaks. The slopes in Sofia are pretty high and steep and for example the slope where the high tv tower is build looks really tiny in comparison to the alpine slope the tv tower stands. Vitosha is a great mountain.


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## radi6404

I like a lot that the old E-79 can be seen from the motorway. The people passing there, seeing the shiny blue sings, pass over the brilliant looking E-79 on the Struma motorway and see the great mountains will think they are passing in an extremly modern country. Not a lot of countries have a modern and smooth nationalroad that can be seen from the motorway, foreign people will love it and talk about it in the pubs, they will be amazed.


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## vitacit

wonderful scenery ! bulgarian mountains are indeed beautiful !


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## gogo3o

A 3km section of Sofia ring road's west arc b/n A6 Lyulin motorway and Slivnitsa blvd (and the road to Kalotina border crossing to Serbia) is in a process of expansion. 

Recent sat image:


bmbg said:


>


and report from Senna 1:













More pics here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=365

The section includes 2 important interchanges - one with highly populated Lyulin neighbourhood, and another with Slivnitsa blvd./currect road to Serbia.



Chilio said:


>


--

Also, the next 5.5 km section of the west arc is being tendered, but like Kalotina motorway and Northern Sofia Bypass, it depends on the financing from EU money or maybe from a loan.


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## Turnovec

Some pretty nice aerial photos of different road facilities across the country, made by http://www.skymedia-bg.com/

Trakia near Stara Zagora





























Burgas south exit




















Lyulin becomes Struma near Pernik


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## radi6404

you can see how the Struma motorway has darker asphalt than the Ljulin motorway. I can tell the Ljulin will have some defects four years from now, even now it has a few waves and bumps, but it is not the worst, it is average but not as good as the Struma which has only one tiny defect after 7 years. Let's see how the new Struma motorway will be, I have big trust in Glavbulgarstroi, since they built the road to Bansko very very well and smooth.










The small tower on the top of the Vitosha mountain slope is about 160 m high and look how tiny it looks, so you can iagine how big the mountain slope aktually is.


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## AbuDhabiBoy

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Okay. Another map in cyrillic then - main transit flows in Bulgaria:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Road map with planned and U/C motorways:


Wow...Turkey is almost 75 % responsible for traffic in bulgarian roads 

From 4 lines of 6 are going to Turkey ( Kapitan Andreewo - Kapikule ). I think a direct highway ( Svilengrad-Ruse ) between Romania and Turkey will come in future.


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## syst3m

Interesting article http://ruse.dir.bg/news.php?id=13670299

The state thinks about building new bridge between Rousse/Giurgiu.
The current bridge has not been repaired in years and is having difficulties taking the increased traffic.
That paired with the project of building Rousse-Svilengrad highway results the need of a new bridge ...


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## AbuDhabiBoy

Is the Kalotina Highway ( Dmitrowgrad - Sofia ) under construction ? And also Sofia Bypass ?


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## radi6404

As you can see on the map the Kalotina motorway is not under construction yet, also noone has talked about it for now, so it is not under construction yet.


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## AbuDhabiBoy

But are plans already expressed - Road Map ? I am talking about future !


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## radi6404

You can see the path on the maps, but I don't know specific plans for it yet, I am especially wondering where it will pass at the mountains, the motorway could fit in the narrow valley if the current road is removed and used as a motorway, otherwise the motorway would probably pass elsewhere, which will raise the cost for it a lot, if it has to be build around the mountain probably to the north of the valley.


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## syst3m

Sofia northern bypass is tendered atm. Construction is expected to begin probably in autumn 2013.
Kalotina motorway is at stage projects. Financing however has not yet been secured.


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## radi6404

Does anyone know where it will pass? I hope it will fit in the current valley so the costs will be much less than building it to the north or south of the mountain, also the distance will be much more if it will be build around the valley. I only see difficulty at the train bridge near the border.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

radi6404 said:


> Does anyone know where it will pass? I hope it will fit in the current valley so the costs will be much less than building it to the north or south of the mountain, also the distance will be much more if it will be build around the valley. I only see difficulty at the train bridge near the border.


It will be replace the current road. Unfortuantely it would not be a complete motrway-A29(2x3.75+3.5e). The first 15km till the border will be something like an micro-motorway(2x3.5+2e). The rest will be something like an mini-motrway(2x3.75+2e).

BTW, *Hemus motorway[A2]* new junction near *Sofia Ring Road* that is U/C is now visible on *GoogleEarth*. Here's an aerial of the same section that is U/C:


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## pobre diablo

AbuDhabiBoy said:


> Wow...Turkey is almost 75 % responsible for traffic in bulgarian roads


Not all of it originates from Turkey. There is also a lot of traffic to/from Middle East.


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## Sunfuns

pobre diablo said:


> Not all of it originates from Turkey. There is also a lot of traffic to/from Middle East.


Really? Syria, Iraq an Iran don't seem to be likely sources of much traffic at this time...


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## TrueBulgarian

Sunfuns said:


> Really? Syria, Iraq an Iran don't seem to be likely sources of much traffic at this time...


You'd be surprised. Plus, that's only international traffic, local still counts for the majority


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## pobre diablo

Sunfuns said:


> Really? Syria, Iraq an Iran don't seem to be likely sources of much traffic at this time...


You see many Iranian trucks on the roads.


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## AbuDhabiBoy

I have seen much turkish trucks and cars with german plates ( especially in summer ) on bulgarian roads.


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## pobre diablo

^^
The cars are Turks in Germany going to Turkey on vacation. There are also many Turkish cars of Turks originally from Bulgaria who now live in Turkey and visit their hometowns in the summer.


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## Tachi

gogo3o said:


> Unfortunately, the news for A4 Maritsa motorway are not good for all sections U/C, total ~78km. Delays are expected.


Could you be more specific? Why are they delayed? So none of the sections will be finished before the end of 2013? Are there new expected finishing dates? 

Cirpan - Dimitrovgrad
Dimitrovgrad - Harmanli
Svilengrad - Kap. Andreevo
Do the delays also affect the modernization of the border checkpoint Kapitan Andreevo?


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## gogo3o

Unfortunately, I cannot be so specific about dates. The focus now is on finishing the last remaining stretch of A1 Trakia motorway for the summer season, but A4 has much more problems and there's no info in the media. 

In fact, our forumers provide more info than all the media...

Here's a recent report from *REAKT0R* of lot 1 (Orizovo-Dimitrovgrad):


REAKT0R said:


> 5 км
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> около 6 км
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> ~8 км


More in this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=99

Lot 2 (Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli), works at 60+201 km:



Ivelina said:


>


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## Lollin

I have a question. When the last open stretch of highway A1 between Yambol and Karnobat. Or to continue construction work on this section.


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## syst3m

first ETA was end of May ... now officials say, because of to delays - end of June, the final lot will be open and we'll have a complete A1.


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## syst3m

busy work at a3 struma
more here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=232


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## svt11

galin_gradev said:


>


Oh, man:banana:


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## rtifosi

Hi, I would like to ask something.
The underpass of the A3, photos 3 and 5, why is it there? I mean, will some other road pass over the highway in the future?
Thanks.


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## IUnknown

^^
This is an overpass for wild animals, mostly bears.


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## Tachi

gogo3o said:


> Unfortunately, I cannot be so specific about dates. The focus now is on finishing the last remaining stretch of A1 Trakia motorway for the summer season, but A4 has much more problems and there's no info in the media.
> 
> In fact, our forumers provide more info than all the media...
> 
> Here's a recent report from *REAKT0R* of lot 1 (Orizovo-Dimitrovgrad):
> 
> More in this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=99
> 
> Lot 2 (Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli), works at 60+201 km:


Well it doesn't like it will finish this year. And it also doesn't look like it will be finished next year hno: That's what I have understood (with the help of Google Translate) from the thread you mentioned.


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## rtifosi

@IUnknown
Thanks


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## radi6404

IUnknown said:


> ^^
> This is an overpass for wild animals, mostly bears.





rtifosi said:


> Hi, I would like to ask something.
> The underpass of the A3, photos 3 and 5, why is it there? I mean, will some other road pass over the highway in the future?
> Thanks.


I asked that aswell in the Bulgarian forum.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Danube bridge Calafata - Vidin tolls:
Cars - 2 euro
Trucks - 12 to 37 euro depending on weight
Minivans from 9 to 23 seats - 12 euro
Buses - 25 euro


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## gogo3o

Sofia ring road, near Lyulin neighbourhood.



FloatingShift said:


>


More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=371


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## gogo3o

Yambol-Karnobat of A1


galin_gradev said:


> На север към гр.Стралджа:
> 
> 
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> Върху битумизиран трошен камък на запад към надлез на км.299+888:
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> На км.301:
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> Положена ЦСО:
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> Фирмите от сдружението освободили участъка от км.310 до км.325 работят м/у км.304 и км.310. С тази интензивност на работа е напълно реалистично, ПСТ да предадат своя участък до 01.07. Не така изглежда участъка на ИСА 2000, които са много далеч от мобилизация.


More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1185569&page=246


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## gogo3o

FloatingShift said:


> A2, b/n Sofia ring road and Yana interchange


More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1235673&page=191


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## svt11

cyberdude said:


> *Кабинетът одобри проекта за граничен пункт на Дунав мост II*
> _Цените за преминаване по новия мост ще са равни на таксите при стария_
> 
> Министерският съвет одобри проекта за междуправителственото споразумение между България и Румъния за изграждане на граничен контролно-пропускателен пункт при Дунав мост II. Споразумението ще се сключи с вербална нота, съобщават от правителствената пресслужба.
> 
> Не е ясно точно кога ще бъде пуснат мостът между Видин и Калафат в експлоатация, но се предвижда да стане през май.
> 
> Двете страни се договориха приходите от таксите да се разпределят пропорционално на вложените средства и заради това по-голямата част от тях ще постъпват в България. Цените за преминаване на моста ще са същите като на моста Русе - Гюргево, каза финансовият министър Калин Христов.
> 
> *Леките автомобили до 3.5 тона ще плащат две евро за преминаване, а таксите за камионите, в зависимост от тонажа, са от 12 до 37 евро. Бусовете с между 9 и 23 места ще плащат по 12 евро, а автобусите – по 25 евро.*
> 
> 
> http://bgonair.bg/bg/news/bulgaria/..._proekta_za_granichen_punkt_na_dunav_most_ii/


Here are the taxes on the new Danube Bridge 

*Cars up to 3.5 tonnes - 2€
trucks, depending on tonnage, - 12 to 37 €
Buses with between 9 and 23 places - 12 € 
Autobuses - 25 €*


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## gogo3o

Danube Bridge 2 (Vidin-Calafat) will open to traffic on 15.06.2013, Romanian PM says.
*Source* (in Romanian): http://adevarul.ro/locale/craiova/f...a-iunie-1_517df7fb053c7dd83f582025/index.html


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## LG_

svt11 said:


> Двете страни се договориха приходите от таксите да се разпределят пропорционално на вложените средства и заради това по-голямата част от тях ще постъпват в България. Цените за преминаване на моста ще са същите като на моста Русе - Гюргево, каза финансовият министър Калин Христов.


This is to say, that the collection of the road taxes would be proportional to the investments of the both countries in the construction.

But the article here: 
http://adevarul.ro/locale/craiova/f...a-iunie-1_517df7fb053c7dd83f582025/index.html says that all the road taxes will be collected by Romania.



> Toate taxele rutiere vor fi încasate de statul român, iar bulgarii vor rămâne doar cu taxele feroviare.



What is now?


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## ChrisZwolle

radi6404 said:


> Also why can I not post here, the site is not loading for me at all and takes ages. mostly I get a message saying "Server is too busy at the moment", why is that?


The serves has issues with displaying such shiny crashbarriers.


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## Ansteyfox

Any idea when the final part of the A1 from Yambol to Karnobat will open?

Hoping to travel on it on 18th June 2013, do you think I have much chance?


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## JloKyM

Ansteyfox said:


> Any idea when the final part of the A1 from Yambol to Karnobat will open?
> 
> Hoping to travel on it on 18th June 2013, do you think I have much chance?


No unfortunately. It will be ready between July 1st and August 1st according to members of the forum making regular photo updates from the construction.


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## svt11

Trakia highway near river Mochirtsa


galin_gradev said:


> Изгледи от мост на р.Мочурица на км.304+845. ЦСО по дясното платано продължава до км.305+200:
> На запад към ССН на км.304+360:


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## svt11

A2 Hemus motorway Sofia part



Der Rattenfänger said:


> Така, ето и няколко снимки от днес. Малко ме е срам да ги качвам на фона на хубавите репортажи, които някои съфорумници направиха. За жалост нямам нито техниката, нито времето, нито фотографските способности, за да ги конкурирам. Дано все пак получите някаква полезна информация. Снимките са правени в посока от СОП към гара Яна:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> Няколко снимки от изграждането на кръговото за Джъмбо и за Подбалканския път:





Der Rattenfänger said:


> Вляво се вижда мястото, където беше любимия стълб. Както казах, там вече е положена настилка:
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> Надлезите, за които споменах:
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> Петропроводът:
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> Край!
> 
> Надявам се да съм бил полезен


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## PhirgataZFs1694

svt11 said:


> Trakia highway near river *Mochirtsa*


*Mochuritsa*


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## Andrej_LJ

*Bulgaria motorway openings 2013-2015*


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*Danube bridge 2 Clafat(RO) - Vidin(BG)* part of *corridor IV* will open on *14th June*.:banana:


Updated progress on *Trakia motorway[A1]* *lot 4.2 Yambol-east - Karnobat*. Thanks to *oin*, *galin_gradev* and *7711*.


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## MichiH

Andrej_LJ said:


> ...


What's the source for A7? Is it now defined as the official number?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

MichiH said:


> What's the source for A7? Is it now defined as the official number?


It's not an official number. It's currently a forum reference number:lol:

Part of *galin_gradev* regular photo reports of *Trakia motorway[A1] lot 4.2 Yambol-east - Burgas*, date *19.05*:


galin_gradev said:


> Надлез на км.315+180:
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> ~300м. около надлеза не са на ЦСО по дясното платно:
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> Обещах да ги похваля, колко много работят:
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> Към ССН на км.317+032:


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## darko06

Worth reading:

From today's hot theme in Serbian newspaper Politika:
http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Tranzit-kroz-Srbiju/Strani-prevoznici-zaobilaze-Koridor-10.sr.html

Googletranslate:

*Foreign carriers bypass the Corridor 10*

Truckers due to delays at the border crossings and expensive costs decide for adjacent Corridor 4. The Customs Administration said the average stay in the truck entering Serbia is 85 minutes.


Because of our delay in the construction of Corridor 10 and the increasingly fierce competition, the international highway through Serbia linking Western Europe with the Middle East comes in danger of falling into the traffic obsolescence. Although it is the shortest road connection from Austria to Turkey, since Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007, on Corridor 10 there is a drop in traffic of 35 per cent. Serbia's position could be in jeopardy by the competitive Corridor 4, because the lack of a bridge on the Danube River on the border between Bulgaria and Romania, near the town of Vidin, will be eliminated by the end of this month when the newly built bridge will be opened to traffic. Because the highway from Germany through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria is free of border procedures, with one arm connected to Istanbul and the other to Thessaloniki, our country could have a serious problem.

Miodrag Icy (Poledica), State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, is not afraid that the bridge will drag transit traffic from our roads, because the access infrastructure to the bridge is not built. In addition, Corridor 4 is not completed through Romania, and on the road from Sofia to Vidin bridge is in the rank of ordinary road. It is not competitive, as he says, because on it one travels 100 kilometers longer from Germany to Turkey.

-Where they're competitive is that there are no border crossings. The main reason is that the drivers who move from Turkey to the West have only one border checks, on entering Bulgaria, where they enter the EU. From there, via Romania, have a free pass to the final destination. On the other hand, if you choose to Corridor 10, from Bulgaria to the border with Serbia you have another check, and on the border with Croatia third check, and only after that in entering Slovenia they enter the EU - Icy (Poledica) says.

Carrier who travels to Greece is worth to bypass better infrastructure and a shorter route through Serbia and Macedonia via Bulgaria to reach its destination. Shortening the time spent at the border, it covers the cost of slightly longer times of driving.

Milan Kovacevic, a consultant for investment, assures us that our poor organization will cost us. If we have completed Corridor 10, before the Bulgarians finish bridge at Vidin, such as ministers promised - we could send a clear message to transit passengers and made them a habit to travel through our country. I tell you what, he says, now we will have to fight for every truck.

- Over Serbia is the shortest route from Central Europe to Asia, but not the cheapest. Different toll collection system in comparison to other European countries can confuse travelers, and there is more expensive for them to pay a toll per kilometer than to buy a vignette. So we have to be aligned with the rest of Europe. And we need to simplify administrative procedures. It is inconceivable that the trucks spend a lot of time at the border crossing. Anyone who crosses the border can notice that - said Kovacevic.

The Customs Administration said that the results of their measurements of the longest average time spent on entering our country in the first two months of this year, is 85 minutes. Similar retention time was observed during the whole of last year.

They state that the number of trucks on the busiest border crossings who remain longer than five hours is very small compared to the total number that appears at the entrance and exit from our country.

For example, they took the month of February 2013, in which on Horgos border crossing from 1,500 trucks entered the country only 30 remained there for more than five hours, while on Batrovci from nearly 1,900 only 29 trucks retained for more than five hours at the entrance to the land.

- In addition to customs officials at border crossings there are various inspection services (which are not part of the Customs, but under the jurisdiction of different ministries), without whose consent the goods can not enter the territory of the Republic of Serbia. These services do not have a 24-hour duty as customs officials, and drivers are forced to wait for officials to obtain necessary permits - an indication is made in the Customs. They emphasize that the officer must have the written approval of the competent inspectors who guarantee that it is correct to allow the goods to keep traveling farther.

Customs procedures, if complete, should be made immediately and be very short.

-Retention of these vehicles, therefore, has all sorts of reasons that did not correlate with the work of customs services (documentation is not complete, awaiting approval by a competent inspection, vehicle defect, driver vacation, etc.), said the people in the Customs Administration.

Exactly how much the truck passes through Serbia is difficult to determine, since the data from all institutions that have contact with them are different. Administration of Customs and the Bureau of Statistics recorded a rise in the number of vehicles that transit on our roads lately.

According to the Institute of Statistics, the number of trucks who transit Serbia is dropped with admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. Austria, Germany and Bulgaria have halved the number of passes through Serbia. The Greeks also used less Corridor 10. Number of trucks with license plates of those countries has been steadily declining, but the real concern is also decline of Turkish trucks. All this indicates that they go to an alternative route.

But when looking at the total sum of all cargo vessels transiting the 2012th year, he was increased by 5.8 percent from the previous year, but lower than it was prior to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU.

Marianne Avakumović

Released: 26.05.2013


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## gogo3o

Thanks for the article. Unfortunately Corridor 4 is not upgraded to a highway standart in many sections both in Bulgaria and Romania and will take a lot of years to upgrade these sections. Definitely Vidin-Calafat bridge will take a share of the traffic, and maybe even it will be a better choice to travel during the summer, but I don't think it will take much of the traffic. Things could improve when more highway sections are built in BG and RO and when both counties enter in Schengen.

However, Vidin-Calafat bridge offers a choice and I'm glad that it will open to traffic in less than a month.


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## nenea_hartia

^According to the Romanian Minister for Transport, the toll for Danube Bridge 2 has been set to 6 euros/car. All money will be collected at the tall station in Calafat, Romania, and distributed as follows: 83% to Bulgaria and 17% to Romania, because 83% of the entire investment is Bulgarian. (link)


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## MichiH

I read the Bulgarian Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva affirmed that the last section of the A1 Trakia motorway from _Yambol _to _Karnobat _will be completed until 1st July 2013. Does anybody already know the exact opening date?


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## eucitizen

Where are the border controls? On Romanian side?


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## MichiH

eucitizen said:


> Where are the border controls? On Romanian side?


Exactly! See OSM.


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## svt11

MichiH said:


> I read the Bulgarian Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva affirmed that the last section of the A1 Trakia motorway from _Yambol _to _Karnobat _will be completed until 1st July 2013. Does anybody already know the exact opening date?


Yes, she was in some interview on Bulgaria National TV, but 1st of July for some is still not sure 100%.


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## MichiH

svt11 said:


> but 1st of July for some is still not sure 100%.


Frankly speaking: The section will definitely maybe opened until 1st of July .


----------



## suvi genije

^^
You can see on photo updates that July 2013 is not realistic, there are many works on field....


----------



## MichiH

suvi genije said:


> You can see on photo updates that July 2013 is not realistic, there are many works on field....


Sorry, I havn't recognized that the latest pictures are from the A1.

I cannot believe how a politician may announce such a bullshit without any consequence!? It is only one month until 1st of July.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

amst said:


> Chriss, the motorway from Craiova to Pitesti would help Romanian traffic or better yet heavy traffic to Constanta Port.. I would not see that as much help to International heavy traffic coming from Bulgaria..


I was talking about Beograd - București, which is an east-west route that briefly passes through Bulgaria.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

I have heard today a new higher prognosis about the total amount of vehicles to past the first year - they increased it from 100 000 to 415 000.


----------



## mpeculea

100.000 cars per year means 278 vehicles per day. It is a little pessimistic and catastrophic scenario. 415.0000 means 1.138 vehicles per day. That is better. Six times better.


----------



## Surel

ChrisZwolle said:


> Additionally, a full motorway route doesn't have the same advantage to a trucker like it does for a car driver. Trucks are limited at 80 - 90 km/h, so unless the route is curvy and goes through a lot of towns, the average speed on a non-motorway or motorway doesn't vary a whole lot for trucks.
> 
> Plus, you have to see this bridge in context of near-future developments, not the current network, which is indeed lacking, especially in Romania. This new bridge will be a huge cataclysm for future developments. In addition, this bridge is also useful for a link between Beograd and București, especially if the planned Craiova - București Expressway and the Paraćin - Zaječar Expressway will be constructed by 2020-2025.


Yes, but therefore I see this bridge more as of having regional importance, connecting Romania, Bulgaria, but mainly Romania and Serbia, Romania and Greece.

I most certainly don't see it as helping the connection of Greece and Germany.

The completion of A1 and A3 in Romania and A2 in Bulgaria should get priority anyway. And after they are finished, the bridge won't be so important anymore.

I would guess that for the freight traffic the bridge might be important as long as Serbia is outside the EU, or outside a free trade agreement with the EU, after that the bridge won't have more than regional importance. I expect this (Serbia in the EU or some sort of free trade agreement) long before a motorway runs all the way from Szeged through Craiova and Vidin/Calafat down to Sofia.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

mpeculea said:


> 100.000 cars per year means 278 vehicles per day. It is a little pessimistic and catastrophic scenario. 415.0000 means 1.138 vehicles per day. That is better. Six times better.


Considering that Giurgiu - Ruse bridge has more than 7-8 000 vehicles on not busy days, I am 100% percent their prognosis is extremely pesimistic.

Maybe by "for the first year" they meant only the remaining 2013:lol:
Then 100 000 vehicles for 6 months is 556 cars per day.
415 000 vehicles for 6 months is 2306 cars per day.

Here's another prognosis from a project manager published in a magazine:


----------



## TurboEngine

^^
^^

The alternative that the bridge provides is of national importance. Eg. Yugo wars in 90s.


----------



## alwn

Surel said:


> Yes, but therefore I see this bridge more as of having regional importance, connecting Romania, Bulgaria, but mainly Romania and Serbia, Romania and Greece.
> 
> I most certainly don't see it as helping the connection of Greece and Germany.
> 
> The completion of A1 and A3 in Romania and A2 in Bulgaria should get priority anyway. And after they are finished, the bridge won't be so important anymore.
> 
> *I would guess that for the freight traffic the bridge might be important as long as Serbia is outside the EU, or outside a free trade agreement with the EU,* after that the bridge won't have more than regional importance. I expect this (Serbia in the EU or some sort of free trade agreement) long before a motorway runs all the way from Szeged through Craiova and Vidin/Calafat down to Sofia.


Serbia wont join EU in the next 6-7 years at least. They have big issues with Kosovo and not only. On the other hand Romania and Bulgaria will get into Schengen in 1-2 years hopefully. Of course the main target of the bridge is to attract freight traffic from Turkey and Greece to central europe. Maybe you don't know how much time (and often money..) does spend a truck in custom even within EU ( non Schengen).After joining EU most of the trucks from south east Europe will chose this route, avoiding double checks and the money spent at the Serbian custom.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The main feeling is that RO and BG joined the EU too early, so I think that will be to Serbia's disadvantage for joining the EU quickly. Many in western Europe also oppose RO and BG's entry into the Schengen Area, although that is mostly for populistic reasons, in practice border checks are already fairly mild so being in Schengen doesn't make much of a difference anyway. Those who want to migrate from BG and RO to work elsewhere already left.


----------



## alwn

ChrisZwolle said:


> The main feeling is that RO and BG joined the EU too early
> 
> 
> 
> correct
> 
> 
> 
> Many in western Europe also oppose RO and BG's entry into the Schengen Area
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> also true, but at the end we shall join Schengen. ,
> 
> 
> 
> so being in Schengen doesn't make much of a difference anyway
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I think that from trucks could be important to avoid custom
Click to expand...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

alwn said:


> I think that from trucks could be important to avoid custom


True, but generally western politicians only think in terms of "criminals from Romania and Bulgaria" who can cross borders easier.


----------



## metacatfry

Are you guys talking about traffic prognosis absolutely certain they are for road vehicles? those figures could be for rail cars. they sound a bit more reasonable then.


----------



## Baiazid

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Here's another prognosis from a project manager published in a magazine:


What is the meaning of V, S, N in the picture above?


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Baiazid said:


> What is the meaning of V, S, N in the picture above?


High, average and low prognosis or traffic quantity.


----------



## alex.krastev

Currently, 3 lots of Struma motorway are U/C ( one of them is to be put in operation very soon ), starting from Greece border to Sofia. Sofia - Botevgrad is a motorway. Botevgrad - Mezdra is in excellent condition, and from Mezdra, up to Vidin, with the Mezdra and Vraca bypasses U/C, the road will not go through any village, so this means for trucks especially, almost constant speed of 80-90 km/h.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Anyway. The bridge at night:


----------



## javimix19

Hi, I have one question about Sofia Ring Road: is that road a motorway? or it is a conventional road. I see some photos in Wikipedia and seems like an expressway. 

If the ring is not finished, how long before all the ring is finished?


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

javimix19 said:


> Hi, I have one question about Sofia Ring Road: is that road a motorway? or it is a conventional road. I see some photos in Wikipedia and seems like an expressway.
> 
> If the ring is not finished, how long before all the ring is finished?


No, it is not finished. It would be a motorway with speed limit of 140kmh when finished. Only the southern part would be an urban motorway with a speed limit of 80kmh.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

More than *1 000* vehicles used the bridge on the first day.


----------



## suvi genije

darko06 said:


> We shall see a lot of them in near future. As can be seen, roads in Bulgaria from Sofia to Vidin are equal, maybe even better than the road Niš-Dimitrovgrad. From Sofia to Botevgrad there is motorway and from Mezdra to Vraca 2x2 expressway.


 I think you're wrong on this matter.
Nis-Dimitrovgrad is currently a 1+1 highway in good condition with many bypasses and multi level crossroads, and no road between Sofija/Botevgrad and Vidin is equal to that road.


----------



## suvi genije

darko06 said:


> Frankly speaking: Serbia had to concentrate on building motorway from Niš to Dimitrovgrad instead of wasting resources with (excuse me, but this is hard truth) Azer and Chinese credited motorway to Bar. I mention it here because I'm convinced that editors of Serbian thread shouldn't allow to post it there.


 You are free and welcomed to post anythnig that comes to your mind on Serbian and any other thread, regarding roads and motorways.
You're right, motorway to Bulgaria should be a priority, but motorway to Montenegro will only reach Cacak, and that is an urgent need too.
So, as for that, we are waiting you in Serbian thread.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

tanashubav said:


> So this is the opening schedule:
> -June 30-th 17km. of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa North
> -July 5-th 8km. of A2 Hemus between Shumen East na Panayot Volovo
> -July 17-th 35km. of A1 Trakiya between Yambol East and Karnobat
> -July 30-th 8,5km. of A2 Hemus between Sofia Ringroad and Yana


Update:cheers:


----------



## suvi genije

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Update:cheers:


 Fantastic! 
With bridge, 2013 is the best year for Bulgarian road infrastructure.


----------



## Andrej_LJ

suvi genije said:


> Fantastic!
> With bridge, 2013 is the best year for Bulgarian road infrastructure.


It is quite good, but it could have been much much better. If Marica motorway (A4 Plovdiv - TR border) had been finished this summer as planned, we could have added some 75 kilometers more. But all of the A4 sections are being postponed for next year. 

2014 - app. 95 km of new motorways (A4 - 75 km, A3 - 15 km, A0 - 5 km) and they are talking of full reconstruction of some 70 kilometers of the old part of A1 Trakiya between Pazardzhik and Plovdiv. 

2015 - app. 60 to 90 kilometers of new motorways (A3 - 37 km, A0 - 21 km and hopefully 31 kilometers of A7 towards the Serbian border).


----------



## oin

"Trakia" highway progress update 23.06:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

adriaticad said:


> Please tell me if the route 7 Dulovo - Schumen is working and if it's over the asphalt. Thnk you! Adriatica


The deadline is in September. Source


----------



## gogo3o

nice aerial pics of Vidin-Calafat bridge :cheers:



velbujd said:


> Нови снимки от моста 23.06.2013 г.
> http://danubebridge2.com/g-bg-most-13-iuni.php


----------



## javimix19

^^
Bery beautiful bridge.


----------



## rtifosi

^^What a beauty!


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

The one and only *Struma motorway[A3]* lot 1 *Dolna Dikanya* - *Dupnitsa*:










Alex_bg said:


> Последни снимки от 25.06.2013. Вървят довършителни работи главно по ландшафтно оформление. Мантинели и огради са готови над 99%. Асфалт и маркировка по моя преценка над 95% Само в първите 1-2 км. от възел Д.Диканя има няколко фрезовани участъка, готови за преасфалтиране. Скоро ще се реже лентата :cheers:! Табели и километрични знаци все още няма никъде. Виадуктът не е свързан със "сушата" .


This section would be opened on 30th June according to official sources. However, bulgarian forumers doubt that beacause the construction company is repaving a small stretch for some reason.


----------



## MichiH

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> This section would be opened on 30th June according to official sources. However, bulgarian forumers doubt that beacause the construction company is repaving a small stretch for some reason.
Click to expand...

Are you serious? :nuts:


----------



## gogo3o

The section that will enter in service is Dolna Dikania interchange - Dupnitsa-north interchange. This viaduct on the pic is also part of lot 1, but at present it leads to nothing, since lot 2 is not built yet, so they decided to leave its completion for the next months. The deadline for the whole lot 1 is in September, and the section that will enter in service (Dolna Dikania interchange - Dupnitsa-north interchange) will do that ahead of schedule (quite extraordinary for the region).:applause:


----------



## gogo3o

^^
Dolna Dikania I/C
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.452310&lon=23.110213&z=16&m=b

Dupnitsa-north I/C
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.334232&lon=23.095064&z=15&m=b

The viaduct in question
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.321224&lon=23.093154&z=16&m=b


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Ah that explains it. The rest looks nearly finished. Maybe they did some pavement test boring and found out some pavement quality wasn't up to standards, so they are repaving that. Usually the constructor has to cover any repairs in the warranty period, and it's cheaper to repair it now than after the first winter.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

New Europe bridge(Calafat - Vidin) added to GM rooting mechanics.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

oin said:


> "Trakia" highway progress update 23.06:


25.06:


oin said:


> Актуализация 25.06:
> 
> 
> 
> :cheers2:


----------



## tanashubav

tanashubav said:


> Next month will be very important for bulgarian highways development. Four sections part of three motorways will be opened. Probably the most important and maybe historical moment will happen at A1 Trakiya where the last 35 km. between Yambol and Karnobat will be finished. Bulgaria is going to have its first entirely finished motorway.
> Two short but very important sections of A2 Hemus will be opened.
> And the first EU financed LOT of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnica will be completed.
> 
> So this is the opening schedule:
> -June 30-th 17km. of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa North
> -July 5-th 35km. of A1 Trakiya between Yambol East and Karnobat
> -July 5-th 8km. of A2 between Shumen East na Panayot Volov
> -July 30-th 8,5km. of A2 between Sofia Ringroad and Yana


We have a slight correction. A1 Trakia will be opened at july 12 The Minister of regional development anounced yesterday.
Also A2 section between Shumen East and Panayot Volovo is not supose to be opened at 05.07, but more likely at the end of july.


----------



## gogo3o

Progress on *A2 Hemus*, the section at Shumen:










Zlati said:


> И аз минах през новата част във вторник качвам четири снимки движейки се към Варна.


----------



## Radish2

Any lot of new motorway looks better than the previous one, if I compare to the earlier lots with differently coloured shoulder those lots really look like sciense fiction. The new Trakya, Hemus and Struma really look impressive and beyond this planet. Bulgaria for sure knows how to build well looking roads.


----------



## vectom

Beyond this planet - compared with what Bulgarian roads looked like before. 
Seriously, I am very impressed by quick development of motorways in Bulgaria, well done. Yet, lets try to be real, new motorways there are fair and overall nice, but certainly not the latest fashion or the most advanced, even speaking for the Balkans. I.e. "Dalmatina" is still a sci-fi motorway to these. Also, can anyone give precise measures of right schoulder track on these new bulgarian motorways, as I'm constantly having an impression that its a little bit more narrow than for example Serbian and Croatian ones? There was a good comparison table somewhere on this board, maybe Andrej posted it?
and by the way, has anyone checked recently if Struma motorway got repaired on those few hundred meters somewhere after Pernik, track towards south? As I could notice there (august 2012) a big stretch of surface got depressed as it was caused by some kind of slight landslide.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

vectom said:


> Also, can anyone give precise measures of right schoulder track on these new bulgarian motorways, as I'm constantly having an impression that its a little bit more narrow than for example Serbian and Croatian ones? There was a good comparison table somewhere on this board, maybe Andrej posted it?


No. Bulgarian emergency lanes are 3.5m. I think there are no countries in EU with wider emeregency lanes.

Only Maritsa motorway[A4] will have 3m wide emergency lanes.


----------



## gogo3o

Where exactly are these depressed areas after Pernik? I've travelled about a week ago on A3 Struma and I did't notice anything. 

However, it's been reported by Galin that some streches of A3 b/n Dolna Dikania I/C and Dupnitsta-north I/C, are being repaved:









That's why this segment is not in service now.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

gogo3o said:


> Where exactly are these depressed areas after Pernik? I've travelled about a week ago on A3 Struma and I did't notice anything.
> 
> However, it's been reported by *Galin *that some streches of A3 b/n Dolna Dikania I/C and Dupnitsta-nort hI/C, are been repaved:...


This Galin.:cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Is there any official site which lists the tolls for the New Europe Bridge (a.k.a. Vidin - Calafat Bridge)?


----------



## Andrej_LJ

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is there any official site which lists the tolls for the New Europe Bridge (a.k.a. Vidin - Calafat Bridge)?


http://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/showMaterialDV.jsp?idMat=76756

That is the "official" site, actually the most official of all. I dont think there is an official site designated only to the bridge.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Thanks, I was looking for something like that.


----------



## gogo3o

Andrej_LJ said:


> http://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/showMaterialDV.jsp?idMat=76756
> 
> That is the "official" site, actually the most official of all. I dont think there is an official site designated only to the bridge.


I've put that in wikipedia :cheers:








http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Europe_Bridge


----------



## TurboEngine

vectom said:


> Yet, lets try to be real, new motorways there are fair and overall nice, but certainly not the latest fashion or the most advanced, even speaking for the Balkans. I.e. "Dalmatina" is still a sci-fi motorway to these.


We like build motorways without going bankrupt:lol:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is there any official site which lists the tolls for the New Europe Bridge (a.k.a. Vidin - Calafat Bridge)?





Andrej_LJ said:


> http://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/showMaterialDV.jsp?idMat=76756
> 
> That is the "official" site, actually the most official of all. I dont think there is an official site designated only to the bridge.


I think it's U/C(the site:lol.


----------



## rtifosi

gogo3o said:


> I've put that in wikipedia :cheers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Europe_Bridge


When it says cyclist, do they mean the motorcyclist or the plain cyclists?


----------



## gogo3o

^^


> a person who rides a bicycle.


http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cyclist

But it's strange that there's no different toll for motocyclists. I guess that they have to pay 6 euro.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I don't see why motorcyclists should pay less anyway. They don't cause more or less wear and tear than a car. The majority of the construction and pavement cost is to bear the weight of trucks, not cars or motorcyclists.


----------



## albertocsc

gogo3o said:


> I've put that in wikipedia :cheers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Europe_Bridge


What about prices in Lei?


----------



## gogo3o

If you have official source, I'll put the tolls in Lei in the tablekay:


----------



## albertocsc

gogo3o said:


> If you have official source, I'll put the tolls in Lei in the tablekay:


Not really, I was just curious about it, as maybe I will traverse the bridge this summer.


----------



## vectom

ChrisZwolle said:


> I don't see why motorcyclists should pay less anyway. They don't cause more or less wear and tear than a car. The majority of the construction and pavement cost is to bear the weight of trucks, not cars or motorcyclists.


average motorbike weights 5 times less than a car, and obviously has two wheels, not four. where's logic to charge it equal? 

in Bulgaria, motorbikes are even excluded from paying vignettes. In many countries, tolls are 50% cheaper for motorbikes.


----------



## gogo3o

albertocsc said:


> Not really, I was just curious about it, as maybe I will traverse the bridge this summer.


np, i've put that question in the Romanian section.

Have a nice journey and... please feel free to share your impressions and photos.:cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

vectom said:


> average motorbike weights 5 times less than a car, and obviously has two wheels, not four. where's logic to charge it equal?
> 
> in Bulgaria, motorbikes are even excluded from paying vignettes. In many countries, tolls are 50% cheaper for motorbikes.


Cars do not substantially damage pavement, neither do motorcycles. (1 heavy truck generates the same damage to the pavement as 100,000 cars). However they both use it in the same way (in fact motorcycles actually use more road space in dense traffic because of their "safety zone" around them). Lower tolls for motorcycles have no logic, it's just an acquired right people (motorcyclists) got accustomed to in many areas. Just like hotels or public services often charge less for children or seniors, while they incur the same costs to the operator as a regular adult. 

Toll road operators often abuse this, to charge motorists who tow a trailer more tolls. Technically it makes no notable difference in operational costs whether it's a motorcycle, car or car+trailer using the road. The real difference is axle load, especially over 2 tonnes per axle.


----------



## rtifosi

vectom said:


> average motorbike weights 5 times less than a car, and obviously has two wheels, not four. where's logic to charge it equal?
> 
> in Bulgaria, motorbikes are even excluded from paying vignettes. In many countries, tolls are 50% cheaper for motorbikes.


Also the weight that someone can have on his bike, except from the rider/passenger, is waaaay less than the weight a car can have.
So less wear for the road.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ That makes pretty much no difference. Major roads, such as toll roads, are typically designed for an axle load of 11.5 tonnes. Whether the axle load of a motorcycle is 100 kg or 600 kg for a passenger car (or car+trailer) is irrelevant in terms of wear and tear.


----------



## javimix19

gogo3o said:


> I've put that in wikipedia :cheers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Europe_Bridge


Oh, I thought that there aren't tolls in Bulgarian motorways. It is the only tolled infraestructure in Bulgaria or there are more tolls?


----------



## gogo3o

^^
Danube Bridge (Ruse-Giuriu) is also tolled 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giurgiu–Ruse_Bridge

These are the only exceptions.


----------



## rtifosi

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ That makes pretty much no difference. Major roads, such as toll roads, are typically designed for an axle load of 11.5 tonnes. Whether the axle load of a motorcycle is 100 kg or 600 kg for a passenger car (or car+trailer) is irrelevant in terms of wear and tear.


Roads are made of asphalt, right? Not diamonds.
So when we have contact between the tyre(s) and the asphalt, they both wear(of course with a quite different rate). So the bigger the load and the contact patch of the tyre(s), the bigger the wear of the asphalt. I am not saying that the difference is toooo much big, but there is a difference in wear of the asphalt.

In Greece, the toll prices for the bikes are much cheaper than the car's.
Just an example, if someone wants to cross Rio-Antirio bridge with a car, that will cost him/her 13,20 euros. The price for the bikes are 1.90 euros...
Anyway, sorry for the off-topic.


----------



## cassini83

I believe he's not referring to surface wear caused by friction, but 'wear' in terms of deterioration of the structural integrity of the pavement, caused by higher axle load of heavy truck traffic.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

albertocsc said:


> What about prices in Lei?





gogo3o said:


> If you have official source, I'll put the tolls in Lei in the tablekay:


Isn't the price in Lei floating due to the 'lea' not being pegged to the euro like the 'lev' is?


I've also read that on entering to Bulgaria you could pay only in lei or euro and on exiting - only in leva or euro.

Btw, I really love the discussion about different vehicle impact on roads.:cheers:


----------



## ionutz_08

is it possible around the first of august to know the number of cars and trucks wich crossed over the calafat-vidin bridge in one month?


----------



## gogo3o

^^
Probably.

--

*A1* Trakia (Yambol-east - Karnobat) *openning is set to 12.07.2013*.

Pics from 01 July:


velbujd said:


> *АМ "Тракия" лот 4.2 - Строителство - 01 юли 2013 г.*


More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1185569&page=291


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

ionutz_08 said:


> is it possible around the first of august to know the number of cars and trucks wich crossed over the calafat-vidin bridge in one month?


From today statement of our transport minister we understand that:
- the big amount of traffic had been a big surprise(It is not a surprise for skyscrapercity forumers because all bulgarian traffic prognosis turn out to be hugely pesimistic no matter it is about road traffic or number of passengers that will use the underground:bash
- there was a day in which more than 2000 cars(or vehicles?) used the bridge
- in the end of this week, in which the bridge is no longer free, additional prognosis and estimates about the efficiency of the bridge would be made(and hopefully published)


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Hemus motorway[A2] division by sections to be built:
























Sofia - София
Varna - Варна


----------



## javimix19

Are not interested Bulgarian government and Romanian Government in a motorway linking Sofia and Bucarest? I think it could be good for the tourism and commerce, but I see in the map that motorway connection is not planned.


----------



## cassini83

The "Hemus" motorway (A2) will effectively upgrade over half of the distance between the 2 cities up to a motorway standard. An expressway with no emergency lanes but with 120km/h speed limit is planned from A2 all the way up to Ruse. From that point on I'm not sure what the romanian plans are but it's a short distance to Bucharest anyway.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They should also focus on renovating existing motorways. Some of them are in shameful condition according to Street View.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Update!:cheers:


tanashubav said:


> So this is the opening schedule:
> -July 12-th 17km. of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa North
> -July 12-th 35km. of A1 Trakiya between Yambol East and Karnobat
> -July 31-st 8km. of A2 between Shumen East na Panayot Volova
> -July 31-st 8,5km. of A2 between Sofia Ringroad and Yana


----------



## gogo3o

Good news for *A4 Maritsa motorway*. Works have been resumed on lot 2. The same construction company - PST, that is about to complete Yambol-Karnobat on A1 Trakia motorway, has transferred machines and workers. Hope they will catch up, cause they are in a huge delay.























http://sakarnews.info/news.2170.Vazstanoviha_rabotata_na_magistrala_Marica.html


----------



## Sylwek

Hi guys, Zdrovejte

This year I'll spend my holidays in Sozopol again. My bulgarian trip starts in Rousse (Sunday, 14.07), then Shumen. And here's question.

A2 to Varna and along coast to Sozopol? I don't like it - huge coast traffic.

A few years ago some of you advised me A2 - Provadija - Aytos. Good alternative, but now is red on your map.

What do you think about Shumen - Karnobat or Shumen - Aytos (partly red)?

Regards from Poland
Sylwek


----------



## syst3m

just a suggestion: Shumen - Veselinovo - Prilep - Lazarevo - Karnobat - A1
check google street view too


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Sylwek said:


> Hi guys, Zdrovejte
> 
> Regards from Poland
> Sylwek


I wish you a nice visit!:cheers:

Update! Red - later than last update. Green - sooner than last update.


tanashubav said:


> So this is the opening schedule:
> -July 12-th 17km. of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa North
> -July 12-15-th 35km. of A1 Trakiya between Yambol East and Karnobat
> -July 25-31-st 8km. of A2 between Shumen East na Panayot Volovo
> -August 8,5km. of A2 between Sofia Ringroad and Yana


----------



## Radish2

Bit respect to the builders of that motorway. It looks really like in a high standart country, very modern and clean. One thing is for sure, The mtorways in Bulgaria are some of the most picturesqueue motorways in europe.


----------



## EEH

Sylwek said:


> Hi guys, Zdrovejte
> 
> This year I'll spend my holidays in Sozopol again. My bulgarian trip starts in Rousse (Sunday, 14.07), then Shumen. And here's question.
> 
> A2 to Varna and along coast to Sozopol? I don't like it - huge coast traffic.
> 
> A few years ago some of you advised me A2 - Provadija - Aytos. Good alternative, but now is red on your map.
> 
> What do you think about Shumen - Karnobat or Shumen - Aytos (partly red)?
> 
> Regards from Poland
> Sylwek


Do you have some business in Shumen or you will just pass by?

If not, I recomend this route: http://goo.gl/maps/424kn - in two weeks time you will have a motorway also between Yambol and Karnobat.


----------



## rtifosi

Hi guys. I am going to drive tomorrow night towards Kulata from Sofia.
As I understand the new section of Struma will be open in a week or so.
Are there any sections/points of the Struma, from Sofia to Kulata, that I should really be careful? e.g. Are there any heavy machinery on the road or close by, or some deviations?
As you can understand, I have to be careful because of the darkness.
Thank you.


----------



## gogo3o

Deviations exist b/n Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa, because of the construction of lot 1. Also, there is a detour at Kulata, cause of the construction of lot 4. Map:
http://goo.gl/maps/KDBSD


----------



## gogo3o

(A1) Karnobat I/C - Yambol-east I/C video


nikidd said:


>


----------



## ChrisZwolle

tanashubav said:


> Оverall
> 582км.


Interestingly, Bulgaria has more motorways than Romania, despite having only about 30% of Romania's population. This is in part due to legacy, Bulgaria had a larger amount of motorways to start with, before the rapid expansion of motorways after 2004. Romania had only 114 km of motorway before 2004, Bulgaria had 314 km at that time. You could say Romania is catching up at a faster rate though, the difference today is only about 60 km, while it was 300 km in 2004.

Unfortunately there is not enough historic data to compare to Serbia, though it seems likely that Serbia had a similar amount of motorways as Bulgaria around 2004.


----------



## Le Clerk

ChrisZwolle said:


> Interestingly, Bulgaria has more motorways than Romania, despite having only about 30% of Romania's population. This is in part due to legacy, Bulgaria had a larger amount of motorways to start with, before the rapid expansion of motorways after 2004. Romania had only 114 km of motorway before 2004, Bulgaria had 314 km at that time. You could say Romania is catching up at a faster rate though, the difference today is only about 60 km, while it was 300 km in 2004.
> 
> Unfortunately there is not enough historic data to compare to Serbia, though it seems likely that Serbia had a similar amount of motorways as Bulgaria around 2004.


Yes, it is both a matter of legacy, and also a matter of policy. Romania delayed motorway construction significantly, until the EU funds started to flow - that's almost 2 decades, if we leave aside some sections of A2 which were also partly funded by the EU pre-accession funds and the start of AT with a poorly managed contract. 

However, Romania will probably open ~ 100 km of motorways later this year and will register more km than Bulgaria. Still, this is irrelevant since what matters is the reach of national network, and that is currently better in Bulgaria.

We need to start doing concessions, otherwise with the EU funds alone will take decades to build the network.


----------



## amst

Bulgaria also had some mountain motorway tunnels and viaducts back in the day a feature which is still nonexistent in RO today. Serbia had a nice motorway that went through the center of their capital. Unfortunately for us, our road infrastructure was 3rd world hno: 

I would like to add that BG has a quite clear plan of future expansion. I mean we all know that Struma and Maritsa are UC and they want to finish Hemus. Here, plans are coming and going, new motorways appear on paper every new year!


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## Le Clerk

I was critical of the current management of the Road Agency, but if they manage to pull off the concessions this year (A0, Craiova-Pitesti and Comarnic-Bucharest), I will reevaluate my perception. This will mean other concessions will become possible such as AT or Iasi-Tg Mures, and also an important shift of policy paradigm (a positive one).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Since Struma will obvously be delayed lets update our small chart:
> 
> 
> 
> *Opening schedule for 2013:*
> -July 15-th 35km. of A1 Trakiya between Yambol East and Karnobat
> -July 20-th 17km. of A3 Struma between Dolna Dikanya and Dupnitsa North
> -July 25-31-st 8km. of A2 between Shumen East and Panayot Volovo
> -August 8,5km. of A2 between Sofia Ringroad and Yana
> ==================================================
> Red - later than last update. Green - sooner than last update.
Click to expand...


Today is the 20th. Will A3 open to traffic?


----------



## gogo3o

No. Some final works were needed. Also, a legislative issue existed, and needed to be solved. These are the latest pics by Galin Gradev from the compromised segment.


galin_gradev said:


> @307+910km


----------



## TurboEngine

ChrisZwolle said:


> Interestingly, Bulgaria has more motorways than Romania, despite having only about 30% of Romania's population. This is in part due to legacy, Bulgaria had a larger amount of motorways to start with, before the rapid expansion of motorways after 2004. Romania had only 114 km of motorway before 2004, Bulgaria had 314 km at that time. You could say Romania is catching up at a faster rate though, the difference today is only about 60 km, while it was 300 km in 2004.
> 
> Unfortunately there is not enough historic data to compare to Serbia, though it seems likely that Serbia had a similar amount of motorways as Bulgaria around 2004.


It's not only population, but area wise Romania should have at least double the amount of motorways.


----------



## Le Clerk

This is not how lenght of motorway system should be calculated, i.e. by reference to a neighboring country network. For example, the core motorway system for Romania stands at about 2,000 km or almost 4x the existing lenght. It depends a lot on the traffic and the catchement area.


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## TurboEngine

^^

It's important to note that Ceausescu was more interested in other infrastructure projects such as the Danube canal and the unfinished Bucharest-Danube canal.


----------



## Le Clerk

Yes, but more importantly railways. Romania chose to develop its railway network during communism and by the 80s got to have one of the most developed railway network in the world (and in the process totally neglected road transportation - and that was done as a matter of policy). Most of that network is unused and impossible to maintain now due to staggering costs.


----------



## gogo3o

*A3* Dolna Dikanya I/C - Dupnitsa-north I/C (~14km) will open to traffic tomorrow (23 July).
Source: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...ikanya--pten-vzel-dupnica-sever-ot-am-struma/


----------



## sallae2

> *4-km long line of vehicles formed at Kalotina crossing*
> 22 July 2013 | 19:02 | FOCUS News Agency
> 
> Kalotina. A line of trucks long around 4 kilometers has been formed on the territory of the country at Kalotina border checkpoint. The trucks are waiting to leave the Bulgaria, spokesperson of Border Police Directorate Lora Lyubenova said for FOCUS News Agency.
> 
> The procession of TIR trucks at the checkpoint has not been suspended, but truck drivers must be aware of a ban initiated for movement of heavy-freight vehicles along the motorways and first class roads in Bulgaria during the weekends, which causes accumulation of trucks at checkpoints on the first day of the week.


This is confusing. 

I would understand if the line-up is outside of Bulgaria, so the trucks cannot enter Bulgaria, during weekends.

But the line-up is inside Bulgaria. It looks like that truckers don't respect the ban and drive at weekends, but anyway Bulgarian border officers don't let them leave at weekends.


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## TurboEngine

^^

It's possible that they start driving early on Monday and all arrive at the same time.


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## gogo3o

gogo3o said:


> *A3* Dolna Dikanya I/C - Dupnitsa-north I/C (~14km) will open to traffic tomorrow (23 July).
> Source: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...ikanya--pten-vzel-dupnica-sever-ot-am-struma/


^^
It's opened to traffic.

Also the speed limit on the old section b/n Dolna Dikanya and Pernik has been raised from 90 km/h to 120 km/h.
*Source:* http://focus-news.net/?id=n1808891


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## Verso

Radi must be ecstatic.


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## gogo3o

~8km section of A2 Hemus motorway b/n Shumen-east I/C and the village of Panayot Volovo will open to traffic tomorrow.
*Source:* http://dariknews.bg/view_article.php?article_id=1120294


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## tanashubav

And again update of our motorway statistic in Bulgaria


LOT 1 of Struma motorway (A3) was opened at 23.07.2013. Today, 25.07.2013 is the opening of the 7,8km. section of Hemus (A2) near Shumen. So here it is:

*25.07.2013*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> The entire motorway is finished 360km.
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Gorni Bogrov – Yablanitsa 70 km.
> Shumen – Varna 83 km.
> Total: 153 km.
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dupnitsa North intersection.
> 34 km.
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.72+940 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 111+980) ~30km.
> Total: 35 km.
> 
> _The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> 8 km.
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> The entire motorway is finished 19km.
> 
> *Оverall
> 607км.
> *
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Hemus motorway (A2)*
> One sections under construction:
> 8,460km from Sofia Ringroad to Yana intersection.
> _All under construction at Hemus:8.460km._
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> Two sections
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37,0km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 52km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Four sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dimitrovgrad to Harmanli 34.22km. (from km36+400 till km 70+620)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> From Generalovo till Turkish border 5,365km. (from km111+980 till km117+345,10).
> _All under construction at Maritsa 79,895km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 140.355km.*


----------



## amst

Congrats on breaking the 600km "barrier"! :cheers:

Question about A3: will they use some of the Blagoevgrad bypass road part of road 1 (which is about as motorway standard you can get) and upgrade it or will they built a new road for that section of Struma?


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## gogo3o

amst said:


> Congrats on breaking the 600km "barrier"! :cheers:
> 
> Question about A3: will they use some of the Blagoevgrad bypass road part of road 1 (which is about as motorway standard you can get) and upgrade it or will they built a new road for that section of Struma?


A3 will have a new route. Here's a map of the route of lot 2 with the Blagoevgrad interchange:
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.006799&lon=23.042278&z=14&m=b


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## Sunfuns

Malazana said:


> javimix19 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, I don't get this either. So there was enough money for Iberia to get the biggest motorway network this side of the ocean and for the construction of I don't know how many transalpine tunnels. I mean I know there is a crisis and money has to be cut, but I don't see any reciprocity in Western Europe. It's also another thing that our latest cabinets have been completely retarded. They could easily withdraw a one time big loan with the rates being so low in order to payout the billions they owe to private citizens and kick start a lot of important projects in infrastructure, education, and innovation.
> 
> 
> 
> Those western projects are not as reliant on EU money as the ones in the east (with exceptions). Transalpine tunnels are important for fast South to North international traffic across the mountains.
> 
> Anyway compared to 15 years ago there is a great progress in infrastructure, particularly roads, in the Eastern part of the EU. I haven't driven in Bulgaria, but certainly the case in Poland, Slovakia and Czech republic.
> 
> Also I agree that rail has been neglected so far and probably deserves extra funding. I hear quite a bit about development in Poland, but almost nothing about other countries east and south east of Germany. Not counting subways that is.
Click to expand...


----------



## MichiH

News:



> *Construction Delayed for Lot 4 of Bulgaria's Struma Highway* (source)
> A section of Lot 4 of the Struma highway connecting the Bulgarian cities of Sandanski and Kulata will be inaugurated *no earlier than July 2014*, according to Bulgarian minister of Regional Development, Desislava Terzieva


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## mman2012

MichiH said:


> News:


Wasn't this stretch of motorway quite advanced?? :bash:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

gogo3o said:


> Yes, they will renovate some 30 km of A1 Trakia motorway next year. The section at Pazardzik is in a really bad condition. However, the speed limit is lowered to 120 km/h, not 100 km/h, as it's said in the news.


+4 bridges: 2 on Trakia motorway[A1] and 2 on Hemus motorway[A2]



mman2012 said:


> Wasn't this stretch of motorway quite advanced?? :bash:


No. Work on embankments and rough construction of overpasses and underpasses is being carried out now.

There is some slim hope that a few km of Maritsa motorway[A4-new;A1-old] might open untill the end of the year


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## PhirgataZFs1694

New border checkpoint between Bulgaria and Greece on the road Kardzhali - Komotini has 1100AADT.


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## gogo3o

Bad news for Sofia ring road. A tender for 6 km section of the western arc was cancelled. CEO of the Roads Agency says that the section will be retendered, but IMHO they lack time for the procedure to take place and the contract cannot be signed before 31.12.2013, which is the deadline for the 2007-2013 EU funds period.


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## vectom

although I used to drive on Bulgarian motorways and other roads, yesterday was the case of severe rain storms and me coming to Sofia and going back to Serbia, via Gradina/Kalotina. 

Overall quality of the road between this border and Sofia is quite good, nothing to add here. What I noticed yesterday, due to really bad weather, is that this road urgently needs better signalization. 

Seriously, I drove on this road for many times so far and even with taking that into account, I couldn't see where I'm going, where are the curves, if I'm following the right lane (on 2+2 section without central barrier), etc. There's no single catadiopter marker on the whole stretch. Water draining is quite poorly done, if it's done at all. Horizontal signalization should be replaced too, it's almost impossible to spot central lane color in such weather, and due to flooding of the edges of a road, edge lane line virtually doesn't exist. 
I think that if I hadn't take this road before, I would be using navigation and drive not faster than 50 km/h.

Also, Slivnitza boulevard is in criminally bad conditions when it's raining, leaves bad impression to Sofia first timers I guess. Any announcements to reconstruct it?


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## gogo3o

No plans for Slivnitsa blvd reconstruction, but the traffic lights intersection of Slivnitsa and the ring road will be upgraded to a grade-separated interchange in the next year. 

And more bad news. CEO of Roads Agency says that another tender will be cancelled - for the 31 km section of Kalotina motorway b/n the border crossing to Serbia and the village of Herakovo.


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## vectom

does that mean another tender procedure, or temporary cancelation of this motorway construction?

too bad if Kalotina - Sofia gets canceled, as Nis East - Gradina/Kalotina is progressing quite well except Pirot East - border section where works will probably be continued in mid 2014, but that part is completed for 45% at some points, to 89% at parts around Dimitrovgrad and before the border. 
It could be just nice to have remaining ~45km of motorway until Sofia built in next 2-3 years as that will be the only missing part for a lot longer motorway network once works at Serbian side get done :/


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## gogo3o

Another tender procedure and the financing is not secured.


----------



## gogo3o

A3 Struma motorway, lot 4


kozi1989 said:


> Hello my bulgarian friends,
> I took those photos on tuesday morning during my trip from sofia to thessaloniki!
> 1. During rain some excavators were working in 3-4 work sites
> 2. Lot of bulgarians and greeks go throught roadworks to Kulata!!! like me and avoid to go through deviation from petrich which is 20 min more trip!
> 3. Dont go through roadsworks if your car is not 4x4, very slippery road on wet soil!!!


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## gogo3o

*A4* Maritsa motorway, lot 2 (Haskovo - Harmanli)


rockobarocko said:


> *АПИ - Галерия - АМ "Марица" лот 2 - Строителство - 04 октомври 2013 г.*





rockobarocko said:


> ^^ *АПИ - Галерия - АМ "Марица" лот 2 - Строителство - 04 октомври 2013 г.*


----------



## albertocsc

With the base of the Bulgarian Motorway map from Wikipedia, I have drawn the motorway/expressway network I would like to see in Bulgaria in the future ( 2060 horizon  ), with some regular-road corridors.

What do you think about it? Is it feasible? Would it need any addition/deletion?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Looks very good! My 2060 map looks mas-o-menos the same.:cheers:


----------



## gogo3o

albertocsc said:


> What do you think about it? Is it feasible? Would it need any addition/deletion?


Mountains will make construction expensive of some of these, but who knows - there are almost 50 years to 2060. 

-- 

*A4 Maritsa motorway* update
*lot 1* (Chirpan-Haskovo/Dimitrovgrad). Finally we can see the works resumed








































































*lot 2* (Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli)



































pics by API, resized by rockobarocko

*Svilengrad bypass* which is still half-profile. 


















*Kapitan Andreevo interchange* is almost ready

















source: ogibo


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## pmalenkin

albertocsc said:


> With the base of the Bulgarian Motorway map from Wikipedia, I have drawn the motorway/expressway network I would like to see in Bulgaria in the future ( 2060 horizon  ), with some regular-road corridors.
> 
> What do you think about it? Is it feasible? Would it need any addition/deletion?


Jajaja muy bueno... 

I would add motorways or expressways to Dobrich, and along the South Coast. Now, there is an expressway only from Burgas to Sozopol, but there are more cool places after it.
And of course, if by 2060 the crisis still persists in Spain, Spanish people emigrate to Bulgaria and Sofia is as big as Madrid now, maybe we will need C-40, C-45 and C-50 appart of the Sofia Ring-Road. :lol:


----------



## albertocsc

pmalenkin said:


> I would add motorways or expressways to Dobrich


The C9 north transversal expressway (Vidin to Albena or Durankulak) is on my 2100 plan  
A C11 Shumen - Kardam [- Constanța] using II-27 and II-29 could be also be interesting.



pmalenkin said:


> [...] and along the South Coast. Now, there is an expressway only from Burgas to Sozopol, but there are more cool places after it.


I didn't know that II-99, it looks nice, seems good for a Cherno More-south C12 or C99 up to Tsarevo, or if you can build a environment-friendly expressway, could be extended along III-9901 up to Turkey.

http://goo.gl/maps/W5Mwt











pmalenkin said:


> And of course, if by 2060 the crisis still persists in Spain, Spanish people emigrate to Bulgaria and Sofia is as big as Madrid now, maybe we will need C-40, C-45 and C-50 appart of the Sofia Ring-Road. :lol:


My dad emigrated to Eastern Europe ten years ago, and now is teaching in a university not far from Bulgaria 
Esperanza Aguirre is without job now, you Bulgarians can hire her so she will plan a really nice C-45 and pay the desorbitant shadow tolls with your taxes.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

A very interesting report of rehabilitation of Gabrovo western(more appropriately "northern") bypass(1x2) between road I-5 and II-44 or Donino - Kievtsi. Two very important things to see in this report:
1. 30-40m tall bridge on Yantra river near Northern Industrial Zone.
2. You can witness laying of legendary "crappy" rocky asphalt mixture.


Shapi said:


> Колеги, както обещах ето репортажа от неделното преминаване по участък 1 от Западния обходен път на Габрово от началото му до детелината на с. Поповци. Както споменаха обекта е пред финализиране предстоят малко довършителни дейности и полагане на маркировка.
> 
> Начало на етапа


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Shapi said:


> 2.
> Първия мост е изцяло ремонтиран липсва само част от мантинелите
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Кръстовището до моста за Габрово е почти готово
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Големият мост на Янтра е изцяло ремонтиран, само на някои места липсват мантинелите и капаците на отводнителните шахти
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> След моста се извършваше асфалтиране на банкетите (неделя 17:00!)


:cheers:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Shapi said:


> 3.
> 
> Нататък няма много за коментиране, всичко е финализирано без маркировката
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Надясно е отбивката за Козирог/Габрово,


:cheers:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

Shapi said:


> 4.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Отбивката за Киевци / Габрово
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Края на участък 1, точно преди началото на детелината
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Струпаната техника за работа по участък 2
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> И край :cheers:


End:cheers:


----------



## mman2012

When should the Gabrovo bypass be ready?


----------



## medicu' de garda

Why did they choose such an apparently low quality ashfalt?  That thing seems horrible to drive on. I bet it ages a lot worse, too. Does that kind of road surface appear on other new roads in Bulgaria?


----------



## Theijs

medicu' de garda said:


> Why did they choose such an apparently low quality ashfalt?


Big chance that a % of the money went into personal pockets, so with the remaining money only a lower quality of asphalt could have been chosen.


----------



## gogo3o

I don't think it's a lower quality. It's just a different kind which was commonly used in the past to get a better grip of the tyres. The friction is higher, so the grip is supposed to be better. You can see such asphalt in this video from 30:37 min.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

If this was in the Netherlands, I'd say it's not the final layer of asphalt yet.


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

mman2012 said:


> When should the Gabrovo bypass be ready?


The pictures above are only from the 7.670km long phase 1 of Gabrovo bypass. The full project should be ready on 15.11.2014.










medicu' de garda said:


> Why did they choose such an apparently low quality ashfalt?  That thing seems horrible to drive on. I bet it ages a lot worse, too. Does that kind of road surface appear on other new roads in Bulgaria?





Theijs said:


> Big chance that a % of the money went into personal pockets, so with the remaining money only a lower quality of asphalt could have been chosen.


The asphalt is okay and the project is funded by EU. I was ironic because people that have never driven on such roads always think that they are bad. II-81(Sofia-Berkovitsa-Montana|Petrohan pass) recent rehabilitation was done with the same asphalt.


----------



## sponge_bob

That asphalt is absolutely fine for a_ low traffic low speed route_. ( sub 100kph). 

On a high traffic high speed motorway you need a coat of porous asphalt on top of a surface like that to control spray by allowing surface water to drain down quickly to the sub base which is that quality of asphalt.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

More pics of/from the bridge:


Shapi said:


> Мисля че е около 30м в най високата си точка и става за Бънджи скокове, ето едни стари снимки , не знам доколко може да се добие представа за височината


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*









@5+000 km to south. A layer of subbase has been laid up to 7+760


















@8+220









@8+420








_Pics by galin_gradev_

You can see more pics and ask questions in the Bulgarian section in this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=165


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## ChrisZwolle

*A4*

A4 northeast of Haskovo. Imagery is dated 26 August 2013. They haven't advanced much in a year. Just basic earthworks.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Progress on sections around the cloverleaf is the smallest compared to all other sections.

However, I agree that overall progress for one year is disappointing.


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## medicu' de garda

When did the works for completing the A4 start? It seems like they've been going on forever, and still no end in sight. Isn't this a priority project for the bulgarian goverment? :dunno:


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## gogo3o

The works on lot 1 (Orizovo-Dimitrovgrad) began in Oct 2011, and the works on lot 2 (Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli) started in July 2011. Both sections were scheduled to open this year, but due to delays the opennings were postponed. Actually now the tempo of construction is quite good and we can hope that both sections will open in H2 of 2014.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

gogo3o said:


> The works on lot 1 (Orizovo-Dimitrovgrad) began in Oct 2011, and the works on lot 2 (Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli) started in July 2011. Both sections were scheduled to open this year, but due to delays the opennings were postponed. Actually now the tempo of construction is quite good and we can hope that both sections will open in H2 of 2014.


There were delays because of archeological finds and moving of electrical transmission lines.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*Struma motorway[A3] Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad*:

Map:











dupnichanin said:


> Ще кача няколко снимки от лот2 , в района на пътен възел гр.Бобошево:
> Поглед на юг от пътя за Бобошево
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> поглед на север пак от същото място
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> От района на новата асфалтова база, поглед на север
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> Мислех да направя повече снимки докато съчетавах возенето с мотора, но се засякахме с Галин Градев и същевременно се запознахме. Той също обхождаше района и реших да наблегна повече на возенето в хубавото време, а напредъка ще разберем с негова помощ и по-обстойно представяне.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Mobile rock separator:


galin_gradev said:


> ^^ Уникално цветопредаване има Pentax-a.
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> На всеки пет минути един камион пълни бункера с едра скална маса, през останалото време зарежда фадрома. Според мен се сепарират фракции 0-4мм., 12-22мм., 0-75 мм, 0-150 мм. и др. Фадромата долу пълни материал 0-150 мм., който се влага в насип.


:tyty:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

galin_gradev said:


> Независимо от това дали съм познал цялата зърнометрия, съоръжението произвежда фракции, както за подосновните, така и за асфалтовите пластове.
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> Не желая да се връщам назад, но по лот 4 има съоръжения, които минават диагонално, та чак успоредно на трасето. Не знам защо все още някой мисли, че може да се работи пътната конструкция, а като дойде време за изместване на инженерни, В и К мрежи, реконструкция на пътища и т.н да се повдигне магистралата на трупчета.


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*Maritsa motorway[A4] Chirpan - Dimitrovgrad/Haskovo*:

Map*:








* Maritsa motorway[A4] will be ready in Q2-3 2014.



galin_gradev said:


> Водосток фи 1000 на км.12+940:
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> На юг насипни работи към ССП на км.13+300:
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> Три снимки от км.13+700:


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## gogo3o

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> *Struma motorway[A6] Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad*:


It's A3  

I love these machines:cheers:


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## MichiH

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> Per both according to source. 33% truck traffic is quite plausible for this road.


Of course, I thought so! But why have you written:



PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> That means *18000AADT*.


:?


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## vectom

thanks for nice posts on tunnels on previous page.

can anyone from you guys from Bulgaria give an opinion on it, primary I'm wondering why it has to be a tunnel of this length? I drove through that area, and while it's true that terrain isn't easy, it didn't look that combined viaducts and smaller tunnels couldn't do the job to bypass Kresna gorge. 

What I'm interested for is some analysis (Chriss?) on how this long tunnel could be more cost-effective than few smaller tunnels and viaducts? For a country as Bulgaria is, constructing this tunnel sounds a bit megalomaniac, unless funding is totally on the EU side?


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## ChrisZwolle

The Kresna Gorge is too narrow and windy for a decent motorway alignment. Any motorway there would have to run on viaducts and through short tunnels. This would have a huge impact on the gorge, although it would be very spectacular. The current plan seems to be to bore a tunnel through the western side of the gorge along the entire length from Krupnik to Kresna. 

Are there any indications as to how much this tunnel would cost?


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## vectom

Constructing of motorway through Kresna gorge is out of question for terrain configuration reason but also for environment issues and historical reasons. That's why I said bypass. What I'm not getting quite clear is determination to construct a single tube tunnel through bypass area western of the gorge, instead of constructing several shorter tunnels with viaducts. Some nice example of construction costs somewhere else where the case of terrain was similar would be nice, if someone can help.

For example, Dimitrovgrad (SRB) bypass has three shorter tunnels and couple of huge viaducts, but they could simply go with a single tube tunnel as well. Not sure about maths behind these decisions, that's what I'm interested for in Kresna case.


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## gogo3o

Well, it's all about protection of the enviroment. I would prefer to bypass the gorge from east - a platеau and hills lie there, just at the foot of Pirin mountain. A system of viaducts and shorter tunnels could deal with the terrain, but the enviromental decision approves only building this long tunnel. Several protected areas are situated in the gorge or close to it.

Pity, because the long tunnel is quite expensive and along with lots 3.1 and 3.3 will take (or even exceed) all EU funds allocated for building motorways in 2014-20. Moreover, we cannot choose to build other motorway sections instead of lot 3 of A3 Struma, because the Commission had approved all lots of A3 as one integral project.hno:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> The Kresna Gorge is too narrow and *windy* for a decent motorway alignment. Any motorway there would have to run on viaducts and through short tunnels. This would have a huge impact on the gorge, although it would be very spectacular. The current plan seems to be to bore a tunnel through the western side of the gorge along the entire length from Krupnik to Kresna.
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> Are there any indications as to how much this tunnel would cost?


Your knowledge always fascinates me. Where do you know this from?
Because it's true. The experts in our Road Agency said that a motorway with many tunnels connected with viaducts in between would be unsafe because of risk of ice on bridges. Although, the bigger problem they had seen was the huge impact of the construction of these viaducts on animals and plants in the gorge.
However, some of our forumers reckon that the construction of this huge tunnel would have almost equal or even bigger impact on the area.

The cost of the tunnel would be 600-1 000 mln euro.
Construction of underground tunnels with TBM(a likely tehnology due to time frame) in Bulgaria costs around 43mln euro per km.


vectom said:


> Constructing of motorway through Kresna gorge is out of question for terrain configuration reason but also for environment issues and *historical *reasons.


Historical?
Kresna gorge is unique because it's a transitional territory between mountainous, continental and mediterranean climates and biospheres. There are many protected birds, plants and animals.

The EU wants desperately this motorway because of Greece and does not want to be accussed of environmental mayhem by greenies. To make matters worse our politicians are unwilling to fight for changing the project and we are stuck with this world record breaking madness.:nuts:


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## vectom

Then I was probably mis-informed about significance of the area in both environmental and national history way. I refered to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kresna-Razlog_Uprising

anyway, thanks for the useful info. By the way, I think Trace Holding won for construction of Predejane - Caricina Dolina 1100m tunnel in Serbia for apr. 42-43 mil. Euros, what's almost exactly how you quoted it.


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## gogo3o

First layer of asphalt on a small segment of lot 1 of A4 Maritsa motorway.


poletar said:


>


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## keber

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> The cost of the tunnel would be 600-1 000 mln euro.
> Construction of underground tunnels with TBM(a likely tehnology due to time frame) in Bulgaria costs around 43mln euro per km.


A tunnel between valley SW of Polena and valley N of Gorna Breznitsa was not considered? That tunnel would be almost 4 km shorter (with some additional shorter tunnels more south)


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## sponge_bob

Question, will the long Kresna tunnel be a half profile motorway 1+1 with escape tunnel or a full profile 2+2 with escape tunnel??


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## gogo3o

2x2, probably w/o hard shoulder. There will be cross connections b/n the tunnels for safety reasons.


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## definitivo

when it will be fully completed motorway E-80 Sofia - Serbian border ?


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## gogo3o

definitivo said:


> when it will be fully completed motorway E-80 Sofia - Serbian border ?


The tender for 31 km of Kalotina motorway was cancelled, due to lacking financing. According to the minister of transport the section will be re-tendered in 2014 and will be financed by the Connecting Europe Facility.

More in Bulgarian: http://infrastructure.bg/show.php?storyid=2179764


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## definitivo

gogo3o said:


> The tender for 31 km of Kalotina motorway was cancelled, due to lacking financing. According to the minister of transport the section will be re-tendered in 2014 and will be financed by the Connecting Europe Facility.
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> More in Bulgarian: http://infrastructure.bg/show.php?storyid=2179764



few more questions...

- deadline for Kalotina - Dragomir is ?
- Dragomir - Slivnitsa ( 14km ) deadline ?
- Slivnitsa - Sofia is 2 x 2 ?


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## gogo3o

There is no deadline, because there is no tender 

Sofia-Slivnitsa is 2+2, without median and without hard shoulder.


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## definitivo

Thanks

...about deadlines...that means, summer 2016. status quo


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## begleca

*A4 Marica motorway* Great photos by *galin_gradev*...again! The beginning of the motorway around Chirpan:


galin_gradev said:


> 21.11
> В репортажа няма да видите панорамни снимки, защото цял ден в района беше мъгливо, за сметка на това пък има повече "социален" елемент.
> Специални благодарности на Полетар за напредъка, защото неговите отговорности не са никак малки.
> Както ви би споменал по лявото платно в участъка от км.5+120 до км.6+140 е положен 1-ви пласт БО.
> На следващите снимки наблюдавате изпълнение на 2-ри пласт битумизирана баластра:
> От км.5+200:
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## begleca

^^


galin_gradev said:


> Тео, да знаеш, че на поговорки от типа "Скромността краси човека" актуалността им е отминала.
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> От км.7+000 на юг до почти ССП-то на км.8+420 е положен минералбетон по дясното платно, а лявото е без изменение:
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## begleca

And photos of the second section of the same motorway which is under construction between Dimitrovgrad and Harmanli. Thanks to National Road Agency and *rockobarocko*


rockobarocko said:


> *АПИ - Галерия - АМ "Марица" лот 2 - Строителство - 22 ноември 2013 г.*


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## PhirgataZFs1694

keber said:


> A tunnel between valley SW of Polena and valley N of Gorna Breznitsa was not considered? That tunnel would be almost 4 km shorter (with some additional shorter tunnels more south)


No. Maybe because of protected areas near Gorna Breznitsa?:dunno: 
However, as I said, there was an eastern route-combination of tunnels and viaducts near Rakitna and Stara Kresna.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


>


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


>


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


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:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


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:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


>


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


> пътят от с.Панайот волово, който в началото вече е асфалтиран
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> тук се вижда до къде е асфалтирано
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> съоражението не е почвано


:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


> продължавам напред
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:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


> фирма "Надежда" работеше и в неделния ден, камионите на едната страна караха чакъл, а на другата багерът ги товареше със земя
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:cheers:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

nikolla said:


> в далечината се вижда края на сегашния участък
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> работеше и един грейдер и един валяк


:cheers:


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## bewu1

When construction of motorway from Sofia towards Kalotina (SRB/BG border) will start ?


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## medicu' de garda

PhirgataZFs1694 said:


> An old photo report of Hemus motorway[A2] Panayot Volovo - Belokopitovo 4,9km.
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What's gonna happen to the I-4 in the area? The plans for the interchange simply dismiss it completely. And I'm guessing Targovishte is relatively important, why doesn't it get an easy access to the motorway?


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## PhirgataZFs1694

medicu' de garda said:


> What's gonna happen to the I-4 in the area? The plans for the interchange simply dismiss it completely. And I'm guessing Targovishte is relatively important, why doesn't it get an easy access to the motorway?


A2 will end a few hundred meters after the junction and will be connected with a temporary road to I-4. We don't know what will happen next. Targovishte would have its own exit.


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## panchevo

great progress bulgaria, keep up the good work! kay:

hope that construction on the motorway kalotina-sofia will soon start


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## vectom

guys, maybe I missed something, but I think there was some mentioning of possible future reconstruction of the old A1 between Plovdiv and Sofia? Any info or link with some news/article about it?
I passed through it last Sunday, and it seemed to be that it really urges for complete repavement (both directions more or less). I'm curious if anyone here has some info on bridges and overpasses on this section, i.e. the way they will be reconstructed? Asking because there was that viaduct that currently has only one direction lane, as the other half was literally torn down, with machines building another one. Overpass bridges didn't seem to be in much better condition too. Any documents for some pending project to modernize this section of A1?


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## gogo3o

^^
According to the minister of regional development this year will tendered reconstruction works on 41 km of A1.
http://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ik...ta_vlaga_92_mln_lv_vuv_vodni_proekti_dogodina

As for the Kalotina-Sofia, the tender for 31 km section was canceled due to lack of financing. We have political statements that it will be retendered and financing will come from the Connecting Europe Facility.

Another project, Sofia Northern Bypass (aka Northern Speed Tangent) probably will be contracted this month after all court appeals were rejected.


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## cassini83

^^ That's great news. I found an interview with the head of the "Road infrastructure" agency from today that claims the reconstruction of the old sections will begin as soon as this coming spring as long as there are no court appeals. Also it states that the project will take 18 months to complete.

http://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2014/01/08/2215984_koi_putishta_shte_se_stroiat_prez_2014_g/?sp=0#storystart


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## Le Clerk

*Romania is tendering the pre-FS for the third RO-BG bridge. *


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## gogo3o

Le Clerk said:


> *Romania is tendering the pre-FS for the third RO-BG bridge. *


:cheers2:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Le Clerk said:


> *Romania is tendering the pre-FS for the third RO-BG bridge. *


:dance:

So this pre-FS for determing the need for a third bridge and if it exists, its place? Where do you think it will be then - Calarasi or Nikopol? What's the chance to get a rail&road bridge?


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## Le Clerk

Yes, the location will also be decided. I bet on another bridge to serve Bucharest-Ruse-Sofia connections, so Nikopol or anything in the region.


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## gogo3o

AFAIK there is a memorandum that the next bridge will be financed by Romania. That was agreed when the decision for Vidin-Calafat was made, because Bulgaria financed it and urged to build it on that specific location. My guess is that the present tender for pre-FS in Romania is related to this memorandum.

There is no such east/west devision.


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## Le Clerk

I also think it's now Romania's turn to build the bridge. Hence this pre-fesability study. We'll keep you posted. :cheers:


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## Le Clerk

gogo3o said:


> ^^
> .xls.


Thank. This is what I was looking for. So trade with Romania is bigger than with Greece. And this is happening due to a fast increase in trade in between Romania and BUlgaria, which is leaving trade with Greece behind. Interesting. :cheers:


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## Richard_P

gogo3o said:


> There is no such east/west devision.


Thanks for clarification and how about ferries? Which state manages them or they are commercial venues?


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## medicu' de garda

Richard_P said:


> I have a Question regarding Danaube RO-BG crossings - is there any bilateral agreement that lets say from west crossings are BG obligation and from East it is RO? I am asking because Vidin-Calafat was built by Bulgaria while regarding Ruse - Giurgiu always Romania state plans.


There's no agreement between the countries, it's just that Bucharest is on the east side of the Danube, while Sofia is on the west, so each country has different priorities, which it tries to push forward. That's why the Vidin-Calafat brige took so long to finally get built, because the romanian goverment wouldn't agree to the position of a second Danube bridge.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

ChrisZwolle said:


> 1954 means it reaches the age of 60 years this year. Many bridges built in that area had a lifespan around 50-70 years. Also, it is not wide enough to support a modern motorway, especially in a Schengen era with 100 or 120 kph speeds.
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> Even if it does not requires immediate replacement today, it will likely do within 20 years, so it's more economical to construct one 2x2 bridge at once, rather than two two-lane spans some time apart.


Moreover, sections before border checkpoints must be at least 2x2 to accommodate queues.


Richard_P said:


> Thanks for clarification and how about ferries? Which state manages them or they are commercial venues?


They are privately owned and it's rumored both in BG and RO that they are economically tied with political parties. Thus, BG and RO govs are not really pushing forward bridges.


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## PhirgataZFs1694




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## ChrisZwolle

I didn't watch the whole thing, but some notes;

* speed limit on the bridge is only 60 km/h. That seems low, but on the other hand if there is a line of queuing trucks it's not safe to drive much faster. 
* lack of shoulders and roadside protection. There is a steep ditch on the Romanian side with no barrier. Also, a bridge pier right next to the roadway is unprotected by a barrier. Usually road designs incorporate an "obstacle-free zone". Everything in that zone that is not crash-friendly needs to be protected by guardrails.


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## ionutzyankoo

And if I may add a note: on a traffic sign in BG only Calafat and Craiova are marked, nothing like Drobeta Turnu Severin or Lugoj that would have been good to be added also, being on the European TEN-T Core corridor.


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## Richard_P

Can somebody clarify how the vignette situation was solved in Vidin? Because after leaving bridge we land on beltway road outside city. Where is point in which road becomes tolled and where vignettes can be bought? Is there any map of tolled road sections in BG?


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## gogo3o

Interesting article in Bulgarian, summarizing all current works and deadlines, and also giving info about the upcomming tenders and contracts:
http://stroitelstvo.info/show.php?storyid=2218644


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## gogo3o

*New Europe Bridge*:cheers2:


fnm said:


> nsirakov :cheers:
> http://nsirakov.com/blog/2013_in_photo/ - предпоследната най-долу


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Pictures from *Maritsa motorway[A4]*.
Map:









First asphalt on I-5 junction:










rockobarocko said:


> *АПИ - Галерия - АМ "Марица" лот 2 - Строителство - 14 януари 2014 г.*
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> Първи асфалт и на ЛОТ 2  :banana:
> 
> Ако не бъркам е около ПВ Димитровград...


:banana:


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*A4* approach to BG/TR border checkpoint:


poletar said:


> снимка от участъка при КПП "Капитан Андреево"


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Earthworks on *A4*, section *Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli*:


rockobarocko said:


> *АПИ - Галерия - АМ "Марица" лот 2 - Строителство - 15 януари 2014 г.*
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> ^^ вижда се какви колосални траншеи има по участъка...


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## PhirgataZFs1694

^^Satelite progress on *A4 Chirpan - Aleksandrovo*. Therefore you can see whole *lot 1 Chirpan - Dimitrovgrad* with *Maritsa bridge* and the begining of *lot 2 Dimitrovgrad - Aleksandrovo* with *Dimitrovgrad junction*.


REAKT0R said:


> И една от 11ти. Най се чернеят първите 5 км от лот 1.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

*Vratsa bypass(1x2), I-1/II-15* IC - a one level roundabout, R=80.


















rockobarocko said:


> Днес минах по цялото трасе на обходния път на Враца, включително и по стария участък. Очаквайте много снимки, но няма да съм много бърз, защото трябва да прегледам около 700 снимки от трасето, да подбера подходящите, да ги обработя и да ги кача.
> Предварително се извинявам, но мисля да брандирам снимките, за да не се появят в някой вестник или сайт като горещ журналистически репортаж... hno:
> Нека поне да се позоват, че са ползвали снимки от този сайт...
> 
> P.S. Една панорама от кръговото в аванс...


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## PhirgataZFs1694

4t of amonite used for blasting rocks for the cloverleaf on *A4 Maritsa motorway* and *I-5*:


















nikid said:


> Ето и снимки,източник:HASKOVO.NET



Source


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## ChrisZwolle

A2 near Shumen is now visible on Google Earth. It was recently extended west a few kilometers to I/7. Makes you wonder why they didn't extend it another 3 km to I/2, which would be faster / more convenient for Ruse - Varna traffic.


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## bozata90

Because of money issues and archaeology. it is under construction now...


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## gogo3o

mman2012 said:


> That would basically mean that the entire motorway will be completed around 2015? Or the segment between Chirpan - Dimitrovgrad is ahead?


Chirpan-Dimitrovgrad is still ahead of Dimitrovgrad-Harmanli, but works are going in a slower tempo right now. We hope that both lots will enter in service this year.

--

*A3 Struma motorway*, lot 4 (Sandanski-Greek border)

Pics by *galin_gradev*

























































































*More in the Bulgarian section:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=392


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## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> *A3 Struma motorway*, lot 4 (Sandanski-Greek border)


Were these pics currently taken? I thought this section should be opened in June 2014.

What's about the A4 section b/n Generalovo and Kapitan Andreevo. It was announced to be opened in February 2014, ain't it?


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## gogo3o

June 2014 is not possible IMO, but at least we finally can see active works by the contractor - the Greek company Actor. The pics are taken this week.

As for the A4 section at the Turkish border, it's ready, but it's not opened, because the border checkpoint is not completed yet. No recent info when that will happen.


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## ChrisZwolle

Google Earth has April 2013 imagery of the area:


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## gogo3o

> *Nine bid to prepare concept design of tunnel under Shipka peak in Bulgaria*
> 
> SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 21 (SeeNews) – Nine bidders have submitted proposals for an advanced concept design for a 3.2 kilometre (km) tunnel under the Balkan Range's Shipka peak near Gabrovo, central Bulgaria, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) said on Friday.
> 
> Multinational tie-up Mosty, consisting of Poland’s Mosty Katowice and its Bulgarian subsidiary Mosty Bulgaria, has filed the lowest bid of 104,000 levs ($73,000/53,000 euro), RIA said in a press release.
> 
> Bids for the design of the tunnel range between 104,000 levs and 295,000 levs, RIA added.
> 
> The winner of the tender has to determine the optimal length of the tunnel under Shipka peak in regard to technical and economic parameters.
> The 150 million euro tunnel is part of a project for the construction of a road bypassing the town of Gabrovo. The first phase of the project was launched in May last year and is being carried out by a consortium, consisting of local companies Hidrostroy, Patni Stroezhi – Veliko Tarnovo and Patinzheneringstroy. It involves building a 23.3-kilometre (km) road section, estimated at 92.9 million levs, RIA said last year.
> 
> The project is co-financed under the EU Cohesion Fund and operational programme Transport 2007-2013.
> (1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)


*Source:* wire.seenews.com

Gabrovo bypass map


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## gogo3o

*A1 Trakia motorway*











> SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 25 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) said on Tuesday it has opened a *tender for the reconstruction of 32-kilometre sections* of Trakia motorway, estimated at 30 million euro ($41.2 million).
> 
> The two sections are located between Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s two largest cities, a press release published on RIA's website showed.
> 
> The winner has to complete the upgrade within 18 months after signing an agreement. Bids must be filed by April 7.
> 
> RIA also plans to invite bids for the upgrade of another 14 kilometres of Trakia motorway near Plovdiv. The project will be co-financed by the European Investment Bank and the state budget.


wire.seenews.com


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## PhirgataZFs1694

Struma motorway A3 Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad:


















REAKT0R said:


> За период от 16 дни се вижда разлика по лот 2, а ако продължава да е добро времето може по метода на концентричните кръгове :lol: да прибавям и наслагвам още снимки за по-лесно различаване. По лот4 и в Гърция е било облачно за съжаление.


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## ChrisZwolle

What's the status of the first stage of the bypass of Vratsa? API says the contract deadline is 360 days after March 2013, so basically this month.

http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/proekti/opt/obhoden-pt-na-gr-vraca-pt-i-1-e79/


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## gogo3o

^^
These are the latest pics we got, taken some 20 days ago.


rockobarocko said:


> *АПИ - Обходен път на град Враца - 18.02.2014 г.*
> 
> След октомври месец ново инфо от АПИ чак сега. Ще се опитам да дам и инфо за мястото на снимките. Ако видите, че някъде съм сбъркал - смело ме поправяйте
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> ^^ Зона А в участъка между кръговото при път Враца-Оряхово и пресичането с път Враца-Криводол
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> ^^ Големия изкоп преди ПВ"Тромпет" е почти готов (между камиона и багера се вижда моста на е79)
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> ^^ Големия изкоп преди ПВ"Тромпет". В ляво се вижда влизането откъм Враца. Направо от под моста се идва откъм Монтана и ДМ2.
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> ^^ ПВ"Тромпет" - изкоп на излаза в посока към Монтана
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> ^^ Зона А в участъка между кръговото при път Враца-Оряхово и пресичането с път Враца-Криводол
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> ^^ Зона А в участъка между кръговото при път Враца-Оряхово и пресичането с път Враца-Криводол


The term probably counts from the issue of the construction permit, which according to API happened on 24.04.2013, so the deadline must be in April.


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

What sections of a motorways in Bulgaria will be opened for traffic ?


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## Andrej_LJ

Autoputevi kao hobi said:


> What sections of a motorways in Bulgaria will be opened for traffic ?


A0 (Sofia ring, western part) - 5 km
A3 (Sandasnki - Kulata (GR)) - 15 km
A4 (all missing parts) - 78 km

TOTAL 2014 - 98 km


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

Andrej_LJ said:


> A0 (Sofia ring, western part) - 5 km
> A3 (Sandasnki - Kulata (GR)) - 15 km
> A4 (all missing parts) - 78 km
> 
> TOTAL 2014 - 98 km


That is a lot of new motorways.It's going to be great once when country's in eastern Europe finish their motorway projects.


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## vectom

to say it in other words, it will be great when Bulgaria, after completition of A4, constructs Sofia - Kalotina motorway and connect to soon-to-be motorway from Nis to Gradina. Having full profile motorway link from Istanbul to anywhere in western Europe sounds fantastic to me


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

What is happening with Sofia-Kalotina motorway ? Is it building or not?


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## Andrej_LJ

vectom said:


> to say it in other words, it will be great when Bulgaria, after completition of A4, constructs Sofia - Kalotina motorway and connect to soon-to-be motorway from Nis to Gradina. Having full profile motorway link from Istanbul to anywhere in western Europe sounds fantastic to me


Well, the government (which can not be trusted because they said that the *A7 Kalotina-Sofia *motorway will be finished by 2015) now promises that construction of A7 should start next year. The project is finished, it will be financed by the financial instrument Connected Europe instead from the OP Transport.

However at least one good news on the Belgrade-Sofia-Istanbul route is that the contract for the construction of the *Northern bypass of Sofia*, which connects all 4 motorways entering into the capital is signed and work should start very, very soon. The Northern part of the ring is app. 17km long and will have 3 driving lanes in each direction plus the emergency lanes. Should be put into service at the end of 2015 and will significantly ease traveling in and around the capital, as well as avoid the horrible northern part of today's ring of Sofia.


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## vectom

^^ are you refering to northern tangent road, which is, according to what I saw on SSC, somehow not going along current ring road but cuts it as tangent, passing closer to the city? 
and yes, northern ring road is one of the worst roads Ive passed through on bike, to be worse, right after raining. Wondering how many motorbikes had serious accidents there.


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## PhirgataZFs1694

vectom said:


> ^^ are you refering to northern tangent road, which is, according to what I saw on SSC, somehow not going along current ring road but cuts it as tangent, passing closer to the city?


Yes. It can be seen on the map bellow. The yellow section.


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## MichiH

Andrej_LJ said:


> A0 (Sofia ring, western part) - 5 km


I've never heard about A0 numbering!? I thought the western ring does not have motorway standard b/c it is not grade-separated :?.


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## gogo3o

It will become grade-separated after the upgrade. Part of the western arc will provide 2x(3+2) lanes, but it will not gain a motorway status. More likely it will become an urban highway with a speed limit of 80 or 90 km/h. A0 signing for the western arc along with the northern tangent and with the eastern arc is desired by the forumers (including myself ), but it's not an official one.


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## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> A0 signing for the western arc along with the northern tangent and with the eastern arc is desired by the forumers (including myself ), but it's not an official one.


So the A1 numbering of the northern bypass is also just a desire (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=111440978&postcount=5952), isn't it? 

I think I should add the western bypass to my list. Could you (or someone else) provide all required data?


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## gogo3o

This is how the operarational programmes look like as of March 2014:









All funds for OP Transport 2007-2013 are contracted. The only question is for the section of western arc of Sofia ring road. The EC has recently said that the funds for the western arc are approved, but a contract cannot be signed due to the ongoing litigation.


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## sponge_bob

The other thing you can see clearly in the last 2 posts is that there is _a huge difference between what the EU promises nowadays and what you actually get_. A real rate of 60% is a good performance for a normal EU country and Bulgaria came in at 10% below the EU average. I would expect at least average performance this time round.

Consequently the €9.3bn of funds seemingly _promised_ to Bulgaria under those programs is unlikely to go much over €6bn (or €1bn a year at most) and that €1bn a year includes expensive rail projects and training and reskilling programs ( some in colleges) funded by the EU. 

Compare that with the 2000-2006 program which actually delivered over 90% of the promised cash. Same with previous programs ...I think the first 7 year program was 1993 to 1999 and before that it was rolling 2 years or something.

The EU has turned into a another politician which promises far more than it can deliver.


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## CSSR

How much of this money gets spent and how much gets spent on luxury items, we will never know...


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## gogo3o

REAKT0R said:


> *Vratsa bypass*. It will be 1+1, with at-grade intersections.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> *Montana bypass*. 2x2, grade-separated.


Yesterday the Road Infrastructure Agency \API\ announced tender for construction of *Dimovo bypass*(~8km, 1+1, at-grade), which shall eliminate one of the bottlenecks on I-1 road.


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## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*, lot 2


galin_gradev said:


> Долу при ЖП виадукта съм. Не се вижда много, но има прокопана 15 м. лява тръба:
> 
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> Малко информация за виадукта. Стълбовете са 11 с устоите включително, като 10 и 11 не са започнати. Максималната височина е ~ 14м.:
> Напредък стълб №9:
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> Стълб №6:


More pics in the BG section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=414


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## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*, lot 2


harry_gg said:


> надлез на пътя за сметището при км 66+270;
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> [/URL]
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> Това е от мен.
> До другия път.


More pics in the BG section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=225


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## mman2012

There were some "rumours" about the end of the summer for A4


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

mman2012 said:


> There were some "rumours" about the end of the summer for A4


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=110041814&postcount=1

You can see here:lol:


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## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> June 2014 is not possible IMO, but at least we finally can see active works by the contractor - the Greek company Actor. The pics are taken this week.


Any (official) info about A3 lot 4? When will the section b/n Sandanski and Kulata be opened? Summer 2014? Fall 2014? 2015?


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## sedef4o

Officially it is still for July 2014. Unofficially beginning of the winter 2014


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## InsaatHolding

Hello


i am driving with my SUV Car from Germany to Turkey ( in one week ).

I will test the A1 Trakia Motorway and some finished parts of the A4 Maritsa till Kapitan Andrevo. Travel Time should be reduced due the motorway.

Pity the A4 Maritsa Highway will finish at the end of 2014


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## Gubot

MichiH said:


> Any (official) info about A3 lot 4? When will the section b/n Sandanski and Kulata be opened? Summer 2014? Fall 2014? 2015?


15 October 2014 Source(in BG)


InsaatHolding said:


> Hello
> 
> 
> i am driving with my SUV Car from Germany to Turkey ( in one week ).
> 
> I will test the A1 Trakia Motorway and some finished parts of the A4 Maritsa till Kapitan Andrevo. Travel Time should be reduced due the motorway.
> 
> Pity the A4 Maritsa Highway will finish at the end of 2014


I wish you a save driving through Bulgaria. Hopefully next year you would be able to enjoy a motorway from Sofia till Kapitan Andreevo/Kapikule:cheers:

I have a question for you. Do you plan to enter Bulgaria from Serbia at Gradinje/Kalotina border checkpoint or from Romania at Calafat/Vidin border checkpoint?


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## InsaatHolding

Gubot said:


> 15 October 2014 Source(in BG)
> 
> I wish you a save driving through Bulgaria. Hopefully next year you would be able to enjoy a motorway from Sofia till Kapitan Andreevo/Kapikule:cheers:
> 
> I have a question for you. Do you plan to enter Bulgaria from Serbia at Gradinje/Kalotina border checkpoint or from Romania at Calafat/Vidin border checkpoint?


Thank You. I hope the police will not catch me for bills 

The shortest way is over Kalotina border.


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## Gubot

InsaatHolding said:


> Thank You. I hope the police will not catch me for bills


Dude, please, respect the speed limits. They exist for mutual protection, you know:cheers: The motorway is coming.


InsaatHolding said:


> The shortest way is over Kalotina border.


True, 50km less but two EU/non EU borders more if you are coming from Germany through Hungary.
Do you have friends that have tried or plan to try the new Danube bridge at Calafat/Vidin?


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## InsaatHolding

Gubot said:


> Dude, please, respect the speed limits. They exist for mutual protection, you know:cheers: The motorway is coming.



Dude,In Germany there aren´t speed limits. And 80 km / h speedlimit on highways is strange. The Police is waiting in many checkpoints only to catch the "rich" foreigners. No problem 20 € - 50 € is nothing for me.
Prostitutes along the road also wants my money.But i hope this changed with the new motorways. Normally i fly with Turkish Airlines from Frankfurt to Istanbul.This is my first driving after 5 years. I remember the old situation.


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## Gubot

InsaatHolding said:


> Dude,In Germany there aren´t speed limits. And 80 km / h speedlimit on highways is strange. The Police is waiting in many checkpoints only to catch the "rich" foreigners. No problem 20 € - 50 € is nothing for me.
> Prostitutes along the road also wants my money.But i hope this changed with the new motorways. Normally i fly with Turkish Airlines from Frankfurt to Istanbul.This is my first driving after 5 years. I remember the old situation.


Three things:
1. In Germany only on motorways there are no speed limits. And there are sections on which you do have them.
2. Speed limit on highways(1x2 national roads) is 90kmh in Bulgaria and 140kmh on motorways. Your memory is misleading you
3. You do seem like a man with no problems.:cheers:


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## gogo3o

*Sofia ring road, western arc upgrade*. Pics by Senna 1





















































More pics: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=541


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## Gubot

Hemus motorway[A2]. You can see Bebresh viaduct and reservoir.


becs said:


> Andrey Dinev


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## gogo3o

*A1 Trakia motorway*

Contract for adding a new interchange at 352 km has been signed. The works will cost ~0.84 M euro.
http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...-pten-vzel-blgarovo-pri-km-352-ot-am-trakiya/









Also 46 km will be rehabilitated for an estimated price of 50 M euro.


> 09.05.2014 17:45
> 
> The 11 received tenders for design and rehabilitation of over 32 km of the old sections of Trakia Motorway were opened in Road Infrastructure Agency. The sections are located at the exit of Sofia and on the territory of the region of Pazardzhik. The Lot 27А Project of Transit Roads V Program includes: section 1 – performance of design and rehabilitation of Trakia motorway (Sofia – Plovdiv) *from km 5+500 to km 10+000 – left carriageway and from km 5+500 to km 10+000 – right carriageway*; section 2 - rehabilitation of Trakia motorway (Sofia – Plovdiv) – *from km 63+000 to km 90+200 – right carriageway and from km 62+500 to km 90+200 – left carriageway, inclusive of the adjoining road links of road junctions Tserovo, Kalugerovo and Gelemenovo.*
> 
> ...
> 
> The economically most advantageous offer is the criterion for the selection of a Contractor. The term of the public procurement shall be up to 18 months, after signing the Contract with the selected Contractor. The indicative value of the procurement is 30 million Euro.
> 
> The tenders for the rehabilitation of another 14,4 km of Trakia motorway which are in the region of Plovdiv, will be opened tomorrow. The section *from km 119+200 to km 133+600 is part of lot 27В, including all big structures and links of the road junctions: „Benkovski“, „Plovdiv-Zapad“, „Plovdiv-Sever“ and „Plovdiv-Iztok“*. The indicative value of the project is 20 million Euro.
> 
> The rehabilitation of over 46 km of Trakia motorway is foreseen under Transit Roads V Program – Lot 27А and 27В.


http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/pres...ilitation-32-km-old-sections-trakia-motorway/


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## Gubot

*IC I-4/I-5* and *Veliko Tarnovo* entrance. Looking south:


Turnovec said:


> Коридор 9, в района на Велико Търново


Looking north:


Turnovec said:


> Ето го и в посока север


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## Christophorus

Hello Friends,

if someone could give a little advise, 

i´ll be on my way to Burgas in July, coming from Kalotina.

Is it better to pass Sofia on the northern or southern bypass?

Thanks in advance!


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## begleca

Christophorus said:


> Hello Friends,
> 
> if someone could give a little advise,
> 
> i´ll be on my way to Burgas in July, coming from Kalotina.
> 
> Is it better to pass Sofia on the northern or southern bypass?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


You should choose the south ring definitely! The north ring is in bad condition. There are some construction works on the ring road when you enter Sofia from west, despite that it is more comfortable to choose the south ring.


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## IUnknown

^^
^^
I drove the north ring a few weeks ago. It is not so bad, there are no holes, just bumps here or there and the traffic is almost zero, so it is definitely not a bad choice. The south ring goes through urban areas and the traffic is very congested. And you have to pass through the construction works on the west arc where the traffic is really obstructed and jammed.


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## Capt.Vimes

In July there will be a lot of gastarbeiter traffic on the northern bypass. Both options suck. Last time I drove though the city, but it was a holiday, so there was not much traffic on the streets. If I had to avoid the city I would have taken the southern part.


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## Christophorus

Thanks to all for your kind answers!

I´ll try to avoid the turkish caravans by avoiding the weekends... 

i was also thinking about going straight through Sofia (on OSM and Google-Maps it seems to be at least the shortest way... and maybe there will be time for a short stop in the centre, as i´ve never been to Sofia) but i know what a Balkan rush hour can mean... 

So, generally, when is the main rush hour in Sofia - if its possible to tell?


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## Tachi

If you're able to pass through Sofia outside rush hours, it's quite a relaxed drive depending on your standards of course  and there is a lot of things to see.
I also wouldn't advise the northern ring road because of the Turkish caravan during the summer holidays.


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## alex.krastev

If you'd like to make a short stop, you could use this route, which is almost straight through the city - only a right and a left turn. You could stop here, or here, for example, but you have to pay - either via an sms to +359 1302, sending the license plate of your car ( the one that's on its plate ) or directly to one of the gyus with yellow-green jackets. Beware, that you could have your car towed-away, if you do not pay, or you stay over the limit of 1 hour. You could send another sms after the first hour, extending the parking time for one more hour. If you send an sms - wait until a confirmation sms is sent back to you, to be sure that your car have been registered.

For more details on parking in city centre : https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/en/parking/pochasovo-plateno-parkirane/p/1

Alternatively, you could leave your car at one of the buffer parkings, for example here and then take the sub-way back to the city centre, so you could have more time and do not care about your car being towed-away 

Have a nice trip!


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## Christophorus

Thanks again to all!

Thats a very nice idea @alex.krastev if i dont loose to many time at the border i will definetly think about this.


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## Gubot

Tachi said:


> If you're able to pass through Sofia outside rush hours, it's quite a relaxed drive depending on your standards of course  and there is a lot of things to see.
> I also wouldn't advise the northern ring road because of the Turkish caravan during the summer holidays.





alex.krastev said:


> If you'd like to make a short stop, you could use this route, which is almost straight through the city - only a right and a left turn. You could stop here, or here, for example, but you have to pay - either via an sms to +359 1302, sending the license plate of your car ( the one that's on its plate ) or directly to one of the gyus with yellow-green jackets. Beware, that you could have your car towed-away, if you do not pay, or you stay over the limit of 1 hour. You could send another sms after the first hour, extending the parking time for one more hour. If you send an sms - wait until a confirmation sms is sent back to you, to be sure that your car have been registered.
> 
> For more details on parking in city centre : https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/en/parking/pochasovo-plateno-parkirane/p/1
> 
> Alternatively, you could leave your car at one of the buffer parkings, for example here and then take the sub-way back to the city centre, so you could have more time and do not care about your car being towed-away
> 
> Have a nice trip!


I advise you against going through the city center - *Tsarigradko shose* boulevard is under rehabilitation and number of lanes is reduced. Also in front of parliament there might be a protest.
On alternative route *Lion bridge* junction(*Maria Luisa*/*Slivnitsa*) is under construction.


----------



## mman2012

So sorry to hear about the floods in Varna 
I hear also that Veliko Turnovo region is not quite ok, also that the road 55 (VT-Gurkovo) is closed? Can you confirm that and for how long? Damaged by the floods or something?

Any real-time or updated site with the road situation (and in English or translatable anyway....)

Thanks


----------



## gogo3o

It will take ~1 month to repair the damages.
source

Also, you can check for regular updates here (only in Bulgarian).


----------



## Gubot

*III-609* in *Tsareva livada* village has been damaged as well so it will go under rehabilitation in the following months as well.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Lot 2 of Struma Motorway to Be Completed in March 2015*


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> It will take ~1 month to repair the damages.
> source
> 
> Also, you can check for regular updates here (only in Bulgarian).


Thanks, so basically, Republika Pass is replaced by Shipka Pass... got it


----------



## gogo3o

13,000 cars passed in a day to Greece via the new Makaza border checkpoint, most of them from Romania. Seems that Romanian media made the new route quite popular. That resulted in a traffic jam at the checkpoint.


----------



## daniel LNC

at the moment is a real chaos in the Romanian forums regarding diversion through Shipka and customs crowded Makaza


----------



## Gubot

daniel LNC said:


> at the moment is a real chaos in the Romanian forums regarding diversion through Shipka and customs crowded Makaza


Sorry to hear that. What are people planning to do?


----------



## Quilavoce

Gubot said:


> Sorry to hear that. What are people planning to do?


Ferry from Constanta to Thassos.


----------



## Gubot

Quilavoce said:


> Ferry from Constanta to Thassos.


Are there such ferries?


----------



## daniel LNC

Gubot said:


> Sorry to hear that. What are people planning to do?


currently for a month how long repairs on Republika choose to Shipka deviation or Targoviste - Kotel - A1 - Stara Zagora, Dimitrovgrad.


----------



## LG_

^^
^^
You can also check up the google street view.

https://maps.google.bg/?ll=42.57027...=0E3zOfgN7Q_sXRM5aUH32w&cbp=12,45.59,,0,22.75


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A2 Hemus Motorway*

*Construction of Hemus Motorway Might Be Suspended*

Bulgaria’s Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) might have no other choice but to suspend the construction of Hemus Motorway meant to link Sofia and Varna, if the state fails to pay the contractor “Motorways – Black Sea” the overdue BGN 8 m (about EUR 4 m) for the work done on the major route. The company is yet to receive a total of BGN 12 m for “Hemus” and other infrastructure projects from the Bulgarian state, it emerged following a meeting of company and RIA representatives and syndicates on Monday.​
more: http://www.publics.bg/en/news/11371/Construction_of_Hemus_Motorway_Might_Be_Suspended.html


----------



## Gubot

New satellite imagery of *Maritsa motorway[A4]* available on GE.


----------



## mman2012

commodore said:


> Can anyone please tell me what's the condition of the road 55 between Gurkovo and Nova Zagora? Thank you in advance.


If you plan to go towards Greece I recommend the Shipka instead, the detour is not very long and the road is quite ok.


----------



## Gubot

It's a bit curvy though.


----------



## commodore

^^ 
Thanks both of you. I'll better take the Sofia route since my destination is close to Thessaloniki. As for Sofia beltway, should I go west or east to get to A3?

Cheers


----------



## syst3m

if I were you I'll go east, road pavement not so good and construction is in the way ..but anyway you'll skip city traffic, which by my opinion uses much more the west part of the ring road.


----------



## Gubot

We have witnessed a steady increase of traffic on New Europe bridge in the last several weeks.
11k, 12k and 13k vehicles per week milestones have been all reached.


> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 14.07.2014 - 20.07.2014 was around 13000 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 07.07.2014 - 13.07.2014 was around 12500 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 30.06.2014 - 01.07.2014 was around 12300 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 23.06.2014 - 29.06.2014 was around 11900 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 16.06.2014 - 22.06.2014 was around 11200 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 09.06.2014 - 15.06.2014 was around 10700 vehicles.


Source


----------



## panda80

It will probably reach a maximum in August when the holiday traffic reaches its peak.


----------



## mman2012

commodore said:


> ^^
> Thanks both of you. I'll better take the Sofia route since my destination is close to Thessaloniki. As for Sofia beltway, should I go west or east to get to A3?
> 
> Cheers


I've been to Thessaloniki some three weeks ago, went trough Makza, some 10 hours of driving in much better conditions than on Kulata (less traffic, more motorway in Greece, the shortest distance in Bg). Let me know if you need any details
As far as Sofia beltway..... west also


----------



## OClone

^^

But you should mention that it's more expensive considering the tolls in Greece.


----------



## Gubot

Gubot said:


> We have witnessed a steady increase of traffic on New Europe bridge in the last several weeks.
> 11k, 12k and 13k vehicles per week milestones have been all reached.
> 
> 
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 14.07.2014 - 20.07.2014 was around 13000 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 07.07.2014 - 13.07.2014 was around 12500 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 30.06.2014 - 01.07.2014 was around 12300 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 23.06.2014 - 29.06.2014 was around 11900 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 16.06.2014 - 22.06.2014 was around 11200 vehicles.
> 
> The traffic on Danube Bridge Vidin - Calafat during the period 09.06.2014 - 15.06.2014 was around 10700 vehicles.
> 
> 
> 
> Source
Click to expand...




panda80 said:


> It will probably reach a maximum in August when the holiday traffic reaches its peak.


On July 6th Vratsa bypass was opened. Maybe it will help as well. It certainly eliminated one very bad section of I-1.


----------



## LG_

OClone said:


> ^^
> 
> But you should mention that it's more expensive considering the tolls in Greece.


The Greek A2 eastern of Thessaloniki is free of tolls!


----------



## definitivo

LG_ said:


> The Greek A2 eastern of Thessaloniki is free of tolls!



A2 Thessaloniki - Asprovalta is 2.4 Eur


----------



## OClone

LG_ said:


> The Greek A2 eastern of Thessaloniki is free of tolls!


No, it's not.

From Egnatia Odos website:


> Six (6) toll stations are currently operational on the Egnatia Motorway, at *Tyria* (Paramythia area of Thesprotia), at *Malakasi* (Metsovo area), *Polymylos* (Kozani), *Analipsi* (Langadas area), *Moustheni*(Kavala) and *Iasmos* (Komotini).


The last 3 are east of Thessaloniki.


----------



## LG_

Well it's a new think to me! Thanks! Last time I drove there it was free!


----------



## gogo3o

*A1 Trakia motorway*









Road Insfrastructure Agency opened the price bids for the reconstructions of ~46 km of A1 motorway.
*source (in BG):* http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...a-na-46-km-ot-starite-uchastci-ot-am-trakiya/

Also, about a week ago a new interchange opened to traffic at the village of Balgarovo, Burgas Province ( at 352 km).


----------



## gogo3o

*A2 Hemus motorway*








Workers on the short section under construction at Shumen protested a week ago due to delayed salaries.

*A3 Struma motorway*









Selected pics of the section b/n Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad, thanks to Galin Gradev




































tunnel Kocherino, thanks to EuroAliance








More pics in the BG section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=463


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*









Construction of the Dimitrovgrad - Harmanli section continues at full speed


rockobarocko said:


> ^^ *15.07.2014*


In contrast, the other major section under construction (b/n Chirpan and Dimitrovgrad) is on holdhno:


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> In contrast, the other major section under construction (b/n Chirpan and Dimitrovgrad) is on holdhno:


Completely on hold???? 

Is there not some archaeological work (still) underway on parts of that section as well????


----------



## gogo3o

The EU funds allocated for roads in BG will be insufficient for all projects. A2 Hemus motorway has to rely on financing from the state.


----------



## sponge_bob

The A2 is not on an important European Corridor either. Bulgaria should look at reactivating plans for what is known as 'Corridor VIII' once Macedonia ( and Serbia) near EU entry towards 2020. For now EU funds are not really available for the A2 as it is not of EU wide importance.

Corridor VIII was effectively dropped from the EU 2030 list in recent years when the corridor list was rationalised, not that much was ever done with it before then. It is up to the Balkan countries to make a case for it in Brussels. 

see http://www.corridor8led.net/corridor-map/index.asp and 
http://www.corridor8led.net/network-docs/index.asp


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

But on A2 there is a lot of traffic,so i don't know why it shouldn't be funded by EU.


----------



## MichiH

^^ It's national interest, not EU interest.


----------



## sponge_bob

MichiH said:


> ^^ It's national interest, not EU interest.



Rich EU countries have redefined the rules so that a lot of transport funding can go to building incredibly expensive high speed rail tunnels in the Alps rather than make up for infrastructure deficits in poorer countries *like it should.*

The rich countries define a corridor like EG Munich - Milan and then EG Germany Austria and Italy can all benefit. So the A2 will have to be part of a Tirana to Constanta corridor in future ..or similar.... to qualify for EU funding. 

The other Bulgarian Motorways are key European corridors from Athens and Istanbul northwards and they qualify easily for funding.


----------



## Gubot

Diagram of progress on Maritsa motorway:


nasko said:


> Благодаря за снимките и
> 
> Ето карта за напредъка по информацията от harry_gg.
> Новото е:
> От 39+ до 41+600 платното за Димитровград е на 2 основни слоя, другото платно на минералбетон.
> От 49+ до 53+ и двете платна вече са на два слоя.
> От 54+ до 65+ биндер в посока Димитровград.


:bow:


----------



## mcarling

After the Balkan countries have all joined the EU, it will be interesting to see how effective they can be, together with Bulgaria and Romania, as a voting bloc for funding infrastructure corridors in southeast Europe.


----------



## mman2012

mcarling said:


> After the Balkan countries have all joined the EU, it will be interesting to see how effective they can be, together with Bulgaria and Romania, as a voting bloc for funding infrastructure corridors in southeast Europe.


I don't think all the Balkan countries will join EU in the next 10 years (EU just declared that in the next 5 years no new country will be accepted).
Even so, the decision power is limited given the economic powers of these countries compared to the West


----------



## sponge_bob

It is unlikely that any will join in time for the 2021-2027 Capital Infrastructure Plan as that will be finalised in 2020 ...it sort of exists already as the 2030 Plan

If any countries do join they are likely to be Serbia and Montenegro who have a rather costly plan of their own to fund from Belgrade to Bar and from the Albanian border to somewhere around Dubrovnik.

I don't think Albania and Macedonia will join until well after 2020...and Bosnian/Kosovar 'issues' may delay the accession of Serbia and Montenegro well beyond 2020 as well.

This makes it unlikely that the southern Balkans will get much of a say in infrastructure planning ( spending of EU funds) until around 2025 at current rates of progress. 

The last major Balkans plan was led by Greece pre 2007 and that plan ( the Hellenic Plan or HiperB) should be revived as a multi country plan in the interim I think.


----------



## gogo3o

The small section of A4 at the Turkish border probably will open to traffic in the next week.
source


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> The small section of A4 at the Turkish border probably will open to traffic in the next week.
> source


Does this include the distance from the current motorway end all the way to the border? Or will there be a similar segment to be opened later (if I'm not mistaking, the second section is the Svilengrad "ring")


----------



## gogo3o

mman2012 said:


> Does this include the distance from the current motorway end all the way to the border?


Yes. It's a short distance to the border checkpoint, about 3 km long.

The Svilengrad bypass is another section, which is being upgraded from half-profile to full profile.

You can see them in wikimapia


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

That section is 5.4 kilometars long.


----------



## Tachi

gogo3o said:


> Yes. It's a short distance to the border checkpoint, about 3 km long.
> 
> [...]
> 
> You can see them in wikimapia


Are the lanes shown in wikimapia show the lanes as it will be? It's a bit odd to see that the exit for trucks is on the left side to enter the border station. It looks like, if there is a queue, that trucks still have to cross at some point the (dual?) lane for passenger cars. Not really an improvement. hno:
Why not a regular exit on the right and than cross over the lane with passenger cars. That way the queue with trucks can remain on the right (hard shoulder).


----------



## alex.krastev

As you can see from the pic, taken by ogibo, it seems that left lane is for trucks.










He has shot also a short movie, but seems it is no longer available.

Indeed, they could have been more wise, when planning the whole thing and put the trucks on the right, so if there is a congestion, no need to pass the other vehicles flow would be required hno:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*No New Motorway Stretches to Open in Bulgaria by End-Year*

According to caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, who is also caretaker Regional Development Minister, no new motorway sections will open in Bulgaria by the end of 2014.​
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=162692


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A4 Maritza*

New July 1 2014 imagery of the A4 / I-5 interchange south of Dimitrovgrad.


----------



## Gubot

ChrisZwolle said:


> *No New Motorway Stretches to Open in Bulgaria by End-Year*
> 
> According to caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, who is also caretaker Regional Development Minister, no new motorway sections will open in Bulgaria by the end of 2014.​
> http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=162692


Not entirely true.
Tomorrow is going to be opened the section of Maritsa motorway[A4] from Generalovo till the BG/TR checkpoint. Source

Maritsa motorway[A4] lot 2 Dimitrovgrad - Harmanli is advancing pretty fast as well and IMHO is plausible to be ready this year.


----------



## gogo3o

lot 2 of *A3 Struma motorway* :cheers2:


galin_gradev said:


> Айде малко да разведрим положението с напредъка по Лот 2. Устой страна "София" е готов, както и са наредени гредите м/у него и стълб №1:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> При стълб №4:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> От устой страна "Кулата" на север. Цяла нощ са наливали плочата по дясното платно м/у устоя и стълб №10:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Следват хеликоптерите:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> При стълб №4:


----------



## gogo3o

alex.krastev said:


> He has shot also a short movie, but seems it is no longer available.


Is it this one?





It's opened now.
source | in BG


----------



## begleca

MichiH said:


> Is there any info about the predicted openings of the two A4 sections? Is it still reliable that they could be opened in 2014? November, December,...?


The government stopped the funding for the Svilengrad section (bypass), among with some other projects (like the repavement of some parts of Trakia motorway). Fellow forumers said that they havent worked on the site since two months. The Minister of the Regional Development said that it will probably be opened in the spring next year.
For the Harmanli - Dimitrovgrad section there are also some opinion thats its gonna be ready next spring - also some money problems. The works there are in the final stages (especially in the second half of the lot) but still no opening date. 
Here are the lastest photos:


harry_gg said:


> Надлез над старата ЖП Линия км 68+197
> 
> 
> 
> От надлез на пътя за сметището при км 66+270 в посока 67-и. Разликата с преди 3 седмици е 3-я слой асфалт по лявото платно и мантинелата.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Надлез над новата скоростна Ж.П. линия.
> 
> 
> 
> Поражения по полу-детелината за вливане в посока Свиленград.





harry_gg said:


> Най-накрая започнаха и асфалтиране на полу-детелината на ПВ Симеоновград за отливане от София към Харманли.
> Лошата новина е, че според единия от работниците до асфалтополагача това е посления асфалт, който ще положат тук.
> Не са започнали износващия слой и в близките месеци не се очаквало да започнат.
> Малко по-нататък един друг работник каза, че преди нова година нямало да полагат, понеже другия подучастък имал да наваксва много...
> Не знам стана малко като "една жена каза", но това е то, дано не са разбрали нещо и най-късно през ноември да положат последния слой и маркировката.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> От ПВ Симеоновград в посока Димитровград промяна няма, освен биндера вече и по двете платна.
> 
> 
> 
> Край за днес.





doci said:


> Мястото където беше стария път с.Узунджово-с.Александрово вече е на асфалт





doci said:


> Надлеза на път с.Воден-с.Узунджово е готов
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> към Харманли
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> към Д-град


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*, pics by Galin Gradev









viaduct @350 km. location


























More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=118049528#post118049528


----------



## gogo3o

*A2 Hemus motorway*
Construction of Panayot Volovo interchange (at road I-7 Silistra-Shumen), location



rookie05 said:


> Няколко снимки от строежа на ПВ Панайот Волово.
> От път I-7 в посока Шумен:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> Изглед в посока Варна:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Момчетата до колоната на горната снимка са изливали тези основи днес:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> В посока София:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> В дъното на кадъра се вижда ССП - явно доста материал има да се насипе още докато го покрият:


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*

Dimitrovgrad/Haskovo interchange, location





















































*source:* dgpazar.eu


----------



## gogo3o

> BUCHAREST (Romania), October 22 (SeeNews) - The Romanian government said it has approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bulgaria to conduct feasibility studies for the construction of two more bridges over the Danube river.
> 
> The bridges would link Romania's Calarasi to Silistra in Bulgaria, and Turnu Magurele to Nikopol, the government's spokesman Corneliu Calota told reporters on Tuesday. A transcript of his comments was posted on the government's website.
> 
> Currently, Romanian and Bulgaria are connected by two bridges, one linking Giurgiu and Ruse and the other one, which was launched last year, connecting Calafat and Vidin.


source


----------



## Gubot

Bulgarian authorities are finally ending the contract with Actor for lot 4 Sandanski-GR border of Struma motorway[A3].


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

So that means that contract is going to be canceled?


----------



## MichiH

^^ I think so. I guess a new tender procedure is necessary now. How many percentage are completed? I guess the completion could still be in 2015, couldn't it?


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

In my opinion 70% are done.But that is just me.


----------



## Andrej_LJ

Cca. 60% of the work has been done, and the aim is the highway to be ready during the summer of 2015. The contract will be terminated and a new tender will be announced soon. This was a classical criminal behavior from Aktor, since they got the job for very low price (lowest in Bulgarian recent history) and than wanted additional money from the state, which was not tolerated. They had 250 additional days given from the state for finishing this short and easy section and still didnt make it. I am glad they are out of Bulgaria's highway construction, I hope for good.


----------



## gogo3o

It's official now.

google-translated


> Agency "Road Infrastructure" took the necessary action to terminate the contract for the construction of Lot 4 Sandanski - Tower km 423 + 800 to km 438 + 500 of "Struma" with the contractor "AKTOR" ASD.
> 
> At present, the site is filled to about 50%. Committee, which includes representatives of the contractor, construction supervision, project designer and contractor will describe, the current construction of the site. Will be a comprehensive test of the quality of completed construction works.
> 
> RIA will launch a new public procurement under the Public Procurement Act for carrying out construction work required for completion and complete construction of the facility. The deadline for implementation of the contract will be up to 150 days from the signing of the Protocol 2A (building permit).
> 
> The prospective contractor will be required to restore the road surface bypass routes passing through the settlements since the beginning of the construction of Lot 4. Until then, this remains a temporary traffic organization in the area of the site.


source: RIA


----------



## Gubot

Andrej_LJ said:


> Cca. 60% of the work has been done, and the aim is the highway to be ready during the summer of 2015. The contract will be terminated and a new tender will be announced soon. This was a classical criminal behavior from Aktor, since they got the job for very low price (lowest in Bulgarian recent history) and than wanted additional money from the state, which was not tolerated. They had 250 additional days given from the state for finishing this short and easy section and still didnt make it. I am glad they are out of Bulgaria's highway construction, I hope for good.


I really can't put the whole blame only on Aktor. The state should share a bit of the guilt as well.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

There is new imagery of A4 near Dimitrovgrad, dated 24 September 2014. It shows some segments already being paved, but another one not even began construction.


----------



## gogo3o

^^
That's the border b/n lot 1 and lot 2.









by nikid

more: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=277


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*
13 bidders in the tender for lot 3.1 (Zheleznitsa tunnel is not included). source
9 bidders in the tender for lot 3.3. source


----------



## HaniBanaPara

When A4 Maritsa is finished ?

I will drive with my SUV from Germany to Turkey ( this winter ).

Last time we drove one lane ( 1x1 ) trough small villages and empty rotten factories ( i think from soviet CCCP communist time ) . Sofia Bypass was not finished and Kalotina Highway is missing.
A1 Trakia is fine.


----------



## gogo3o

Next year.


----------



## Gareth Morgan

Can any one you tell me how far will the A2 sit from the Village of Makaropolsko.


----------



## Capt.Vimes

Are you asking about the nearest exit or where the motorway will pass? There is no project at the moment for that part of the motorway. Two days ago the contract for the conceptual design was signed.



> Preparation of preliminary designs for Hemus Motorway (stage 3)
> 
> On 11.11.2014 National Company Strategic Infrastructure Projects and „AM Hemus stage III-2020“ JV signed a contract for position III from a conveyed tender procedure with subject: „Preparation of preliminary designs for Hemus Motorway (stage 3) into separate positions: position I – section from I-5 to II-51; position II – section from II-51 to II-49 and position III – section from II-49 to A-2”.
> 
> The contract value is BGN 459 900 excluding VAT and the time for completion is 294 days.
> 
> The contract is financed under Operational Programme on Transport 2007 – 2013.
> 
> 12.11.2014


NCSIP

The new government is quite determined to finish the A2 motorway. One of the ministers even said that they will belly crawl if they had to, but they will finish it.


----------



## gogo3o

A2 route 









close-up


----------



## JackFrost

^^will you face the same problems we have with the border crossing on M43/A1 on HU/RO border? Or will traffic use the old border crossing in Kulata/Promachonas?


----------



## gogo3o

I'm not familiar with the problems at the HU/RO border, but the current checkpoint Kulata/Promachonas will remain. The motorway ends here.


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## JackFrost

^^so there will be no direct connection between A3 and greek A25?

The problem on HU/RO border is the Schengen zone, nobody really knows how the border checks will work until Romania is outside Schengen. So I guess this problem would also apply for Bulgaria and Greece. Same situation.


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## MichiH

^^ Sorry, I don't get it. Why is the Schengen Zone a problem, because there is a need for border facilities? I think the HU/RO "problem" is that the Hungarian section is not yet completed... There is no continuous motorway u/c b/n Bulgaria and Greece, so there is no problem at all.


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## JackFrost

Because Greece is in the zone, and Bulgaria isnt. M43 will be ready this summer, just like romanian A1, but it looks like trucks will be forced to use the old border crossing on road 43 at Nagylak/Nadlac.

However, if Bulgaria and Greece dont connect their motorways (yet) - I wasnt sure whats the case- and border traffic remains using the old border crossing, answers my question.


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## pmalenkin

^^ A3 ends before the border check-point, and I have never heard anything about a direct connection between the 2 motorways, maybe because of what you're saying. Bulgaria is not in the Schengen zone, so control is needed, and there is no clear info about when we will join it, so if in the next few years it happens, I suppose they will just let barriers open and traffic will pass directly without stopping, like in other old connections between EU countries.


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## MichiH

^^ But a 2-laned section will remain.......


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## pmalenkin

Yes, for a short distance. But if there are big traffic jams, I'm sure they will double it, or build a short beltway with direct connection to the greek motorway if we join the Schengen area, but all this is not a priority today.


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

I think that Bulgaria should waite for little bit ,and when they enter the Schengen zone then they can think about building motorway that will bypass old border crossing.Greece should waite and when Bulgaria enters Schengen zone then they can do the same.


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## pasadia

In RO/HU case the problem is that M43/A1 is on a new route, several kilometers north of the curent border point built on roumanian and hungarian national roads. So probably we will have two border crossing points functional untill Roumania will enter Schengen, one on the motorway and one on national roads (the older one).

In BG/GR case they are going to use the old crossing point since the motorways are build on the older national roads path.

LE:



JackFrost said:


> Because Greece is in the zone, and Bulgaria isnt. M43 will be ready this summer, just like romanian A1, but it *looks like trucks will be forced to use the old border crossing on road 43* at Nagylak/Nadlac.


I've never heard that this could happened. Instead there were talks for a larger parking area on the roumanian side of A1, so that trucks have were to stay when roads are closed for them in Hungary. So I really don't think that anyone will ask them to leave the highway.


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## Gubot

MichiH said:


> Montana bypass was announced to be opened in February 2015. It there any updated estimated completion date?


According to this article, the bypass will be ready by the end of summer.


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## ChrisZwolle

*A4 Maritsa Motorway*

*Maritsa Motorway Should be Launched by End of August – Minister*

*Bulgaria's Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova announced in the town of Haskovo on Saturday that Maritsa Motorway is expected to be completed by the end of August.*

Pavlova assured that in case there are no natural disasters, the first section should be constructed by the end of June, while the complete motorway should be launched by the end of August.​
Full report: http://www.novinite.com/articles/16...hould+be+Launched+by+End+of+August+–+Minister


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## begleca

Great photos of Struma motorway, section Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad, made by our fellow forumers Galin and Velbujd. Photos are taken near Dupnitsa:


galin_gradev said:


> Надлезът на II-62. Напълно готова е плочата и тротоарните конзоли - дясно платно. Горното строене е на ГБС Благоевград:
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> Върху стълб 19:





velbujd said:


> Днешният разширен репортаж е реализиран в условията на код жълто, с кал до шията, като тези 6 км., които изминах пеша ми се видяха като 26!
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> Началото на ЛОТ-а при км.322 и оформящата се площадка за отдих (км.322+040 - км.322+220)
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> Виадукт от км.322+247 до км.322+578
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> Южен устой (км.322+578)


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## begleca

The tunnel near Dupnitsa:


velbujd said:


> Все още няма изцяло пробита тръба на тунела. Тъй като днес на обекта не се работеше нямам информация за степентта на завършеност. Охраната разбира се не беше в час
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## begleca

The great viaduct near road 62 Dupnitsa - Kyustendil


velbujd said:


> Колони №12. Армиран ригел - дясно, частично кофриран
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> Готови колони №№13, 14 и 15
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> Поглед на север
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> Готови колони №№17 и 18
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> Колона №20 и Южен устой с готови 4 полета дясно и 3 ляво с греди.


More photos here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=541


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## Gubot

New signs introduced:
-expressway


gogo3o said:


>


-speed limits


vog said:


>


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

The quality of motorways in Bulgaria is not so bad,but Italy,France,Austria...have better pavement ,but they have lower speed limits.
Why ?


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## Gubot

Autoputevi kao hobi said:


> The quality of motorways in Bulgaria is not so bad,but Italy,France,Austria...have better pavement ,but they have lower speed limits.
> Why ?


Maximum speed is influenced by road inclinations and radiuses of turns as well.


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## gogo3o

A2 Hemus motorway


rockobarocko said:


> *Две страхотни снимки на АМ Хемус, с автор Павел Пронин*
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> може да посетите личната му страница --> *Pavel Pronin Photography*
> или страницата му във Facebook --> *Pavel Pronin Facebook*
> 
> Всеки ще открие много чудесни снимки...


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## Autoputevi kao hobi

^^


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## Gubot

^^
^^


rockobarocko said:


> *Две страхотни снимки на АМ Люлин, с автор Павел Пронин*
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> може да посетите личната му страница --> *Pavel Pronin Photography*
> или страницата му във Facebook --> *Pavel Pronin Facebook*
> 
> Всеки ще открие много чудесни снимки...


SAT patrol from Nis to Bansko ski resort.
Construction sites seen on video:
1. A4(Nis - BG border) in Serbia
2. Sofia western ring road.
3. Struma motorway[A3] lot 2 Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad.


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## kostas97

Gubot said:


> ^^
> ^^
> 
> 
> SAT patrol from Nis to Bansko ski resort.
> Construction sites seen on video:
> 1. A4(Nis - BG border) in Serbia
> 2. Sofia western ring road.
> 3. Struma motorway[A3] lot 2 Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad.


Very nice pictures!


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## gogo3o

Tsarigradsko shose blvd in Sofia


86mhz said:


>


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## Gubot

One more:


Turnovec said:


> И още една от Пронин


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## begleca

Another great shot of Tsarigradsko shose blvd in Sofia (direction - A1 Trakiya motorway), thanks to REAKTOR:



REAKT0R said:


> Една от вчера:


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## gogo3o

The construction of the *Northern Sofia Bypass* (16.5 km, 5 interchanges + many bridges, _2x(3+1)_ lanes) is about to start. However, many issues remain, such as expropriation, archaeology and a short deadline for utilizing the EU funds.








source in BG


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## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> The construction of the *Northern Sofia Bypass* (16.5 km, 5 interchanges + many bridges, _2x(3+1)_ lanes) is about to start. However, many issues remain, such as expropriation, archaeology and a short deadline for utilizing the EU funds.
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> source in BG


There are still mane sections on the south one not yet completed, right?


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## begleca

mman2012 said:


> There are still mane sections on the south one not yet completed, right?


Yes the section between A6 motorway and Bulgaria blvd. - about 8km 
https://www.google.bg/maps/dir/42.7...3,23.2730004/@42.6788719,23.2590933,13z?hl=en 
and the section between Mladost neighbourhood and A1 motorway about 5.5km:
https://www.google.bg/maps/dir/42.6...2,23.4466356/@42.6300108,23.4182685,14z?hl=en


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## mman2012

begleca said:


> Yes the section between A6 motorway and Bulgaria blvd. - about 8km
> https://www.google.bg/maps/dir/42.7...3,23.2730004/@42.6788719,23.2590933,13z?hl=en
> and the section between Mladost neighbourhood and A1 motorway about 5.5km:
> https://www.google.bg/maps/dir/42.6...2,23.4466356/@42.6300108,23.4182685,14z?hl=en


Are these to be completed soon? It's not that much of a distance.

Off-topic: can't help noticing Sofia looks (much) better in terms of ring-road implementation than Bucharest; the Romanian capital has only 1/3 of the north ring modernized.....:bash:


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## Gubot

mman2012 said:


> Are these to be completed soon?


Unfortunately, no.


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## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*. Construction of viaduct over Struma river. Location








_by galin_gradev_


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## ChrisZwolle

*Bulgaria Plans Construction of Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Motorway*

*Bulgarian Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova said that the government plans to construct a motorway rather than a high-speed road between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo.*

The motorway, which is estimated to cost BGN 870 M, will have a length of 110 kilometres.

The project was submitted and applied for funding under the Investment Plan of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.​
Full report: http://www.novinite.com/articles/166520/Bulgaria+Plans+Construction+of+Ruse-Veliko+Tarnovo+Motorway

Any speculation on a road number for this motorway? So far they appear to be applied chronologically. The next one would be A7 but I also read that number would be used for some kind of motorway near the Rila Mountains (Dupnitsa - Mirovo). But I haven't heard anything about this project for years.


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## MichiH

^^ A7 is Kalotina - Sofia.......


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## gogo3o

It's not an official designation yet. 

As for Ruse-Tarnovo, the only thing sure at this stage is that conceptual design will be drawn. Financing is not secured (the Juncker plan is some form of PPP). The good news is that Ruse-Tarnovo will be designed as a motorway. The previous statements were for an expressway.


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## kostas97

gogo3o said:


> *A3 Struma motorway*. Construction of viaduct over Struma river. Location
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> _by galin_gradev_


When is it going to be ready (along with the whole A3??)


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## sponge_bob

kostas97 said:


> When is it going to be ready (along with the whole A3??)


The A3 will be ready when the longest road tunnel in Europe is completed at Kresna Gorge down near Greece. That will take at least 3 years and has not even started yet.


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## PhiK

kostas97 said:


> When is it going to be ready (along with the whole A3??)


In addition to the answer above - This section (Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad) along with the section Sandanski - Kulata (BG-GR border) will be ready summer-autumn 2015.

2/3 of LOT 3 (the remaining part of the motorway) are tendered and soon the contractor will be chosen.

The other 1/3 - the 15 km tunnel has not been tendered yet and there are heavy discussions in Bulgaria about it and ways for it to be replaced with a combination of viadicuts and tunnels because of its high price (around 400 - 500 mln EUR)


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## kostas97

PhiK said:


> In addition to the answer above - This section (Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad) along with the section Sandanski - Kulata (BG-GR border) will be ready summer-autumn 2015.
> 
> 2/3 of LOT 3 (the remaining part of the motorway) are tendered and soon the contractor will be chosen.
> 
> The other 1/3 - the 15 km tunnel has not been tendered yet and there are heavy discussions in Bulgaria about it and ways for it to be replaced with a combination of viadicuts and tunnels because of its high price (around 800 mln - 1 bln EUR)


Yes, I know that the Kresna tunnel (almost 15 km) in length will be the longest in Europe. 
And I believe that both Bulgaria and Greece will me benefited from the A3.
By the way, how long are the sections to be completed in the summer???


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## sponge_bob

Actually that will be the longest TWIN road tunnel in Europe ...there are longer single bore tunnels already. 

The total Kresna section will be over 20km long including the tunnel and approaches but otherwise there will be a continual high quality road from Kalamata in Greece to Budapest/Vienna and beyond by 2017 I think. 

That said part of the A25 in Greece is only low/medium quality dual carriageway rather than proper motorway but at least it is 2+2 and a cheap upgrade to motorway some time in future.


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## PhiK

kostas97 said:


> Yes, I know that the Kresna tunnel (almost 15 km) in length will be the longest in Europe.
> And I believe that both Bulgaria and Greece will me benefited from the A3.
> By the way, how long are the sections to be completed in the summer???


Lot 2 - 37.5 km
Lot 4 - 15 km


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## aubergine72

del


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## MichiH

PhiK said:


> The other 1/3 - the 15 km tunnel has not been tendered yet and there are heavy discussions in Bulgaria about it and ways for it to be replaced with a combination of viadicuts and tunnels because of its high price (around 400 - 500 mln EUR)


Quite cheap! The expected costs of the 17.6km motorway and railway Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Denmark and Germany are about 6 billion €.



kostas97 said:


> When is it going to be ready (along with the whole A3??)





kostas97 said:


> By the way, how long are the sections to be completed in the summer???


I guess you already know this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1687231.

*A3:* Sandanski – Kulata 15.0km (April 2012 to 31st July 2015) – project – map
*A3:* Dupnitsa – Blagoevgrad 37.0km (July 2013 to October 2015) – project – map


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## kostas97

MichiH said:


> Quite cheap! The expected costs of the 17.6km motorway and railway Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Denmark and Germany are about 6 billion €.
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> I guess you already know this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1687231.
> 
> *A3:* Sandanski – Kulata 15.0km (April 2012 to 31st July 2015) – project – map
> *A3:* Dupnitsa – Blagoevgrad 37.0km (July 2013 to October 2015) – project – map


Didn't notice that thread, I'm really sorry.
Thanks for reminding me!


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## begleca

A3 motorway:


galin_gradev said:


> Нека се отнасяме сериозно към темата!
> 
> От старото мостче на р.Дренковска на път за индустиалната зона. По-надолу е започнала работа по новия мост, защото пътя ще се мести (схема на възела има няколко страници по назад):
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## begleca

^^


galin_gradev said:


> По-късно е възможно да ви върна на виадукта на р.Струма, а сега любимия ми ЖП виадукт. При устой страна "Кулата" - дясно се очаква доставка на още един демпфер през март и нещата могат да приключат:
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## begleca

^^


galin_gradev said:


> Добре дошъл !!! Не бъркаш.
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> Изпълнена е плочата на лявата ламела на ССП-то на км.352+120:
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## begleca

And A4 motorway thanks to harry_gg. We are almost there


harry_gg said:


> Няколко днешни кадъра от Лот 2 и по-точно участъка на ПСТ (км 53 - км 71).
> Няма промяна от 6 месеца насам, все така си чакаме износващия слой и оградната мрежа.


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## begleca

^^


harry_gg said:


> АБ Хасково са се събудили от зимен сън и най-накрая са захапали единия от двато останали изкопа - този на пътя  IV 50045 Воден - Узунджово - км 46+290
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## gogo3o

> *The World Bank Will Consult Road Infrastructure Agency for the Introduction of a Toll System at the Use of the National Roads*
> 
> The Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency, eng. Lazar Lazarov, and the Country Manager of the World Bank in our country, Mr. Tony Thompson signed an amendment to the Contract for Consultancy Service between the Road Infrastructure Agency and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It is for the development of complete vision for implementation of European Electronic Toll Service. The document was signed in the presence of the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Mrs. Lilyana Pavlova.
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> The Agreement signed is the first serious step towards the implementation of tolls in Bulgaria, Minister Pavlova emphasized. By the end of year 2015 the financial institution will make an analysis of the possibilities and the variants for its implementation. It is foreseen that in the next few years the toll system will replace the vignette charges currently paid by the drivers for usage of the national road network.
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> The activities under the Agreement with the World Bank are implemented under Project „Technical assistance for improvement the efficiency of the road sector in the Republic of Bulgaria”, financed under Operational Program Transport 2007-2013. Nearly BGN 1,4 million were saved from the management of the Project. This allows also for the inclusion of an additional activity, such as the development of complete vision for the introduction of tolls. „I do believe that the consultants who will be hired by the World Bank will be international experts with proven and rich experience in field of the toll systems. Their expertise is necessary for the successful implementation of this form of charging, new for the Bulgarian roads, but well known to Bulgarian drivers during their journeys abroad. „The toll system is the most fair form of charging because one pays for really passed kilometers and not for a time period – a week, a month or a year”, Eng. Lazarov pointed out.
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> The World Bank is a consultant of the state road administration at the preparation of strategic documents related to increasing the efficiency and the steady development of the road sector, the institutional capacity and absorption of EU funds in the road infrastructure by year 2020.


 *source:* RIA


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## gogo3o

> *Construction of Sofia Northern Speed Tangent Kicks Off *
> 
> The construction of the first section of the Sofia Northern Speed Tangent (SNST) motorway starts Wednesday.
> 
> The SNST, also known as the Sofia Northern Bypass, is a 2x3 motorway shortcutting the Sofia Ring Road north of the city. It is to reduce congestion and traffic through the Sofia City center and improve urban mobility and safety.
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> The infrastructure project is launched after staying frozen for a year over problems with owners of land plots on the route of the motorway, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.
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> The Bulgarian government eventually adopted a decision that allowed the Road Infrastructure Agency to sign agreements with the owners of the land plots.
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> One week ago, Bulgaria’s Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova announced that a construction permit for the first section of the SNST had been issued.
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> She suggested that the major part of the 16.54-km motorway was expected to be completed by end-2015.
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> The SNST project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state budget.
> 
> The project is important for Sofia because it will connect 4 motorways – the A1 Trakia motorway (via Sofia ring road), the A2 Hemus motorway, the future Kalotina motorway, and the A6 Lyulin motorway.
> 
> The SNST also connects 3 Pan-European corridors - IV, VIII, and X – which carry traffic to and from Greece, Romania, Macedonia, and Serbia.
> 
> The contractor is a consortium, HPVS-SST, which brings together Hydrostroy AD, Patni Stroezhi Veliko Tarnovo AD, Patinzheneringstroy AD, Patstroy Burgas Ltd and Vodstroy
> 98 AD.
> 
> The construction and designing contract for the SNST is worth BGN 180 M, VAT included.


- See more at: http://www.novinite.com/articles/16...+Speed+Tangent+Kicks+Off#sthash.NSz0OfMh.dpuf


----------



## mman2012

end-2015????

What?????


----------



## koynov

Yep they need to make it till the end of 2015 or we are going to lose the european fund. I think that's almost impossible - 16 km, 2x3 lanes, several junctions for 9 months :lol: If they succeеd, the quality will be disaster but let's see.


----------



## medicu' de garda

In Romania we also have this problem. On several motorway stretches we are sure to pass the end of 2015 deadline. But, at least, our politicians somehow mananges to convinge to EU to bridge the two financing periods, and use whatever money is possible until the end of the year, after that we'll start using funds from the next period.

Didn't Bulgaria negociate a similar deal?


----------



## LG_

Eevrybody knows, that it is impossible such project to be built within 10 months in an urban area in fact, regardless how many sections they are going to work on at once .

The goverment hopes that the terms for finishing projects from the old programme period will be extended by one year. There are some objectiv reasons for that such as the late certification of the programmes for structural and cohesion funds for the financial years 2015-2020 by the European parlimant in one hand, and the fact that over 10 EU countries have delays in some of their projects in the other.

If it fails, the project will be finansed by the state budget, probably by loan. We all hope that that worse case is going to be avoid!


----------



## Gubot

LG_ said:


> The goverment hopes that the terms for finishing projects from the old programme period will be extended by one year. There are some objectiv reasons for that such as the late certification of the programmes for structural and cohesion funds for the financial years 2015-2020 by the European parlimant in one hand, and the fact that over 10 EU countries have delays in some of their projects in the other.


That's my reading of the situation as well.:cheers:


----------



## gogo3o

And something stupid. Seems that the direct link b/n the Northern bypass and the east arc of the ring road is missing in the final design :bash: 



Milen said:


>





ponss said:


>


----------



## LG_

The bloody expropriation issues! As it shows the new version saves more than 10 different plots of land!


----------



## Gubot

*@MichiH*

Could you, please, add Sofia Northern Speed Tangent(SNST) to your fabulous list?

*SNST:* Sofia new northern bypass 15km (February 2015 to 2016) – project – map
Pics:


nikiyahoo said:


>


----------



## Autoputevi kao hobi

Let's see if they are going to be able to finish 15km long motorway in 10 months.Chances are very small.


----------



## Gubot

Gubot said:


> *@MichiH*
> 
> Could you, please, add Sofia Northern Speed Tangent(SNST) to your fabulous list?
> 
> *SNST:* Sofia new northern bypass 15km (February 2015 to 2016) – project – map


Thank you!:cheers:

The new layout of A1/A4 IC:









The new layout of A1/III-666 IC:


----------



## panchevo

gogo3o said:


> Are you planning to visit Greece via BG?
> 
> The last deadlines given by the officials say "yes" to your question, but I wouldn't rely much on this. Still a lot needs to be done at both stretches.


Yes I do 
somwhere around 1st september...

I used that route last year and realised that the completion of those two sections will greatly improve the jurney via bg


----------



## kostas97

panchevo said:


> Yes I do
> somwhere around 1st september...
> 
> I used that route last year and realised that the completion of those two sections will greatly improve the jurney via bg


The Bulgarian part of the route is slightly turning into a nice motorway.......I can't say the same about the Greek part, though, as the motorway construction is really slow....as long as you know this route, don't you think that its really disappointing?


----------



## panchevo

^^it is disappointing that a25(?) from sidrokastro to strimoniko is facing delays, 
as I recall, frist the deadline was 2015 and now it is 2016...

but serbia is the champion of delays and sloppy works, so I am pretty much used to that kind of situation...


----------



## kostas97

panchevo said:


> ^^it is disappointing that a25(?) from sidrokastro to strimoniko is facing delays,
> as I recall, frist the deadline was 2015 and now it is 2016...
> 
> but serbia is the champion of delays and sloppy works, so I am pretty much used to that kind of situation...


We are also in same situation....well, not so much in the A25 but in the rest of the Greek motorways....just imagine that most of the motorways currently U/C should have been finished a long time ago....I don't know if the situation is Serbia is better or worse, though....


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*, lot 4 (Sandanski-Kulata)








by REAKT0R

Petrich-Melnik I/C









laying of subbase layer

















by testche4

*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=580


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia ring road*, western arc (A6-Kakach river)

















by Senna 1

More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=714


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> New deadline for *Kakach river-A6*: August 2015
> source (7th March 2015)





gogo3o said:


> *Sofia ring road*, western arc (A6-Kakach river)


Thanks. Looks like it's "a little bit" delayed..........


----------



## sponge_bob

MichiH said:


> Thanks. Looks like it's "a little bit" delayed..........



There is a hard end 2015 deadline for some roads like the Sofia Ring Road and parts of A3 and A4 to get the Eurofunding that should theoretically have come by end 2013. After that you lose the eurofunding and in the case of the A4 I think you lose it entirely with reductions elsewhere under the new rules.


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*, lot 2


harry_gg said:


> От надлез при км 66+270. Платното за София е асфалтирано. Утре и другото.
> 
> 
> 
> Асфалт и по надлеза на км 66+270.
> 
> 
> 
> Ново двайсе. София на 229 км?!?
> 
> 
> 
> За невярващите - мие се целия участък на ПСТ - братчеда потвърди, че е мие наред. Даже искаха да ме къпят!
> 
> 
> 
> Шумозаглушаващи прегради на 60-и км до с. Поляново.
> 
> 
> 
> Друго си е с байка да догониш и задминеш машината за пътна маркировка  .
> От утре започват полагане на пътна маркировка!


----------



## kostas97

Really nice photos.

Looking forward to finally see this motorway open, because it is going to help the Bulgaria people living in the areas served (and not only them)


----------



## gogo3o

Here are some more pics, this time of the Dimitrovgrad/Haskovo I/C. Major road I-5 b/n Dimitrovgrad and Haskovo is dual carriageway (2x2+1), but the intersections at the same level. I hope that it will be upgraded one day to a motorway standard.












harry_gg said:


> Още снимки от пътен възел Димитровград
> 
> 
> 
> Сравнение с преди 3 седмици.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Изкоп на 37-и км, с положени 2 слоя битумна основа и гео глетки по откосите.
> 
> 
> 
> Сериозна мобилизация на изкопа на 36-и км. Поне 6 багера копаеха.


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway.* While lot 2 (Haskovo-Harmanli) is almost ready and probably will open to traffic withing a month, the situation at *lot 1* (A1-Haskovo) doesn't seem that good, especially b/n the bridge over Maritsa river and the end of the lot nearby Haskovo.

the bridge









overpass @26 km









overpass @28 km









@31 km









@32 km Dobrich-Krum road









@33 km









@35 km









bridge over Banska river @36km









the border b/n lots 1 & 2








tnx to *vui4o14* and *harry_gg*

More pics in the BG section: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=307


----------



## Gubot

We have some information about opening dates from today.
Old:


> *Bulgaria*
> 
> *A4:* Generalovo – Kapitan Andreevo 5.4km (November 2011 to 14th August 2014) – ? – map
> *A4:* Svilengrad bypass 8.9km (Spring 2011 to Spring 2015) [2nd c/w] – ? – map
> *A4:* Dimitrovgrad – Harmanli 34.2km (July 2011 to Early June 2015) – project – map
> *A3:* Sandanski – Kulata 15.0km (April 2012 to 31st July 2015) – project – map
> *?:* Kakach river – Lyulin (A6) 3.0km (September 2012 to August 2015) – project – map
> *A2:* Panayot Volovo – Belokopitovo 4.9km (August 2013 to August 2015) – ? – map
> *I1:* Montana bypass 12.5km (September 2013 to September 2015) – project – map
> *A4:* Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad 31.4km (October 2011 to Late September 2015) – project – map
> *A3:* Dupnitsa – Blagoevgrad 37.0km (July 2013 to October 2015) – project – map
> *SNST:* Trebich – Sofia-East (A2) 16.5km (February 2015 to 2016) – project – map


New:
*Bulgaria*


*A4:* Svilengrad bypass 8.9km (Spring 2011 to Late May 2015) [2nd c/w] – ? – map
*A4:* Dimitrovgrad – Harmanli 34.2km (July 2011 to Late May 2015) – project – map
*A3:* Sandanski – Kulata 15.0km (April 2012 to August 2015) – project – map
*A3:* Dupnitsa – Blagoevgrad 37.0km (July 2013 to 30 October 2015) – project – map


----------



## Andrej_LJ

So it seems that this year we should have 135 km of new highways (without the northern bypass of Sofia which wont be ready as well as Montana bypass which will be an express road 2x2).


----------



## Gubot

^^
IMHO, every project from Kakach river including to the end of the list might be delayed for 2016. The only exception is A2 section, which is progressing well.


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*, lot 2 is almost ready to open. 

@52 km 



























The main efforts are concentrated to finish Dimitrovgrad/Haskovo I/C (@I-5 road). It's one of the biggest interchanges in BG, with separate collector carriageways on both levels.


















...and @the small stretch b/n the I/C and the beginning of the lot, which is not so important at this moment, because it will stay unused till the launching of lot 1.








pics by *harry_gg*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Is the plan for a 15.5 km Kresna Tunnel completely cancelled?


----------



## Gubot

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is the plan for a 15.5 km Kresna Tunnel completely cancelled?


Authorities are updating the cost-benefit analysis for it. They are looking into the possibility of scraping the project and building a 2x2 sub-substandard(100kmh max) expressway. But the new project might meet opposition from environmentalists.

*A4 Maritsa motorway* full length:






*A2 Hemus motorway Panayot Volovo – Belokopitovo*:









10x to REAKT0R.


----------



## soterman

Hi everyone, I am planning to travel through Bulgaria this summer with a few friends. We are driving to Transfagarasan in Romania and we are going to enter Bulgaria in Promachonas-Kulata and exiting either at Oryahovo or at Nikopol

I am following the detailed map at http://dev.ivanatora.info/roads/, I cannot decide which route would take less time or have nicer views? Road classification seems the same more or less. Thank you in advance!


----------



## LG_

Hi, 
in terms of road quality both routes are the same. I personally would take the route to Oryahovo, as the ferry betwenn Oryahovo and Becket operates more often that the one at Nikopol - Turnu Marurele and works non stop /day and night/. Llast time a drove from Turni Magurele to Pleven /a couple of years ago/ I arrived at 21:00 at the harbour in Turnu Magurele and the next ship was to departure the nex day. More over the Romainian colleagues suggested you the Bechet - Craiova rout as beeter to Turnu Magurele - Slatina!


----------



## Gubot

*29.05.2015*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 360km._
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia Ring Road – Yablanitsa 78 km.
> Shumen – Varna 83 km.
> _Total: 161 km._
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dupnitsa North intersection.
> _Total: 34 km._
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.38+800 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 117+345,10) ~69km.
> _Total: 74 km.
> 
> The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> _Total: 8 km._
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 19km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST)*
> _Total: 0km._
> 
> *Оverall
> 654км.*
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Hemus (A2):*
> From Panayot Volovo to Belokopitovo 4,9km
> _All under construction at Hemus 4,9km _
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> Two sections
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37,0km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 52km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Three sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dobrich overpass to Dimitrovgrad IC 2.4km. (from km36+400 till km 38+800)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> _All under construction at Maritsa 42,710km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST):*
> _The entire SNST is under construction 16km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 115.610km.*


----------



## MichiH

Gubot said:


> *29.05.2015*
> 
> 
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Four Three sections:
Click to expand...


----------



## aubergine72

Gubot:

The sum of the completed kms in your chart is 656. In addition, Cherno More is 10 km, not 8. So it should be 658km total.


----------



## Gubot

aubergine72 said:


> The sum of the completed kms in your chart is 656.


^^


> _The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._





aubergine72 said:


> In addition, Cherno More is 10 km, not 8.


No, it is not.


----------



## aubergine72

Gubot said:


> No, it is not.


Source?


----------



## Gubot

*tanashubav*(from Varna) and Google Streetview.


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*, lot 1 construction


poletar said:


> Малко снимки от ЛОТ 1 - Да отбележа, че са благодарение на колегата от авторския надзор на този участък, аз планувам да се пусна с колелото около 15-ти този месец, че вече поне с него може да се преминава над р.Марица
> 
> при км 15+260 - изкоп за изместването на трасето на път III-807
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> малко предпазни окопи в траншеята на 18+500 с хубава гледка към надлеза на 18+120
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> изглед от км 21 към км 22
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> разкопките при км 24
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> монтаж на греди при моста над р.Марица
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> и доставка на самите греди





poletar said:


> С.С.Надлез при км 26+000
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 26- км 27
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> и поглед от 27+700 в обратна посока към км 26
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> надлез над ЖП линията Пловдив- Свиленград при км 28+414
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 29





poletar said:


> нов С.С.Надлез при км 31+???(не помня вече)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 32+083 - надлез над пътя м/у селата Добрич и Крум
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 33 с изглед към съоръжението на км 32+900 и целия участък до км 31
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 33 - км 33+600
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> км 34+500
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> мост над р.Банска при км 36+060


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*, lot 2 (Harmanli-Dimitrovgrad I/C) video


----------



## gogo3o

*Update of deadlines:*

A2: Panayot Volovo – Belokopitovo mid-July 2015, cerca 15th
Sofia Ring Road: Kakach river – Lyulin (A6) October 2015
I1: Montana bypass October 2015
A4: Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad End of September 2015
source


----------



## Andrej_LJ

Some other opening dates:

A4 (Svilengrad bypass), L=9 km - this week (5-7 June 2015)
A3 (Kulata (GR)-Sandanski), L=15 km - 1-5 August 2015
A3 (Dupnitsa - Blagoevgrad), L=37 km - October 2015


----------



## MichiH

^^ Thanks guys! 

There is only one more section u/c in Bulgaria. SNST, northern Sofia bypass. I guess you don't have any reliable estimated opening date . Should be 2016 (or maybe later)....


----------



## gogo3o

Of course you're right, I'm sure that this deadline will be also updated. 

Some pics of the Northern Bypass


giorev said:


> "Топли" снимки от изток, с които ще отразя промените през последната седмица. Първо, най-интересната новина, а именно че южно от бул. Ботевградско шосе е изкопан почвения слой в дължина около 100 метра до парцела от който съм снимал (изглежда все още не е отчужден), като успоредно с това се насипва и трошен камък:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Готов и почти декофриран е ригелът в разделителната ивица на булеварда:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Още една интересна снимка, източно от ул. Челопешко шосе за започнали да насипват фрезован асфалт, като за 5-6 дни са докарани и положени грубо над 3000 м3:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Последно, монтаж на кофраж на колони в разделителната ивица на Челопешко шосе:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> едит: Пропуснах да отбележа, че снимките са направени около 18:30ч. и както виждате работата не спира и в този час.


Works have started on only one of the interchanges so far (at Botevgradsko shose blvd).


----------



## Gubot

Rehabilitation of Tserovo viaduct on Trakia motorway[A1]. Pics and video:


calzature said:


> Видео от дрона:
> http://vbox7.com/play:d4e08b65d8


----------



## gogo3o

I would say reconstruction 

---

And now it's a pleasure to present you the first SSC_Bulgaria drone video: *Sofia Ring Road*, upgrade of western arc, A6 Lyulin motorway-Kakach river :cheers:


chevyvolt said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*. The 2nd carriageway at Svilengrad (8.6 km) will be launched on Sunday, 7 June.
source

^^


----------



## Gubot

Gubot said:


> *29.05.2015*
> 
> 
> 
> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 360km._
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia Ring Road – Yablanitsa 78 km.
> Shumen – Varna 83 km.
> _Total: 161 km._
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dupnitsa North intersection.
> _Total: 34 km._
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Svilengrad (from km.38+800 till km 99+820 & from km. 108+510 till km 117+345,10) ~69km.
> _Total: 74 km.
> 
> The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> _Total: 8 km._
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 19km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST)*
> _Total: 0km._
> 
> *Оverall
> 654км.*
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Hemus (A2):*
> From Panayot Volovo to Belokopitovo 4,9km
> _All under construction at Hemus 4,9km _
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> Two sections
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37,0km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 52km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Three sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dobrich overpass to Dimitrovgrad IC 2.4km. (from km36+400 till km 38+800)
> Svilengrad bypass (south lane) 8.910km. (from km. 89+600 till km. 108+510)
> _All under construction at Maritsa 42,710km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST):*
> _The entire SNST is under construction 16km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 115.610km.*
Click to expand...

^^ The second carriageway of Svilengrad bypass was opened today. Pics

*07.06.2015*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 360km._
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia Ring Road – Yablanitsa 78 km.
> Shumen – Varna 83 km.
> _Total: 161 km._
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dupnitsa North intersection.
> _Total: 34 km._
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Harmanli - Kapitan Andreevo 76km.
> _Total: 81 km.
> 
> The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> _Total: 8 km._
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 19km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST)*
> _Total: 0km._
> 
> *Оverall
> 661км.*
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Hemus (A2):*
> From Panayot Volovo to Belokopitovo 4,9km
> _All under construction at Hemus 4,9km _
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> Two sections:
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37,0km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15,0km.
> _All under construction at Struma 52km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> Two sections:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> From Dobrich overpass to Dimitrovgrad IC 2.4km. (from km36+400 till km 38+800)
> _All under construction at Maritsa 33,800km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST):*
> _The entire SNST is under construction 16km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 106.700km.*


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## gogo3o

*Sofia Ring Road*, 2 more videos from the SSC_Bulgaria drone, this time @Slivnitsa Blvd interchange


chevyvolt said:


>


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## gogo3o

*Sofia Northern Bypass*, @its east end


Dragger said:


>





chevyvolt said:


> Едно видео от източната част при Челопешко и Ботевградско. Заснехме го в неделя и доста отдалече, защото има зона около летището в която дрона не може да лети. Отделно беше доста ветровито и стана доста сложно с маневрите. Dragger е видеомонтажиста, така че всички благодарности към него
> 
> Видеото е временно недостъпно!
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> Връзката с Ботевградско:
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> Общ план от най-близката точка до която дронът може да лети:


*@the west end*


chevyvolt said:


>





chevyvolt said:


> Няколко дронски снимки от западната страна на ССТ. По-късно ще кача и видео.
> 
> За пълен 12 мп размер: https://goo.gl/photos/8i3U67zT1xXsnwiS8
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> Общ изглед към края от 620 метра след СОП:
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> И една кропната снимка към СОП:


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## MichiH

About A4 Svilengrad bypass. Is it planned to renovate the first (old) carriageway?


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## begleca

MichiH said:


> About A4 Svilengrad bypass. Is it planned to renovate the first (old) carriageway?


As far as I know it is not planned for the near future (at least).

And few mor videos from the Sofia northern bypass (near Benkovski) http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.747375&lon=23.359509&z=16&m=b
thanks to chevy and our new drone


chevyvolt said:


> КОЙ рева за облитане?
> Ето 3 видеа. В някои случаи не е цялостно облитането защото 1 път се рестартира апа и един път прекъсна връзката - така като сигнала си беше на макс.
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> На изток:
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> Връщане от запад:


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## begleca

^^


chevyvolt said:


> Снимки от средната част на ССТ, близо до кв. Бенковски. По-късно ще има и видео. С тези общо 3 части, за сега приключва заснемането на ССТ. По-натам, като напредне работата - пак
> 
> *В пълен размер(зуумвайте!)*: https://goo.gl/photos/FYPpUp8GDUX6nWE37
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> Изграждащият се мост над р. Владайска/Суходолска:
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> Мост над р. Перловска в далечината - на тела не се виждаше че има нещо, иначе щях да "литна" до там:
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> Тук, по-горе се вижда западния участък от първия ни репортаж:
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> бул. Лазар Михайлов (между Бенковски и Кубратово), където са направени пилотите за моста, а движението е отбито с временен път:





chevyvolt said:


>


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## gogo3o

Rehabilitation works on *Tsarigradsko shose Blvd, Sofia*

with one of the recently built highrises, Capital Fort


chevyvolt said:


>





chevyvolt said:


> Full size:https://goo.gl/photos/Hkpsoq1BEGvahCCL6
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> Бъдещото трасе към бул. Копенхаген


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## gogo3o

For those who might have missed it:


> *Bulgaria Introduces Crowddroning, Takes Construction Spotting To New Heights*
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> 
> In recent postings we already presented some awesome drone videos which give you a good look at the world from a whole new perspective, especially when there are skyscrapers involved. In order to shoot videos of infrastructural projects in Bulgaria from the sky, the members of the wonderful and fast growing Bulgarian section of the SkyscraperCity forums did a bit of crowdfunding on their own in order to come up with the money for a proper drone. And the first results are in! Please check out some of the video’s below. There is more to see and to come on their dedicated Youtube channel. Well done guys!


http://skyhigh.city/bulgaria-introduces-crowddroning-takes-construction-spotting-to-new-heights/

tnx, Jan


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## panchevo

^^
when is that f*ckin roundabout going to be completed?
it's driving me crazy :nuts:


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## gogo3o

Not only you  I hope for September or October.


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## sponge_bob

Crowddroning CROWDDRONING ????!!!!

Since when was Bulgaria supposed to donate new words to the English language eh????


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## guranflorin

News from A2: Panayot Volovo – Belokopitovo, Sunday the first layer of asphalt covered the junction with the Shumen Varna part (I just drove by)


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## Tachi

gogo3o said:


> *Sofia Ring Road*, 2 more videos from the SSC_Bulgaria drone, this time @Slivnitsa Blvd interchange


Nice pics and video! I was wondering how you would enter the city via Slivnitsa Blvd if you're driving from the I-8 (Serbia)? Is there a turn missing in the temporary roundabout?


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## gogo3o

Tachi said:


> Nice pics and video! I was wondering how you would enter the city via Slivnitsa Blvd if you're driving from the I-8 (Serbia)? Is there a turn missing in the temporary roundabout?


Via the bridge (red line) is the direct link. And the roundabout is also an option (blue dotted line).









Ops.. I noticed that you are referring to the temporary roundabout. You have to drive to the next I/C, @Tsaritsa Yoana Blvd. Some drivers are making illegal turn here.


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## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*, lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad)

@Dupnitsa-south I/C


Rexo said:


> Както казах на ПВ Дупница-Юг се лее асфалт на поразия, та чак са потретили на места
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> Засадени дръвчета на отбивките от директното трасе


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## gogo3o

*A3*, lot 4 (Sandanski-GR border)


BKaradakov said:


> Започваме от ПВ Генерал Тодоров в посока Сандански
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> Пак от същото място но в посока Кулата
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> Пътна връзка Марикостиново - Север в посока Кулата
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> ПВ Петрич в посока Кулата


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## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> *A3*, lot 4 (Sandanski-GR border)


To be opened in 6-8 weeks? :nuts:


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## Bzyq_74

Exactly, compared to the segment A1 Timishoara -Balint in Romania, which is more advanced u/c and will be open later than A3 (Sandanski - GR border).


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## gogo3o

I share the opinion that 1 August is almost impossible for an opening day, but they are working hard now, and few months ago any construction seemed abandoned. I'm optimistic that lot 4 will open to traffic in October this year or even a little bit earlier in mid September.

more of lot 4


testche4 said:


> Насипа при моста на 428.880
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> Пресичането на стария път и Лот 4:
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> Южното пресичане на старото ЖП трасе:
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> ПВ Марикостиново юг - включването от Петрич за ГКПП Кулата:


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## guranflorin

2 weeks are mandatory to install the shining crash-barriers


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## Gubot

then we need two weeks to polish them to make them supershiny:troll:

New Europe bridge(Calafat(RO) - Vidin) now visible on GE.


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## begleca

Great photos of Struma motorway section between Sandanski and the Greek border made by *BKaradakov*. Photos are taken at the beginning of the lot near Sandanski:


BKaradakov said:


> Вчера пътувах специално до Кулата за да направя малко снимки и от края на лота, но както се казваше в една реклама... греда. Точно като пристигнах преди границата и започна да вали, но пък искам да кажа, че се работеше и банкетите се разширяваха...
> 
> За съжаление това е и причината да нямам снимков материал от там, но пък имам от началото на лота.
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> Начало и временна връзка с Е79
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> Над км 424+080 в посока Кулата
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> Временния обход и бъдеща връзка Ново Делчево/Дамяница
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> Подлез на км 424+355 за Ново Делчево/Дамяница
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> Ако не се лъжа, това трябва да са напречни отводнители съответно на км 424+790 и 424+810
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> Над км 425+150 в посока Сандански





BKaradakov said:


> Мост над река Склавска и пътища III-108 и III-109
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## begleca

And the section of Struma motorway between Dupnica and Blagoevgrad thanks to *galin_gradev*. Near Dupnica:


galin_gradev said:


> Наливане на поле №7-ляво:
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> От поле №7-дясно към устой страна "Кулата":
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> Стълбове от №1 до 6:
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> Всички греди са монтирани, а предплочи няма на полета №8-11





galin_gradev said:


> С малки изключения, почти навсякъде е взет хумуса.
> Наско, от ПВ Дупница юг до виадукта на км.329+140, който показвам сега към днешна дата следва да бъде изпълнен 2-ри пласт ББ:
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> Наливане на устой страна "Кулата":
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> Както виждате имаме греди в/у поле №1, след това ще се монтират на поле №3 и най-накрая на поле №2:
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> Ето ви ги двата пласта ББ м/у виадуктите на км.329+140 и км.328+750 (в дъното):
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> На виадукта на км.328+750, както виждате остава плочата на поле №1:





galin_gradev said:


> При устой страна "Кулата" на "Крушовица":
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> Отиваме на км.329+350 към виадукта на км.329+140 имаме малък участък със Зона А първи пласт:
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> Ето нещо ново и за мен. Това е поглед към км.330. Новото ЖР долу в ляво е част от 110 кv далекопровод "Баланово", които пресича магистралата на км.330+151:
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> ССП на км.330+550. Това което знаем за съоръжението е, че поради големия напречен наклон ~ 6%, ламелите са с променлива височина от 5,53 до 6,33 м. и се изпълняват стъпаловидно, както се вижда на снимката. Дължината на преходните плочи е 5 м.:


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## haddockman

Coming along nicely.


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## sponge_bob

This southern A3 section is where Aktor were reappointed having been sacked for crap performance .... right??? No way will they finish this in 2015 from the look of it. Some time next year ...perhaps.


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## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway,* lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad)


chevyvolt said:


> border b/n lots 1 & 2


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## gogo3o

@Dupnitsa-south I/C and the viaduct north of it



























south of the I/C









above the tunnel, towards south









towards north









end of lot 1, rest area and viaduct








tnx to momchilg &Dragger


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## gogo3o

Another viaduct, over Struma river & railway track


BKaradakov said:


> 4K видео на виадукта над р. Струма за почитателите на видеата.


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## gogo3o

*A2 Hemus motorway*. The deadline for the stretch at Shumen has been еxtended with 25 more days, meaning that now it has to be opened in mid August.
source


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## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*, lot 4 (Sandanski-GR border). Great pics by BKaradakov

The beginning of the lot



























bridge over Skavska river and the Petrich/Melnik I/C


















bridge over Levunska river



























General Todorov I/C









Marikostinov-north I/C


















the old railway



































*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=645


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## ChrisZwolle

Struma is still planned to open on 1 August.

http://www.focus-news.net/news/2015...ichen-uchastak-za-oblekchenie-na-trafika.html


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## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> Struma is still planned to open on 1 August.
> 
> http://www.focus-news.net/news/2015...ichen-uchastak-za-oblekchenie-na-trafika.html


Probably only a 3 km section b/n the villages of Marino Pole and Kulata will be launched up to the stated date. That will relieve 3 villages from the traffic, that now passes through them.

*Edit:* on the 3 km section, one carriageway will open tomorrow, 16 July. :cheers:
source

--

The final 2014 statistics for New Europe bridge has been published in the commercial registry.

*Bulgaria-Romania*

63,007 cars
174,577 trucks and autobuses

*Romania-Bulgaria*

70,908 cars
224,930 trucks and autobuses


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## pasadia

Why traffic from Romania would be higher that traffic from Bulgaria? I mean, shouldn't be similar numbers?


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## tasosGR

New satellite image of Struma motorway, lot 4 (Sandanski-GR border)

https://browse.digitalglobe.com/ima...40F96D00&imageHeight=natres&imageWidth=natres


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## aubergine72

pasadia said:


> Why traffic from Romania would be higher that traffic from Bulgaria? I mean, shouldn't be similar numbers?


Romanian immigrants


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## LG_

Today the last 3 km of the right carrigway (towards Greece) of Struma Motorway will be opened to traffic. Source.


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## pasadia

Going to Greece, to the sun! 

And about that, works on Giurgiu - Ruse bridge, something like 30 minutes - 1 hour delays on friday morning:


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## gogo3o

Exclusive report by *BKaradakov*, hours before the opening of the 3 km single carriageway section at Kulata.

It starts here




































the motorway ends here









Also, I-1 road is upgrade to 3 lanes up to the border

















More pics by *BKaradakov*: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=650


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## Shenkey

Nice roads!

Is there a map of current and future section with dates when will they be built?


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## gogo3o

I don't know if such map exists, but you can refer to wiki about past openings and to MichiH's thread about the upcoming.

--

Demolition of old bridge on A3


BKaradakov said:


>


lot 4


REAKT0R said:


>


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## MichiH

LG_ said:


> Today the last 3 km of the right carrigway (towards Greece) of Struma Motorway will be opened to traffic. Source.


It's two-way traffic on one carriageway (3.2km). The remaining part of LOT 4 (11.5km) is still scheduled to be opened by 1st August 2015. See press release.

*A3:* Marino pole – Kulata 3.2km (April 2012 to 16th July 2015) [1st c/w] – project – map
*A3:* Marino pole – Kulata 3.2km (April 2012 to Early August 2015) [2nd c/w] – project – map
*A3:* south of Sandanski – Marino pole 11.5km (April 2012 to Early August 2015) – project – map


*SNST:* Trebich – Sofia-East (A2) 16.5km (February 2015 to 2016) – project – map

If I got the today's press release right, archaeologic works will be completed by October 2015 but major construction works are expected to be completed by the end of 2015. That means, the project just have to be completed (and opened) in 2016. Bulgaria won't lose EU funding if they complete the project by the end of 2016.


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## gogo3o

The alignment of *Sofia Northern Bypass* is now more visible











REAKT0R said:


>





ИванТ;125521912 said:


> *Chelopeshko shose (2015.07.13):*
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> *Botevgradsko shose blvd (2015.07.13):*
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> *@Benkovski*


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## medicu' de garda

I don't understand one thing about that little stretch of road up to Kulata borderpass. Why 2+1? I don't see any serious obstacle that would prevent the road from being widened to a full 2x2. It's also a pretty short stretch. And I see they are also mounting dividing barriers, so if a truck would ever break down on that little stretch, everyone would be going nowhere :?


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## gogo3o

Well, one reason could be expropriation issues. Another is that the contractor completed the widening before the signing of the contract, lol - some form of hidden financing to finish lot 4, which was behind schedule. The widening cost 3 M levs.


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## ukraroad

medicu' de garda said:


> I don't understand one thing about that little stretch of road up to Kulata borderpass. Why 2+1? I don't see any serious obstacle that would prevent the road from being widened to a full 2x2. It's also a pretty short stretch.


The other question: Is the traffic higher from bulgaria to greece than vice versa? Maybe bulgarians come to greece to never return or greeks have better lives than in the neighbour's country?


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## MichiH

^^ I guess there's usually a little congestion in front of the border........


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## ukraroad

I was there a week ago on Sunday and returned thru the same border on Tuesday but I saw no congestion at all and the border is passed in circa 10-15 min max 24 I had. More than 1/2 hours is unusual, locals say


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## EndlessMeow

Hi guys!
I am scheduled to cross Bulgaria from Ruse to Makaza in the near future and was wandering if you could indicate me, if any, an updated bulgarian website containing speed cameras. 
It seems that 
w w w. google . com/ maps/ d/ viewer?mid=z3QB70LSIPdI.kbVKE0zSH3xk&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0

is outdated since I've read on novinite website there should have been at least 330 speed cameras by the end of 2013.
Sygic/Waze and similar GPS/mobile apps contain only a few of them.
Thanks in advance.


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## IUnknown

I would suggest that you drive safely, obey the speed limits and don't care about the speed cameras.


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## Gubot

pasadia said:


> Why traffic from Romania would be higher that traffic from Bulgaria? I mean, shouldn't be similar numbers?


Maybe, trucks are passing through Romania when full and through Serbia when empty:dunno:


ukraroad said:


> The other question: Is the traffic higher from bulgaria to greece than vice versa? Maybe bulgarians come to greece to never return or greeks have better lives than in the neighbour's country?


The border checkpoint has a far smaller throughput than a one lane road leading traffic away from it. Vice versa, there might be miles long queues in direction towards Greece.


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## pasadia

A roumanian to do that? No Way! He has to carry around his radar detector, his radio station so that he can ask fellow drivers about radar and also, as you can see, he has to know where speed camera are. 

Speed limits are there only that he can know what 'the minimum required + 10 km/h" is. But more that often he has to be 20 or 30 km/h over speed limit.


----------



## mpeculea

Gubot said:


> The border checkpoint has a far smaller throughput than a one lane road leading traffic away from it. Vice versa, there might be miles long queues in direction towards Greece.


I went last year through the border check point in Makaza. The longer queue was on the Greek side, not the Bulgarian side. Of course, going to Greece I was in Makaza at about 7pm, and on the back at about 11am.
Apart from that, the advice of respecting the speed limits is quite good. You really should follow it.
As a personal supposition: I haven't really seen the traffic sign "end of all restrictions" throughout Bulgaria. You will find a speed limit of let's say 60 kph, accompanied by a sign describing the reason for the speed limit (let's say a junction). After the reason for the limit is gone, you can speed up, even though there is no sign telling you can do so. It took me a while, and I annoyed a lot of truck drivers until I got it. 
If I am mistaking, please feel free to correct me.


----------



## EndlessMeow

IUnknown said:


> I would suggest that you drive safely, obey the speed limits and don't care about the speed cameras.


I am not some sort of speed demon, I am driving a Toyota not a BMW so I am not _that_ kind of driver . 

On the other hand, on 
ec.europa.eu/ transport/ road_safety/ going_abroad/ bulgaria/ speed_limits_en.htm
there is a speed limit of 120 kmph on express roads. On wikipedia I have found that Ruse-Stara Zagora-Kardzhali-Makaza is an 'expressway project". Info seems to be dated 2012-2013.
Is it already considered an express road or just a regular one with 90 kmph speed limit? 
Thank you in advance.


----------



## Astimar

It's a regular road. So 90 kmph is the speed limit.


----------



## EndlessMeow

Thank you all.


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## gogo3o

*Trakia motorway (A1)*. Reconstruction of the viaduct at 67 km


momchilg said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 Struma motorway*. Looks like that lot 4 will be ready for 1 August, which is just amazing. 

pics by testche4



































More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=657


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## bgdimitrov

(A2) Hemus P. Volovo to Belokopitovo - 4,9km will be open August 10th. It also means the biggest interchange in Bulgaria will be opening as well.


----------



## gogo3o

*A4 Maritsa motorway*

*Lot 1* (Chirpan-Dimitrovgrad)
@the bridge over Maritsa river


















overpass @26 km









*lot 2 *
@Topolovgrad I/C






















































@Simeonovgrad I/C

















tnx to momchilg and the SSC_Bulgaria drone :cheers2:


----------



## JloKyM

mpeculea said:


> I went last year through the border check point in Makaza. The longer queue was on the Greek side, not the Bulgarian side. Of course, going to Greece I was in Makaza at about 7pm, and on the back at about 11am.
> Apart from that, the advice of respecting the speed limits is quite good. You really should follow it.
> As a personal supposition: I haven't really seen the traffic sign "end of all restrictions" throughout Bulgaria. You will find a speed limit of let's say 60 kph, accompanied by a sign describing the reason for the speed limit (let's say a junction). After the reason for the limit is gone, you can speed up, even though there is no sign telling you can do so. It took me a while, and I annoyed a lot of truck drivers until I got it.
> If I am mistaking, please feel free to correct me.


I think you're mistaken as this sign can be find everywhere


----------



## mpeculea

JloKyM said:


> I think you're mistaken as this sign can be find everywhere


Yes, exactly that sign I meant.
I drove last year from Russe to Makaza, and there were very few such signs on road 5, at least. There were such sings although on the new stretch near the Greek border.


----------



## hellrisen

The rules are a bit vague, but if I remember correctly - if a speed limit is imposed because of upcoming junction, it is no longer valid after the junction. So no need for a sign telling that the speed limit restriction is removed, because it is implied that the limit is only up to the junction.

Same thing if there is a speed limit sign + some number underneath - 500, 1000, etc. - it just shows that the restriction is imposed for the next 500 or 1000 metres, after that it is no longer valid.


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## mpeculea

That is what I tried to say.
However, being the first time I drove in Bulgaria, it took me a while to realize that.


----------



## hammersklavier

Is the Trakia Bulgaria's trachea?

(Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.)


----------



## gogo3o

Dimitrovgrad I/C at night (A4 motorway)


momchilg said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

This is a wikipedia map. I've already updated the other version (.svg):


----------



## definitivo

...MKD-BG border - Kyustendil - Pernik - Sofia ( part of Koridor 8 ) just expressway ???
...Botevgrad - Vratsa - Montana - Vidin ( part of Koridor 4 ) expressway, also ???


----------



## ChrisZwolle

http://sofiaglobe.com/2015/08/05/controversy-over-bulgarias-new-motorway-junction/

*Controversy over Bulgaria’s new motorway junction*

The days after the August 3 opening of Bulgaria’s new Belokopitovo road junction on the Hemus motorway that links Sofia and Varna have seen controversy about the junction, with criticisms including that the complicated arrangement is confusing and potentially dangerous.​


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Road Toll Rates May Have to Go Up*

Citing analyses of the World Bank, Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova has suggested that Bulgaria needs to substantially increase investments in roads and to increase road tolls.

In a Wednesday interview for Nova TV, she said that the price of road toll vignette stickers had not gone up over the past 5 years, adding that the revenue generated by them was barely enough for the regular maintenance and repair of roads. Pavlova made clear that an increase in toll rates could be necessary.

She suggested that the road toll system was likely to take effect in 2018.

Bulgaria’s Regional Development Minister underscored that only freight vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes would have to pay tolls through the system, while road toll vignette stickers for cars would become electronic.​
Full report: http://www.novinite.com/articles/17...Up+-+Bulgaria’s+Regional+Development+Minister

Vignettes are a poor way to fund road projects. No country with vignettes is capable of generating meaningful revenue for a large-scale expansion of the motorway network. 

In Austria, vignettes constitutes only 25% of toll revenue (the rest comes from truck tolls). Likewise, the revenue in Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia is comparatively low and unable to fund a large scale expansion of the motorway network. In some cases, a large-scale expansion is not needed anymore (Slovenia), but even then it's difficult to fund large individual projects with whatever is left over after covering maintenance cost.


----------



## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> http://sofiaglobe.com/2015/08/05/controversy-over-bulgarias-new-motorway-junction/
> 
> *Controversy over Bulgaria’s new motorway junction*
> 
> The days after the August 3 opening of Bulgaria’s new Belokopitovo road junction on the Hemus motorway that links Sofia and Varna have seen controversy about the junction, with criticisms including that the complicated arrangement is confusing and potentially dangerous.​


Here´s a video of driving through all directions of the interchange.





@2:20, seems they've forgotten the remove the temporary markings.


----------



## gogo3o

Plovdiv-Sofia (A1 motorway). In this video you can see the result of the recent renovation works on some segments


Vicizlat said:


>


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Major incident on A2 Hemus Motorway near Vitinya Pass. A tanker truck overturned and nearly slid off the bridge.


----------



## LG_

^^This shound have happened minutes after I'd passed there traveling back to Sofia! Luckely there was no contraflow at the moment of the accsident. They have just reported that the driver is rescued!


----------



## Gubot

mpeculea said:


> I went last year through the border check point in Makaza. The longer queue was on the Greek side, not the Bulgarian side. Of course, going to Greece I was in Makaza at about 7pm, and on the back at about 11am.


It seems there was a misunderstanding.
There might be a queue if you are in Bulgaria and want to go to Greece(Kulata-Bulgarian border checkpoint-Greek border checkpoint-Promachonas). That is why we built two lanes.
It is virtually impossible two have a queue after you entered Bulgaria from Greece(Promachonas-Greek border checkpoint-Bulgarian border checkpoint-Kulata). That is why we built one lane.
The same logic applies for both Kulata and Makaza border checkpoints.

I think the following statistics needs updating. I will consider A3 Sandanski-Kulata still not opened and A4 Dobrich-Dimitrovgrad opened.
*03.08.2015*


> *The length of the motorways in Bulgaria is as follows:*
> 
> *Trakiya (A1)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 360km._
> 
> *Hemus (A2)*
> There are two parts:
> Sofia Ring Road – Yablanitsa 78 km.
> Shumen – Varna 87,9 km.
> _Total: 165,9 km._
> 
> *Struma (A3)*
> One section from Pernik to Dupnitsa North intersection.
> _Total: 34 km._
> 
> *Maritsa (A4)*
> There are two parts:
> Plodovitovo intersection - Road II-66 5,000km.
> Dimitrovgrad - Kapitan Andreevo 78,4km.
> _Total: 83,4 km.
> 
> The first 2,320 km. of Maritsa are common with Trakiya motorway._
> 
> *Cherno more (A5)*
> One section near Varna.
> _Total: 8 km._
> 
> *Liylin (A6)*
> _The entire motorway is finished 19km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST)*
> _Total: 0km._
> 
> *Оverall
> 667,98км.*
> 
> 
> *The Motorway sections under construction in Bulgaria are:*
> 
> *Struma motorway (A3):*
> Two sections:
> LOT 2 from Dupnitsa to Blagoewgrad 37km.
> LOT 4 from Sandanski to Kulata (Greek border) 15km.
> _All under construction at Struma 52km._
> 
> *Maritsa motorway (A4):*
> One section:
> From Chirpan to Dimitrovgrad 31.4km. (from km5+000 till km36+400)
> _All under construction at Maritsa 31,4km._
> 
> *Sofia Northern Speedy Tangent(SNST):*
> _The entire SNST is under construction 16km._
> 
> *Overall under construction:
> 99.4km.*


----------



## mpeculea

I rephrase...
When I entered Greece, there was a small queue of around 30-40 cars at the border, on the Bulgarian side. 
On the return trip, there was a queue of around 1,5-2 km on the Greek side.
Of course, after I had passed the check point, there was no more queue.


----------



## medicu' de garda

Gubot said:


> It seems there was a misunderstanding.
> There might be a queue if you are in Bulgaria and want to go to Greece(Kulata-Bulgarian border checkpoint-Greek border checkpoint-Promachonas). That is why we built two lanes.
> It is virtually impossible two have a queue after you entered Bulgaria from Greece(Promachonas-Greek border checkpoint-Bulgarian border checkpoint-Kulata). That is why we built one lane.


What about after you (finally) join Schengen? Won't you suddenly discover that you can have queues on the road entering Bulgaria, aswell? Sure, it will happen sometime in the future, but even for a crappy little project like widening that one lane stretch, can take about 1 year from tendering to opening, so you can't risk being taken by surprise...


----------



## MichiH

^^


medicu' de garda said:


> I don't understand one thing about that little stretch of road up to Kulata borderpass. Why 2+1? I don't see any serious obstacle that would prevent the road from being widened to a full 2x2. It's also a pretty short stretch. And I see they are also mounting dividing barriers, so if a truck would ever break down on that little stretch, everyone would be going nowhere





gogo3o said:


> Well, one reason could be expropriation issues. Another is that the contractor completed the widening before the signing of the contract, lol - some form of hidden financing to finish lot 4, which was behind schedule. The widening cost 3 M levs.


I think they just built what could be widened short-term.


----------



## gogo3o

Some interesting stuff. NCSIP terminated the contract for drawing of conceptual design of lot 3 of Struma motorway. As reason, they stated several months of delays. This affects most of all the long 15+ km Kresna Gorge tunnel. Meanwhile, NCSIP ordered the drawing of conceptual design of an alternative 2x2 expressway to replace the I-1 road in the gorge. However, the alternative still does not have approved environmental decision and may receive strong opposition from environmental organizations. To be continued...


----------



## MichiH

^^ What's the status of the two remaining sections? Do you think construction works could begin in 2016?


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## gogo3o

They've selected the winner for lot 3.3 (Kresna-Sandanski), but still the contract is due to be signed. For lot 3.1 the court decided to restore an eliminated participant, but that happened just after NCSIP had opened the price bids of the other ones. I'm not sure what will happen. Also, another tender is running for 2 lots of Hemus motorway (Yablanitsa to Pleven/Lovech road) - shortlists have been selected for now.


----------



## MichiH

^^ I made a little outlook for my list:

*A2:* Yablanitsa – Dermantzi (I307) 24km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Dermantzi (I307) – Slatina (I35) 36km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Slatina (I35) – Alexsandrovo (I301) 24km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Alexsandrovo (I301) – Pavlikeni (I303) 28km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Pavlikeni (I303) – Petko Karaelovo (I5) 33km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Petko Karaelovo (I5) – Kovachevets (I51) 48km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Kovachevets (I51) – Targovishte (I49) 35km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A2:* Kovachevets (I51) – Panayot Volovo 30km (? to ?) – ? – map

*A3:* Blagoevgrad – Krupnik 22km (? to ?) – project – map
*A3:* Krupnik – Kresna 20km (? to ?) – project – map
*A3:* Kresna – south of Sandanski 20.8km (? to ?) – project – map

*A7:* SRB/BG border (Kalotina) – Dragoman ~12km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A7:* Dragoman – Herakovo ~20km (? to ?) – ? – map
*A7:* Herakovo – Sofia (?) ~17km (? to ?) – ? – map

What do you think, which project will be u/c next?

Any corrections to my list?


----------



## gogo3o

A3: Kresna – south of Sandanski will be the next project IMO

corrections
A3: Blagoevgrad – Krupnik (w/o Zheleznitsa tunnel) 11.9 km
A3: Zheleznitsa tunnel (plus access roads) 5.1 km


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## gogo3o

A3, lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad)


ponss said:


> Галерия на сайта на канал 3 между Т2 и виадукта на Струма, източник БГНЕС


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> A3, lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad)


Deadline was 30th October 2015. Is the section still planned/possible to be opened in October?


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> corrections
> A3: Blagoevgrad – Krupnik (w/o Zheleznitsa tunnel) 11.9 km
> A3: Zheleznitsa tunnel (plus access roads) 5.1 km


Are this (construction) lots or sections? I just split it if a (sub-)section could be opened separately.

Is the tunnel location close to Krupnik and there would be a (temporary) interchange north of the tunnel, near Simitli?

btw: I think there will be more than one Blagoevgrad interchange. What's the correct name of the future interchange at the end of lot 2, Blagoevgrad-South?


----------



## PhiK

mman2012 said:


> Maritsa motorway (A4), lot 1 (Chirpan-Dimitrovgrad) was supposed to be opened this fall, right? From the pictures above it does not look that's going to be the case....


Well everyone said that about Lot 4 of Struma Motorway (Sandanski - Kulata) too but they managed to open it on the 1st of August (without some uncompleted additional works like lightning and road surface marking - its "official" opening will be tomorrow.)

So its possible that lot 1 of Maritsa (under construction by the same company) will have big progress and will suprise us all : )


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## mman2012

Yup, confirmed by novinite (http://www.novinite.com/articles/17...ruma+Motorway+Between+Sandanski,+Greek+Border).

Lot 3 is yet to be financed, correct? Is the mega-tunnel still in discussion?


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## sponge_bob

What was Lot 3 is now 3 Lots. 

Of around 20km each. The EU will largely pay for all 3 lots I believe


----------



## PhiK

mman2012 said:


> Yup, confirmed by novinite (http://www.novinite.com/articles/17...ruma+Motorway+Between+Sandanski,+Greek+Border).
> 
> Lot 3 is yet to be financed, correct? Is the mega-tunnel still in discussion?


The Government has selected a company to find and desing a substitution for the mega-tunnel. They clearly don't wanna pay between 600 and 800 mln EUR for 20 highway km (around 8 times more than the usual price of highways built in the open in Bulgaria)


----------



## sponge_bob

The 'substitute' design may be a test to see if it acceptable to the EU ...an Expressway through the Gorge with very few tunnels. I doubt it will be.

The Kresna Gorge is not only heavily protected for ecology and landscape but the localised area around Kresna is also one the most dangerous seismic fault zone in the Balkans...along with Skopje not far away. 

The roads (the 'substitute' expressway or the tunnel) must be designed to substantially survive an 8.0 earthquake. Maybe the substitute expressway will be an even longer tunnel than the motorway tunnel. 

It is probably the worst place in Europe where you 'have' to build a 20km road, even a 20km Baltic tunnel to Denmark from Germany would be cheaper as the area is not seismically active. BUT the EU will pay for most of it, at least 85% of the cost...and not Bulgaria.


----------



## PhiK

sponge_bob said:


> BUT the EU will pay for most of it, at least 85% of the cost...and not Bulgaria.


But that's essentialy the only road infrastructure project the EU will finance during 2014-2020 period. And we have a lot of highway projects pending for funding in order to catch up with the rest of Eruope infrastructure-wise (Sofia-Kalotina - highway to Serbia, Sofia - Vidin, Sofia- Rousse, Varna-Rousse (both towards Romania).

Sofia - Varna is apparently goint to be built with loans/budget funds


----------



## čarli1

sponge_bob said:


> BUT the EU will pay for most of it, at least 85% of the cost...and not Bulgaria.


EU pays max 85% of the cost. So word at least is not the right one


----------



## sponge_bob

At most 85% then. Yes. It was 100% before.


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## gogo3o

Lot 2 (Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad) of *Struma motorway (A3)*. Pics by *Me4ok*


----------



## begleca

Final touches on the section of Struma motorway, between Sandanski and Greek border near Kulata, thanks to testche4


testche4 said:


> И да видим днес какво се случва по трасето на Лот 4:
> 
> Временната връзка с Е-79:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Пътна връзка Дамяница:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ще има и табела Петрич/Мелник 1000м,  :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> На ССН на 425.920 също ще има мрежи?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1000м до ПВ Генерал Тодоров:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 500м до ПВ Генерал Тодоров:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1000м до ПВ Марикостиново север:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> След кратко затишие е извадена тежката механизация :lol:





testche4 said:


> Отливат се отводнителни канали?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Вероятно  1000 метра преди ПВ Генерал Тодоров от Кулата:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Отливат се отводнителни канали при слизането от Лот 4 на ПВ Марикостиново север:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Работи се по мрежа на надлеза за Петрич при ПВ Марикостиново юг:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 500м до слизането от Лот 4 при ПВ Марикостиново юг:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ^^
> Пак да кажа:
> Според мен на слизането от Лот 4 при ПВ Марикостиново север, трябва да са същите надписи!!!
> 
> *Златарево
> Гоце Делчев*
> 
> А с.Марикостиново - само на синя табела непосредствено до отклонението!!!
> Какво е това с. Марино поле - просто нямам думи!!! :bash:


As many of the signs are placed, man can not see anywhere, that is heading to Greece (Thessaloniki) or something.


----------



## begleca

And an article about the options for the Kresna gorge of Struma motorway. Nothing decisive for now.


kraxx said:


> http://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2015/09/11/2608022_niama_svetlina_za_tunela/



No light for a tunnel

Instead of 15 km tunnel for about 1 billion euro, "Struma" motorway will cross the gorge through two separate lanes and a series of bridges and viaducts










========viaduct ========tunnel ---------------new layout -----------------long tunnel

After 13 years the drama with the passage of highway "Struma" in gorge approaching its denouement - a 15-kilometer tunnel to nearly 1 billion. Euros will be built. Instead, it will implement a project with two separate lanes, one of which follows the existing road and gorge and the river crossing through a series of 50 bridges, viaducts and tunnels. This will not only reduce the technical risk in the construction of such a long tunnel, but also seriously reduce the cost of highway.

The refusal of expensive and complicated equipment is not a big surprise given that in the spring of this year the National Company "Strategic Infrastructure" (NKSI) announced an order for a new project on track. Subsequently, the Minister of Regional Development Lilyana Pavlova said at the conference that studies have shown "that such a facility is not suitable neither technically nor ecological or financial point of view."

Certainly from a financial point of failure is logical. Long tunnel would cost over 800 mln. Euros, while the alternative option that is currently unavailable - 250 mln. Euros. Bulgaria has undertaken to build a highway by 2020 (it is part of the trans-European transport corridor IV and is an important project for the European Commission), but the program for the transport axis for roads has 670 mln. Euros. And all the funds to be invested in the construction of the tunnel - and this is rather impossible, the money will not come again. Construction of the complex facility in visokoseizmichen area with a network of deep faults can not take five, six or seven years, and no wonder 10.

Besides commitment to deadlines and reasonable outlay, the country has another commitment - to comply with European and Bulgarian environmental legislation. Kresna Gorge is a unique natural formation, combining Mediterranean and continental climate. The diversity of plant and animal species, including the highest level of protection is one of the richest in the country. The gorge is a corridor for migration of large mammals between the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and is part of one of the major flyways for birds flying from Europe to Africa. The place is protected by the Protected Areas Act, the Biodiversity Act, European directives and the Bern Convention on the conservation of wild flora and fauna. Already in 2002, experts of the Convention recommended the existing international road to "lower" to local traffic and be put out of the gorge (the opposite of options with the extension of the road). Over 10 motorway project are rejected because of their negative impact on the ecosystem in the gorge and in the period 2007 - 2008 leads to the most environmentally friendly solution - a tunnel that is only supported by very active discussion along environmental organizations. The construction of the facility was enshrined in the context of the European Commission to approve funding for the remaining three and almost finished cut of "Struma". With this background it may be that the statements refusing tunnel slightly premature.

New circumstances

In 2007, in the context of the assessment of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the highway over 10 options were rejected as unacceptable from an environmental standpoint, told "Capital" Assen Antonov, executive director of the National Company "Strategic Infrastructure". The company was established in 2011 to take over the construction of highways "Struma", "Hemus" and "Black Sea". Selected an option with a tunnel passing, but on a "scarce data available," said Antonov.

In 2013 he started the actual design of Lot 3 Blagoevgrad - Sandanski, divided into three subdivisions, one of which is problematic Krupnik - Kresna. The next year already there is clarity about the effects of the construction and maintenance of the tunnel and they are not at all encouraging. "In preparation, numerous problems, mainly related to geological risks of the operation of the 15.5 km tunnel, the extremely high costs of operation and maintenance, the fact that the road in the gorge remains an option and risk a large part of the movement to continue to use it. Not least, it turned out that the project for the entire highway "Struma" (with lots 1, 2 and 4) would be economically inefficient in building a long tunnel (because of new rules for measuring costs and benefits), ie . The project would not be beneficial to society and would therefore not be able to obtain financing, "said Antonov.

Among the main problems is what will be done with the excavated rock - how will be transported and where it will be disposed. According to estimates the company expected volume will be 5.9 million cubic meters of earth. Its carrying heavy construction equipment will hardly be beneficial habitats. The forecast is for a 25% increase in heavy traffic during the construction period. Another technological and environmental problem is the drainage of water from the tunnel. Calculations show that water drainage will be around 11,000 m3 per day. Besides this is purely technological and environmental problem because it can lead to drying of the reserve "Tisata" on the surface. Problem would and at the confluence of waters in the Struma River. Wrote in the job to the new project.

One of the biggest dangers is however seismology. "This is a very seismically sensitive area. In 1908 there was registered the strongest earthquake in Europe - Kresna, with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale," says Professor. Dobrin Denev, he led the team that prepared a preliminary report on the EIA of highway "Struma "in 2001 and the EIA report in February 2007. After the recent geological surveys and investigations proved that the network of parallel and cross the river bed faults is much more favorable than expected. When a new earthquake that generates a lot of great danger. Prof. Denev quoted terrorism experts who have identified the tunnel as "dangerous" in malicious activities. After the earthquake and uplift in volcanic rock was discovered elevated concentrations of radioactive elements radon, but for now it is not certain whether this represents a risk when passing through the tunnel.

For the price of a gorge

The new version of the track before the gap is expected to be about 250 mln. Euros with construction supervision, alienation and so on. "The investment value of options with long tunnel would be of the order of at least 812 mln. Euros," says Eng. Anton and the He adds: "We could not even theoretically afford the construction of the tunnel option. Tunnel with a length of 15.5 kilometers will need constant ventilation and costly maintenance, which estimates the infrastructure company will be around 12 million. lev year." Against of the total funds, which are given annually for the maintenance of the entire national road network, this is a colossal sum which would not be covered under the current system for the toll, "said chief NKSIP." Problems with the long tunnel are such that is amazing he ever be built, "it continues.

The argument of cost and other technical problems, according to environmentalists are part of a deliberate campaign against the tunnel from local construction companies, which lack the capacity and can not win a tender for the construction of such a facility on top will swallow the whole financial resource roads. Environmentalists believe that members of political parties and the government who want to shine with as many transport projects are also against the tunnel. These warnings were made in a letter to the European Commission by the end of 2014, signed by Petko Kovachev, executive director of the Green Policy Institute. In it, it asks whether the European Commission approves the selected alternative in 2007, a tunnel that would allow public money to be used for serving corporate interests and political games. Still no answer. Expert, worked on the highway project and requested anonymity, said that, on the one hand, of course, arguing the high price, but on the other, thinking how to pay the state a failing bank.

"This highway does not exist without the tunnel; it is not a transport project, and mandatory environmental measure in assessing compatibility with the network" Natura "said Andrey Kovachev from the Wildlife Society" Balkans "." This is the condition for the realization of the whole project Bulgaria can be simple with the full amount of the highway. This smaller financial problem is it, "asks Kovachev." An option under consideration currently also does not differ much from already rejected and some of their similarities, ie re-evaluate what has already been assessed and rejected " said the environmentalist. He said the case will be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Yet there are alternatives

"In our country there are many people who care about the environment, so it is normal for the project to be the focus of attention. Initially it was thought that the construction of variants with long tunnel will avoid environmental problems in the gorge, but it proved Unrealistic expectations and I think the majority of people involved in the project, realize that ultimately the tunnel is not an acceptable solution, "said Assen Antonov.

And complaints are normal, said in turn Minister of EU funds Tomislav Donchev. No project above a certain value, which has not sent a complaint to Brussels from a non-governmental organization, usually with environmental motives, but not only; this is a normal feature of an active civil society, Donchev said. He explained that the talks on the subject with the European Commission are held since the end of 2014. "We shared with them some of their concerns and it can be said that" speculation "together. However, how will the European Commission to support a project that is is compromised environmentally and in terms of security, "said Minister for EU funds.

"It is normal to seek alternatives. Including those who give money," said prof. Dobrin Denev, which is a road engineer and traveled every centimeter of the gorge. According to him, there is an alternative to the tunnel and two independent lanes him sound like a logical solution, although no one was looking for opinions and does not know the new project. "The tunnel was chosen time as the friendly nature, then there was a lot of pressure from environmental organizations. The gorge is a unique place and no two opinions that must be stored. But then some things we had known," said Prof. Denev. In any event, the decision to shift the motorway through the Kresna Gorge have to undergo broad discussion of all sides and to achieve consensus, added the professor.

Challenges to new project

Formal approval of alternative tunnel option can come only after passing environmental assessment and submit the application form to the Commission. "We can not submit an application form, which does not comply with the law. It necessarily passes through the JASPERS, a unit of the European Commission, so that even then will we know whether the project can be executed or not," explained Minister Donchev.

Eng. Antonov stated that in the preparation of project experience gained with the highway and are considered the unique nature of the area. "The new version is designed without emergency lanes and a design speed of 80 km / h. We've looked and options for moving beyond the gorge, but they are extremely poor technical and economic parameters and therefore are unrealistic," said Antonov. Concerns that traffic to Greece will be reallocated in Gotse Delchev, chief NKSIP answers that will first build a new lane, traffic will be redirected through it, and then build a sail that follows the existing road. Of course, the movement can be interrupted briefly, but not for the entire period of construction. If the alternative option received a positive environmental assessment, the choice of builder will start in the first half of 2016 and implementation will take no more than four years, calculated from the infrastructure company.


----------



## kostas97

What is the deadline for the Dupnitsa-Blagoevgrad segment?


----------



## gogo3o

End of October. Basically, the government has to finish all EU funded projects by the end of October. For Sofia Northern Bypass that's clearly not possible, as the project started in Feb, but I'm eager to see how much of the other projects will be completed. Also, we have municipal elections in October and completing a motorway is a strong incentive.


----------



## kostas97

gogo3o said:


> End of October. Basically, the government has to finish all EU funded projects by the end of October. For Sofia Northern Bypass that's clearly not possible, as the project started in Feb, but I'm eager to see how much of the other projects will be completed. Also, we have municipal elections in October and completing a motorway is a strong incentive.


Oh, I see.....however, finishing that segment within the deadline seems completely out of mind, it needs much more work.....as far as the NST is concerned, I think the same....what do you think?


----------



## sponge_bob

Bulgaria has 100% EU funding to draw down if they do open them by end 2015...even if unfinished.


----------



## MichiH

^^ What does it mean, they just have to transfer the money from EU by the end of 2015? Or do they have to transfer the money to the constructor by the end of 2015?

What exactly must be fulfilled till 31st December 2015 to get EU funding?

btw: Are we talking about Cohesion Fund or ERDF (European Regional Development Fund)?


----------



## sponge_bob

The EU allowed the 2007-2013 EU funded projects to drag on to end 2015 and still qualify for full funding. I believe the test is that there is a road and it is more or less open in October - December 2015. It may not have barriers, lights and some markings but it must be generally in service. The test is physical completion. 

_The EU has made a lot of promises of cash....a lot more than its budget can cover_. It needs to get rid of some of these. The end 2015 cutoff is a large part of that...the end 2015 cutoff was primarily introduced for Greece who had a crisis over most of the 2007-2013 funding window. 

It affects all of Cohesion/ERDF/Transport funds known together as structural funds. The EU badly needs to 'lose' a lot of these old commitments. 

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu...tors-warns-multi-billion-eu-budget-gap-310310



> One of the issues highlighted in the report is that in the period 2014-2020, member states will be required to contribute 1.234 billion to cover disbursements of commitments. *This amount consists of €908 billion agreed for 2014-2020 in payments, and an additional €326 billion, being disbursements committed under at least two previous budgeting periods*.


Now the EU always overcommitted as all states did not complete projects and could not draw down or "absorb" promised funds. But €326bn is two years EU budget. They need to lose some of these old commitments and they fully intend to. 

You may read the full ECA report here

http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/LR14_02/QJ0614039ENN.pdf


HTH


----------



## gogo3o

By the end of October all the construction works must be completed and paid, and the time till the end of the year remains for submitting the documentation for reimbursement of the money. Or that is what I understand.


----------



## sponge_bob

That sounds correct yes. The EU then has to demand extra cash from its members in November to cover the budget shortfall in 2016 as 2007-2013 projects come up for payment. Remember what happened last year??

http://www.independent.ie/business/...s-tell-uk-to-pay-in-instalments-30726000.html 

The EU does not want to go back to anybody in November 2016 looking for extra cash to cover 2007-2013 projects. The UK has a referendum in 2017 on EU membership. The last time they will do this is in November 2015. 

There will of course be a row  but the funds to pay Bulgaria _will be found_...one last time. 

The EU commitment of funds for the Kresna Megaproject is around €680m _but MOST of this is to be paid to Bulgaria AFTER 2020_. Only perhaps €250m is to be disbursed by the EU between 2018-2020 and none before 2018. The final payment from the EU for Kresna is due as late as 2023/4.


----------



## haddockman

What are all the new gantry cameras for? I see a lot of them being erected on the Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse road.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I believe there are plans to introduce an electronic tolling system for trucks (and maybe cars in the future too).


----------



## gogo3o

haddockman said:


> What are all the new gantry cameras for? I see a lot of them being erected on the Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse road.


These are for traffic counting. More than 100 are being placed in the country on major roads and motorways. 

--

*Montana bypass*, pics by pustrina


----------



## kostas97

Is it true that according to the plan the whole road from A2 to Vidin will look exactly like the Montana bypass? (i mean 2X2 with-or wthout-emergency lane)


----------



## gogo3o

Yes, that's the plan. Eventually it will end as a 2x2 expressway (without emergency lane).


----------



## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> I believe there are plans to introduce an electronic tolling system for trucks (and maybe cars in the future too).


That´s right for trucks. For cars the gov will go for e-vignettes probably.
source


----------



## koko_vp

*Sofia Northern Bypass highway 16.5 km*









by REAKTOR


----------



## gogo3o

*Maritsa motorway (A4)*, lot 1 (Chirpan-Dimitrovgrad). Pics by *harry_gg*













































Some unofficial info: in the end of Oct the lot will enter in service, but in the stretch b/n 28 and 36 km only of the carriageways will function and the other one probably will be completed in Nov. IMO if that happens, it will good enough, as lot 1 will finally make the link b/n Trakia motorway (A1) and the already completed segment of A4.

*More pics:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227453&page=372


----------



## BG_AT

*Expressway Ruse - Shumen*

Hello !

I want to ask, if anybody knows if the planned Expressway Road from Ruse to Shumen is already finished build or what is their the situation?
Does anybody have pictures from the finished expressway road?

kindly regards


----------



## gogo3o

It´s not an expressway, it´s 3-lane single carriageway.


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> It´s not an expressway, it´s 3-lane single carriageway.


Hmm, thank you for the information. 

What do you mean with "carriageway" ?

Is the acutal situation of the 3-line road the finished situation?
Will it always stay until now in that way?


----------



## rudiwien

BG_AT said:


> Hmm, thank you for the information.
> What do you mean with "carriageway" ?



That means no median separation between the lanes going in different directions; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carriageway


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> Some unofficial info: in the end of Oct the lot will enter in service, but in the stretch b/n 28 and 36 km only of the carriageways will function and the other one probably will be completed in Nov.


Thanks. I think it's the section b/n the railway bridge west of Krum and road 506 at the end of lot 1 / beginning of lot 2?

The *length of lot 1 is 31.4km* and the *length of lot 2 is 34.2km*. If I'm right, the Dimitrovgrad interchange is not exactly at the beginning of lot 2 but about 2km east of it. That's what I measured on OSM and that's what's specified on wikipedia. It means, the *length of section 1 is 33.8km* and the *length of section 2 is 31.5km*. Correct?

That said, I think I should correct my list as follows:

*A4:* Dimitrovgrad – Harmanli 31.5km (July 2011 to 28th May 2015) – project – map
*A4:* Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad 33.8km (October 2011 to Late October 2015) [~8km 1st c/w only] – project – map
*A4:* Krum – west of Dimitrovgrad ~8km (October 2011 to November 2015) [2nd c/w] – project – map


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> It´s not an expressway, it´s 3-lane single carriageway.


Is the acutal situation of the 3-line road the finished situation?
Will it always stay until now in that way?


----------



## MichiH

^^ It's already mostly 2+1 and it will remain like this for the time being! It's not planned to upgrade the road.


----------



## gogo3o

MichiH said:


> ...
> That said, I think I should correct my list as follows:
> 
> *A4:* Dimitrovgrad – Harmanli 31.5km (July 2011 to 28th May 2015) – project – map
> *A4:* Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad 33.8km (October 2011 to Late October 2015) [~8km 1st c/w only] – project – map
> *A4:* Krum – west of Dimitrovgrad ~8km (October 2011 to November 2015) [2nd c/w] – project – map


It´s just a speculation right now, as we don't have anything official and my guess is that we'll get more info not earlier than mid of Oct.

Lot 1 is from km 5+000 до km 36+400, Lot 2 - from km 36+400 to km 70+620.


----------



## BG_AT

MichiH said:


> ^^ It's already mostly 2+1 and it will remain like this for the time being! It's not planned to upgrade the road.


Thank you for the Information !
Thats the news i wanted to know !

Good to know, that the government will let stay the improved Ruse-Shumen road now in that way of 2+1 lines and that a upgrade is not planned.


----------



## belerophon

If i might lead the common interest back from construction of new sections to those in service (for long time):

When i drove parts of eastern A2 and almost complete A1 in August, i found that correlating with the age some parts had a real rough surface. Especially older "Tries" to repair seemed to lower the standard very much. 

We had a lot of discussion about the german illness of building motorways but giving not enough money to keep them in good shape. How does this work in Bulgaria? Its more easy to build with EU funding than to keep with state budget right^^

I went to Sipka monument (and the rotting budzludzha also). Werent there plans to improve the north-south road 5 in these mountains? I know these road 5 should be upgraded in general, but where would works start? The romanian way ist to beginn where its easy and leave the mountain passage for later. In Poland at some places its the other way around, where works started at most dangerous and difficult sections^^

What about the "coastal" road wich is flat north of varna but time-taking between burgas and varna? (and south of burgas of course but less important there)

Connection to Serbia seems to improve in comparison to connection to poor macedonia. Is there a favoured route for upgrades? I took 62 Dupnitsa-Kjustendil and 6 until the border, which seems to be flatter then 6 north of Kjustendil.

What about Dobritsch, the biggest city far away from any main road?


----------



## koko_vp

*Sofia Northern Bypass highway 16.5 km*

Working at night



























by brabus_bg




































by momchilg


----------



## kostas97

gogo3o said:


> Yes, that's the plan. Eventually it will end as a 2x2 expressway (without emergency lane).


What is the deadline for the whole project?


----------



## MichiH

^^ No deadline because there is no contract for the entire expressway b/n A2 and Vidin. In addition, there's no building permit and no funding. Only Montana bypass is u/c atm, deadline is October 2015.


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> ^^
> The contract has been signed. The term for construction is 10 months.
> 
> --
> 
> A4 will open on 27 October according to the last statements.



Thank you !
That are good news, that there is now a date when the last part of the A4 will be opened.


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> ^^
> The contract has been signed. The term for construction is 10 months.





satanism said:


> NEW:
> Bulgaria II-18: Kakach River - SNST 5,5km (October 2015 to July 2016). This is the link between what was opened today and the SNST which is already in construction


Is it likely that works will begin soon (October/November 2015) or have works already been started?





satanism said:


> Bulgaria A4: Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad 33.8km (October 2011 to Late October 2015) – project – map *Opening* this Friday or more likely next Monday/Tuesday(27.10)...exact date not confirmed yet. Could have parts where only one cw is open at first.





gogo3o said:


> A4 will open on 27 October according to the last statements.


Is there any info now whether A4 will be opened 2x2 or one (or more?) subsection will initially have one c/w only?



MichiH said:


> gogo3o said:
> 
> 
> 
> Some unofficial info: in the end of Oct the lot will enter in service, but in the stretch b/n 28 and 36 km only of the carriageways will function and the other one probably will be completed in Nov.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. I think it's the section b/n the railway bridge west of Krum and road 506 at the end of lot 1 / beginning of lot 2?
> 
> The *length of lot 1 is 31.4km* and the *length of lot 2 is 34.2km*. If I'm right, the Dimitrovgrad interchange is not exactly at the beginning of lot 2 but about 2km east of it. That's what I measured on OSM and that's what's specified on wikipedia. It means, the *length of section 1 is 33.8km* and the *length of section 2 is 31.5km*. Correct?
> 
> That said, I think I should correct my list as follows:
> 
> *A4:* Dimitrovgrad – Harmanli 31.5km (July 2011 to 28th May 2015) – project – map
> *A4:* Chirpan – Dimitrovgrad 33.8km (October 2011 to Late October 2015) [~8km 1st c/w only] – project – map
> *A4:* Krum – west of Dimitrovgrad ~8km (October 2011 to November 2015) [2nd c/w] – project – map
Click to expand...




gogo3o said:


> It´s just a speculation right now, as we don't have anything official and my guess is that we'll get more info not earlier than mid of Oct.
> 
> Lot 1 is from km 5+000 до km 36+400, Lot 2 - from km 36+400 to km 70+620.


----------



## begleca

MichiH said:


> Is it likely that works will begin soon (October/November 2015) or have works already been started?


It`s started officially. Groundbreaking ceremony was last Thursday. The deadline is 10 months from now.

*Sofia ring road II-18*: Kakach river – SNST: Trebich (II18) 5.5km (22 October 2015 to *August 2016*) – project – map

Here is a link of some drawings from the project:
https://goo.gl/photos/nc6FBH3ZKLoH1XmU6







































MichiH said:


> Is there any info now whether A4 will be opened 2x2 or one (or more?) subsection will initially have one c/w only?


I guess it will be opened full length both carriageways.


----------



## gogo3o

A couple of days before the *A4* opening.




































More by *harry_gg*: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=128094761


----------



## BG_AT

I think concerning this new pictures of the A4 before the opening, that this part of the Highway is not ready to be openend on Tuesday on the 27.October.

This cannot be ready until Tuesday or?


----------



## bgdimitrov

I am certain that LOT 1 will open on tuesday even if there are missing signs, guardrail, surface markings, incomplete drainage in some areas. This has been a trend in Bulgaria lately and it allows the motorway to be opened faster.


----------



## gogo3o

Some spectacular pics of *Hemus motorway (A2)*::cheers2:


durtyvaj said:


> 2 снимчици от Витиня
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> и една от първия виадукт след тунела Правешки Ханове


----------



## gogo3o

The asphalt is smooth, the crash barriers are shiny. It's so strumatic:banana:


Me4ok said:


>


lot 2 of A3 + part of lot 1 by *Me4ok*


----------



## bgdimitrov

Now that elections have passed, it has been decided to wait and open A4 Lot1 later this week.


----------



## BG_AT

Later this week?
Is this an official statement? 

Oh my god  

What does that mean exactly, later this week?


----------



## MichiH

^^ Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday


----------



## begleca

There are rumours for Thursday, but nothing official.


----------



## begleca

So it`s now official, the last section of A4 Maritsa motorway will open tomorrow. 

http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/prescentar/novini/utre-se-otkriva-posledniyat-uchastk-ot-am-marica-ot-orizovo-do-dimitrovgrad/


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice, there seem to be no interchanges between A1 and Dimitrovgrad? A distance of 31 kilometers between interchanges are more akin to toll roads.


----------



## BG_AT

ChrisZwolle said:


> Nice, there seem to be no interchanges between A1 and Dimitrovgrad? A distance of 31 kilometers between interchanges are more akin to toll roads.


What do you mean with interchanges?


----------



## MichiH

^^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interchange_(road)

There is no access to A4 for more than 30km.

If _AT refers to Austria, the German word is Anschlussstelle


----------



## BG_AT

Ooookay  Now i understand 
Correct, the Austrian / German word for it is Anschlussstelle 


I think for this geographic stiuation in this place it is normal that their is now interchange.

Between Dimitrovgrand and Harmanli is also now interchange, because maybe there is no geographic need for an interchange.
I would say the same for the Lot 1 from Orizovo to Dimitrovgrad.

From where exactly starts the Lot 1 now?
I wonder why there will not be an interchange for the street "66" from Popovitsa to Chirpan. hmmm


----------



## begleca

ChrisZwolle said:


> Nice, there seem to be no interchanges between A1 and Dimitrovgrad? A distance of 31 kilometers between interchanges are more akin to toll roads.


Yes that`s strange. In Bulgarian sub forum we are wondering why there is no interchange on the road between Chirpan and Parvomai near Zetiovo. However, there are rumours that they gonna add one near Zlatna livada and the monastery over there but it`s very questionable.


----------



## language

A4 Maritsa motorway completed and opened for traffic today 29.10.2015. Bulgarian motorway map since today:









green - completed 
red - u/c 
yellow - planned


----------



## funkyro

no motorway, even planned, to Vidin?


----------



## sponge_bob

That map does not show the 2+2 expressway plans,only 140kph motorways.

Bulgarian expressways are designed for 120kph which is like motorways elsewhere.


----------



## LG_

begleca said:


> ...
> However, there are rumours that they gonna add one near Zlatna livada and the monastery over there but it`s very questionable.



It is quite possible! We have seen several link's addings over the last years on A1 Trakiya motorway such as: the A1-66, A1-666, A1-6008 interchanges, new links are being added now at the A1/A4 interchange.


----------



## gogo3o

funkyro said:


> no motorway, even planned, to Vidin?


An expressway is planned to Vidin. It's visible on this map:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo is now planned as a motorway instead of expressway?


----------



## MichiH

^^ That's also new for me! It there any proposed numbering, A8?

Is the new A4 section opened 2x2 all the way or is there a gap with one carriageway only?

What's about the completion of Montana bypass?


----------



## gogo3o

Yes, RIA signed a contract for drawing of conceptual design of Veliko Tarnovo motorway. Here's some info.

PS A4 is opened in both carriageways, but some minor works are remaining to be completed.

Montana bypass, hmm... We have little info about this project, it's delayed for sure.


----------



## BG_AT

Are there any photos of the opening from Lot 1 of the A4 from today?


Is the Route from Ruse to Shumen now official an Expressway?
If yes, what is acutally the Highspeed limit on that Route between Ruse and Shumen?


----------



## bgdimitrov

^^ Here are some photos :cheers:























































Credit: Road Infrastructure Agency


----------



## BG_AT

Cool, the Motorway seems really great !

Is it now open for the normal traffic also or what is the situation?
let's wait, when google maps will update the new motorway - part of the A4 and A3.

Is the Route from Ruse to Shumen now official an Expressway?
If yes, what is acutally the Highspeed limit on that Route between Ruse and Shumen?


----------



## Christophorus

Why wait for Google Maps? OSM is already up to date 

A3: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=11/42.1451/23.1046
A4: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=11/42.0941/25.5648


----------



## begleca

BG_AT said:


> Cool, the Motorway seems really great !
> 
> Is the Route from Ruse to Shumen now official an Expressway?


No it is not. That is just a plan for the future.


----------



## gogo3o

Interesting chart, showing the impact of the EU funds:








by tropcho


----------



## radko

Hi, i want create road map Bulgarian motorways on wikipedia. I know 1985 - 2015 but i don't understand where motorway's crossroad is ending, e.g.
1980: Sofia - near Mirovo railway station? or crossroad Mirovo
1980: Varna - Devnia? or Gabarnica crossroad
What about Ljubimec - Edirne? Was "motorway" completed in 2003?
Every map show another point of crossroad. 
Do anyone know history of building bulgarian motorway? When will Sofia - Varna be completed? Neverending story!


----------



## cassini83

This really cool gif made by Reaktor might help:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Trakia_mw_bg.gif


----------



## gogo3o

A4 motorway, lot 1 videos:









(c)Hristo Hristov


----------



## begleca

ChrisZwolle said:


> Nice, there seem to be no interchanges between A1 and Dimitrovgrad? A distance of 31 kilometers between interchanges are more akin to toll roads.


*A4 Maritsa*: So there will be something like an interchange near Zlatna livada and the monastery over there, however it is not fully operational yet. But the access roads are not in best shape.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.108013&lon=25.416162&z=16&m=b

*A3 Struma*: Nice time-lapse video of the section between Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad > click on the picture to see it >


Mitara6ki said:


> Time-lapse клип на новата отсечка посока София  Трябва да го отворите в самия сайт, за да тръгне.
> 
> Untitled by dimitar tishinov, on Flickr


----------



## radko

Thank you Tassini83
I learn about Trakia motorway more than i think. I try create all Bulgaria. I see , now it is early.


----------



## BG_AT

I wonder why the German ADAC Cardriver Club still has not updated the opened sections of the A3.

The openend section of the A4 has been updated of the ADAC.

Look here:
https://www.adac.de/reise_freizeit/...m2lAg4UumvtTZv7AH2QIWvnXmFnqeFOko8O1Q8nynET__


Hmm, can i maybe help Google Maps in a way, that they creat more early the openend sections of the A3 and A4 ?
Does anybody know?


----------



## BG_AT

Cool, Google Maps has updated since today the new motorway part at the A3 from Dupnica to Blagoevgrad.

Lets wait and see, when Google Maps will update it for the A4


----------



## begleca

An updated map of the Balkan peninsula motorways. 


















https://goo.gl/photos/dCzCL1h2wHQ3Zm7M6


----------



## BG_AT

I am really interested, when Google Maps will also update complete the new last openend part of the A4 Highway. Hmm

Does anybody have informations or so about that?


----------



## sponge_bob

They will rob the data off Openstreetmap....probably...just like Apple maps does. The only bang on data is usually Openstreetmap.


----------



## BG_AT

Is there any Chance to help in the "Google Map Maker" so that i can also give a confirmation to Google that this roadpart is already in use?

I try to use "Google Map Maker", but i dont know how.


----------



## Yilku1

Map Maker is not available in Bulgaria

https://support.google.com/mapmaker/answer/155415?hl=en


----------



## ukraroad

Do yoin know is there any perspective of the motorway development after SNST opens


----------



## koynov

ukraroad said:


> Do yoin know is there any perspective of the motorway development after SNST opens



Yes next year Lot 3.1. and Lot 3.3 from A3 should start construction, lot 1 of A2 from Yablanica to Pleven/Lovech interchange should start too and we hope for some parts of A7 ( Sofia-Serbian border) and one part from the South ring road from Mladost district to A1 interchange.


----------



## [atomic]

BG_AT said:


> Is there any Chance to help in the "Google Map Maker" so that i can also give a confirmation to Google that this roadpart is already in use?
> 
> I try to use "Google Map Maker", but i dont know how.


you can always click on the give feedback link on the bottom right(it is super small)


----------



## ukraroad

Lot 3.3 signed already, so I guess MichiH would have to add it to the construction list soon


----------



## gogo3o

The government raises the price of the vignettes, effective from 2016. For cars the new price will be set at 97 levs (49.6 euro), as the current one is 67 levs. For other categories of vehicles the increase is similar. 
source


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> The government raises the price of the vignettes, effective from 2016. For cars the new price will be set at 97 levs (49.6 euro), as the current one is 67 levs. For other categories of vehicles the increase is similar.
> source


Hmm, i am ready and i think its Okay to pay more for the vignettes.
BUT i want for that higher price from the goverment better national and village roads and more highways.

Lets see and wait what they will do.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

According to that website, the toll revenue from the vignette is only 224.5 million leva per year. That's € 115 million, a completely insufficient revenue stream to finance roads from. 

97 leva for an annual vignette is very cheap. It's the same amount of money I spend every week in the supermarket for just one person.


----------



## LG_

Well since the annual Swiss vignette for cars is only 34 € and the Romanian only 28 € I don't see much reason the Bulgarian one to be ca. 50 €.

I agree with that € 115 million isn't sufficient, but in the same time the BG wages are one of the lowest in the EU that is to say the road maintaning costs shoud be generally cheaper!


----------



## gogo3o

We can't be sure that all revenues from vignettes will go for roads only, as some of the money have been spent for other things. Personally, I want toll to be introduced for trucks and the article in my previous post says that it's likely to be done from 2017 or 2018.


----------



## panchevo

ChrisZwolle said:


> 97 leva for an annual vignette is very cheap. It's the same amount of money I spend every week in the supermarket for just one person.


that kind of comparison doesn't make any sence, 
good for you for being able to spend that much money every week in the supermarket but that amount is about a half of the minimal monthly wage in bulgaria!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

LG_ said:


> Well since the annual Swiss vignette for cars is only 34 € and the Romanian only 28 € I don't see much reason the Bulgarian one to be ca. 50 €.


They have the same problem as Bulgaria (yes, Switzerland too!) in the sense that they cannot fund their road network through vignettes. 

In fact there is not a single country in Europe that can fund its road network through vignettes. The best strategy is to introduce a separate distance-based toll for trucks and funnel the fuel taxes into the road fund instead of the general budget. 

Vignettes simply don't generate that much revenue.



panchevo said:


> that kind of comparison doesn't make any sence,
> good for you for being able to spend that much money every week in the supermarket but that amount is about a half of the minimal monthly wage in bulgaria!


That's true, but let's convert it to the fuel price. The price of an annual vignette is about the same as about one tank of fuel of 50 L.


----------



## cassini83

I agree. The fuel taxes alone accounted for almost a billion EUR of revenue last year. That including the vignette income and a distance-based truck toll should be enough for maintaining the 20 000 km national road network. Something has to be done about the municipal roads as well. They tend to be in even worse condition than the national roads.


----------



## tien787

I also think EUR50 is still rather cheap. For an annual permission to use the entire road network including all highways, a charge in the range of EUR100 seems appropriate to me. The minimum wage is irrelevant as basis determining such kind of fees, most of the people who (truly) earn that little cannot afford having a car at the first place. There are many alternative options enabling traveling (bus, trains, taxis, etc.), as there are vignettes for shorter time periods. So what would justify a price enabling the entire populations to easily afford buying an annual vignette? Comparing it to price of the vignettes in other countries is also not an fair way to look at it as different countries have different taxation systems and budgetary aims.


----------



## danielstan

Annual vignette is a strategy of governments from relatively small countries to get more money (per km) from foreigners than from their own citizens. 
Politically is a clever strategy.

50 EUR/year for almost 800km of motorway is too much.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ The Bulgarian vignette applies to all state roads, not just the motorways.


----------



## ukraroad

unless it is route 11,12 or the city bypasses


----------



## haddockman

The vignette does not apply to roads under the charge of local municipalities.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

It will be very difficult if not impossible to drive around Bulgaria only on municipal roads. Which means that probably every vehicle owner in Bulgaria needs an annual vignette.

Is there also another kind of tax in Bulgaria? Like a road tax separate from the vignette, or a special vehicle registration tax?


----------



## gogo3o

There's a property tax for owning the vehicle. The renenues are collected and used by the municipalities, not the central government.


----------



## SametJamet

A4 Maritsa seems finally be open


----------



## ukraroad

You only got it! Twenty days as already open


----------



## BG_AT

SametJamet said:


> A4 Maritsa seems finally be open


What do you mean with "seems finally be open" ?

It is since end of October 2015 openend.

Just in Google Maps still not updated


----------



## ukraroad

Yep. Look openstreetmap. Google for instance hasn't put the G3011 in China for 5 months there is rather one. I guess the only advantages of google are itself the Streetview and the comfort of usage. But its recentism reminds me much of one of another offsprings of Google wikipedia


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia Northern Bypass*









The construction started in February and the progress seems to be quite good. Pics by babkata:
@Botevgradsko shose blvd









@Chepinsko shose



























@Iskar river




































@East tangent I/C



































More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1603704&page=175


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> *Sofia Northern Bypass*
> The construction started in February and the progress seems to be quite good.


IIRC the official one was late 2015. Is there any (un)official estimated opening date / updated contract deadline? Anything more specific than 2016...


----------



## bgdimitrov

MichiH said:


> IIRC the official one was late 2015. Is there any (un)official estimated opening date / updated contract deadline? Anything more specific than 2016...


I would say realistically the whole thing could be opened in Spring 2016. Opening in 2015 would be crazy progress even though work is going on 24/7.


----------



## sponge_bob

There is euro money involved if it opens in _any_ way in 2015, perhaps a partial opening if they can manage it.


----------



## gogo3o

MichiH said:


> IIRC the official one was late 2015. Is there any (un)official estimated opening date / updated contract deadline? Anything more specific than 2016...


When they say anything more specific, someone will post it here. Here´s the situation from drone's eye b/n the western arc of the ring road and Iliyantsi Blvd I/C:






























































by *durtyvaj*


----------



## Gubot

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is there also another kind of tax in Bulgaria? Like a road tax separate from the vignette, or a special vehicle registration tax?





gogo3o said:


> There's a property tax for owning the vehicle. The renenues are collected and used by the municipalities, not the central government.


It must be added that the property tax depends on the age of the car, the engine power, environmental friendliness, etc. It is interesting to note that the older cars have lower taxes. For example, the tax for a car with 110HP engine and age between 5-15 years is ~80EUR. If the same car is over 15 years old, the tax is ~50EUR.

I think for the purpose of comparison and added customer value we must also mention what you get for your money. The vignette is valid for ~20k km of motorways, I, II and III class roads(generally speaking orange and yellow roads in GM). The municipalities are responsible for the rest of the road network(another ~20k km of roads). So if you are a bulgarian, you generally need to pay both a a vignette and an ownership tax to access the ~40k road network. If you are a foreigner, you pay only a vignette and can use everything. 

Because this is an international forum, lets mention the proposed prices for the other type of vignettes for cars:
weekly: 5 EUR -> 7.5 EUR
monthly: 12.5 EUR -> 15 EUR
yearly: 33.5 EUR -> 48.5 EUR


----------



## belerophon

Oh, i was never angry about paying for motorways. Especially in the east, where i know people are not so welathy. I am cheering everytime the motorways get longer, but they need to be ststained also. 

I don't think, people hate taxes in general, if they understand for what purpose they pay and if politicians spend it wisely. But usually neither the first nor the second is true 

All in all its a big number of influences which you need to take in account to get a fair comparison. But if we just agree that we don't reach this ideal, its okay to bring several aspects in mind of the others. Every single argumentation is uncomplete. If it is no fight who is the best, most intelligent, best knowing of local sitaution etc... if its not about the virtual ***** lenght, if we leave this aside its very educating to follow this discussion


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia Ring Road*, ground works at the Kakach river - Northern Bypass segment:


chevyvolt said:


>


^^
This segment includes the important interchange with the Norhern Bypass, along with 2 other interchanges.

And the (almost) completed A6-Kakach river segment:


----------



## BG_AT

Interesting, Google Maps is so slow concerning updating the new part of the A4 highway.
I also gave 2-3 feedbacks to Google Maps, 1-2 weeks ago, but there is still nothing.

I also gave 1-2 Updates for roads in Germany and Austria. There it had been updated after 3-5 days.


Hmm, lets wait when it will be updated in Bulgaria.
Even Road Updates in Romania get faster as in Bulgaria :/


----------



## ukraroad

BG_AT said:


> Interesting, Google Maps is so slow concerning updating the new part of the A4 highway.
> I also gave 2-3 feedbacks to Google Maps, 1-2 weeks ago, but there is still nothing.
> 
> I also gave 1-2 Updates for roads in Germany and Austria. There it had been updated after 3-5 days.
> 
> 
> Hmm, lets wait when it will be updated in Bulgaria.
> Even Road Updates in Romania get faster as in Bulgaria :/


God has heard a few words, but the rest he put into the ***.
See this
https://www.google.pl/maps/@42.1450436,25.3593886,12z
I wouldn't drive that part. Don't wanna fall into the Maritsa - anyway I'm not James Bond to make such tricks.hno:
Maybe they wait for some Bulgarian guy taking a video from A-Z


----------



## belerophon

What i dont get is, why you cant go from A1 to A4 if you come from the east. Suppose you need to leave A1 west of Cirpan, taking the 664 and 66 afterwards?

https://www.google.pl/maps/@42.1897169,25.2555155,5192m/data=!3m1!1e3


----------



## BG_AT

belerophon said:


> What i dont get is, why you cant go from A1 to A4 if you come from the east. Suppose you need to leave A1 west of Cirpan, taking the 664 and 66 afterwards?
> 
> https://www.google.pl/maps/@42.1897169,25.2555155,5192m/data=!3m1!1e3


I think that is a very good question !
I didnt recognize the Problem/Situation until yet. 
Interesting solution at the moment of the government. 

Hmm


----------



## Metra

^^For those,who wants Sofia Ring Road as a motorway,quote me!


----------



## MichiH

^^ The whole map is incorrect:



albertocsc said:


> With the base of the Bulgarian Motorway map from Wikipedia, *I have drawn the motorway/expressway network I would like to see in Bulgaria in the future ( 2060 horizon )*, with some regular-road corridors.
> 
> What do you think about it? Is it feasible? Would it need any addition/deletion?


----------



## gr_kanev

Incorrect number of roads is enough for me not to see and believe anymore.


----------



## ukraroad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg. That is the network, but still expressway Ruse-Kurdzhali is in plans, and Ruse-Vlk. Tarnovo had a bit of preparations according to Wiki.


----------



## belerophon

ukraroad said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bulgarian_motorway_network_en.svg. That is the network, but still expressway Ruse-Kurdzhali is in plans, and Ruse-Vlk. Tarnovo had a bit of preparations according to Wiki.


Smolyan is "at the ass of the world" as we say.


----------



## MichiH

^^ In the back of beyond


----------



## Nikolamil

Is it planned to build a highway or expressway of Vidin, across Montana to Sofia?


----------



## Metra

https://www.google.bg/maps/@42.4615204,24.692884,1465m/data=!3m1!1e3


----------



## ukraroad

Nikolamil said:


> Is it planned to build a highway or expressway of Vidin, across Montana to Sofia?


Yep. Montana bypass is part of it. It will go along that I-1, which for me makes no sense. Better to make Sofia-Montana at II-83. Other expressways planned: Varna-Durankulak, Plovdiv-Asenovgrad, Pernik-Kyustendil-border, Kyustendil-Dupnitsa-Kostinbrod, alternative of A1 with Kostinbrod bypass, and Ruse-Shumen. Motorways: A1-3, A7 to Serbia, A8 Ruse-Vlk. Tarnovo, and A5 Varna-Burgas, A6 completed, A4 too


----------



## ChrisZwolle

ukraroad said:


> It will go along that I-1, which for me makes no sense. Better to make Sofia-Montana at II-83.


There is no II/83. I think you mean II/81, which is a bit shorter, but the terrain is not suitable for an expressway or motorway. It would require a long tunnel (10+ km), II/81 has hairpin turns south of Berkovitsa.


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia Northern Bypass*, the segment in construction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8dEqyPNWGc




[/QUOTE]


----------



## gogo3o

The 3 route alignments in the conceptual design of the future *Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse motorway *became clear.


CecoM71 said:


> ^^


----------



## gogo3o

PM orders to cancel the tender for the construction of 2 sections of A2 motorway
*source *


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> PM orders to cancel the tender for the construction of 2 sections of A2 motorway
> *source *


Lack of funding or other reason?hno:


----------



## satanism

mman2012 said:


> Lack of funding or other reason?hno:


This is the official reason. In reality the reason is unclear(corruption suspicions, possible downgrading to expressway, route redesign, price reduction efforts, PR move following a bad EU report on corruption fight, funding method change)  News about this is coming every day...and all of it says nothing. The official story is that new tenders will be announced soon.


----------



## gogo3o

Seems that the cloverleaf interchange at the western arc of *Sofia Ring Road* and the *Nothern Bypass* is one of the largest in BG. Still, IMO maybe a direct link would be more convinient in the Nothern Bypass-A6 motorway direction.


REAKT0R said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Deputies of the ruling party propose closure of a parallel road agency, NCSIP, with amendments in the legislation. All assets, including the signed contracts, shall be transferred to API. NCSIP was founded in 2011 with special prerogatives to construct 3 motorways - Hemus (A2), Struma (A3) and Cherno More (A5).
source


----------



## Metra

https://www.google.bg/maps/@44.0112419,26.5433695,714m/data=!3m1!1e3


----------



## sponge_bob

Are any of the A2 lots to go to construction in 2016?


----------



## satanism

Highly unlikely. Best case scenario would be ~10km of Lot1....


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia ring road*, western arc









by chevyvolt & the SSC_Bulgaria drone


----------



## begleca

*Sofia ring road* in its west part is taking shape.
Thanks to *chevy*


chevyvolt said:


> Един репортаж на Дроньо от днес.
> Вятърът се усили доста и не можах да заснема целия участък. Утре, като ги редактирам ще добавя и снимките.
> 
> ЗД2 от ЗД1 до Ломско шосе:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX4W5NA7a24


----------



## begleca

The photos show the section between the finished section and Lomsko shose blvd.


chevyvolt said:


> И снимките са готови!
> 
> За пълен размер и геолокация: https://goo.gl/photos/KT1Lq8bpUTrAy7H48
> Най-новите са най-отдолу.
> 
> Снимките са от юг на север:





chevyvolt said:


>


----------



## begleca

Lomsko shosse interchange:


chevyvolt said:


> ПВ СОП / Ломско шосе





chevyvolt said:


> Един бонус от Гугъл:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Посока разклона за с. Мрамор:


You can see on the last two photos the cloverleaf with the northern speed tangent in the back.


----------



## gogo3o

The remaining segment of *Sofia Northern Bypass* is to open on 1 May.
source


----------



## NickTs

Hi Luke,

Any update?

Thanks
Nick


----------



## volodaaaa

can someone provide me an information, how it is looking on bulgarian- greek borders? Is that full of refugees? Is that even open? I've heard something about some measures (fences, etc.)

Thanks


----------



## gogo3o

It´s open. A month ago we had a border blockade by Greek farmers and counter-blockade by Bulgarian freight drivers, but now the farmers are on the field, so everything's fine. 

--

Finally financing is allocated for the second Kazichane bridge at the eastern arc of the Sofia ring road. Finishing it will allow bypassing Sofia on dual-carriage roads b/n A1 and A6 motorways.
source


----------



## gogo3o

In this video you can see that the old carriageway is demolished.


chevyvolt said:


>


----------



## teddyted

gogo3o said:


> ...
> 
> Finishing it will allow bypassing Sofia on dual-carriage roads b/n A1 and A6 motorways.


Okolovrasten pat Blvd b/n Alexandar Malinov Blvd & A1 i/c is already a dual-carriageway?


----------



## gogo3o

No, two segments of the south arc still are not upgraded: Mladost - A1 and Lyulin - Boyana.


----------



## gogo3o

The *cloverleaf interchage at Sofia Ring Road and the Northern Bypass*. The pic is taken by the SSC_BG drone at an altitude of 110 m. It's maybe the largest I/C in BG...








More pics of Sofia Ring Road, west arc: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=132136594#post132136594

The *Northern Bypass*


chevyvolt said:


> Репортаж на Дроньо от днес. Ина доста напредък от преди 2 седмици
> Утре и снимки:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Jk8PiNEyw


The underpass in the second video is located at the road to Trebich. It is causing some problems to the traffic. The Sofia municipaly has to build a new boulevard, but still no funds are allocated.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

No collector roads unfortunately. 

It may not seem urgent now, but when traffic volumes increase it becomes a safety issue and may prove very expensive to correct after it is built.


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> No, two segments of the south arc still are not upgraded: Mladost - A1 and Lyulin - Boyana.


Are these sections planned to be upgraded to motorway standard?


----------



## gogo3o

Yes. Both have conceptual designs. Probably Mladost - A1 will be upgraded first, here's an article about this segment. Boyana - A6 is more expensive to build, as it will feature a tunnel and viaduct.


----------



## alwn

Dear fellows, coming from Ruse (by Hemus) and going to greece what should I pick? northern or southern belt? Thank you


----------



## gogo3o

When do you travel? The Northern Bypass opens on 1 May
https://goo.gl/maps/7cBdbxXT8Um


----------



## alwn

gogo3o said:


> When do you travel? The Northern Bypass opens on 1 May
> https://goo.gl/maps/7cBdbxXT8Um


end of May. So northern bypass should be ready by then


----------



## satanism

Yes it should, but regardless you'd be better off picking a route north of Sofia. The southern route goes through densely populated area and traffic jams are a regular event during peak hours.


----------



## SuperXerxes77

Man, this has been taking quite some time. In September 2013 I drove on the bypass twice: first I took the South route (www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDDNBKYn9xo), which was not so bad, but then when I returned from Greece, I took the North route - bad, bad decision.
Won't be travelling this summer, but maybe next year I'll be there. Hopefully the whole "ring road" will be finished by then.


----------



## TrueBulgarian

ChrisZwolle said:


> No collector roads unfortunately.
> 
> It may not seem urgent now, but when traffic volumes increase it becomes a safety issue and may prove very expensive to correct after it is built.


You're right though there's an even bigger issue with the project: the Sofia municipality isn't doing much to actually develop the connections with the local traffic, for instance there are no actions taken for the construction of "Iliantsi" and "Rozhen" boulevards that are supposed to be the access roads for traffic to/from this part of Sofia.


----------



## MichiH

^^ Correct. Looks strange because there are buildings on both sides of the motorway and the parallel "streets" are unpaved. The exit ramps end at the entrance ramps and the design of these intersections do not look suitable for an interchange.

Your map shows that buildings on the south are planned to be demolished.


----------



## gogo3o

I agree that it looks strange. The new boulevard is badly needed for the industrial zone nearby. However, the problem is not only at that interchange, but also at Ilyantsi boulevard I/C and East tangent I/C. These two also need new access boulevards to be constructed. Right now, the SNST serves only the transit traffic. That's not bad, as this is its main purpose, but it's designed also to serve the city with all these interchanges.


----------



## begleca

Sofia ring road - west arc section:


chevyvolt said:


> *Thanks to:*
> *becs, edox, Делян, wiivn, atthegates, ok2, mlazarov, delineator, racata, emil2702, dikovec, kalinorela79, Stan2, davido77, subway_user, krasimirk, io_ang, Светослав Р., galicin, slavybg, Йордан С., Юлиан И., TrueBulgarian, Señor Galindo, anonymous BG section fan, TPOTOAP, Мартин Проданов, Chevyvolt, Dragger, Ivaldo_it, 673073, begleca, bg_pop, CecoM71, momchilg, stakka, Станислав Христов, cdk, Rasate, ivojekov, Usted, Ronny_Gift, kaloan, NOV USER, Pavkata, egoucm, ffilip, mmihaylov, MVKBG, vpeychev, freelanders, REAKTOR, gogo3o, nickname778, Иван Жеков, Todor_Stoyanov, PEOGEO, nickytod, Me4ok, viktorlc, vbred, bojo666, harrygg, azrod, kraxx, ID A, fori, t7474, Thunderer, testche4, RossScraper, poletar, Фредерик С., Марио Ч., rumenrs, Zulum, JloKym, Andrej_LJ, OracleBG, DaveMF, nasko, Free mind, Teogop *
> 
> Едно видео от ЗД2 от вчера.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WfdmDykwA


----------



## begleca

And some photos. You can see the rest and in full resolution by clicking the link below.


chevyvolt said:


> Снимките в пълен размер и геолокация: https://goo.gl/photos/KT1Lq8bpUTrAy7H48
> 
> Връзката със ЗД1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Снимките са в последователност Юг-север, като не следват тази ориентация на кадрите.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Както се вижда в клипа, този мост се подготвя за разрушаване.


----------



## gogo3o

Sofia Ring Road, west arc


Little sheep said:


> Надлеза замина :cheers::cheers:


----------



## koko_vp

It was a lot faster at Struma highway in 2015 though 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY-Q3ZSlpvg


----------



## alwn

svt11 said:


> End of May won't be a problem, but I don't know till when there will be border blockade. Our cargo companies have decided on revenge for the farmers. Border is going to be blocked for 20 hours every 24hrs.


what about the border blockade (Bulg/ Greece) ? it is over?


----------



## gogo3o

Never began.

--

*Sofia Road Road*


chevyvolt said:


>


----------



## ChrisZwolle

A Q&A with the head of RIA about tolls in Bulgaria (in English):

http://www.novinite.com/articles/17...+Daily+Vignettes+to+Subsidize+Transit Traffic


----------



## ottomanor

Are there any updates regarding the A7 (Kalotina motorway)?


----------



## roaddor

ottomanor said:


> Are there any updates regarding the A7 (Kalotina motorway)?


No updates unfortunately, things are really sluggish with this highway. Expropriation of lands is ongoing. It is high time the government takes measures (there are internal possibilities) to secure money and start with the hardest section from Kalotina/ border with Serbia to Dragoman-east. Further east to Sofia western ring (part of it is currently under construction and to be finished in September at the earliest) the relief is not a big issue.


----------



## ottomanor

roaddor said:


> No updates unfortunately, things are really sluggish with this highway. Expropriation of lands is ongoing. It is high time the government takes measures (there are internal possibilities) to secure money and start with the hardest section from Kalotina/ border with Serbia to Dragoman-east. Further east to Sofia western ring (part of it is currently under construction and to be finished in September at the earliest) the relief is not a big issue.


hmm that's bad hno:
Exact which part of the eastern section is under construction, and will be finished in September at the earliest?


----------



## roaddor

^^
I mean the remaning part of Sofia western ring (yellow section on the map below) is being completed at the moment. This is going to be finished by autumn.
I hope we can start soon the first part of A7 (red section). By the way, from Slivnitsa (Сливница) to Sofia western ring is currently a single carriageway with four lanes, so one can drive fast.


----------



## Blackraven

Any new road projects for *SOFIA <-> PLOVDIV* ???


----------



## roaddor

Blackraven said:


> Any new road projects for *SOFIA <-> PLOVDIV* ???


Not necessary at the moment and probably in the next 15 years, the existing highway is quite good. 
Greetings to the Philippines. :cheers:


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia Road Road* update


chevyvolt said:


> https://youtu.be/7MOM8emrDds


----------



## LG_

roaddor said:


> Not necessary at the moment and probably in the next 15 years, the existing highway is quite good.
> Greetings to the Philippines. :cheers:


 Actually an expressway 2x2 starting at A1 to Asenovgrad, bypassing Plovdiv some 20 km is beeng planned. No infos about it have appeared in the media for 2 years now.


----------



## gogo3o

Sofia Ring Road + Sofia Northern Bypass highway


REAKT0R said:


>


----------



## definitivo

...only one thing left - motorway Kalotina - Sofia


----------



## gogo3o

*Hemus motorway (A2)*

Bulgaria cancelled the tender for the Yablanitsa - Pleven/Lovech stretch (60 km in total). Instead, a new tender has been announced. Its scope, however, covers only 9.3 km from Yabnalitsa to Boaza.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ It was planned as a PPP but there may not have been sufficient interest for such a large investment? A 9.7 km segment is typical of a government-funded project.


----------



## ukraroad

^^^^:bash::wallbash:hno::badnews:I wish the govts had stayed with the tender on. WHY IS IT CANCELLED?


----------



## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ It was planned as a PPP but there may not have been sufficient interest for such a large investment? A 9.7 km segment is typical of a government-funded project.


No, it's never been planned as a PPP, they wanted to fund it with EU funds, but the truth is that A3 motorway has a priority and the allocated EU funds are insufficient for A2. Now that shorter stretch will be funded by the government. Hope they'll find some extra money for construction of new infrastructure, as the ministry of finance reports 3 billion levs budget surplus for 1H 2016, accounting to 3.5% of GDP.

--

2 videos of a Serbian TV, showing the road conditions in BG

To Sunny Beach resort





To Thassos


----------



## Tachi

How recent are these SAT Patrols? Seems quite new.


----------



## gr_kanev

Tachi said:


> How recent are these SAT Patrols? Seems quite new.


Last month or two.


----------



## teddyted

Hi bulgarian guys! What new about works at Asparuhov Bridge? Same old traffic jams?


----------



## gr_kanev

There are no more works at Asparuhov Bridge (till autumn) and so - no more traffic jams.


----------



## roaddor

ukraroad said:


> WHY IS IT CANCELLED?


It was cancelled because of bad planning i.e. not the most cost efficient and also practical in my opinion route was proposed. So a re-design is necessary.
An important step to speed up the compeltion of the remaining part of A2 is the pass of the new concession bill and also the launch of a toll system for the vehicles above 3.5 tons.


----------



## gogo3o

*Sofia Ring Road*, western arc construction update


----------



## gogo3o

some pics:

Towards the completed section









Stefanson I/C









The overpass over the tracks:









Lomsko shorse I/c









Mramor village overpass









Northern Bypass/ future Kalotina motorway I/C


























chevyvolt
*
More pics:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=1157


----------



## ukraroad

When the SNST will be fully constructed? I mean i/c and expressway


----------



## darko06

Congratulations to Bulgarian friends for hard work on Sofia Beltway.


----------



## gogo3o

ukraroad said:


> When the SNST will be fully constructed? I mean i/c and expressway


The construction works are now going at a much slower pace.

--

API announced tender for construction of Aheloy bypass at I-9 road, b/n Burgas and Sunny Beach resort. It will be dual carriageway, but the crossing will remain at-grade. The length is 4.8 km and the estimated costs - 26 million levs.








source


----------



## ottomanor

Maybe someone can translate this news: 


> Магистралата София–Калотина изпадна от топ приоритетните пътни обекти на правителството за сметка на магистрала "Хемус".
> 
> В същото време на сръбска територия магистралата вече е стигнала до Пирот, казаха пътували наскоро българи. Сърбия строи магистралата до границата с България от 2008 г., като за изграждането на 115-километровата отсечка бе взет заем от над 1.2 млрд. евро от Европейската инвестиционна банка.
> 
> През това време България непрекъснато променя позицията си по проекта – веднъж го обявява за приоритетен и го вкарва за финансиране с европари, след това го оттегля.
> 
> Българският участък е с дължина 52 километра и прогнозната му стойност е около 200 млн. лв.
> 
> Изграждането на магистралния участък от София до Калотина е част от трансконтиненталният коридор Лондон – Калкута, който е най-краткият път, свързващ Западна Европа с Близкия и Средния Изток. През българска територия той минава от Калотина през София по магистрала "Тракия" до Оризово, след това по магистрала "Марица" до ГКПП "Капитан Андреево". Пътни експерти твърдят, че след като Сърбия изгради своя участък, единствено българското трасе от 50-тина километра няма да е магистрален път.


Something is mentioned regarding the priorities of the highway construction in Bulgaria I guess. Thanks in advance!


----------



## satanism

Kalotina-Sofia Motorway not to be considered a priority project anymore, to the benefit of A2 Hemus motorway. Meanwhile the Serbian A4 between Nis and BG Border is cose to completion...the rest is bla-bla


----------



## roaddor

It is a big shame regarding the so called Sofia-Kalotina highway towards Serbia. The most critical part to be done is a small section from the border to a town called Slivnitsa from where to the capital is a 2x2 lanes single carriageway, which can be done later in time. The point, however, is that the government is reluctant to take any credit for the remaining highways in Bulgaria and we have a big stagnation as a result. Moreover, the top priority is the A2 highway linking Sofia and Varna which has been delayed for years. If credits are secured and the state budget is also used wisely in this direction, the red parts shown on the map below can be done at a good pace. 
Instead we have ~10km of A2 from its western part which are tendered and a contractor should be selected soon, another 50km after the mentioned 10 beforehand will be re-designed. No movement unfortunately from the eastern side. A5 or the Black Sea highway is cancelled for the time being which is a very stupid decision. The planned highway from Ruse to Veliko Turnovo aka A8 is awaiting the report with respect to the environmental protection. As for the expressway towards Vidin, there is nothing really going on there, Montana bypass is already done, Vratsa definitely not. So currently Sofia western ring is U/C, to be finished by early autumn according to plan and an important bypass of Gabrovo in central Bulgaria on corridor IX is continuing slowly. Next month construction work regarding A3 is resumed with another section from the south, hopefully it will start also from the north soon, leaving just the tricky Kresna gorge to be completed. And also an expansion of Plovdiv-Asenovgrad is starting in September. This is it more or less concerning the main infrastructure activities in Bulgaria.


----------



## panchevo

it's a shame that kalotina-sofia section is so neglected by the government, 
couple of nights ago, I was driving in a f*ckin convoy after the border up until slivnitsa (where 2x2 road begins),
thank god there were no trucks so the couple-of-kilometers-long convoy of cars (mainly turks) had a nice pace


----------



## gogo3o

IMO in 2-3 years some of the EU funds will be relocated from Kresna gorge to another project, as the environment decision for a second carriageway in the gorge won't be approved and the alternative, the long tunnel, is too expensive and is not fitting in the allocated funds. The second carriageway project is already facing strong opposition at EC level. 

Nevertheless, it's a shame that we rely only on EU funds and don't use other sources for financing infrastructure projects.


----------



## Tachi

It's not end of the world that a 20-25 km stretch of road is only single carriageway. The road has some curves, but has enough parts for overtaking a slow truck for example. There are also virtually no speed traps. Sometimes police checks at the wide asphalt/truck stop/parking place soon after the railroad overpass and near Slivnitsa where the 2x2 road begins.


----------



## panchevo

it might seem nice when you pass it once, especially if it is not in the summer season 

but from late june till early september it is crowded as f*ck,
in the first half of that period, the lane in the direction of sofia is overcrowded that overtaking makes no sense (besides being freaking dangerous) and in the opposite direction, if you are unlucky enough to catch up a bus or a truck you will find yourself waiting for the chance to overtake until you reach the border because the cars in the opposite direction just keep coming...as I mentioned above, I found myself driving in a convoy and it was f*cking sunday (no trucks allowed) 
from the beginning of august the tables turn and than the direction towards the border gets overcrowded


----------



## satanism

If they manage to make the Kalotina–Dragoman section and a short one on the other side, at Sofia, to connect to the Northen bypass, it will solve the major part of the problem.


----------



## roaddor

Agree with my compatriot *gogo3o* with regards to the overall completion of A3, it may happen the case to some extent with the Greek A1 and the Tempi tunnel. The highway is there and the missing section is constructed afterwards to connect both parts and make one whole. Hope common sense will eventually prevail and a reasonable solution is applied without wasting valuable time in order to finish as much as possible if not all by 2022.


----------



## gogo3o

new update


chevyvolt said:


>


----------



## Macio89

What is make in Ruse that there make traffic jam in Sunday? Some motorway from Friendship daunbe ?


----------



## RipleyLV

Macio89 said:


> What is make in Ruse that there make traffic jam in Sunday? Some motorway from Friendship daunbe ?


Holidays I presume. There were plenty of cars at the border crossing in early last Saturday morning.


----------



## roaddor

Macio89 said:


> What is make in Ruse that there make traffic jam in Sunday? Some motorway from Friendship daunbe ?


It is not only during the weekends, it is a permanent issue. Ruse and Giurgiu should be connected by a new, modern bridge as soon as possible to address the jams there. Moreover, Bulgaria is planning to construct a highway going south from Ruse and crossing the future A2 from Sofia near Veliko Turnovo.


----------



## volodaaaa

Hi,

I am planning to go to Greece through Romania and Bulgaria. The route is as such: Bratislava - Budapest - Nadlac - Severin - Calafat - Vidin - Montana - Sofija - Promahonas - etc.

Never have I driven in Bulgaria, so I got few questions:
1) are there enough petrol stations between Vidin and Montana?
2) do they accept international MOL or OMV cards?
3) what is the level of traffic, is that route popular in summer season?
4) where can I purchase a vignette? Petrol stations?

Also, if you have any insights I would be very glad. Thank you very much


----------



## satanism

I would even now recommend the Serbian route, with a few tweaks, but certain people here might jump on me for that 
What days (of the week) are you travelling and where to exactly?


Otherwise, there should be enough petrol stations on the route.There's an OMV in Vidin for sure.We do not have MOL in Bulgaria.
The traffic on the E79 is not extremely heavy but the route is generally slow and sometimes of poor quality.HGVs are also common.
You can buy vignette on petrol stations and most probably on the Toll gates at the bridge.Pay with debit card wherever you can, the exchange rate for euro on petrol stations is quite amusing.


----------



## gogo3o

I guess he wants to test the route and maybe to avoid the waiting at non-EU borders.

volodaaaa, as I remember you have posted videos taken by your car recorder. I hope you that you'll post videos of BG roads. Drive safely!


----------



## volodaaaa

Thank you very much. I am looking forward. I have driven through Serbia and Macedonia almost 30 times. Looking for some small adventure and also to see some transport highlights (road by Iron Gates, Vidin - Calafat bridge, etc.)


----------



## Tachi

*[BG] Bulgaria | road infrastructure • Автомагистрали*

It's a while ago for me. It's probably not so dense as in Romania, but don't you worry about petrol stations in Bulgaria on this route.
On the way to Greece or back you might want to go over the Iron Gate hydrodam via Negotin (Serbia) - Bregovo to Vidin.
I found it a very scenic route. 

It's Ciregău hill, Romania though. Photo was taken in July 2000. No big changes compared with SV  (location).


----------



## pasadia

volodaaaa said:


> . Looking for some small adventure and also to see some transport highlights (road by Iron Gates, Vidin - Calafat bridge, etc.)


Well, you won't see much from Iron Gate gorge if you go along roumanian DN6: Cransebes - Orsova - Drobeta. I sugest in Orsova to take a detour on DN57 towards Dubova (50 km detour should not be much during holiday). If you like what you see you could make your trip back on serbian bank (as I've heard the views are better from there towards roumanian side).


----------



## gogo3o

*Cherno More motorway (A5)*, Zvezditsa viaduct


















It definitely needs to be repaired









Towards Varna

















_tnx to p0ck0 & the Varna drone, aka Morsko Oko (Sea Eye)_
*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1914901&page=8


----------



## gogo3o

*A1 - Sofia ring road, east arc - Northern Bypass - west arc *


GEHL said:


>


The east arc is not looking good, signage is also bad. Changing from east arc to Northern Bypass is tricky.


----------



## Negjana

gogo3o said:


> *Cherno More motorway (A5)*, Zvezditsa viaduct


It's the A4 though.


----------



## gogo3o

It's never been A4. Since 2012 A4 is Maritsa motorway.
source


----------



## sotonsi

gogo3o said:


> It's never been A4. Since 2012 A4 is Maritsa motorway.
> source


Before 2012, for a while, it was A4. It was never signed as such.

The original numbering was:Trakia: A1/A4
Hermus: A2
Maritza: A1
Cherno More: A5
Luylin: N/A?
Struma: A6?​
That then became this (on paper - other than one sign on Struma, it never existed, AFAICS) some time around 2008:Trakia: A1
Hermus: A2
Maritza: A3
Cherno More: A4
Luylin: A5
Struma: A6​
Which then in 2012 became what we know today:Trakia: A1
Hermus: A2
Maritza: A3
Cherno More: A5
Luylin: A6
Struma: A3​


----------



## roaddor

^^
Where did you take this info from? Тhe Black Sea highway is a natural continuation of A1 towards Varna and to my knowledge it has always been A5.

A2 is not called Hermus but Hemus, the old Greek name for Stara planina or the Balkan Mountains. Moreover, Luylin should be written as Lyulin but this highway is already part of A3 where it actually belongs.


----------



## sotonsi

roaddor said:


> ^^
> Where did you take this info from? Тhe Black Sea highway is a natural continuation of A1 towards Varna and to my knowledge it has always been A5.


Always signed as such (because the signs are ancient), but it was officially A4 for three years ending 4 years ago today.

I've found the primary source of the middle set of numbers as you challenged it. (that's optrans p o r t .bg without spaces but SSC is censoring it).

it says:
_Стратегическата магистрална мрежа в България е планирана да обхваща шест главни маршрута: A1 Магистрала “Тракия”, A2 Магистрала “Хемус”, A3 Магистрала “Марица”, A4 Магистрала “Черно море”, A5 Магистрала “Люлин”, A6 Магистрала “Струма”. _
or, in English (via google translate from 2010 in the place where I refound the source, so don't knock the spellings):
_Strategic highway network in Bulgaria is scheduled to covers six 
main routes: A1 Motorway "Trakia", A2 highway Hemus ", A3 motorway "Maritza", A4 highway Black Sea ", A5 highway Liulin", A6 motorway 
Struma._

There's almost certainly discussion about this short-lived Aug 2009 numbering scheme, or rather its replacement (see here for how we all found it back in 2012)


> A2 is not called Hermus but Hemus, the old Greek name for Stara planina or the Balkan Mountains. Moreover, Luylin should be written as Lyulin


Oh no, I (having used the numbers instead since 2012 made it both more concrete and sensible) typed the names out wrong when in a rush. What a big problem. hno:


> but this highway is already part of A3 where it actually belongs.


Is it? It's not such on various sources that keep on top of these things (including this thread) and would have been renumbered since 2012. I agree that would be sensible, but it's only your word on it as far as I can see.


----------



## roaddor

^^
It is possible, I didn't claim the assigning of numbers to the highways with certainty. Sure at definite periods of time in the past, there were different ideas with respect to the numbering and they evolved to the currently known notation. As for A6 being part of A3, it was used as a separate unit for political reasons but they are one whole. Google maps already shows A6 as A3 while OSM keeps it as A6. But this is not the essence, most important is whether one motorway is ready or not. The foreigners travelling in Bulgaria follow the available highways like anywhere else till the point of their existence regardless of the number (Ax) they carry.
Generally speaking, Bulgaria must have two east-west highways (from border/sea to border), crossing each other at Sofia, following afterwards corridors X and VIII respectively and three south-north highways/expressways, one on corridor IV, another on corridor IX and the third is along the Black Sea coast. In addition, there are also several important highway/expressway branches like A4 (Maritsa highway), the expressway Ruse-A2 in direction of Varna and Rila expressway north of Rila mountain. This can be seen on the map below showing the network when completed. There are other main 2x1 lane roads which are omitted for simplicity.


----------



## ukraroad

^^


> Идеята за магистрален път, който да свързва Варна и Бургас е на поне 45 години. Заради липса на финансиране обаче и заради приоритетното завършване на съществуващите магистрали строежът му все се отлага във времето. "Черно море" (малко над 100 км) е част от паневропейски транспортен коридор 8 (Драч - Тирана - Скопие - София - Бургас - Варна) и поради тази причина може да кандидатства за евросредства. Заради ограничения ресурс от 570 млн. евро за пътища за целия програмен период обаче проектът ще получи пари само за подготовка.
> 
> Шефът на пътната агенция инж. Лазар Лазаров коментира, че пътят Варна - Бургас остава в дъното на списъка с пътни приоритети. Най-голямото предизвикателство несъмнено е магистрала "Хемус", посочи той. Сред топ проектите с европейско финансиране пък се нареждат тунела под Шипка и втория етап от обхода на Габрово (ще се финансират по програма "Транспорт"), както и изграждането на 4-лентов път след Драгоман и преди Сливница (част от пътя София - Калотина). За втория проект през есента ще се кандидатства за пари от механизма "Свързаност на Европа", каза Лазаров.
> Published 26 March 2016


I don't understand Bulgarian well, but afaik it will cost something like 570 mln euros, and there are big chances to get eurofunds, however, as for now, Hemus motorway, Shipka tunnel and Gabrovo bypass are priorities higher than this


----------



## roaddor

^^
No, A5 between Varna and Burgas has zero chance to receive EU funds and it won't be built soon unless credit is taken for it. Moreover, it is treated with less priority in comparison to the other highways to be completed. The financial resources from EU will be enough only to finish A3.


----------



## MichiH

^^ Bulgaria has recently asked EU for A7 Kalotina motorway funding.


----------



## roaddor

MichiH said:


> Bulgaria has recently asked EU for A7 Kalotina motorway funding.


There is no approval for A7 from EC for the time being, it is included though in the European Core network. The remaining sections of the highways should be built on small parts simultaneously as far as possible, not focusing on one highway alone before moving to the next.


----------



## volodaaaa

Guys, please, I need two more advices.
1) between Vidin and Montana, is it better to go through road n. 1 or nr. 11? Road nr. 1 seems to be the main road, but according to streetviewing it seems nr. 11 is in better condition.

2) What is the speed limit on motorway in Bulgaria. Because I have found incoherent information:

120 here: https://www.google.sk/maps/@41.7193...tbiXjTR0O03YB-PGrw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
130 here: https://www.google.sk/maps/@41.2667...&yaw=159.06815&pitch=0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

Wikipedia says it should be 140


Btw. what the hell is this? 
https://www.google.sk/maps/place/Bu...1269bf4c10!8m2!3d42.733883!4d25.48583!6m1!1e1


----------



## aubergine72

^^

That's Greeks keeping their promises.


----------



## EasySeven

This is the semi-up-to-date map of the condition of roads in Bulgaria:

http://www.roads-bg.eu

According to it route number 1 is in better condition than number 11 (by which you assume you mean 11 then 112). If I were you I would choose route n1.

The speed limit in Bulgaria on motorways is 140 km/h, but almost everyone drives as if there was no speed limit. Either way I'm pretty sure you won't have problems with law enforcement as long as you have vignette.


----------



## MichiH

roaddor said:


> There is no approval for A7 from EC for the time being, it is included though in the European Core network.


I read in German media last week that API asked for EU funding. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any English report.


----------



## roaddor

MichiH said:


> I read in German media last week that API asked for EU funding. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any English report.


Glad to hear the highways in Bulgaria are reflected in German media from time to time. Could you please post that source, it will be interesting for me to see it.

Übrigens du machst ausgezeichnete Arbeit mit der Aktualisierung aller Strecken.


----------



## gogo3o

*Hemus motorway (A2)*
The gov announced that will start a tender for a 16.5 km stretch b/n Belokopitovo and Buhovtsi.
*source*

--

*Sofia ring road*, west arc update. Unofficial source says that opening is planned for 15 Sept.


chevyvolt said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoLoc5oTO8


----------



## ChrisZwolle

roaddor said:


> Glad to hear the highways in Bulgaria are reflected in German media from time to time. Could you please post that source, it will be interesting for me to see it.
> 
> Übrigens du machst ausgezeichnete Arbeit mit der Aktualisierung aller Strecken.


Probably the website nov-ost.info, it frequently comes up with news about road projects in eastern / southeastern Europe. However, it requires a subscription, which is expensive, almost € 500 per year or € 10 for a 15 minute search...


----------



## MichiH

roaddor said:


> Glad to hear the highways in Bulgaria are reflected in German media from time to time. Could you please post that source, it will be interesting for me to see it.


Well, it's just a news portal. Reading articles costs (a lot of) money but there's a short preview (and Google sometimes shows more info if you enter the preview text): http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Artic...ermittel_fur_Schnellstra_e_nach_Kalotina.html. I misunderstood it. API wants that gov files an application...

It's usually a reliable source, e.g.: http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Article/2157320_Hemus-Autobahn_soll_weiter_wachsen.html (it's what _gogo30_ reported on 15th August). It's sometimes a trigger to google for more info about a project...



roaddor said:


> Übrigens du machst ausgezeichnete Arbeit mit der Aktualisierung aller Strecken.


Nichts zu danken = you're welcome 

Edit: Haven't seen Chris' answer


----------



## gogo3o

*Struma motorway* (A3), Zheleznitsa tunnel


> *Bulgaria gets 17 bids for construction of 128 mln euro motorway tunnel
> *
> SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 16 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's road agency said on Tuesday it has received 17 bids for the construction of Zheleznitsa tunnel, on Struma motorway, which has an indicative value of 250 million levs ($141.6 million/128 million euro).
> 
> The tender envisages the construction of a 2 km tunnel, which will be Bulgaria's longest, as well as two bridges and adjacent roads with a total length of 2.5 km, the road agency said in a press release.
> 
> The works should be completed in 1,400 days.
> 
> The project will be implemented under the EU Operational Programme Transport and transport infrastructure 2014-2020.
> 
> In February, Bulgaria halted the tender for the construction of the tunnel acting on a complaint by local S&G Group concerning the tender documentation. In March, Bulgaria's competition regulator dismissed the complaint as unjustified.
> 
> The Struma motorway, with a total length of 173.28 km, is part of pan-European transport Corridor IV, linking Bulgaria's capital Sofia with the Greek border at checkpoint Kulata. Its construction is divided into four sections, of which three are completed: Dolna Dikanya – Dupnitsa, Dupnitsa – Blagoevgrad, and Sandanski-Kulata, while Blagoevgrad-Sandanski, which includes the Zheleznitsa tunnel, remains to be built.
> 
> (1 euro=1.95583 levs)


source


----------



## gogo3o

Meanwhile, it seems that the plans for the 15 km long Kresna gorge tunnel are abandoned for good. Reason: it's too expensive. The alternative project, that envisions to build a second parallel carriageway in the gorge, also is never to be built. Reason: the gorge is a protected area and any large scale construction activities are facing a strong opposition even at EC level. Now, API is coming with a new idea, to build a second carriage up in plateau at Stara Kresna village. This could be the solution of the saga, only the accents and descents could be too steep, as the plateau elevated at 600 m above sea level and the river is at 200 m.


----------



## ukraroad

There may be some speed limits for that. Moreover, they could start to ascend already at Krupnik. Anyway, Bulgaria had already had similar problems on A2 near Sofia(I don't say the same, because A3 is more difficult there). I think they'll find the right solution, unless they are stupid


----------



## ChrisZwolle

What are the present-day traffic volumes through the Kresna Gorge? To me it is understandable to postpone such an expensive project until it's really needed from a capacity point of view. To address safety in the interim period, they could install a barrier on the two-lane road through the gorge. Not ideal, but better than a single project consuming all available road funding.


----------



## gogo3o

I can´t cite the AADT, but the figures are relatively high for Bulgaria. The gorge is notorious for one the places with high number of accidents and deaths. Most of the accidents come as a result of overtaking in stretches with no visibility. Actually, installing a barrier has been already proposed, but in case of accident that will cause jams and the ambulances will not have access to the site of accident. Speed cameras and building a 3rd lane for overtaking of slow vehicles in 2 or 3 sections are better options to address the safety.

Anyway, Bulgaria is obliged to complete A3 in the current financial period (2014-2020). Our government signed such an agreement with EC and in case of a failure we have to return the funds for all the lots of A3, even for those built in the previous period. Of course, further amendments are possible and I personally doubt that EC will force us to return all these money, but the government has to show that they've done everything possible to complete A3.


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> *Struma motorway* (A3), Zheleznitsa tunnel
> source


That was also reported by my German source yesterday: http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Article/2157887_Siebzehn_Bewerber_fur_Struma-Abschnitt.html.

They've reported today that construction works for lot 3.3 should begin in September: http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Article/2158148_Struma-Autobahn_wachst_weiter.html.

It's the 23km section b/n Kresna and Sandanski, isn't it?


----------



## roaddor

MichiH said:


> Well, it's just a news portal. Reading articles costs (a lot of) money but there's a short preview (and Google sometimes shows more info if you enter the preview text): http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Artic...ermittel_fur_Schnellstra_e_nach_Kalotina.html. I misunderstood it. API wants that gov files an application...
> 
> It's usually a reliable source, e.g.: http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Article/2157320_Hemus-Autobahn_soll_weiter_wachsen.html (it's what _gogo30_ reported on 15th August). It's sometimes a trigger to google for more info about a project...
> 
> 
> 
> Nichts zu danken = you're welcome
> 
> Edit: Haven't seen Chris' answer


Ich spreche Deutsch, klar nicht so gut wie Englisch aber es geht. EN->DE ist schwieriger für Ausländer als DE->EN besonders wenn wir über business reden. 

Gruß zu Unterfranken :cheers1:


----------



## panchevo

^^entschuldigung für den off, aber ich muss dich etwas fragen. 
kennst du jemand aus sofia, der privaten deutsch-unterricht bietet?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Sprechen sie talk?


----------



## gogo3o

MichiH said:


> ...
> 
> They've reported today that construction works for lot 3.3 should begin in September: http://www.nov-ost.info/index/Article/2158148_Struma-Autobahn_wachst_weiter.html.
> 
> It's the 23km section b/n Kresna and Sandanski, isn't it?


That's correct.


----------



## JackFrost

^^Do you think this is going to be a good alternative route to Macedonian A1 towards Thessaloniki? The difference in length will be about 20 kilometers, and Greeks seem to put more emphasis on A25 to BG border than on A1 to MK border.


----------



## gogo3o

The route through Macedonia is shorter, and the one through Bulgaria has the advantage of not leaving the EU borders. Struma motorway also serves the direction to Romania.

--

API released 2015 traffic stats from the automatic counters on II and III-category roads. Here's the data for II-category roads. Last column is vehicles per day.


rbop said:


> В жълто съм оцветил стойностите на среднодневно натоварване над 6000 МПС/ден.












The counters on I-category roads and motorways were installed later.


----------



## ukraroad

^^What does the second column mean? How much cars drove in that year?


----------



## satanism

yep


----------



## gogo3o

Sofia ring road


chevyvolt said:


> ЗД2 от днес:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lotS1N-5-ms


----------



## gogo3o

The last idea for a second carriageway, bypassing the Kresna Gorge.







^^ АПИ


----------



## gogo3o

> SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 23 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria has received 11 bids in a tender for the construction of a 9.3 km motorway section, estimated at 80 million levs ($46.3 million/41 million euro), the country's road infrastructure agency said on Tuesday.
> 
> The stretch, which starts near the town of Yablanica, is the first out of four planned sections for the extension of *Hemus motorway*, which should link the capital of Sofia and the Black Sea city of Varna. The other three sections will have a length of 15-17 km each.
> 
> The 9.3 km stretch should be built within 910 days, the agency said in a statement.
> 
> Last week, the road agency said that Bulgaria is completing the preparation of the documents for the launch of tender for the construction of the second section with a length of 16.5 km.
> 
> In February, Bulgaria terminated tender for the construction of a 60 km stretch of the highway, divided in two sections, amid suspected irregularities regarding the transparency of the selection process and the spending of state funds. The total cost of the contract was 756.8 million levs, and the regional development ministry claimed it was unable to ensure EU funding to pay for it.
> 
> The planned length of the whole Hemus motorway, part of which is operational, is 433 km.


source


----------



## FR5706

What's the reason the Sofia - Burgas motorway got prioritised ahead of the Sofia - Varna one? Was the old Burgas road in a much worse shape than what exists today between Schumen and outside Sofia?


----------



## roaddor

^^
Because Orient\East Med. corridor was drawn to pass along the future at that time A1 highway (towards Burgas) and also because the end point of this highway then was closer to the Black Sea. Another reason was that the terrain for A1 was not so demanding and consequently less amount of money would be given by EC. Last but not least, it was not clear how A2 highway (towards Varna) would go further east. This was a mistake because it made as a result a huge part of the infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria pending. In my humble opinion, a much more wiser and balanced solution of the EU TEN-T corridor towards Burgas in particular was a route like on the map below. In such a case Vidin-Burgas will be shortened by 50 kilometers making use of part of A2 despite the more undulating terrain it will traverse.


----------



## FR5706

roaddor said:


> ^^
> Because Orient\East Med. corridor was drawn to pass along the future at that time A1 highway (towards Burgas) and also because the end point of this highway then was closer to the Black Sea. Another reason was that the terrain for A1 was not so demanding and consequently less amount of money would be given by EC. Last but not least, it was not clear how A2 highway (towards Varna) would go further east. This was a mistake because it made as a result a huge part of the infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria pending. In my humble opinion, a much more wiser and balanced solution of the EU TEN-T corridor towards Burgas in particular was a route like on the map below. In such a case Vidin-Burgas will be shortened by 50 kilometers making use of part of A2 despite the more undulating terrain it will traverse.


Thanks for those details.
It is unfortunate that there have seen so many delays on the Hemus motorway.


----------



## roaddor

It is a matter of making compromises and managing resources well, otherwise tension is created when one unit is more favoured than the other.


----------



## aubergine72

^^
Which has been the case forever.


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 motorway.* Construction works on the Kresna - Sandanski section (23.6 km) will start tomorrow.








source


----------



## gogo3o

*A2 motorway.* API starts the tender for Buhovtsi - Belokopitovo (16.3 km)








source


----------



## volodaaaa

Where does the motorway after blagoevgrad lead to?


----------



## gogo3o

You can look at wikimapia.


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> *A3 motorway.* Construction works on the Kresna - Sandanski section (23.6 km) will start tomorrow.
> source


Do we still expect an opening in late 2019 although construction works began a little bit later than announced?



ChrisZwolle said:


> This report states a construction start in Q2 2016: http://www.ww.ceeconstruction.com/ne...tractor-chosen





> *Construction start:* Q2 2016
> *Construction completion:* Q4 2019


----------



## gogo3o

I cannot find the exact date for the completion. The term of the contract is 1280 days, but as it's a design&build contract I suppose that the term includes the time for the design works, which are completed already. If we take out 3 months for design, then we have 3 years and 3 months for construction, starting from August, 30. I not sure how exactly the term is calculated.


----------



## satanism

Radoslav_S said:


> Малко снимки от мястото на което по всяка вероятност ще се намира техниката на Агромах за лот 3.1 от Магистрала Струма. Извинявам се за качеството, но с телефона толкова.
> https://postimg.org/image/4yilgxc99/
> https://postimg.org/image/yru739qa5/
> https://postimg.org/image/uy0qu48y5/
> https://postimg.org/image/4e85rz8el/


Looks like prepwork for A3 Struma 3.1 is already underway.
credit:Radoslav_S


----------



## gogo3o

Sofia ring road, the recently inaugurated segment of the west arc


chevyvolt said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdI2RxHccMM


----------



## gogo3o

*Struma motorway (A3)*, ground works at lot 3.3 (Kresna-Sandanski)








*by dani_ins*
More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=135444935#post135444935


----------



## Gubot

A funny sight on *Hemus motorway[A2]* near *Devnya*:


















The transportation line carries limestone to the nearby cement and soda ash plants.


----------



## dnd

:cheers:


----------



## BG_AT

Hello everybody !

Am i right, that the complete Sofia road ring highway that connets the A3 Highway with the A2 highway is now complete openend for traffic since middle of September?


If yes, does anybody know when google maps will udpate this new sofia ring road highway part?


----------



## roaddor

^^
Yes you are right, g-maps already routes the traffic through it.

https://www.google.bg/maps/dir/42.7...435553,23.0185584,10z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en


----------



## roaddor

Although it is already mentioned, if you are coming from A1 and your destination is A3 likewise, you need to drive to the I/C (cloverleaf) where A2 meets the Eastern arc (you are actually moving on). Make sure you turn on that cloverleaf as if you are entering Sofia and after 700-800m you will deflect right on a ramp which leads you to the Northern speed tangent. This is how Sofia is bypassed most quickly and conveniently.


----------



## panchevo

^^the northern speed tangent should have had the direct connection with the eastern arc (and not through the fukin cloverleaf)...don't now why did they give up on that


----------



## roaddor

Indeed, the initial plan was modified afterwards. After all, three of the four interchanges of the highways (including future A7) with Sofia ring road are implemented with cloverleafs.


----------



## BG_AT

So, why does Google Maps still dont show the new openend west section of the sofia ring road as a highway? :/
Does anybody know if google maps will do it?

I heard that the government will also open the last part of the sofia ring road from the highway junction with the A2 until the highway-junction with the A1 also in the end of this year.
Is this true? Is there a fixed date for it?


----------



## roaddor

^^
Because Sofia bypass is a separate unit from the highways orinating from the city. The only exception so far is the northern speed tangent so you can see it on the map as a highway. In order for the western as well as the eastern arc to be also visible, they have to be assigned A0 together with the northern tangent. It makes sense but when this will happen I cannot say. Until then you would probably not see them as highways unless google decides to refer to them as such.

The stretch between the junctions you are talking about is the eastern arc. It is opened for a long time and needs to be resurfaced which won't take place this year. It is a bridge on the 2c/w of the arc which was missing and is going to be completed by the end of the year. All in all, Sofia bypass is almost done with the condition of the mentioned surface renewal.


----------



## MichiH

roaddor said:


> In order for the western as well as the eastern arc to be also visible, they have to be assigned A0 together with the northern tangent. It makes sense but when this will happen I cannot say.


A0? Sorry, I don't get what you wanna say...


----------



## roaddor

MichiH said:


> A0? Sorry, I don't get what you wanna say...


A0 is not existing, I mentioned it to explain the idea how western and eastern arcs could eventually appear on the maps as highways, in response to BG_AT question. As a matter of fact, all the streches below, which are part of Sofia ring road and take the transit out of the city, are designed as city highways of different grades, thus the speed is less than that of typical highways.

* northern speed tangent: 2x3 active lanes + emergency (speed limit is set to 120kph)

* eastern arc: 2x3 active lanes + emergency (speed limit should be at least 100kph after resurface)

* western arc: 2x3 active lanes only, it partly serves local lanes (speed limit to be decided as there are some discrepancies; should be 100kph)

Hope this helps.


----------



## satanism

In order for the remaining part of the ring road to be visible in orange, on google maps, Google have to just do it.It doesn't have to do with designating it as A0 or whatever.


----------



## MichiH

satanism said:


> In order for the remaining part of the ring road to be visible in orange, on google maps, *Google have to just do it.It doesn't have to do with designating it as A0 or whatever*.


I think THIS is the answer to my question


----------



## BG_AT

satanism said:


> In order for the remaining part of the ring road to be visible in orange, on google maps, Google have to just do it.It doesn't have to do with designating it as A0 or whatever.


Can we force Google maps to do it a bit earlier?
Or help like giving a confirmation for google maps that it has already openend?


----------



## MichiH

BG_AT said:


> Can we force Google maps to do it a bit earlier?
> Or help like giving a confirmation for google maps that it has already openend?


https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3094088?co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop&hl=en


----------



## satanism

I think we need to hold off with the reporting, until the bridge to the east is finished.Once this is done, the whole clockwise stretch from the end of A6(A3), to A1 can be marked as expyway.


----------



## LG_

^^I disagree! There is a lack of crash barriers on the eastern arc, as well as not grade separated pedestrian crossings!


----------



## roaddor

^^
In any case it won't stay like that. Traffic barriers will be put all the way along the median and an overpass/underpass will remove the bizzare crossing.


----------



## gogo3o

*Struma motorway (A3)*, lot 3.3 (Kresna-Sandanski). The ground works have become visible at a 6 km stretch.


REAKT0R said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Sofia ring road, east arc. The construction of second bridge at Kazichane.


chevyvolt said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2bO18nszW8


----------



## xKraLx

gogo3o said:


> Sofia ring road, east arc. The construction of second bridge at Kazichane.



*The Asphalt is catastrophe at the bridge, it renew the asphalt from the new tangent to a1??*


----------



## gogo3o

Renewal of the upper asphalt layer in the entire east arc is not in the scope of these works.


----------



## gogo3o

update








_by momchilg_
*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=988547&page=1235


----------



## gogo3o

*Struma motorway (A3)*, lot 3.3 (Kresna-Sandanski)


----------



## gogo3o

> *Bulgaria gets 10 bids in 41 mln euro tender for Hemus motorway section *
> 
> SOFIA (Bulgaria), November 18 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria has received 10 bids in a tender for the construction of a 9.3 km Hemus motorway section with an estimated value of 80 million levs ($43.3 million/40.9 million euro), the country's road infrastructure agency (RIA) said on Friday.
> 
> Three of the bids were submitted by foreign companies – Spain’s Assignia Infraestructuras, Greece’s Aktor and Austria’s Strabag, with all three of them bidding in tie-ups with Bulgarian companies, RIA said in a press release.
> 
> The lowest price, 54.6 million levs, was offered by a tie-up comprising Assignia Infraestructuras and two Bulgarian companies – Megainvest-hold and Haskovo-based AB.
> 
> A tie-up of three Bulgarian companies - Hydrostroy, Vodstroy and Patstroy offered the second lowest price of 55 million levs.
> 
> The highest offer of 78.9 million levs was submitted by a tie-up between Greece's Aktor and Bulgaria's Atomenergoremont.
> 
> The 9.3 km section of Hemus motorway, to begin near the town of Yablanica 90 km northeast of Sofia, should be built within 910 days. It is the first out of four planned sections for the extension of Hemus, which will link Sofia and the Black Sea city of Varna.
> 
> (1 euro = 1.95583 levs)


SEE News


----------



## gogo3o

The second bridge at Kazichane was inaugurated. Source


sysoper said:


> Врабчето на АПИ е осъществило заснемане http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...rshihme-obekt-kojto-se-chakashe-ot-24-godini/


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Built in 100 days  The Germans could learn from Bulgaria. This could've taken 12 - 18 months in Germany.


----------



## satanism

And now open for traffic


----------



## roaddor

ChrisZwolle said:


> Built in 100 days  The Germans could learn from Bulgaria. This could've taken 12 - 18 months in Germany.


Indeed  but the Germans have nowhere to rush. Unfortunately the old roadway will stay like that (the marks) until next summer I guess. It is annoying but it was not in the scope. Moreover there is a pedestrian crossing near the overpass :nuts:, so anybody who drives there should be careful especially when it is dark.
I don't want to sound like an advertisement but the local guys who bulit that overpass can push really hard when the terms are tight and achieve very good quality.


----------



## gogo3o

About 4 km of the long delayed *bypass of Smolyan*, located in the Rhodope mountains, were inaugurated a couple of days ago. 

















source


----------



## gogo3o

I forgot to post this video of *Struma motorway (A3)*, Kresna-Sandanski (lot 3.3). It's almost 20 days old. The contractor is doing a great job. Merry Chrismas and have a Happy New Year!


chevyvolt said:


> Специални благодарности на колегата *LTD-M-50* и *ГБС*! :applause:
> 
> АМ Струма, Лот 3.3 от днес:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-6AgPPKTE


----------



## sponge_bob

Is lot 3.1 struma at tender?


----------



## gogo3o

Contract for 3.1 is signed and the construction is expected to start next year.


----------



## lampsakos21

Well done for the progress done  so what is the current status for the remaining parts of Struma Highway?


----------



## sponge_bob

lampsakos21 said:


> so what is the current status for the remaining parts of Struma Highway?


All thats left is lot 3.2 the Kresna Gorge itself and perhaps the Zheleznitsa tunnel near lot 3.1


----------



## lampsakos21

And do we have a timetable for that or is just on FS?


----------



## sponge_bob

I think Brussels told them to EIA every possible alternative first. Maybe that mega EIA will be published in 2017.

It is a unique problem as the straight route is a 15km tunnel through a fault zone that had a 7.9(or so) earthquake a hundred years back.


----------



## lampsakos21

I fully understand that but nowadays science is making miracles and nowadays they can built tunnels even through big faulty areas . On the other hand I understand that cost and price is very important as well.... maybe another route should be done ?


----------



## lampsakos21

https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168048d4fb I read it from there ... interesting thing.... I've travelled through Kresna region and the landscape was very unusual and unique in beauty .Also a funny fact ... the water there is very good quality and whoever has constipation issues or problem with kidneys heehe ... usually in places with very active geological procedures


----------



## roaddor

The long tunnel is dropped, the current E79 will be used in direction of Thessaloniki whereas a bit eastern new roadway will serve the opposite direction towards Sofia. The most difficult section through the gorge must be built by the end of 2022 at the latest.
By the way, A3 highway should have already been completed, the reality however is different.


----------



## BG_AT

Hello !

I dont know if this is the correct site to ask, but is there a kind of "electronic Vinetka" planed for cars in Bulgaria?

If yes, when will that start?
Are there any informations?


----------



## lampsakos21

Thank you roaddor for the infos . So they will make a negotino skopije-like highway route ( 2 different routes per each direction ) .nowadays in many European countries they delay too much many projects ..... who knows why


----------



## sponge_bob

lampsakos21 said:


> who knows why


Green eco nutters.


----------



## lampsakos21

And not only (look what happen in Romania lately ) or in other countries as well ... a bit of everything like Greek salad lol


----------



## satanism

BG_AT said:


> Hello !
> 
> I dont know if this is the correct site to ask, but is there a kind of "electronic Vinetka" planed for cars in Bulgaria?
> 
> If yes, when will that start?
> Are there any informations?


Yes
2018 according to latest info.Maybe


----------



## roaddor

lampsakos21 said:


> Thank you roaddor for the infos . So they will make a negotino skopije-like highway route ( 2 different routes per each direction ) .nowadays in many European countries they delay too much many projects ..... who knows why


Yes, something like that in Vardar Macedonia . Honestly, I prefer to apply your approach of building highways in Greece. I mean doing the whole highway from one end to the other instead of playing with sporadic small segments which can take sometimes ages to complete. OK the toll is not cheap afterwards but at least you get the highway.


----------



## gogo3o

BG_AT said:


> Hello !
> 
> I dont know if this is the correct site to ask, but is there a kind of "electronic Vinetka" planed for cars in Bulgaria?
> 
> If yes, when will that start?
> Are there any informations?


A tender for implementation of e-vignette for cars and e-toll for trucks and buses (all vehicles with weight over 3.5 tonnes) is being held since April, but it's facing setbacks due to constant court appeals. The last deadline for bids is now in January 2017. 

2018 can an estimate for start of the implementation of the system. According to the tender, the term for implementation is 19 months. 

Some part of the system will be the already installed traffic counters, such as this one:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Apparently the official distributor of vignettes has changed the vinetka.com website to http://www.vs12-17.com/

Strange that they don't have an English version.


----------



## x-type

15 lv??? bastard robbed me for 10€ at Kalotina. silly me. 

btw i saw between Kalotina and Sofia several portals, i thought those were cameras which are controlling stickers. you wanna say that those were just traffic counters? there were 4 or 5 of them on that short route.


----------



## satanism

x-type said:


> 15 lv??? bastard robbed me for 10€ at Kalotina. silly me.
> 
> btw i saw between Kalotina and Sofia several portals, i thought those were cameras which are controlling stickers. you wanna say that those were just traffic counters? there were 4 or 5 of them on that short route.


traffic counters(For now ).Says it on the sign....at least in bulgarian.Not an excuse not to have one though.+ There's plenty of opportunities to get caught and the fine is not nice at all. 

http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/vinetni-stikeri


----------



## x-type

no, i didn't intend at all not to have it.
btw how do they control it? police or somebody else?


----------



## satanism

x-type said:


> no, i didn't intend at all not to have it.
> btw how do they control it? police or somebody else?


Traffic Police.


----------



## koko_vp

I think, the traffic counters are also transmitting data to LIMA app. Its an smartphone app that give you information about the current road conditions in Bulgaria. - https://lima.api.bg/dashboard

(As you can see, because of the difficult winter conditions in North Eastern Bulgaria these days, most of the roads are closed.)


----------



## gogo3o

Update of lot 3.3 of A3, the only motorway in construction in BG.






























































_tnx to mlazarov_

*More*: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=907


----------



## gogo3o

*Gabrovo bypass. *






















































Here will be the north entrance of the 540 m tunnel








_tnx to SimeonHr_

*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=139026486#post139026486


----------



## mman2012

What's the completion date (estimated at least) for this pass?


----------



## roaddor

^^
End of the year I guess if everything goes well and political situation is favourable.


----------



## gogo3o

API has chosen contractor for the 16.3 km Buhovtsi-Belokopitovo stretch on *A2 Hemus motorway*. The contract will be for design and build.








source


----------



## gogo3o

*A3 motorway*, lot 3.3. Several pics of the Mikrevo-Strumyani partial cloverleaf interchange (location) and the 2 bridges nearby over Struma river, all tnx to *mlazarov*.



































More: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=141212749#post141212749


----------



## gogo3o




----------



## Stefan_kv

Hi people, 
in few days i am going in Nesebar, from Nis(srb). I am thinking about a1 Bulgarian highway, is that highway completed? (Sofia-Nesebar) 
Great regards from Serbia


----------



## bat_naso

Enjoy your vacation. Most of A1 is good all the way from Sofia to Burgas. Take the north "tangent" to bypass Sofia.


----------



## gogo3o

A1 is completed. 

Be careful at Ihtiman, a landfill site nearby is burning and combined with fog _may_ cause low visibility on the motorway. Chain-reaction crash occurred there several weeks ago.


----------



## gogo3o

*A2 motorway.* API signed the design and build contract for the 9.3 km Yablantsa-Boaza stretch. The term for implementation is 910 days (of those 180 are for design).








source


----------



## gogo3o

API published the traffic data for 2016. Our fellow *nyordanov* has done a great job to put all in a map, as the data was published in hundreds of unreadable pdf files:


nyordanov said:


> https://experiments.nyordanov.com/t...c6XClmBIkKADuMKhQy-qgxU-abskgcBLXcI9ApIPHI5EA


The minister began speaking of widening of A1 motorway b/n Sofia and Plovdiv with one more lane per direction, but I doubt that will be on the agenda with so many motorways around to build.


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> *A2 motorway.* API signed the design and build contract for the 9.3 km Yablantsa-Boaza stretch. The term for implementation is 910 days


 2.5 years for that seems a lot of time....:bash:


----------



## garet12

Are there any news for A7?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

mman2012 said:


> 2.5 years for that seems a lot of time....:bash:


2.5 years is actually a pretty good construction time. Not many motorways are built in less time without deficiencies.


----------



## satanism

garet12 said:


> Are there any news for A7?


The officially circulating info is to expect tenders for km 1-15 (kms are counted from the border towards Sofia) and then 32-48(where the short stub already built ends now at the ring road). I think I saw somewhere they would try to build a few more kms borderside, to connect with the already 1x4 part around Slivnitsa.


If they manage that, it would mean we'll have a continuous 4 lane grade-separated route all the way from Km1 to Sofia Ring Road, about 10km of which will not be divided and will be sub-standard.


----------



## gogo3o

A week or so ago started the *reconstruction of Plovdiv-Asenovgrad road*. It will be upgraded to 2x2+e, but the intersections will remain at-grade. The traffic numbers show that this road is one of the busiest in the country.


----------



## gogo3o

API signed contract for *Pomorie bypass*. The stretch is about 6 km long and will be 2x2. However, the intersections will remain at-grade.








source


----------



## gogo3o

The minister issued construction permit for part of lot 3.1 of A3.








source


----------



## satanism

^^ 
Also mentioned in the news on the first national channel tonight, the first 6kms are to start next week.
Along with that, the tender for the Zheleznitsa tunnel will be relaunched and another tender for a part of the road between Kalotina and Sofia is to be launched.


----------



## satanism

Construction of A3, Lot 3.1 (KM 359-366 and 370.4-376) began today with an official ceremony.
The remaining part between 366 and 370 is to be tendered separately, soon.


http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/prescentar/novini/zapochna-izgrazhdaneto-na-oshe-126-km-ot-am-struma/
Source in Bulgarian


----------



## gogo3o

API relaunched the tender for Zheleznitsa tunnel on A3 after the previous one had been cancelled. This time it´s divided into 3 sublots.

*366+000 to 366+72 - north access road
*366+720 to 369+000 - 2 km tunnel + some road part
*369+000 to 370+400 - south access road


http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...troitelstvo-na-tunel-zheleznica-na-am-struma/


----------



## satanism

Tenders for design and construction of km 1.000 to 15.500

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=142272539&postcount=1775
and design+*re*construction the existing carriageway to motorway standard - km15.500 to 32.447
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=142271643&postcount=1771


of A7 motorway, Kalotina(SRB Border) to Sofia have been launched by API (Bulgarian Road Agency)

This is the stretch:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/4...2.8231583,23.0967947,13.96z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0


----------



## gogo3o

Actually, it´s been *re*launched for a second time.  There's are pretty good chance that everything about these tenders will go well this time. 

--

Here's some road related news in this article:
* API hopes to select contractor for the toll system;
* the environmental decision for the Kresna Gorge still is not ready. The government and the construction chamber both favour this option:








but some NGOs are against and want both carriageways out of the gorge. It's been a long lasting battle, which takes place also at EU-level;
* the minister says the government will build 100 km of A2 motorway in 3.5 years, which won't happen IMHO;
* a 3rd bridge over Danube is needed and in October there will be a meeting with the Romanian government.


----------



## Tachi

satanism said:


> Tenders for [...] design+*re*construction the existing carriageway to motorway standard - km15.500 to 32.447
> http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=142271643&postcount=1771
> 
> 
> of A7 motorway, Kalotina(SRB Border) to Sofia have been launched by API (Bulgarian Road Agency)
> 
> This is the stretch:
> https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/4...2.8231583,23.0967947,13.96z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0


Some crossovers like this will be replaced then on the 1x4 part. A full motorway profile won't fit here.


----------



## BG_AT

Hello !

I want to ask, if there are any new informations when the electronic Vignetka would come in Bulgaria 

regards....

I saw this information on the official Bulgarian site of the government:
http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/prescentar/novini/6-are-candidates-construction-toll-system/

What does this mean now?
When the government will decide which company gets the order to build the electronic system?
The building of the system can last 19 months?


----------



## gogo3o

E-vignette for cars will be implemented together with the toll system for trucks. API is now to select contractor, probably there will some delay due to litigaton reasons.


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> E-vignette for cars will be implemented together with the toll system for trucks. API is now to select contractor, probably there will some delay due to litigaton reasons.


Hmm and what do you expect when they will start to build both system and when will they be ready to start both system more important the system for the cars, that means the electronic vignette system?


----------



## gogo3o

IMO the contract will br signed next year, and it take year and a half to make the system operational.


----------



## volodaaaa

:lol: Oh my god, guys what have you added to the glue of your vignette stickers? I've just spent 2 and half hour to get it off my windscreen. :lol:


----------



## nixazmaj

gogo3o said:


> IMO the contract will br signed next year, and it take year and a half to make the system operational.


It will be good, if they make that you can buy e-vignettes in border countries, something like Hungary did. When you go to Hungary you can buy e-vignette in Serbian petrol station close to border. or the best to buy online


----------



## satanism

volodaaaa said:


> :lol: Oh my god, guys what have you added to the glue of your vignette stickers? I've just spent 2 and half hour to get it off my windscreen. :lol:


Yeah, those are a bitch to take off, but this is because of 2 reasons:

1. Bulgarians love to "make savings" on things like that.....so you don't make it stick for eternity, ppl will use one vignette for the whole block of flats.
2. Bulgarian authorities are notoriously dumb, so they can't figure out how to make it fraud-proof in any other way.

PS. I still got the glue from my last year's vignette on my windshield lol. In a few months, there'll be two glue patches


----------



## volodaaaa

satanism said:


> Yeah, those are a bitch to take off, but this is because of 2 reasons:
> 
> 1. Bulgarians love to "make savings" on things like that.....so you don't make it stick for eternity, ppl will use one vignette for the whole block of flats.
> 2. Bulgarian authorities are notoriously dumb, so they can't figure out how to make it fraud-proof in any other way.
> 
> PS. I still got the glue from my last year's vignette on my windshield lol. In a few months, there'll be two glue patches


:lol: thanks.

By the way, before we had physical vignette stickers the glue was not so strong, but the sticker was like puzzle. Once you stick it onto your windscreen there was no way to get it off as whole, it just falls apart. So it was quite easy to get off but impossible to put together again.


----------



## gogo3o

nixazmaj said:


> It will be good, if they make that you can buy e-vignettes in border countries, something like Hungary did. When you go to Hungary you can buy e-vignette in Serbian petrol station close to border. or the best to buy online


As far as I remember, a driver will be able to pay vignettes online. The system has to be state-of-the-art according to the tender documentation. This applies also to the tolls for trucks, several payment methods will be available, including a possibility to implement EETS. We will see what they will make.


----------



## gogo3o

Ground works on *A3 motorway*, lot 3.1








More pics by *cdk*: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1279413&page=971


----------



## cosmiyellow

volodaaaa said:


> :lol: Oh my god, guys what have you added to the glue of your vignette stickers? I've just spent 2 and half hour to get it off my windscreen. :lol:


In the gas stations you can find little scratchers for the removal of the vignettes. They cost just a couple of levas and it takes no more than 2 minutes to remove the sticker and the glue.


----------



## Singidunum

satanism said:


> 1. Bulgarians love to "make savings" on things like that.....so you don't make it stick for eternity, ppl will use one vignette for the whole block of flats.


Vignettes are usually tied to a specific car plate. Now maybe doesn't work in Bulgaria for some reason, or the control is too lazy to check but that's how it should be.


----------



## Theijs

Hello,
According to this article a conference about infrastructure in the Balkans took this week place in Varna. Does anyone knows the outcome?


----------



## satanism

Someone posted a short news in our section.

3 points have been discussed, with respect to Bulgaria-Romania projects
1.3rd Bridge over Danube, next to Ruse
2.Nikopol-Turnu Magurele connection 
3.Motorway Constanta-Varna-Burgas


----------



## gogo3o

> Sofia, October 9 (BTA) - Kapsch Traffic Solutions has been selected to implement a public procurement contract for designing, building and commissioning an electronic road toll system in Bulgaria, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) reported on Monday.


http://www.bta.bg/en/c/ES/id/1667681


----------



## gogo3o

The east arc of the *Sofia ring road* finally is being renovated.


----------



## gogo3o

A3 motorway, Kresna-Sandanski (lot 3.3)


mlazarov said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Reconstruction of Plovdiv-Asenovgrad road. Just check the traffic..


mlazarov said:


>


----------



## Metra

gogo3o said:


> A3 motorway, Kresna-Sandanski (lot 3.3)


At the end, (or near end), was that on 17:59 ruins from Bulgaria's past?


----------



## gogo3o

Archaeological site. AFAIK it's probably a neolithic village.

--

We have a new deadline for Kresna-Sandanski, it is set for November 2018.
source


----------



## Metra

gogo3o said:


> Archaeological site. AFAIK it's probably a neolithic village.
> 
> --
> 
> We have a new deadline for Kresna-Sandanski, it is set for November 2018.
> source


 I watched the other videos, and I founded that, there aren't one or two, or even three (at least to me), but FOUR!


----------



## Gubot

gogo3o said:


> Reconstruction of Plovdiv-Asenovgrad road. Just check the traffic..


According to our traffic census for 2016 this road sees over 26 500 PCU per day.


----------



## Gubot

*EIA* for *Friendship bridge/Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo motorway[A8]* is ready. The purple route was chosen:








Source

One more map. Here it is the orange route:








Source

Hmm actually from looking the published EIA documents on the website of our road agency, it seems that they plan the motorway to start between Ruse and Marten, where it seems a new bridge over the Danube between BG and RO ends.


----------



## MichiH

Gubot said:


> *EIA* for *Friendship bridge/Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo motorway[A8]* is ready.


Does "Ready" mean "done"/"finished"?

What's the next step expected, tender procedure?

Is there any info about the length of the motorway or if it is planned to be built in sections?

In addition, I think "A8" is not (yet) official like "A7" for Kalotina motorway, is it?


----------



## Gubot

MichiH said:


> Does "Ready" mean "done"/"finished"?


The experts in our Ministry of Environment and Water have finished their assesment of the project. 3 options were submited, changes have been made and the "combined" option has been recommended. Now the EIA is going to be presented in the affected towns and villages along the route.
In that sense the whole procedure is not technically "finished". However, delays and objections are not expected for this project.



MichiH said:


> What's the next step expected, tender procedure?


Expropriation. Then tendering as design&build.



MichiH said:


> Is there any info about the length of the motorway or if it is planned to be built in sections?


The EIA is for 132km.
It would certainly be split into several lots.



MichiH said:


> In addition, I think "A8" is not (yet) official like "A7" for Kalotina motorway, is it?


Hmm...I can't remeber if we had an official document where the motorway is called A8. I tried finding one but I wasn't successful.
A7 is official:
link, page 21:cheers:


----------



## gogo3o

We should assign A3 to Lyulin motorway. It's only extending Struma with less than 20 km. And the Sofia Northern Bypass has to be designated.


----------



## Gubot

A video from the new proposed route(blue on map) of *Struma motorway[A3] lot 3.2*(the old project included a *15km tunnel*):














This is the "ecology friendly" option. :nuts:


----------



## medicu' de garda

Gubot said:


> *EIA* for *Friendship bridge/Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo motorway[A8]* is ready. The purple route was chosen:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source


Great news! Glad to see our neighbours making progress in planning this vital link between our countries. I'm somewhat confused by the large and curvy detour the motorway takes north of Byala. Is the terrain really that bad there that makes a straighter road impossible? Ok, I can understand there is a wide valley there on the river Yantra and the road is sticking to the hills (situation similar to our A3 west of Cluj, at Gilau, only yours is worse). But in that case the road shouldn't have made a detour that close to Byala, it should have been more to the west and straighter, I reckon. Oh well, I hope the speed limitations there won't be too severe...

Also, I'm guessing the motorway crosses Rusensky Lom at it's narrowest and shallowest point, is that correct?
And lastly, since a new bridge near Ruse is still a long way away (and maybe secondary to other non-existant Danube crossing, IMO), I suppose there will be an interchange with the local road there, 21. Do you think it will have enough capacity for all the car and truck traffic going to the existing bridge (via the -hopefully- former border check-point)?


PS: on our side, there is no Giurgiu high-speed road being planned yet, since our DN5 still has capacity, but I'm happy that a new road is being planned that will bypass Giurgiu and Remus all the way to the borderpoint. Also, the tender for A0 south is underway, so the current awfull bypass of Bucharest will no longer be an issue. And neither will be Jilava, as the interchange will be south of it, so one less 5km long village to go through. Sadly, there are no solutions for 1 Decembrie and Calugareni


----------



## haddockman

They really should have chosen the blue route as it is the most direct.

The chosen route follows the railway which takes a rather circuitous route from Byala to Borovo due to the severe terrain in the area.


----------



## roaddor

Regarding the route of the future motorway Ruse-V.Turnovo, it is not decided yet. The "recommended" one looks weird, there is certain interest to push the route towards municipalities which lie aside. Definitely the blue trace is the most efficient. Probably next February the route will be known.
As for the new bridge near Ruse/Giurgiu, it is a natural continuation of the motorway on Romanian ground. It is high time to move forward with the bridges along Danube. Below are the studies carried out by Transproject with the red variant being the first choice. The new bridge at Ruse is not visible here, its exact location is planned to be 3 km eastward from the current narrow bridge. It will approximately pass above the width of Mocanu island.


----------



## TrueBulgarian

Struma motorway, lot 3.3 



mlazarov said:


> opcorn:


----------



## gogo3o

The contract for the toll system is to be signed tomorrow. Source


----------



## TrueBulgarian

The contract for a new toll system in Bulgaria was signed today. It will be build by Kapsch for circa 150 million BGN (circa 75 million EUR). There will be an electronic toll system for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and an electronic vignette system for cars. For now, the idea is to keep the prices for cars low, while increasing the tolls for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. The estimations are that this will result in about 1 billion BGN (circa 500 million EUR) revenue compared to about 350 million BGN (circa 175 million EUR) revenue from the current old-fashioned vignette system with stickers. The current plan is for the system to operate from early 2019. 

This should allow for greater investment in much-needed infrastructure, such as completing the Hemus motorway, a new motorway between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo, an expressway between Botevgrad and Vidin, a tunnel between Northern and Southern Bulgaria below the Shipka Pass (between Gabrovo and Kazanlak) etc. 

Source: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...a-rabotata-po-izgrazhdaneto-na-tol-sistemata/


----------



## AlexisMD

I would not say that vignette price is that low for passenger cars
7 day is 8 eur when in Romania it's 3 eur


----------



## TrueBulgarian

AlexisMD said:


> I would not say that vignette price is that low for passenger cars
> 7 day is 8 eur when in Romania it's 3 eur


The vignette prices would not be changed, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development. I'm not really sure why on API's English language website they show the prices in EUR. Those are in fact the prices in BGN. A weekly vignette for passenger cars currently costs 8 BGN or about 4 EUR. See here in Bulgarian: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/vinetni-stikeri It is, of course, contrary to EU law to have different prices for vehicles registered in other EU member states. I guess they've just made a mistake... I sent them an email to fix their error


----------



## AlexisMD

TrueBulgarian said:


> The vignette prices would not be changed, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development. I'm not really sure why on API's English language website they show the prices in EUR. Those are in fact the prices in BGN. A weekly vignette for passenger cars currently costs 8 BGN or about 4 EUR. See here in Bulgarian: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/vinetni-stikeri It is, of course, contrary to EU law to have different prices for vehicles registered in other EU member states. I guess they've just made a mistake... I sent them an email to fix their error


I have opened the link you provided (bulgarian version) and I see that weekly vignette costs 15 leva (almost 8 eur) for catergory 3 cars


----------



## TrueBulgarian

AlexisMD said:


> I have opened the link you provided (bulgarian version) and I see that weekly vignette costs 15 leva (almost 8 eur) for catergory 3 cars


You are correct, apologies. I always get the yearly one, so that's why I've made a mistake.


----------



## Metra

gogo3o said:


> Archaeological site. AFAIK it's probably a neolithic village.
> 
> --
> 
> We have a new deadline for Kresna-Sandanski, it is set for November 2018.
> source


Are they going to keep the site or not?


----------



## gogo3o

Unfortunately, it won`t be kept along the alignment.


----------



## gogo3o

The plan for a long tunnel was abandoned. Instead, the gov wants to build second carriageway at the foot of Pirin mountain.


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> The plan for a long tunnel was abandoned. Instead, the gov wants to build second carriageway at the foot of Pirin mountain.


OK, the bit with lots of short tunnels. Any idea when that is starting?


----------



## PhiK

sponge_bob said:


> OK, the bit with lots of short tunnels. Any idea when that is starting?


They said they will anounce the tender untill the end of May. I expect brutal court procedures against the tender both by enviromentalists and shady construction companies. So the date of the real construction is a mystery


----------



## MichiH

^^ The 5km section from Blagoevgrad-South to Zheleznitsa?


----------



## satanism

The one after, in the gorge.


----------



## roaddor

The hardest part of A3, roughly speaking from Simitli to Kresna must be completed in 2023. The goal is to start the construction next year, currently the detailed site development plan is being prepared.


----------



## gogo3o

Reconstruction of *Plovdiv-Asenovgrad road* to 2x(2+e).








_by svetlio.s_
*More:* http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=2015999&page=20


----------



## gogo3o

A3, lot 3.3


mlazarov said:


>


Enjoy :cheers:


----------



## Gubot

Varna-Sofia via A2 in 9 minutes:


Infam0uS said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Construction of Aheloy bypass on I-9 road



momchilg said:


>


Also, in 2019 will start the construction of Burgas northern bypass.


----------



## warrior111

Are there plans to start the construction of the Kalotina-Sofia highway in near future?


----------



## satanism

Yes, 32km from the border.Hopefully this year.


----------



## Infam0uS

Construction of A2 motorway, lot 1.1.






+ Gabrovo western bypass 






Drone footage belongs to our fellow user mlazarov from the Bulgarian section.


----------



## keber

Infam0uS said:


> + Gabrovo western bypass


On OSM I see that there is a tunnel planned under Šipka mountain. How long will it be and when is it planned?


----------



## gogo3o

3.2 km, one tube. The financing is not secured.


----------



## Metra

So, this means the modernization of I-8 between Kalotina and Sofia will be just a placeholder for A7, right?


----------



## satanism

It will be the actual A7 or whatever "A" designation they decide to give it.


----------



## Metra

satanism said:


> It will be the actual A7 or whatever "A" designation they decide to give it.



Yeah, but still, will the modernization of I-8 be just a placeholder for the Kalotina motorway, or it will be upgraded to the motorway? Sorry if I am begging you, I need go know if there's still hope for Kalotina.


----------



## gogo3o

Kalotina-Hrabarsko (the sections being tendered) will be upgraded to a motorway, 2x2+e, crossings on 2 levels, etc. Slivnitsa-Sofia will be built on new alignment to connect with the Sofia Northern Bypass at the ring road nearby Mramor village. 

However, Kalotina-Hrabarsko will sub-standard motorway with narrower lanes, median.


----------



## Uppsala

Do they still dont have any exitnumbers in Bulgaria?


----------



## satanism

Why is it not realistic?


----------



## gogo3o

Let's start with this that the financing is not secured.


----------



## satanism

AAh, but you're wrong there. Elections are coming. If you look at this like pre-electorial event, which it is, the financing for those is always secured


----------



## gogo3o

Okay, time will tell. I hope you are right.


----------



## mman2012

satanism said:


> Why is it not realistic?


Also seems like a long strech of highway to be completed in 3 years. Again, let's hope I am wrong, would be great to be real!!


----------



## satanism

There are very strong indications that this will finally happen.According to the minister, tenders for first stretch are to be launched next month(August), and for the remaining part early next year.Real construction from the east is also to begin in August.
It looks like we'll see a lot of projects finally go forward and we can witness another wave of openings in 2-4 years, similar to a couple years ago.

Also, it looks like no one objected the tender results for 32Km of A7 within the deadline, from Kalotina BCP towards Sofia so we effectively can say those two lots are U/C.Finally.


----------



## MichiH

satanism said:


> Also, it looks like no one objected the tender results for 32Km of A7 within the deadline, from Kalotina BCP towards Sofia so we effectively can say those two lots *are U/C*.Finally.


Good news but I don't think that we can already call it u/c. Only when we will have seen a report or even pics of construction works. Or a groundbreaking ceremony...

If this would happen... Is a partial opening announced or should both lots be opened at once one day? What's the estimated opening date?


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> Good news but I don't think that we can already call it u/c. Only when we will have seen a report or even pics of construction works. Or a groundbreaking ceremony...
> 
> If this would happen... Is a partial opening announced or should both lots be opened at once one day? What's the estimated opening date?


Both contracts would be design+build. The deadlines are accordingly 852 and 910 days for km1-15 and 16-32.Furthermore the design phase of the first section is split in two so we will probably see actual construction there first.

The first section's tender includes stage connection to the old road, so both stretches are not dependent on each other

Also, just a small clarification, those deadlines start to run from the moment API notifies the construction companies, that financing has been secured.(Which I believe already is secured)


----------



## ВОДА

> *Austrian and Bulgarian Companies will Build the Sofia-Kalotina Highway
> 
> July 30, 2018*
> 
> 
> The Austrian Strabag and the Bulgarian "GBS-Infrastructure Construction" will build the highway from Sofia to Kalotina. The two companies were favorites for the opening of bids as they presented the most competitive bids. They will build the sections of the road, whose total length is 32.4 km and cost a total of 235.29 million BGN without VAT, announced 24 hours newspaper. The Austrian firm was ranked first in the competition from the Serbian border to Dragoman. The proposed price is BGN 137.5 million excluding VAT, or BGN 9.5 million per kilometer, including the design and construction of the section.
> 
> The Hydro-Vodstroy merger, which includes Hydrostroy and Vodstroy 98 with a cost of nearly BGN 140 mln. The third group is Kalotina - Sofia, which includes the Bulgarian GP Group, the Spanish Contratas Iglesias and the Bulgarian "Transconsult-22" with a bid of just over 140 mln leva. Fourth are "GBS-Infrastructure Construction", which offered design and construction for BGN 141.5 mln.
> 
> 9 companies were removed from the auction as their bids did not meet the requirements. Some of them are foreign. The section from Dragoman to the Hrabarsko road junction will be built by GBS - Infrastructure Construction. They win the public procurement at a price of BGN 97.8 million excluding VAT, or BGN 5.75 million per kilometer, which includes the design and construction of the road. The section is 16.9 km long and includes large facilities - viaducts, bridges and underpasses. Second is the Geopar West, which consists of Geostroy and Patstroy 92. Their price offer is nearly 114 million excluding VAT.
> 
> With this order, the removed companies and groupings are 10, on the grounds that the companies have submitted a bid that does not meet the pre-announced terms of the order. The decisions for both procedures were signed by the new head of the road agency Svetoslav Glosov. This road to Kalotina will be expanded from two to four lanes, allowing you to travel at 100-110 km / h. It will be ready in 2020.


*Source*


----------



## gogo3o

Terms will start running when the contracts are signed by both parties, the road agency and the contractors. Furthermore, API has to approve the designs drafted in the design stage and then after issuing construction permits the actual construction can begin.

I have no worries about the financing, it´s been secured under the Connecting Europe Facility.


----------



## Arnorian

Are there plans to segregate Sofia's ring road from the motorways (something like on the illustration)?


----------



## satanism

No, there are no such plans.
There are vague plans for a wide western Sofia bypass that would connect Kalotina motorway with Struma motorway near Dragichevo roundabout, as well as A1-A2 connection around Elin Pelin, but nothing similar to what you've drawn.
A7 Kalotina will be connected directly to SNST near Volujak


----------



## nabludatel50

*Arnorian* , In Deep Purple, stormbringer.....see Калотина direct from SST
this ahead and at the bottom ending in the field are the first meters of the A7, a brand new trace :









*Kalotina A7 is a direct extension of the SST* :cheers:


----------



## gogo3o

Let´s not forget the Rila motorway plans.









And the Sofia municipality master plan, on which you can see a motorway bypassing Lyulin mountain from west.:nuts:


Both are highly unlikely to happen in the next decades.


----------



## roaddor

Arnorian said:


> Are there plans to segregate Sofia's ring road from the motorways (something like on the illustration)?


No need to duplicate the existing eastern and western parts of the ring road. They are enough to serve both the transit and domestic traffic. What must have been done, however, were several direct ramps on the major nodes, where the motorways join the ring. The decision was only with typical cloverleaves, which was not very practical. 
Money should be spent on the southern part of the ring, which is still missing and goes through urban areas.


----------



## Infam0uS

Updates from Struma motorway.


----------



## gogo3o

PM stated that lot 3.3 of A3 will open in the beginning of October. Also, works on the lot of A2 west of Shumen will start this month.


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> PM stated that lot 3.3 of A3 will open in the beginning of October. Also, works on the lot of A2 west of Shumen will start this month.


Same context as here I guess https://www.novinite.com/articles/1...d+that+Hemus+Highway+will+Be+Finished+by+2024


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> works on the lot of A2 west of Shumen will start this month.


The blue one on the right: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=150797095&postcount=7378
Is it the 30km section up to I-49 or does it end anywhere else? I think might be a shorter section according to the "map". Any info about the estimated completion date?


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> The blue one on the right: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=150797095&postcount=7378
> Is it the 30km section up to I-49 or does it end anywhere else? I think might be a shorter section according to the "map". Any info about the estimated completion date?


https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1739546#map=13/43.3320/26.7316

Half of it, really....roughy to 5102, Buhovtsi.









Deadline is 910 days, 180 design +730 build.Contract was signed late Oct 2017.


----------



## sponge_bob

nabludatel50 said:


> Not ideal, may be fifty/fifty.


3 level stacks are for 2 x 2+2 roads with an AADT of c.20-30k EACH crossing each other. It is obvious that the mainline is capable of an AADT of 90k, (3+3) so if the road across the top of the stack hits 30k AADT the permajams will start. 

They should preserve the space around the junction to convert it to full freeflow. If they don't there will be trouble not very far in the future. 

3 Level stacks are fine where a motorway meets a rural expressway 100km out of Sofia, not where big city ring roads cross, is all. They are very expensive to upgrade in future.


----------



## gogo3o

Transit traffic, including HGV, will run via A7 when its last segment is built, meaning less traffic for this interchange.


----------



## piotr71

I have already passed a road number 6 from Gryushevo to Kyustendil and was not aware that it is toll stretch. I've bought the vignette a few hours later. Should I expect a fine to arrive home, soon?


----------



## satanism

Unlikely.


----------



## gogo3o

The control is to become stricter with the implementation of the e-vignette. API is hiring 900 employees, 600 of which on-site. Also, cars with unpaid vignette will not be allowed to leave the county if proposed legislation is passed.


----------



## piotr71

gogo3o said:


> The control is to become stricter with the implementation of the e-vignette. API is hiring 900 employees, 600 of which on-site. Also, cars with unpaid vignette will not be allowed to leave the county if proposed legislation is passed.


So, currently there is no electronic vignette check by cameras placed on the gantries, right?


----------



## gogo3o

Yep, they'll be effective after 1 January


----------



## gogo3o

^^
_goggle-translated_


> *Cars with a fine for a vignette will not be able to leave the country, the deputies have decided*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cars without vignettes, without paying tolls or with unpaid fines for such a violation will not be able to leave the country, MPs voted today by amending the Road Traffic Act, BNT reported. In addition, in the case of an unpaid penalty for such an infringement, the vehicle will not be able to undergo an annual technical inspection.
> 
> The fine for driving without a vignette remains 300 leva for cars. If a violation is found, drivers will be able to pay the penalty imposed on them when the offense is detected on the spot. Then the so-called. the compensation fee for cars will be 30 leva and will give the right to complete the trip.
> 
> The vehicles of the road infrastructure inspectors will be equipped with POS terminals. Such will be in the vehicles of the Traffic Police. With the amendments to the law, the obligation of the Automobile Administration Executive Agency to waive the obligation of the trucks and buses to pay for the use of the road network. The control will now be carried out by the Road Infrastructure Agency.


source

On 17 Dec API will launch www.bgtoll.bg to sell e-vignettes. The owners of valid vignette stickers will be able to enter the vignette number on this site till 31 Jan. According to CEO of BGToll those that haven't transformed their sticker into an e-vignette won't get a fine, but however they could be stopped by the new control unit for a check.


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 motorway updates (Yablanitsa to Boaza road junction) accompanied by some beautiful winter scenery. 






Drone footage belongs to hekimqn from the Bulgarian section.


----------



## nabludatel50

А few days before putting into operation - glamorous shiny crash bariers on *A3.3 **Strumatic* - 23,6 km. The big difference in climate that Balkan Mountain, which is called the Balkan Peninsula, is seen. The above report is A2 winter in North Bulgaria, оn A3 is + 10-15 C.


----------



## ВОДА

Green light is given to the *Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo* stretch of *A8 motorway (Ruse - Harmanly)*:
https://www.capital.bg/politika_i_i...stralata_ot_ruse_do_veliko_turnovo_moje_da_e/


----------



## gogo3o

Green light is this case means that environmental decision is finally in force after court appeals were rejected. Still a lot of job needs to be done: detailed plans, land expropriation, archaeology and, of course, financing has to be secured.


----------



## gogo3o

lot 3.3 launch day is near. A roundabout will connect the new segment with I-1 road, and later the roundabout is to become part of the Kresna interchange.



mlazarov said:


>


----------



## eucitizen

Just a curiosity, why didnt they make the A3 till the border? On google street view there are images from july 2018 and I see a huge queue of trucks on the old road. it is just 1,5 km and for such an important border point, there should be more lanes. I guess they need to demolish some buildings to make that enlargement to motorway standards.


----------



## gogo3o

Bulgaria is not yet a Schengen country, IMO that's the reason. When we get in, probably the missing segment of the motorway will be built on a new alignment west of the current check point.


----------



## satanism

That's the plan.


----------



## sponge_bob

ВОДА;154710824 said:


> Green light is given to the *Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo* stretch of *A8 motorway (Ruse - Harmanly)*:
> https://www.capital.bg/politika_i_i...stralata_ot_ruse_do_veliko_turnovo_moje_da_e/


So the main north south road in the middle of Bulgaria _will be a Motorway and not an Expressway_ will it??? It had been flagged as an expressway for many years had it not?


----------



## MichiH

^^ Minimum the sections north of A2 seems to have motorway standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veliko_Tarnovo–Ruse_motorway

Dunno about the southern sections.


----------



## satanism

"South sections" is just a dotted line on a map...and it's a straight dotted line across the map.That's how unclear "if/when" the whole thing is.
Btw A3 opening should be this week.


----------



## gogo3o

The motorway south end is at I-5 road, nearby Sokolovo, south of Veliko Tarnovo. The junction with A2 is north of Veliko Tarnovo.


----------



## nabludatel50

MichiH said:


> ^^ 6 lots for construction of 134km from Boaza to Petko Karaelovo (I5). Construction deadlines are August 2021 [size]if I got it right[/size]. I guess contracts should be signed in early 2019 and construction works might be started in Mid 2019?


We hope to start fast, the money is provided. The first lot was already designed in the words of the Minister, the next two are near completion of the design. There remains a question of how an auction will be held and whether there will be any, or there will be a direct assignment to construction companies.
This way of building is* new to the BG institutions and there are many vague questions, we will see how it will happen over time.*
Нowever, in Bulgaria the start of the construction is considered to be the opening of the construction site, which will *soon happen on A6.*


----------



## MichiH

nabludatel50 said:


> There remains a question of how an auction will be held and whether there will be any, or there will be a direct assignment to construction companies.


I thought that the tender procedure is already finished and the contracts have been awarded to the companies?



nabludatel50 said:


> Нowever, in Bulgaria the start of the construction is considered to be the opening of the construction site, which will *soon happen on A6.*


Sure, start of construction is opening of the construction site. I asked when this might happen for A2. August 2021 is in 2.5 years. Do we have the same deadline for all 6 A2 lots or do we have different deadlines?



nabludatel50 said:


> which will *soon happen on A6.*


but we talk about A2 now...


----------



## sponge_bob

Assuming these recent contracts are signed does that mean all of the A2 is under construction or else open by some time in 2019?


----------



## nabludatel50

I have no exact answer to your questions : This way of building is new to the BG institutions and there are many vague questions, we will see how it will happen over time.I guess better people familiar with the matter will answer.
Мeanwhile another good news: The *Lot 2 contract from A6 has been signed.*


----------



## MichiH

sponge_bob said:


> Assuming these recent contracts are signed does that mean all of the A2 is under construction or else open by some time in 2019?


From west to east:
- 9km u/c since early 2018, to be opened late 2019
- 134km we talk about (6 lots)
- ~100km planned, status unknown (in tender?)
- 16km u/c since August 2018, to be opened late 2020


----------



## sponge_bob

Thanks MiciH, 100km still to do after all that.


----------



## gogo3o

google-translate


> he Chairman of the Management Board of Road Infrastructure Agency eng. Svetoslav Glosov signed the contract for design and construction of 16,98 km of road I-8 Kalotina - Sofia ring road in the section between Dragoman and Slivnitsa from km 15 + 500 to km 32+ 447.20 and step connections. Construction is scheduled to begin next year and finish by the end of 2021.
> 
> The contractor of the section will be GBS "Infrastructural Construction" AD. The value of the contract is BGN 97 800 298,60 excluding VAT. The section will be built entirely with funds from the republican budget.
> 
> The section will be with two lanes in the direction and the emergency stop band. The term of the contract is 910 calendar days, of which 180 days are for the technical design and 730 days for construction.
> 
> ...


http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...a-17-km-ot-pt-i-8-mezhdu-dragoman-i-slivnica/


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> I thought that the tender procedure is already finished and the contracts have been awarded to the companies?


Seems there won't be a classic tender for that part of A2.


----------



## nabludatel50

MichiH said:


> - 134km we talk about (6 lots)


 It's not just empty conversations in style "New Grand Master Plan " . Once there is a government document, *this government realizes* it. 
Нere is a *contract *and a sum paid on it - Value 1 124 880 000 BGN = 575 150 000 euro excluding VAT


----------



## gogo3o

The govt gave the money to a state-owned company, Avtomagistrali. It's kinda in-house procurement, but this company actually doesn't have any expertise to build in such scale. That's why Avtomagistrali will get subcontractors, probably without tenders.


----------



## bozata90

nabludatel50 said:


> Оn 20.12. the construction contract for 134.2 km of A2 has already been awarded. Artikel in BG :http://www.api.bg:8080/easytender/bg/orange/public/download.jsp?_json=%7Bpath%3A%27proc%5Cx2F1198%5Cx2F78804%27%2Cname%3A%270000010797-K-58_API-P.pdf%27%2Cdigest%3A%27SHA1%3A1CBE0B28765DF9E21E484119152F221F74476502%27%7D


Nothing has been awarded. This is an initial advisory opinion by the Public Procurement Agency (a control body within the Executive), stating that it is possible to award the design & build contract to the state company Ävtomagistrali" EAD - a company of the Ministry of Reginonal Development. There is no political decision to proceed this way though. At least not at this time.


----------



## MichiH

^^ Seems be something like "the German way". Expect much longer construction times and many delays... icard:



bozata90 said:


> There is no political decision to proceed this way though. At least not at this time.


Still hope


----------



## nabludatel50

MichiH said:


> ^^ Seems be something like "the German way". Expect much longer construction times and many delays... icard:
> Still hope


The government has devoted a lot of money to A2, which I'm sure will quickly get into construction. I bet on a Bushmills bottle that a minimum of 3 lots of A2 and two A6 lots by the end of 2019 will be under construction.:cheers:


----------



## MichiH

^^ I don't doubt that these sections will get u/c in 2019.

btw: About the comparsion to Germany... Funding is really no problem in Germany too. The way that a state authority / state-owned "company" is managing the construction and needs to tender many (locally prefered) subcontractors is the issue ending up in much longer construction sites...


----------



## nabludatel50

:cheers: Happy New 2019 !


----------



## Rixos

So the name of Kalotina Highway changed to A6 Europe Highway.

When is the estimated finish of the construction with all parts completed ?


----------



## MichiH

^^ It's only planned to build 2 out of 3 sections now.


----------



## Gubot

MichiH said:


> ^^ It's only planned to build 2 out of 3 sections now.


But when built, we are going to have a 2x2 or 2x2+e highway from Sofia to BG/SRB border with just 4 at grade IC.


----------



## satanism

The one at Metro West (the only traffic lights on the route) can be removed very easily as there is a fully functioning grade separated IC right next to it, between roads 638 and 8. Only about 20 meters of new road is needed to make all commercial units accessible from/to everywhere.


----------



## Capt.Vimes

gogo3o said:


> That's why Avtomagistrali will get subcontractors, probably without tenders.


They need to make those tenders if they don't want to break the law.


----------



## MichiH

satanism said:


> The one at Metro West (the only traffic lights on the route) can be removed very easily as there is a fully functioning grade separated IC right next to it, between roads 638 and 8. Only about 20 meters of new road is needed to make all commercial units accessible from/to everywhere.


Is a roundabout u/c just east of it? https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/42.74289/23.23337


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> That's why Avtomagistrali will get subcontractors, probably without tenders.





Capt.Vimes said:


> They need to make those tenders if they don't want to break the law.


German authorities always moan that the tender procedure takes so long because of EU law. Every small lot, e.g. for painting or mounting crash barriers et cetera must undergo an EU wide tender even when it's intended to prefer small local companies. If a competitor complaints at court about one of the last contracts, an almost completed road cannot be opened and everything will be delayed...

I prefer the other way, to contract just one company. Just one tender procedure at the beginning. Sure, it takes (much) longer till first works begin but then you have a clear schedule. And the company is responsible to fulfill it. They don't need to tender works for subcontractors.


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> Is a roundabout u/c just east of it? https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/42.74289/23.23337


Nope, it's not a roundabout that one.That's a mistake. It's a bog standard 4 way crossroads further west.There is a left turn ban on the main road which no one obeys.


----------



## gogo3o

It's not clear how exactly _Avtomastrali_ will act. For sure this company got the money without tender. Spending the money by the company without tender, however, is another thing. There's a specific a low level ordinance for the state-owned companies, which allows them to avoid the Tenders Law. It contradicts the higher level Tenders Law, but the govt already spent some money in such manner, reconstructing several stretches of A1 and A2.


----------



## Capt.Vimes

Those reconstructions of A1 and A2 were treated as emergency, that's how tenders were avoided. Now, the situation is different. They are allowed to transfer those money to Avtomagstrali without tender because both the company's and the Road Infrastructure Agency's principal is the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

They transferred the money to Avtomagistrali in order to secure the financing of the motorway, not to avoid tenders for construction. That money is from the budget surplus and at the end of the year it is transferred to the fiscal reserve and can't be used to pay construction companies.


----------



## gogo3o

That's just as you have described, but it could have been played much better. Now, building in such scale without tenders could trigger reaction from the EC and could to end with a fine. The case in A1 or A2 reconstructions is a bit different as they were not new construction.


----------



## LG_

The expropriations along the route of Hemus motorway may be done by the private construction companies, which had been subcontracted with frame agreemennts by the state _Avtomagistrali_. That should have be included in the price 10 mln leva/km, mentoned above.
Construction of the first lots po Pleven starts in early 2020

Sourse: https://www.mediapool.bg/hemus-shte-se-stroi-po-nova-shema-bez-obshtestveni-porachki-news288119.html


----------



## MichiH

^^ I cannot copy the article to Google Translate for any reason...
I think "first lots po Pleven" means the 3 western-most sections up to I-35 (47km). I only found 3x 2021 in the previous press release. Does it mean that only these 3 sections have a deadline in 2021 and the other 3 sections don't have a deadline (yet)?


----------



## LG_

I cannot translate it with Google Translate either...

There are 52 km in total to II-35 (3 lots 16km+19km+17km) acording to that article.

As there are controversial informations about terms, lengths, etc, it's better to wait for an info from the gov.


----------



## gogo3o

Here it is:


> Large Bulgarian companies will build 134 km of Hemus highway to Veliko Tarnovo for more than 1.35 billion leva. The funds were granted by the Cabinet on 12 December and are placed in a special account with the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB).
> 
> On the eve of the new year Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) has signed the contract for the construction of the highway with the state-owned company "Automobilesti". It is now due to assign the six divisions of the companies with which framework agreements have been concluded. Among them are the private companies PST Group, GBS, Hydrostroy, Patstroy 92 and Trace Group. There is no clarity at the moment as to how exactly and between which construction will be allocated as negotiations are under way.
> 
> The Public Procurement Agency has given a sneak peek to the new freight-free express auctions scheme, the API buyer's profile said.
> 
> The scheme for distributing millions without public procurement was successfully played last year with the state-owned company Eco Antracite, which allocates BGN 120 mln.
> 
> Since the alienation of the motorway has not yet been made, there is an expectation that companies will buy the land from the owners and then recover the sums from the state. This is already done with sections of the Struma highway.
> 
> This will speed up the start of the construction of Hemus, as there will be no appeals to delay the process. This means that the construction of "Hemus" between the Boaza junction and the branch for Pleven / Lovech could begin at the earliest in the spring of 2020. This optimistic deadline was also announced by the regional minister Petya Avramova to the deputies on 21 December .
> 
> No public tenders
> 
> The possibility for the Hemus highway to be awarded without public procurement gives art. 14, para 1, item 6 of the Public Procurement Act (PPL). The text reads: "Where a legal person subject to control within the meaning of paragraph 5 (a) assigns contracts to the contracting entity which controls it or to another legal person controlled by the same contracting entity and for which the conditions of item 5, letter "c".
> 
> In plain language, this means that the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) may spend BGN 1.35 billion without making public procurement by assigning it to a state-owned company - in the case of Automobilesti EAD. Both structures are under the control of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and there is no obstacle for the money to be spent in this way, it is clear from the opinion of the Public Procurement Agency. This is the so-called. an internal award that is permissible, the PPA considers in an opinion published on 27 December 2018.
> 
> The contract between API and Autopurst EAD is signed immediately afterwards - on December 28 or December 31, said Svetoslav Glosov, Chairman of the Management Board of API, at Mediapool.
> 
> Six companies will build the highway to Veliko Tarnovo
> 
> The construction of the 134 km between the Boaza junction and the Veliko Tarnovo branch is divided into six sections with a length between 16 km and 33 km. The idea is for every plot to be built by a large company so construction can go fast.
> 
> A problem is the lack of alienation along the highway. They are the responsibility of the state, but they can also be transferred to the companies and therefore they are planned for BGN 10 mln / km, commented the acquainted with the construction of the highway to Mediapool.
> 
> At a more advanced stage are the first three stretches of 16 km, 19 km and 17 km between p. "Boaza" and the branch for Pleven / Lovech. For them there is a ready technical project and plot plans for the conduct of the alienation events, it became clear from the words of the regional minister Petya Avramova.
> 
> The highway from Pleven to Lovech to Veliko Tarnovo is also divided into three sections with lengths of 27 km, 23 km and 33 km. However, the preparation for them is minimal. Performers have been selected to update detailed plot plans - plot plans to make alienations. It is expected that the contracts with the companies will be signed in early January and will complement them within 60 days.
> 
> The assignment for the construction of these three sub-divisions will be of engineering - design and construction. The reason is that there are no working projects for them.
> 
> "Motorways" will choose builders on the basis of signed framework agreements that have been concluded with companies, explained familiar with the process.
> 
> "Motorways" as a black box
> 
> The state-owned company has signed framework agreements, which entrust the repair of viaducts, tunnels and highways with Hydrostroy, GBS Infrastructure Construction, PST Group, Patstroy 92 and Trace Group. The company may also have framework agreements with other companies.
> 
> Although this information by law must be public, it is missing from the company's website and the Public Procurement Register, unlike, for example, from Eco Atracit, which complies with the requirements of the law and publishes the contracts.
> 
> Firms with framework agreements are aware of the repairs of viaducts and tunnels.
> 
> The activity of "Motorways", whose financial results are deteriorating in 2017, is secret. Nobody raised the phones on the state company's website, and its executive director, Stoyan Belichev, never appeared in public and did not comment on its activities.


--

Besides that, we have another news I forgot to mention: the new minister promised that this year API will open tenders for Vidin-Ruzhintsi section of Botevgrad-Vidin expressway. That's approximately 55 km. If each promise becomes a reality, we'll experience a little boom in the motorway construction.


----------



## MichiH

^^ No word about deadlines though...


----------



## ВОДА

> *State-owned Company will Build 134 km from the Hemus Motorway in Bulgaria
> 
> January 14, 2019*
> 
> 
> The State Motor Company will build 134 km of the Hemus highway. At the end of last year, a contract was signed between the company and the Road Infrastructure Agency for the construction of the section from the Boaza junction to the intersection with the Rousse-Veliko Tarnovo road.
> 
> The contract amounts to over BGN 1,125 billion excluding VAT, the money being from the republican budget. The entire amount is in a special account with the BNB and the funds from it can be used only for the execution of construction activities under the project.
> 
> The 134km stretch is expected to be ready in 2023, with its construction divided into 6 sections of different lengths.
> 
> The total length of the Hemus motorway from Sofia to Varna is about 420 km. There are sections between Sofia and Yablanitsa and from Belokopitovo to Varna, which are nearly 170 km. At present, 26 km of the motorway - in the sections between Yablanitsa and Boazza and from Buhovtsi to Belokopitovo - is being built with funds from the republican budget.
> 
> The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works is the sole owner of 100% of the capital of "Motorways". In recent years, the company has carried out a number of sites of high public interest such as tunnels, viaducts, bridges, asphalt-concrete floors of the Hemus, Trakia, Lyulin, Struma and Maritsa highways.


Source


----------



## gogo3o

Updated deadline for A2 Yablanitsa - Boaza: Q3 19 source


----------



## gogo3o

> *"A motorway will be built in the section of the international road E 79 from Vidin to Montana and from Mezdra to Botevgrad - a fast four-lane road"*. This was announced by the Minister of Regional Development Petya Avramova, who held a working meeting in Vidin for the progress of the project for modernization of the Vidin-Botevgrad road.
> 
> The meeting was attended by Mr. Doncho Atanasov - member of the Management Board of Road Infrastructure Agency, MP Vladimir Toshev, Regional Governor Albena Georgieva and Mayor of Vidin Ognian Tzenkov. The road project from Vidin to Montana has been changed from the original plans on the motorway and the section from Mezdra to Botevgrad will be a four-lane speed because of the relief and the difficult conditions for its construction.
> 
> *This year, the procedures for selecting a contractor for the road between Vidin and Rujintsi will have to be completed*, while the parcel plans will be handled in parallel, the expropriation procedures will be carried out and the real construction will start at the end of the year, said Doncho Atanasov. The project for construction of the road between Vidin and Botevgrad is a priority for the government, as I will personally follow the implementation of the planned schedules, Avramova said. She pointed out that *the first stretch to be built is from Mezdra to Botevgrad*, as it is the most advanced in the procedures, after it begins the construction of the road from Vidin to Ruzhintsi.


https://www.faktor.bg/bg/articles/m...zdra-do-botevgrad-skorosten-chetirilentov-pat


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> https://www.faktor.bg/bg/articles/m...zdra-do-botevgrad-skorosten-chetirilentov-pat


This looks like a journalist who does not know _the difference_ between a "fast four lane road" and a motorway. Is this project not Bulgarias first expressway standard road (100 or 110kph) ????


----------



## gogo3o

It's the minister who talks about motorway in the Vidin-Ruzhintsi stretch. Indeed, this part envisions 2x2+e with 2-level interchanges.

That's not the case for Botevgrad -Mezdra however. It is 2x2 with at-grade roundabouts, which doesn't allow to be classified even as expressway.


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> That's not the case for Botevgrad -Mezdra however. It is 2x2 with at-grade roundabouts, which doesn't allow to be classified even as expressway.


You can have expressway with roundabouts, it ain't very nice if there are a lot of roundabouts and it would be unwise to allow speeds higher than 100kph on such an expressway.


----------



## gogo3o

According to Bulgarian legislation, expressway must have 2-level crossings. Otherwise is it's just an wider road. We have such examples like the Plovdiv-Asenovgrad road, which has separate carriageways even with emergency lanes, but it's not an expressway, as it has roundabouts.


mlazarov said:


>


--


PM says that construction of the first 3 lots of A2 is to begin in March. The terms for construction are 3, 4 and 3 years, respectively. However, some of the preparatory works like expropriation of the land are not ready, so I wouldn't bet on that date.


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> According to Bulgarian legislation, expressway must have 2-level crossings. Otherwise is it's just an wider road.


That sounds like a good idea given the size of Bulgaria, the example in your video looks like an URBAN expressway, almost an S4 rather than a national scale expressway, roundabouts are acceptable in urban areas.


----------



## Infam0uS

Monthly update from the A2 motorway (Yablanitsa - Boaza road junction):


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## satanism

Nope. Besides, there's more important stuff missing on the signs than exit numbers. I'd like to see country codes on those first, before exit numbers.


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## Uppsala

satanism said:


> Nope. Besides, there's more important stuff missing on the signs than exit numbers. I'd like to see country codes on those first, before exit numbers.


Ok


----------



## LG_

satanism said:


> Nope. Besides, there's more important stuff missing on the signs than exit numbers. I'd like to see country codes on those first, before exit numbers.


Me too! On some new sections you can see country codes and E- numbering, but it's still not mandatory.

I am OK to see the interchange's name on the signs, as it is in Germany, as they are so known in the country.


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## ChrisZwolle

Now that Bulgaria has more and more motorway mileage, it may be a good idea to overhaul the signage system. Or maybe copy one from another country. 

Sometimes it's better to rip a good idea off, than to design a bad one yourself.


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## satanism

Well, as soon as all the soviet educated slobs, sitting on important jobs where such decisions are taken, die out we can expect this to happen. Luckily they're all pretty worn by now so any day now.....


----------



## Uppsala

ChrisZwolle said:


> Now that Bulgaria has more and more motorway mileage, it may be a good idea to overhaul the signage system. Or maybe copy one from another country.
> 
> Sometimes it's better to rip a good idea off, than to design a bad one yourself.




One idea is that they could copy the signs from Serbia. The Serbian signs are clear. They also have exit numbers.

If they think that Serbia is too close, they could copy, for example, the new ones in the Netherlands, though make a green version of them. The new ones in the Netherlands are clear and can be seen as modern.

A third alternative may be that they copy the signs from Sweden. There they also have exit numbers. If Bulgaria copies from Sweden, it would not seem so clear that they are copied, since Sweden and Bulgaria have a distance from each other.


----------



## Balkanada

satanism said:


> Nope. Besides, there's more important stuff missing on the signs than exit numbers. I'd like to see country codes on those first, before exit numbers.


Exit numbers are immensely more important than country codes. Nobody needs a sign to tell them that Skopje is in North Macedonia or that Niš is in Serbia


----------



## satanism

Balkanada said:


> Exit numbers are immensely more important than country codes. Nobody needs a sign to tell them that Skopje is in North Macedonia or that Niš is in Serbia


You think? And how many foreigners know to look for Kalotina, when they want to got to Nis, or for Gyueshevo when they want NMK, or for Kapitan Andreevo, when they need Turkey? Because that's pretty much how it's done in Bulgaria now.They signpost the nearest village. I'ma tell you...not many.

And why are exit numbers so damn important? Some countries even use mile markers to name their exits. Mile markers are on Bulgarian motorways so it's just as good.If you really need to know where you are, just use those.


----------



## gogo3o

A new roundabout is being added on I-1 road close to Blagoevgrad-south I/C. They rushing it, so we can expect inauguration of the section of A3 in a couple of months.
*Update:* in 10 days (source)


Naskoni said:


>


Also, by the end of the month we could see groundbreaking on Dragoman-Slivnitsa of *A6 motorway* (Europe motorway, former Kalotina). The term for construction works is 730 days (2 years), so we can estimate opening in Q2 2021.


----------



## ok2

Balkanada said:


> Exit numbers are immensely more important than country codes. Nobody needs a sign to tell them that Skopje is in North Macedonia or that Niš is in Serbia


I agree with you. It is much easier to look for a number than to try to read a name on a sign while traveling with 140 km/h on the highway. The other benefit is that if you want to take Exit 5 and you are passing by Exit 1 you know that you can skip the next few exits without forcing yourself to read every single name on every single sign.


----------



## satanism

ok2 said:


> I agree with you. It is much easier to look for a number than to try to read a name on a sign while traveling with 140 km/h on the highway. The other benefit is that if you want to take Exit 5 and you are passing by Exit 1 you know that you can skip the next few exits without forcing yourself to read every single name on every single sign.


Unless exit 1 is on km1 and exit 5 is on km 5, like in Hungary, for example....then you probably need the next exit and you can't skip anything


----------



## Infam0uS

Updates from A2 motorway (Yablanitsa - Boaza road junction) (11.05.2019)


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 motorway (Sofia to Yablanitsa) 






A3 (Kulata - Kresna; Blagoevgrad - Sofia)






A1 (Burgas - Stara Zagora)


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## nabludatel50

Today they are discovering a new part of the Strumatic A3 - *shine* 6,8 km


----------



## ВОДА

> *Bulgarian PM Borisov: The Toll System should Start Working in the Summer
> 
> May 22, 2019*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The toll system should start operating in the summer, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on May 20 during an inspection on the repair works of the Plovdiv - Assenovgrad road. According to him, the system is planned to become operational in August, but a month or two delay is possible until it is clarified for which roads the charges would apply, reports BNT.
> 
> Calculations will be made on how to charge different vehicles weighing more than three and a half tonnes, including buses. However, buses will pay less than lorries in order to prevent increase in the cost of travel tickets. The prime minister was firm that in order to have good roads, charges should should be paid.


https://www.novinite.com/articles/1...oll+System+should+Start+Working+in+the+Summer


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## satanism

First picture of works on A6 right around here










source: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=159333922&postcount=3115


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## ok2

nabludatel50 said:


> Today they are *discovering* (opening) a new *part* (section) of the Strumatic A3 - *shine* 6,8 km


Be careful with Google Translate


----------



## MichiH

^^ So, was the shiny A3 section opened today? Or was it an inspection by authorities only (also similar to "discovering")?


----------



## satanism

tomorrow.

The tribal chief will be there tomorrow to cut the ribbon
https://www.struma.com/obshtestvo/premierut-na-republika-bulgariya-boiko-borisov-pristiga-v-bl


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## nabludatel50

This morning, Borisov will start the construction of 17 km from the A6 and then open a new section of A3


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## gogo3o

Nothing official yet, but PM said money will be allocated for a section the *Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse motorway*. They say works would begin this August, but I doubt that. Still, the budget can afford such spending, being so far at a ~1.5 billion euro surplus.


----------



## lampsakos21

nabludatel50 said:


> The newly built boulevard in Varna eases the traffic in the whole city. Of great importance for Bulgaria are such roads, although they are not motorways.
> *1.* A 6-lane road Asenovgrad - Plovdiv was recently opened, which will be fully illuminated and with the locals will be a 10-lane:
> Thanks *mlazarov*
> https://youtu.be/N8q7rtpqNVs
> 
> Nearly, next to the A1 motorway is expected to be built the* new plant of Volkswagen*
> 
> *2.*Under construction is the last section 2 x 2 from Burgas - Sunny Beach.
> 
> *3.**And most importantly* - the construction of a 10-lane, 6,5 km Southern arc of Sofia's ring road starts soon. They connect A1 - A3




About the ring roads of Sofia what is the status and the upcoming planned works ?what are the plans for the whole ring road of Sofia ?


----------



## TrueBulgarian

lampsakos21 said:


> About the ring roads of Sofia what is the status and the upcoming planned works ?what are the plans for the whole ring road of Sofia ?


The Western section of the ring road has been completed. The Northern ring road remains a 2x1 road, however a new Northern bypass highway has been completed for transit traffic, alleviating the South ring road. The Eastern section has been completed as well with some reconstructions of older infrastructure. The Southern section is in progress, however as it is the most densely populated of all 4 it is also the most expensive to build. The section Buxton - Mladost 4 is already a 2x3 road. Currently the tender is being finalized to complete the section Mladost 4 to the Eastern ring road (essentially the remaining part on the Southeastern side), construction should start in the next few months. The Southwestern part is still in early plans, however as the traffic is quite heavy with lots of people commuting to Sofia from Southwestern Bulgaria on a daily basis it remains a priority. I expect that once construction is finalized on the Southeastern section, construction on the Southwestern section should closely follow. The plans for the Southwestern section also include an expensive tunnel, which might slow down the project a bit.


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> Nothing official yet, but PM said money will be allocated for a section the *Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse motorway*.


That is to be the last motorway that Bulgaria will start is it not?, after that one starts there are only expressways to start off thereafter. 

I do know that start <?>>?> finish.


----------



## satanism

Yes and no. The section Vidin-Montana will most probably be with motorway profile so we do not know how it will be designated. It is also not entirely impossible that it turns south after Montana, through Berkovitsa (Petrohan Pass), towards Sofia.

Besides, we have basically the entire A5 to complete and this will be a costly exercise. When they take it out of the freezer that is.

Once we're done with the basic stuff above, there's a list of secondary/hypothetical projects:
1. The mentioned Montana-Sofia connection
2. Sofia Wide Eastern (A2-A1), Western and Southern(aka Rila Motorway) bypasses - yes they all are or have been a thing at one point, so can be resurrected at any time.
3. Extension of A5 to the north
4. Extension of A7(?) southwards
5. New bridge west of Varna (A2-A5)
6. Connection to NMK
7. Proper doubling of the Kresna gorge section of A3 - that would be doubling the northbound carriageway.
8. Third lane on A1 between Novi Han and Plovdiv

Any of those could be realised as a motorway.


----------



## nabludatel50

lampsakos21 said:


> About the ring roads of Sofia what is the status and the upcoming planned works ?what are the plans for the whole ring road of Sofia ?


*Аlready A1, A2, A6 and A3 / toward Greece / are linked by a highway
GREEN = Finito :*










Nordern Tangent ~17 km, East Arc ~9 km : 2 X 3 lines, in some places additional 2 or 2 + 2 locales are built :










West Arc ~9km / half 2 X 3 + 2 + 2 lines, half 2 X 3 / Sout Arc ~ 11 km : 2 X 3 + 2 + 2 lines :










*Start soon : Sout Arc Eas Part - 6,5 km: 2 X 3 + 2 + 2 lines*
In future everywear will be 2 X 3 + 2 + 2 lines


----------



## BG_AT

Hy everybody!

Whats the actual standard Dizel price at the fuel stations like OMV and Shell in leva?


----------



## belerophon

roaddor said:


> ^^
> Well, the hypocricy of the authorities in two-three EU countries must finally end.


Well i did not dig too deep into any data, but what i heard about that, it ths is has indeed political reasons.

For travelling i hope schengen would increase, for crime it is a bad thing, but the clever always find ways.

Italian Mafia fighters warned, that schengen would cause europe a headache, because italian mafia would spread to other countries more easy (it did). 

So it is no good idea to increase schengen to countries as corrupt as romania... but it is not quite fair, because italia has better lobby, romania not. 

For croatia schengen would mean increased controls on the outer EU-border to BIH. I don't think that would be a good idea. But it is also long to wait for BIH to join EU. It might happen finally, but not before 2030. 

Except for those reasons, the growth of EU, Euro currency and schengen is coming to a halt, because the inner problems of europe take most aknowledgement. For me waiting for europe to unify that is bad news. But it is also good news for europe to solve problems before making everything more complicated by more countries joining any of those regulations.

So yes, i accept the blaming of "some 2 or 3 countries" like germany is one. But things are more complicated. 

What caused wars already was not the hypocricy, but others saying, that a country as a whole is a problem... germany is the enemy is to simplified. Things are not simple. There are german hypocritics as well as romanian criminals. But its easier to say the others are guilty. If romanians struggle hard to make their country better, why do they think, that thats easier for germans. Do they think that we all love our government? 

I speak of romanian, because i travelled there often, know people there, about bulgaria i know less. Its just an example...

I personally like to call the others brethren as well, but thats already not always easy with neighbors in my street...^^ :nuts:


----------



## lampsakos21

Thank you very much for the updates you gave me regarding the Sofia’s ringroad  wish i could you offer you a drink  cheers  By the way the Montana-Sofia motorway should be. Agood solution for the Vidin Montana Sofia Corridor. But the issue in matter is that Serbia and Romania they dont have immediate plans to invest into making Highways on the neighbouring areas of Vidin :/ .For example it is very weird that Serbia is not focuing on a highway betwen belgrade and Bucharest through the smederevo ,iron gates of danube area and turnu severin .....the whole area of Romania Serbia and Bulgaria there is very poor in infrastructures


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## nabludatel50

This is because Romania does not want any more road or bridge with either Bulgaria or Serbia. They want cargo to pass through Constanţa - Bucharest - Hungary. The bridge at Vidin reports it as a mistake, so nothing is being built after it on Romanian territory. It is believed that Serbia will not be in the EC for a long time and the cargo will go through Romania. Serbia and Bulgaria can not build a road toward Romania, that goes to nothing. Yes, we will build autobann up to Ruse and Vidin to develop the regions. But we do not expect anything from the Romanian side - there will be no road or bridge.


----------



## gogo3o

BG_AT said:


> Hy everybody!
> 
> Whats the actual standard Dizel price at the fuel stations like OMV and Shell in leva?


2.35


----------



## BG_AT

gogo3o said:


> BG_AT said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hy everybody!
> 
> Whats the actual standard Dizel price at the fuel stations like OMV and Shell in leva?
> 
> 
> 
> 2.35
Click to expand...

Thank you very much!

So around 1.20 EUR. 
correct?


----------



## satanism

Please, do not water down the thread and the whole section with such nonsense. You ask for BGN then ask how much euro is that?! Exchange rates and even the fuel prices are widely available on the internet and Google will even do the work for you.


----------



## sponge_bob

nabludatel50 said:


> This is because Romania does not want any more road or bridge with either Bulgaria or Serbia. They want cargo to pass through Constanţa - Bucharest - Hungary.


The Ruse bridge is likely to require replacement quite soon whether they want to or not. It will be years before an east west motorway is completed from Hungary to Constanta, not before 2027 the way things are going at present. 

Therefore there will be no major alternative to transiting Serbia, for road traffic, as long as Serbia remains stable like it is now. If there is to be a motorway from Sofia to Timisoara via Vidin that is a long way away, further away than an east west motorway in Romania.


----------



## roaddor

belerophon said:


> Well i did not dig too deep into any data, but what i heard about that, it ths is has indeed political reasons.
> 
> For travelling i hope schengen would increase, for crime it is a bad thing, but the clever always find ways.
> 
> Italian Mafia fighters warned, that schengen would cause europe a headache, because italian mafia would spread to other countries more easy (it did).
> 
> So it is no good idea to increase schengen to countries as corrupt as romania... but it is not quite fair, because italia has better lobby, romania not.
> 
> For croatia schengen would mean increased controls on the outer EU-border to BIH. I don't think that would be a good idea. But it is also long to wait for BIH to join EU. It might happen finally, but not before 2030.
> 
> Except for those reasons, the growth of EU, Euro currency and schengen is coming to a halt, because the inner problems of europe take most aknowledgement. For me waiting for europe to unify that is bad news. But it is also good news for europe to solve problems before making everything more complicated by more countries joining any of those regulations.
> 
> So yes, i accept the blaming of "some 2 or 3 countries" like germany is one. But things are more complicated.
> 
> What caused wars already was not the hypocricy, but others saying, that a country as a whole is a problem... germany is the enemy is to simplified. Things are not simple. There are german hypocritics as well as romanian criminals. But its easier to say the others are guilty. If romanians struggle hard to make their country better, why do they think, that thats easier for germans. Do they think that we all love our government?
> 
> I speak of romanian, because i travelled there often, know people there, about bulgaria i know less. Its just an example...
> 
> I personally like to call the others brethren as well, but thats already not always easy with neighbors in my street...^^ :nuts:


Well, I mean if the Schengen zone makes sense, apply it for the whole EU. What are the apprehensions? The criteria are met and a concrete year for the full acceptance of the corresponding contries must be clearly announced. Otherwise, abolish Schengen and return the border control. Could you imagine what the reaction will be? The biggest opposition did not come from Germany, rather from the Netherlands.


----------



## roaddor

lampsakos21 said:


> Thank you very much for the updates you gave me regarding the Sofia’s ringroad  wish i could you offer you a drink  cheers  By the way the Montana-Sofia motorway should be. Agood solution for the Vidin Montana Sofia Corridor. But the issue in matter is that Serbia and Romania they dont have immediate plans to invest into making Highways on the neighbouring areas of Vidin :/ .For example it is very weird that Serbia is not focuing on a highway betwen belgrade and Bucharest through the smederevo ,iron gates of danube area and turnu severin .....the whole area of Romania Serbia and Bulgaria there is very poor in infrastructures


There are plans, even long-term, in Serbia to build an expressway Smederevo-Mokranje/Bregovo. I am sure such a road will gradually come to the agenda. It could even be considered as part of Serbian A3 in the future, from Sid all the way to Mokranje. Bulgaria and Serbia need another major connection in the Timok area and such a road provides exactly that. It will not only bring fresh air to Eastern Serbia and Northernwestern Bulgaria but also cut the distance from Belgrade to Varna by more than 60km.
Another important link between the two countries is to open the so-called St.Nikola pass near Midzhur peak in the Western Balkan mountains. This pass will connect directly Nis, Pirot with Lom and Montana. 

Regarding the Bulgarian-Greek connections, the BCP Makaza/Nimphea has to be broadened and allowed for vehicles up to 12t. A7 (from Ruse) should reach one day this point partly as a motorway, partly as an expressway, partly even as a single carriageway with four lanes. The expansion of the BCP is important by all means for Alexpoli, Nea Karvali/Kavala and the whole Northeastern Greece. It is easier to move through this pass in the lower Rhodope mountains than through the soon to be opened BCP Rudozem/Dimario. I mean for HGV traffic.
Another road with more local characteritics but huge impact especially on winter tourism that has to be opened is Gorna Arda-Paranesti or Smolyan-Drama. 

As for the Bulgarian-Turkish connections, there is also the natural continuation of A5 towards M.Tarnovo. That is from Burgas to Istanbul on the one hand and to the future bridge at Gallipoli on the other hand. Also known as E87.

To summarize, plenty of important projects are pending in Bulgaria and if the country uses the Greek experience of building new motorways, a lot could be implemented in the next decade.


----------



## nabludatel50

sponge_bob said:


> The Ruse bridge is likely to require replacement quite soon whether they want to or not. It will be years before an east west motorway is completed from Hungary to Constanta, not before 2027 the way things are going at present.
> 
> Therefore there will be no major alternative to transiting Serbia, for road traffic, as long as Serbia remains stable like it is now. If there is to be a motorway from Sofia to Timisoara via Vidin that is a long way away, further away than an east west motorway in Romania.


Let us ask ourselves why TIR trucks are currently driving a 150km bad road in Bulgaria to Vidin / Calafat and another 300km via villages in Romania instead of getting on the highway in Serbia where the road is shorter? The answer is CUSTOMS. From Greece to Hungary via Skopje you have 6 customs, from Turkey to Hungary 4. Taxеs, waiting, landing, documents ... these are not hours but days lost.
This is well known in Romania, where they regret having agreed on a bridge to Calafat. Everything could pass through Rousse - and then many, many kilometers in Romania.
A new bridge of Rousse will not exist, this one will remain to a complete disintegration.
Serbia will not be in the EC any more indefinitely, because it comes together with Kosovo, and perhaps the set includes Bosnia, Montenegro as well as Republika Srpska. As it is now, Northern Macedonia is a set together with Albania, and up to 5 years will be accepted.
Sadly, 20 years or more Serbia will be outside the EC.


----------



## Junkie

nabludatel50 said:


> As it is now, *Northern Macedonia is a set together with Albania, and up to 5 years will be accepted.
> Sadly, 20 years or more Serbia will be outside the EC.*


No and no, but it's off topic. Congrats to Bulgaria for recent road plans.


----------



## nabludatel50

An amateur, general look of the roads in development:
1. *- pink - *In the last phase is the expensive passage of Gabrovo ~ 27 km. https://youtu.be/vUpsmIAz94EIt is expected that this autumn will be released, after which a 3 km of Shipka Tunnel will be excavated - *black* . Have a projekt 
East Y - for heavy trucks. Completed, 10 years in operation.
Next stage, perhaps after 3-4 years, is an extension to AM of the short link about 200 km, which is currently somewhere 2x2 - Romania - Bulgaria - Greece. Have a projekt
2. *- brown -* Two heavier roads than highways:
- Bourgas - Sunny Beach / 80% in operation, last lot under construction /
- Plovdiv - Asenovgrad / in operation 2X3, next step +2+2 and the lighting will be supplemented /
3. *- yellow* - For several lots at the same time, the construction of Vidin-Botevgrad highway / no numbering, A8 may be? /. Have a projekt
And then, perhaps in 5 years:
-* Much important - dark blue *- *The wide tour of Sofia, which connects A1, A2, A3 without having to go to Sofia. Have a projekt*. significantly reduces the road Istanbul - Munich and makes it competitive on corridor 10 in Serbia.with *red *- Especially important for Macedonia - Albania - Burgas. The famous Corridor 8 Adriatic - the Black Sea. 
-* purple *- Tunnel ~ 6 km *- black *- and connection A3 from Greece, A6 - with Vidin, which significantly reduces the road Thessaloniki - Nord & West Europa and makes it competitive on corridor 10 in Serbia. No projekt.
*- light blue - *autobann Ruse - Shumen =No projekt.


----------



## gogo3o

Seems that A5 Cherno More motorway is postponed indefinitely. 


> There is no funding for the Black Sea highway, so the actions for its development have been suspended for the time being. This is clear from the answers of the Road Infrastructure Agency (API) to "Capital"
> 
> The highway between Varna and Bourgas is part of Pan-European Corridor 8. Unlike Burgas, which is connected with the capital and southern Bulgaria from Trakia, the northern Black Sea town remains isolated due to the unfinished Hemus highway and the lack of a good connection with the Southern Black Sea coast.
> 
> Under the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" BGN 2.6 million were provided. for preparatory steps on the Black Sea, before the actual design and construction (for which money was not yet foreseen). These steps included an extended conceptual design and plot plans, an environmental impact report, and a report on preliminary archaeological research.
> 
> The API explained that the project with these activities was included in the Operational Program, but its implementation has never started and has been removed from the program. However, the agency does not specify why this happened and who took the decision. "Tender procedures for the project have not been carried out and no funds have been spent on the operational program," they add.
> 
> There is no construction according to the Integrated Transport Strategy until 2030, which was adopted in 2017, the completion of the highway will cost 450 million leva. For possible sources, both European funds and national funding were indicated, but for the time being other projects are priority - like the Hemus highway. At the end of last year, BGN 1.34 billion of the budget surplus for the construction of 134 km was allocated, but it is not clear when they will be ready . Periodically, the idea of ​​private financing of the highway between Varna and Burgas - with a public-private partnership or a concession, has emerged over the years. In 2017, for example, there was a strange meeting of Boyko Borissov with Chinese investors in Burgas in the presence of Mayor Dimitar Nikolov and former head of FSC Stoyan Mavrodiev. Of course, as with all strategic Chinese investments in Bulgaria, this was only at the "meeting" stage. In March this year, the new regional minister, Petya Avramova, said during a parliamentary hearing that there is no investor interest in the highway to make the project a public-private partnership. "With the resources that can be earmarked from the state budget and with the funds under different operational programs, the Road Infrastructure Agency and the ministry are trying to make it possible - as soon as possible, Bulgaria to have a motorway ring like the Black Sea Motorway, is part of this ring, there are good and fast roads and highways in northern Bulgaria as a priority, "Avramova said in the spring. Since no action will be taken in the current programming period until 2020 on motorway planning and national funding is unlikely to be made until next year, its construction is unlikely to begin in the next three or four years as it is necessary to perform all of the above steps before proceeding with real technical design. There are only 10 km away from the Black Sea highway, and in the northern part between Asparuhovo Bridge in Varna and Priseltsi.


source


----------



## Le Clerk

roaddor said:


> Well, I mean if the Schengen zone makes sense, apply it for the whole EU. What are the apprehensions? The criteria are met and a concrete year for the full acceptance of the corresponding contries must be clearly announced. Otherwise, abolish Schengen and return the border control. Could you imagine what the reaction will be? The biggest opposition did not come from Germany, rather from the Netherlands.


Unfortunately, the Dutch (and German) opposition to Schengen enlargement has been revenged by the recent backtrack in the rule of law in Romania (even though the backtrack has been stopped by the recent euro-elections, where the pro EU forces have won by 70% of votes). But Bulgaria and Croatia are not doing better either. Rule of law is the foundation of the EU, but it is not fully acknowledge in the newest member states. Poland and Hungary also have this problem, but they are in Schengen already.

The backtrack evolution in this part of the EU is a very good reason to stall enlargement in all forms (EU enlargement, Schengen enlargement, Eurozone enlargement etc). There is no direct link between Schengen and rule of law but in fact Schengen is a benefit of the EU, and as long as some countries do no understand the EU, some benefits will not be awarded. This is also valid for whatever enlargement wave might be next. It will be postponed indefinitely, especially for other Balkan countries, which are even in worst shape in what means rule of law than Romania, Bulgaria or Croatia.


----------



## bat_naso

Le Clerk said:


> Unfortunately, the Dutch (and German) opposition to Schengen enlargement has been revenged by the recent backtrack in the rule of law in Romania (even though the backtrack has been stopped by the recent euro-elections, where the pro EU forces have won by 70% of votes). But Bulgaria and Croatia are not doing better either. Rule of law is the foundation of the EU, but it is not fully acknowledge in the newest member states. Poland and Hungary also have this problem, but they are in Schengen already.
> 
> The backtrack evolution in this part of the EU is a very good reason to stall enlargement in all forms (EU enlargement, Schengen enlargement, Eurozone enlargement etc). There is no direct link between Schengen and rule of law but in fact Schengen is a benefit of the EU, and as long as some countries do no understand the EU, some benefits will not be awarded. This is also valid for whatever enlargement wave might be next. It will be postponed indefinitely, especially for other Balkan countries, which are even in worst shape in what means rule of law than Romania, Bulgaria or Croatia.


Rule of law? Like when Merkel invited half of Africa to invade Europe via Eastern and Southern Europe, then blamed every country that refused to have its laws broken and allow illegal migrants to cross? Or when companies are allowed to sell second rate, inferior quality products in the East? Or when we are turned into low wage neo-colonies for western companies to "outsource" their operations, while actively working to draw in the best minds out of our countries? All the bullshit about european solidarity, equality, etc is just that. Too bad we dont have politicians that see it as it is.


----------



## Le Clerk

:creeps: That is exactly all the plethora of populist arguments against the EU.


----------



## TrueBulgarian

This is very much off-topic, so maybe we move this discussion to the DLM?


----------



## rudiwien

Le Clerk said:


> :creeps: That is exactly all the plethora of populist arguments against the EU.



Super off-topic, but also really super-rare that I'd agree with Le Clerk - but here I do.. So, "thanks" for bringing up all these polemics against the EU.

What Le Clerk referred to is rather the changes of laws and regulations in Romania (and similar in Poland and others) that cut the powers of supreme courts, that cut the independence of the state attorneys and anti-corruption enforcement units; and that grants basically impunity for corruption cases, clearly aimed at the leader of the government party who can't be prime minister but de-facto has the power, who has been convicted of election fraud.
And yes, because of these, Schengen expansion to Romania seems unlikely; it's one of the last aces other countries have to try to bring reason to Romania in this case, so they won't give up on that to easily..

But yeah, also possible to divert the topic to Merkel and refuges, sure :bash:


----------



## nabludatel50

Bypass of Gabrovo is advancing! thanks to *Shapi*








This will be one of the fast connections across the Balkan Mountain of the A1-A7


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Interesting project. It is visible on Google Earth (5 April 2019 imagery!)

The southern end appears to be some time away from completion, there is partially only a cleared path in the forest.


----------



## nabludatel50

ChrisZwolle said:


> Interesting project. It is visible on Google Earth (5 April 2019 imagery!)
> 
> The southern end appears to be some time away from completion, there is partially only a cleared path in the forest.


Autumn plans to be open. Such things happen in Bulgaria:

*A3* :
*25.02.2019 :*









*6.04.2019 :*









*28.04.2019 :*









*23.05.2019 :*


----------



## gogo3o

The Gabrovo bypass is a _bit_ delayed. It was to be completed in 2015, but the government lost the EU financing and now has to finish it with budget money.

The next stage of the project is the Shipka tunnel, but still it's not announced when it will be built.

--

Here's some update of the *A2 construction*. Ground works have started on ~1 km stretch close to the village of Toros.


hekimqn said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Serbian video, showing the driving conditions to Turkey (via Bulgaria).


----------



## Infam0uS

^^
^^
Here's the drone footage from the A2 stretch near Toros:






+ the monthly update from Yablanitsa - Boaza:


----------



## MichiH

From December 2018:



MichiH said:


> If I get it right, Zheleznitsa – Krupnik is not yet u/c because of trouble with contracts.


It seems to be right but the section is paritally u/c now, see aerials. It seems that construction works were visible from February 2019. I also spot some works when I drove I1 in late May 




gogo3o said:


> API signed the contract for a short, 1.4 km section of A3. It's south of Zeleznitsa tunnel.
> Source





gogo3o said:


> Meanwhile, API signed the design and build contract for Zheleznitsa tunnel. The tunnel is 2km long plus 0.3 access road. The term for design and build is 1060 days. source


I think that the 5.8km Zheleznitsa – Krupnik section should be opened by early 2022 according to the contract deadlines. Correct?

Any news about the 5.1km Blagoevgrad-South – Zheleznitsa section?


----------



## satanism

This is a huge mess.

Agromah is building 3.1 from 359+000 to km 366+000 (This was almost completely opened already, less ~500 meters) and 370+400 to km 376+000, As far as I'm aware they're currently building between KM's 370 and 373, and the last 3 are being redesigned due to changes in the section to the south.

Then, the 366.0-370.4km is split between 3 other companies. The first 700m are built by GBS, then the tunnel itself, from 366.7 to 369.0 is built by GP Group, then the last 1.4km on the south side, between km 369.0 and 370.4 are built by PST. But I don't think there's anything happening just yet on those 5kms between kms 366.0 and 370.4


----------



## MichiH

satanism said:


> Agromah is building 3.1 from 359+000 to km 366+000 (This was *almost completely opened* already, *less ~500 meters*)


Are you talking about the recently opened section? Or about the gap between the current motorway end and Zheleznitsa where you can see earthworks on aerials?


----------



## satanism

The recently opened one, in late May. What they opened is almost completely the north part of their split contract.You can see on the satellite that earthworks continue just a bit further than the IC where the opened part ends.That's KM 366.000, right at the river.


----------



## gogo3o

Anyway, to simplify it, all these short sections will open to traffic only when the Zheleznitsa tunnel is built.


----------



## gogo3o

A2 motorway, Yablanitsa - Boaza. 












































More pics by *hekimqn*: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1235673&page=930


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Struma Motorway near Pernik, northbound. What is the meaning of this sign assembly?


----------



## KristiyanK

This is my best guess:
During the time that the Street View car passed (July 2018) there were repair works on the northbound lanes further north since the construction was rushed and there are constant landfalls:










All of the traffic had to be directed onto the southbound lanes and road agency decided that on work days during those hours that the highway will be closed for commuting traffic between Sofia and Pernik in both south and northbound lanes so that only the transiting trucks could pass. The traffic between Sofia and Pernik during those hours was redirected onto road I-8 through Dragichevo.
So the sign would read:
Transit trucks (yellow signs are used for transit vehicles) continue straight or left.
Cars and motorcycles forbidden to proceed between 10:00 and 18:00


----------



## volodaaaa

https://www.bgtoll.bg/en/

How long has Bulgaria had the evignette system? Is it fully electronic or does it send physical vignette to a certain address?


----------



## gogo3o

It's been fully e- since the beginning of the year. Well, with one exception. Owners of stickers expiring this year, which they'd bought before the implementation of the e-vignettes, do not have to convert them into e-.

Btw, the control seems to be much stricter now. 

The start of the toll system for vehicles above 3.5 t will be postponed however.


----------



## MichiH

volodaaaa said:


> Is it fully electronic or does it send physical vignette to a certain address?


I bought it online but it's only electronic, no sticker!

I think that you still need a physical copy of your vignette registration in Romania so that you can show it in case of a check by police.


----------



## satanism

Doesn't seem it was posted here so be advised:
Due to the construction works on A6 motorway, currently the road between Kalotina and Sofia is closed for 5km, between Dragoman and Slivnitsa. The traffic is being redirected through the old (and very narrow) road. So far
this doesn't seem to be creating large traffic jams, but it could change during the summer season.


----------



## nabludatel50

MichiH said:


> I bought it online but it's only electronic, no sticker!
> 
> I think that you still need a physical copy of your vignette registration in Romania so that you can show it in case of a check by police.


You do not need a paper document. But you still have a copy of the payment document with you.
Control is not carried out by traffic police. In many places you will see the toll - the BG TOLL administrators :










These cars have a reader camera. Take a picture of your car's rear number










So you can not see BGTOL's car, which is usually hidden, you see it only when you have passed it. You will see in the rearview mirror a light on the camera you have checked. When it is a car column, it lights up at very short intervals. You have paid, no one will stop you. BG TOLL to stop and impose fines on the road, which are paid not by hand but by ATM.
It is supposed that the one who tries to escape, tell the police to stop him on the way.


----------



## nenea_hartia

MichiH said:


> I think that you still need a physical copy of your vignette registration in Romania so that you can show it in case of a check by police.


No, you don't need it. As per Romanian National Company of Road Infrastructure Administration's website, when you buy the vignette online:

"The tax invoice along with the electronic vignette will be sent exclusively to your e-mail address. Optionally, you can receive them by express courier at home or at work (but only if there is a written request to do so). Documents acquired this way can be printed and stored on board of your vehicle. Legislation currently in force does not explicitly provide for the submission of these documents in the event of control by the authorities."


----------



## BG_AT

satanism said:


> Doesn't seem it was posted here so be advised:
> Due to the construction works on A6 motorway, currently the road between Kalotina and Sofia is closed for 5km, between Dragoman and Slivnitsa. The traffic is being redirected through the old (and very narrow) road. So far
> this doesn't seem to be creating large traffic jams, but it could change during the summer season.


Hello!

I want to ask somethij about this road:
Which road is this exactly there the cars are being redirected?
I want to search for it in google maps. 

Is it true that this rosd about 5-6km is in a very bad condition ?

Until when will this road stay?


----------



## satanism

it's between Dragoman and Slivnitsa. Runs in parallel to the new one.Never drove it myself, supposedly it is in poor condition. Diversion will stay until late autumn looks like.


----------



## satanism

API has launched tenders for 54km of construction, including doubling of Vidin's bypass to 2x2(preparations for this were done when the first carriageway was constructed) and the construction of the section Vidin - Ruzhintsi in motorway format 2x(2+e). This is the first part of the long waited motorway between Vidin and Montana.

Source in BG: http://www.api.bg/index.php/bg/pres...tvo-i-nadzor-na-54-km-ot-ptya-vidin-ruzhinci/


----------



## blagun

BG_AT said:


> Hello!
> 
> I want to ask somethij about this road:
> Which road is this exactly there the cars are being redirected?
> I want to search for it in google maps.
> 
> Is it true that this rosd about 5-6km is in a very bad condition ?
> 
> Until when will this road stay?


Here is the old road - paved, just to the main road.


----------



## BG_AT

blagun said:


> BG_AT said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello!
> 
> I want to ask somethij about this road:
> Which road is this exactly there the cars are being redirected?
> I want to search for it in google maps.
> 
> Is it true that this rosd about 5-6km is in a very bad condition ?
> 
> Until when will this road stay?
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the old road - paved, just to the main road.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much!

It was very helpful !


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 motorway's construction has started and we have the first drone video from the site.






Credits: skyPoint / mlazarov


----------



## gogo3o

API is going to announce tender for the construction of a section of *Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse motorway* this year. According to the minister, 600 M BGN (>300 M euro) are secured for the project.
source


----------



## ВОДА

> *PM Borissov Seeks Support from the World Bank for the Sofia-Skopje-Tirana Corridor
> 
> July 18, 2019*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The World Bank to support the financing of the Sofia-Skopje-Tirana transport corridor and to take over the supervision. Prime This is for what Minister Boyko Borissov has invited his guest - World Bank Group Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer Shaolin Yang at their meeting earlier this morning.
> 
> *The Bulgarian prime minister said he wanted to see the World Bank finance the enterprise, but also monitor the entire process, because it is of geostrategic importance and will give a powerful impetus to the development of the region, BNR reported.*
> 
> "We have talked with the World Bank Chief for the Sofia-Skopje-Tirana Corridor, “ Borissov announced at the meeting in front of the Bulgarian ambassadors and explained that the financial institution is ready to engage with the supervision of the financing.
> 
> *"We are now facing one of the most important corridors - the World Bank not only finances, but also monitors the process, it is geostrategic," the Prime Minister said at the opening of the Shared Services Logistics Center, in which more than 300 skilled professionals will work. This is the occasion for Shaolin Yang's visit.*
> 
> Bulgaria and the World Bank Group have a sustainable and long-standing partnership that we are continuing to develop today, Borissov assured his guest at the meeting earlier this morning at the Council of Ministers.
> 
> Prime Minister Borissov noted the advantages that make Bulgaria stand out and make it an attractive destination for institutions like the World Bank is its strategic location, the stable political and economic environment, the availability of highly qualified labor, the very good infrastructure.
> 
> Prime Minister Borisov expressed confidence that the establishment of the Center for Shared Services in Bulgaria will have a positive impact on the Bulgarian economy. According to him, this will build on potential in high added value sectors and provide jobs for high-tech specialists, informs the press service of the Council of Ministers.


*Source*


----------



## ВОДА

gogo3o said:


> API is going to announce tender for the construction of a section of *Veliko Tarnovo - Ruse motorway* this year. According to the minister, 600 M BGN (>300 M euro) are secured for the project.
> source


*Map of the motorway projects in Bulgaria*


----------



## bogdymol

Is there an official number of how many km of motorway and expressway is currently in operation in Bulgaria, and how many km are under construction?


----------



## satanism

No, not really. But I can tell you, motorways only, about 810km are in service, about to grow with another 10 in the next couple weeks. As for U/C this is a bit hard to estimate as we have stretches that officially are U/C but in reality are mostly not, because of unfinished expropriations. The realistic number of U/C is about 50km so far, but it can possibly grow significantly by the end of the year. We're talking possibly another 100km or more. 
Overall, completed and U/C motorways number should be approaching 1000km next year. That would leave about 300-400km of unfinished planned motorways.

As for expressways, I can't give you a number. I'd say officialy 0km, although there are many 2x2 stretches that qualify .


----------



## nabludatel50

bogdymol said:


> Is there an official number of how many km of motorway and expressway is currently in operation in Bulgaria, and how many km are under construction?











red - u.c. - 90 km
green - in oper. 807 km
yellow-planed


----------



## satanism

That map is not entirely accurate. Montana-Vidin is to be a motorway too. Also, Ruse-Tarnovo motorway will continue a bit further south to where it's drawn here.


----------



## Infam0uS

Drone footage updates from the A2 section between Yablanitsa and Boaza road junction.


----------



## Capt.Vimes

BG_AT said:


> Hello!
> 
> I want to ask somethij about this road:
> Which road is this exactly there the cars are being redirected?
> I want to search for it in google maps.
> 
> Is it true that this rosd about 5-6km is in a very bad condition ?
> 
> Until when will this road stay?


This is the current condition of that road.


----------



## gmacruyff

Whats that new road being built,next to Varna bus station?


----------



## gogo3o

Vasil Levski Blvd?


----------



## gmacruyff

Yes that's it! (12.40)

We passed by on the way to Bucharest last week!

Is it part of the new E87 or just another route to the bridge?


----------



## gogo3o

AFAIK it´s not assigned to E87, at least not yet. Well, I believe it is mainly an inner thoroughfare, much needed to the city itself.


----------



## gogo3o

17 bids in total are submitted in the tender for 54 km of *Botedgrad-Vidin*, in NW Bulgaria. As it was mentioned, a major part of this section (Vidin-Ruzhintsi) will be 2x(2+e).

source


----------



## nabludatel50

Е 87, Pomorie bypass 2X2
https://youtu.be/gP7tt7mfxGw


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Hello, 
Is the A3 Struma motorway between Deakovo and Slatino closed? In Google maps it's shown in dotted red line.
Thanks!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

This may be relevant: Struma Highway Remains Closed for at Least a Month and a Half


----------



## satanism

Yep, closed due to large fire under one of the bridges. One carriageway may be opened in 2-3 weeks...the other one at least twice that.


----------



## ionutzyankoo

Thanks guys!


----------



## nabludatel50

Аn idiot set the highway А3 on fire :










After the fire - burned columns and much more damage:


----------



## Skopje/Скопје

^^

What are those bags? Trash or?


----------



## satanism

Bags full with plastic. A local business used this spot for temporary storage, ilegally. It's not random trash that accumulated there.


----------



## nabludatel50

*Unique simplicity and ugliness* : hundreds of tonnes of mostly old medicines illegally collected from a nearby recycling facility. This is where the fire started:








TV :https://nova.bg/news/view/2019/08/1...рала-струма-ще-продължи-поне-месец-и-половина


----------



## [atomic]

^^ that looks really bad. Plastics burning creates massive heat. A few years ago there was a fire under a bridge of the german A57 which had to be torn down as a result.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They had a similar fire in Atlanta a while ago, they had to rebuild the bridge!


----------



## Infam0uS

Apart from the fire these days, we also have new great drone content from A3's lot 3.1:






Source: mlazarov / skyPoint


----------



## gogo3o

ChrisZwolle said:


> They had a similar fire in Atlanta a while ago, they had to rebuild the bridge!
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/zzBsY8j.jpg


Basically, that´s going to happen. API will spend 1.5M BGN to reconstruct the viaduct.


----------



## mman2012

What's the location of this mishap? And what's the road used until the repairs are complete?


----------



## nabludatel50

mman2012 said:


> What's the location of this mishap? And what's the road used until the repairs are complete?


So far this is the case: on Friday and Saturday the lane of the motorway in the direction of Greece is open, on the Sunday and Monday the lane of Sofia is open. The other direction of travel goes through a 10 km detour that has traffic jams that last up to 1-2 hours in peak hours.


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 updates (Dragoman - Hrabarsko road junction) (28.08.2019)






Big props to skyPoint / mlazarov who travels all across the country to keep us updated about the latest road construction progress. :cheers:


----------



## Infam0uS

We have fresh new A2 footage as well. (Yablanitsa - Boaza road junction; towards Varna)






The stretch should be completed in the next weeks.


----------



## gogo3o

Gov secured ~140M BGN for a stretch (A1- Mladost) of the *Sofia ring road*.
source


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> a stretch (A1- Mladost) of the *Sofia ring road*.


A new outerer ring or an online upgrade to This ?


----------



## satanism

Upgrade of the existing carriageway. 3+3 and 2+2 access lanes on the side at some places. Basically connecting the two already completed sections on each side.


----------



## mman2012

What is the final (if there's one) project / path for the 3.2 Section of the Struma? 

I understand the huge 15km tunnel plan is dead, are there any real plans / deadlines for this final part of the motorway? 

Thanks


----------



## gogo3o

You can see the project here. Tenders are ongoing, with the project being at risk of losing the EU financing if it's not completed till 2023.


----------



## MichiH

gogo3o said:


> You can see the project here.


Are you serious? Just one carriageway for northbound traffic will be built. It features 2 lanes, partially 3 lanes. There are two tunnels with 2 tubes though. There will be 4 northbound lanes!

That's quite odd...

If memory serves, southbound traffic should remain on the existing route!?


----------



## mman2012

gogo3o said:


> You can see the project here. Tenders are ongoing, with the project being at risk of losing the EU financing if it's not completed till 2023.


Thanks! 2023.... sounds doable to you? Kind of huge workload....hno:


----------



## mman2012

MichiH said:


> If memory serves, southbound traffic should remain on the existing route!?


Found this, in the mean time:

http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/pres...section-struma-motorway-through-kresna-gorge/
http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/pres...section-struma-motorway-through-kresna-gorge/

So apparently full 2x2 construction in two segments 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 and indeed, to be completed in about 4 years witch seams quite fast


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> Are you serious? Just one carriageway for northbound traffic will be built. It features 2 lanes, partially 3 lanes. There are two tunnels with 2 tubes though. There will be 4 northbound lanes!
> 
> That's quite odd...
> 
> If memory serves, southbound traffic should remain on the existing route!?


Yeah, southbound will remain on the existing carriageway which was supposed to be reconfigured a bit. There are some speculations that the northbound one would be just the first c/w and one day we can have another one up there, hence the doubled tunnels.
But this whole project is at huge risk of failure. If the EU funds are lost (which will happen if they don't start literally tomorrow), there won't be any funds to allocate from the budget for this. Moreover it's rumored that Bulgaria will need to return all the money ever given for A3 by the EU.


----------



## Infam0uS

A5 motorway (Priseltsi - Varna) Fully renovated some months ago.


----------



## gogo3o

MichiH said:


> Are you serious? Just one carriageway for northbound traffic will be built. It features 2 lanes, partially 3 lanes. *There are two tunnels with 2 tubes though*. There will be 4 northbound lanes!
> 
> That's quite odd...
> 
> If memory serves, southbound traffic should remain on the existing route!?


Yeah, that's the case. Some tunnels will get twin tubes, I believe in order to meet the safety requirements... It's design and build thou, so what we get might be a bit diff.


----------



## MichiH

^^ But there is another tunnel with one tube only. All tunnels have a length of a little bit more than 1km. Why do only 2 out of 3 tunnels have 2 tubes?


----------



## gogo3o

Idk, this can't be explained. Either way the tunnels will have to meet Directive 2004/54/EC requirements, maybe emergency exits will be sufficient. Twin tubes are excessive IMHO.


----------



## roaddor

Those twin tunnels are total stupidity. They are not going to be used probably in 99% of the time. The only reason for their construction is that sometime in the future a second c/w will be built too and the whole traffic will be taken out of the gorge. However, this will not happen at least in the next 20 years or even more.

As I said before, Bulgaria is wasting huge amount of time building its motorways. This is due mainly to artificial European criteria for keeping the percentage of debt against GDP low. No country is keeping such ridiculous criteria in EU. Not even the bigger ones Germany and France. However, stupid decisions lead to huge loss of time and consequently inefficient construction.


----------



## sponge_bob

gogo3o said:


> Idk, this can't be explained. Either way the tunnels will have to meet Directive 2004/54/EC requirements, maybe emergency exits will be sufficient. Twin tubes are excessive IMHO.


Only longer tunnels legally need an escape tunnel too. It can be a foot tunnel or a second road tunnel. 

My memory of the Kresna east project is 6 or 7 tunnels, mainly rather short ones, and a longer one is maybe 2000m at most. The rock is limestone is it not, rather than something proper hard.

Access roads to get up there will be a problem.


----------



## gogo3o

5 tunnels on the east carriageway + 2 at the city of Kresna bypass on the west one.
http://www.api.bg/files/2315/5058/7040/Struma_LOT_3.2.bg.jpg


----------



## Qwert

Those double tunnels are nonsense. The tunnels are not only expensive to build, they are also expensive to operate. If those second tubes will be operated for 20 years redundantly, the operating costs will pretty much equal to their construction cost, additionally after 20 years they would need at least thorough refurbishment if not reconstruction.


----------



## sponge_bob

Qwert said:


> Those double tunnels are nonsense.


They are there because of a European safety directive after the Mont Blanc tunnel fire some years back and if you do not comply then no EU funds for you. Therefore someone else is paying for the extra tunnels here, in effect, 

In any case only 500m + tunnels will have to be dualled, for safety reasons. That map shows most tunnels are pretty short.I don't think you need 24/7 operations rooms until you hit 2000m lengths but I could be wrong there. I dont see 2000m tunnels on that map.


----------



## Infam0uS

Very extensive drone coverage lately by EyeFromSky. The video below shows the section between Kalenik and Pleven road junction (A2 motorway):






Here is a good map of the sections that have been covered in his videos after the completion of Yablanitsa - Boaza (*dark green*):

Boaza road junction - Dermantsi (15 km) (*pale green*)
Kalenik - Pleven road junction (17 km) (*red*)

PS: Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi (currently U/C) is indicated in *purple* on the map.


----------



## gogo3o

I'm glad that the new project of *A5* includes the bridge and links with A2.


Here's the *Shipka tunnel*
quick image uploader


----------



## nabludatel50

Without stopping, new good news: a *54,5 km* construction contract has been signed from Vidin - Montana expressway. Contract value ~ *180 000 000 ЕUR.*

Deadline for implementation 30 months

Builders :
NORTHWEST LOT 1 DZZD (PST Group EAD, Nivelstroy EOOD, Putinzhenering-M AD, PST Vidin EOOD and PST Sofia


----------



## mman2012

Elections next year? What's up with all these good news


----------



## satanism

Elections were last Sunday with second stage this one. Those are local elections though. Probably not related to what we see as the mass does not pay attention to tender and contract news, but to actual construction start.
Short summary of what has been tendered or contracted this year/quarter

A2 Boaza to I-5 close to Veliko Tarnovo, 134km
A3 Zheleznitsa tunnel and short streches on both sides, about 4-5km
A5 tender for the design of the full length, about 100km
A6 Kalotina to Hrabarsko, ~32Km
Vidin-Botevgrad, total of about 90km contracted
Shipka tunnel -~10km of road incl the tunnel
Sofia ring road between Mladost and A1, 6km
Design of Plovdiv east and south ring upgrade. I think that's about 15km in total length.

In addition there are more projects that are already U/C for longer time such as A2 on the east side and I-9 upgrade around Pomorie.


This is probably just mass up effect from the relative calm period in the previous year or two where most new projects were in preparation and the ones from the previous period were already completed or close to.
But all in all good outlook for road infrastructure in the next 3 years here.


----------



## MichiH

nabludatel50 said:


> Without stopping, new good news: a *54,5 km* construction contract has been signed from Vidin - Montana expressway. Contract value ~ *180 000 000 ЕUR.*
> 
> Deadline for implementation 30 months
> 
> Builders :
> NORTHWEST LOT 1 DZZD (PST Group EAD, Nivelstroy EOOD, Putinzhenering-M AD, PST Vidin EOOD and PST Sofia


Is it this:



satanism said:


> Contractors were chosen by API for 3 sections of I-1 road upgrade approximately here:
> https://www.google.com/maps/dir/43..../@43.6334812,23.0125709,10z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0
> 
> The first section will include doubling the remainder of Vidin bypass which is a 1+1 right now. It will also be fully grade-separated. Some parts of the road are already prepared for a second carriageway.
> Everything further south will be built in motorway standard. If no objections, next step is for the contracts to be signed.


52km of 2x2 grade-separated road? Deadline should be April 2022 if it's count from now. If so, I'd expect start of construction very soon. Or in early 2020?

The length of the 2nd carriageway for Vidin bypass should be 8km: https://www.openstreetmap.org/direc...2.8791;43.9634,22.8527#map=13/43.9911/22.8771 Will the future motorway use the same route as the existing road south of Vidin or will it already split off from the bypass?


----------



## satanism

Yes, that one. It would branch off at some point from Vidin bypass, somewhere between roads 14 and 1411, closer to the latter, and will follow a new route all the way to Montana bypass.Deadline countdown should be running already.


----------



## MichiH

^^ Where does it branch off? Any map available?


----------



## satanism

MichiH said:


> ^^ Where does it branch off? Any map available?












Best I could do sizewise.

I already edited my comment above, somewhere between roads 14 and 1411.According to the documentaiton, it's at km 8.87 of the bypass.


----------



## MichiH

And the end of the contracted section should be at Ruzhintsi half way to Montana. Any info about the remaining section? Is it just one lot or more? Already in tender procedure?


----------



## satanism

No info about it yet. There's also a gap between Vratsa and Montana to be solved, as well as a single cariageway at-grade bypass of Vratsa itself...
Probably procedures are further behind on those stretches. 

I did see the stretch you asked for included in the archaeological tender though.


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## gogo3o

Vidin - Botevgrad is a complete mess. Vidin bypass is going to be 2x2, Vidin - Ruzhintsi 2x2+e (motorway standard). Montana bypass 2x2, Vratsa bypass single carriageway with at-grade crossings, Botevgrad - Mezdra 2x2, at-grade roundabouts.

--

Here's some details of Shipka tunel, single tube with emergency gallery


----------



## nabludatel50

gogo3o said:


> Vidin - Botevgrad is a complete mess. Vidin bypass is going to be 2x2, Vidin - Ruzhintsi 2x2+e (motorway standard). Montana bypass 2x2, Vratsa bypass single carriageway with at-grade crossings, Botevgrad - Mezdra 2x2, at-grade roundabouts.


Not so bad considering:
1. The road junctions of the Vidin Bypass have been constructed at the time of construction of Danube Bridge 2 and will not be touched. The price becomes relatively low.
2. The Vraca bypass is clear that it will double and overpass the railway. 
3. The profile of the most difficult mountain section Botevgrad - Mezdra according to participants in the Bulgarian section is such that whether it is with or without roundabouts, the speed can not be high


----------



## gogo3o

I haven't heard anything of doubling the Vratsa bypass, but API may surprise us, who knows.

Building grade-separated Botegrad - Mezdra is too expensive at the moment atm according to API, and it will stay with the roundabouts in the next decades, but I can't agree the speed and comfort of driving would be the same as if the section would be built in expressway standard.


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 Europe motorway updates (Dragoman - Hrabarsko) (29.10.19) thanks to skyPoint. Very promising progress!


----------



## gogo3o

The gov may allocate another ~400 M euro for A2
source


----------



## Infam0uS

The newly opened A2 (Yablanitsa - Boaza road junction) section from a driver's perspective:






Credits: EyeFromSky / hekimqn


----------



## Infam0uS

We have more interesting content from today:

A2 motorway (Kalenik road junction - Pleven road junction) by EyeFromSky






Additionally, the Bulgarian prime minister was present at the A4 motorway opening ceremony in neighbouring Serbia earlier today and along the way his Facebook page livestreamed the A6 U/C section (Dragoman - Hrabarsko) from the Bulgarian side:


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 motorway updates (Boaza road junction - Dermantsi section) (10.11.2019) by EyeFromSky:


----------



## BG_AT

Hello everybody !

I want to ask how the highway constructions of the A6 from Sofia to the Serbian Border are going on?

When will it be complete finished and which highway parts are the next ones that will be opened and when?


----------



## roaddor

There are plans for sure from A3/Dupnitsa to Deve bair. The point is they are not announced because there are too many kilometers to be built right now and the state cannot cope with everything simultaneously.


----------



## nabludatel50

The road Pernik - Radomir - Kustendil - Gyueshevo - Northern Macedonia and now to Radomir is 2 X 2 but passes through many settlements with a limit of 50 km / h. There are very narrow mountain gorges on it, and you cannot enter the mountains to become a highway. Corridor 8 is not applicable in this section. Most likely, if corridor 8 is to be built, it should go directly from Kyustendil to A3. A connection to Macedonia from Strumica is also more likely if an AM to Strumica on the Macedonian side is built.
To Romania, if a highway is built, it will not be along the Black Sea, and Varna - Dobrich - Silistra.
There are possible future connections to Macedonia and Romania with speedways in *Dark Green*. Romania does not want any new bridges on the Danube. Their desire is for car traffic to go to Constanta and from there to the west to move only in Romanian territory. Bulgaria's interests are completely opposite. We do not want to make a highway to the Black Sea that pollutes our resorts.There are only resorts along the coast and there is no highway there. We want to serve this speedway also the cities of Dobrich and Silistra.


----------



## MichiH

ChrisZwolle said:


> It appears that it works in Chrome but not in Firefox, likely due to tracking of personal data embedded in Google usercontent. I can see the map when I open it in Chrome.


I can see the map with Firefox.


----------



## roaddor

There will be an expressway from Burgas towards the border with Turkey/Strandzha mountain but it will come after A5. A new, broad BCP there will also offload the HGV jams at the Kapitan Andreevo/Kapikule check point.


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## bat_naso

South of Kardzhali there's no 2×2 roadway in most places.


----------



## gogo3o

It's the vision of author, Yasen Ishev. After all, it's not official document adopted by the gov. But in most parts it's better and more detailed than most official infrastructure plans.


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## ChrisZwolle

Google Earth has new imagery near Dragoman, dated 25 October 2019. You can see the new A6 under construction:


----------



## nabludatel50

Thanks *language* :
The bridge over the German River at the 62nd kilometer of the Struma Highway, which suffered a fire on August 13, is open to traffic today, the Road Infrastructure Agency said. This is almost a month earlier than expected.
In the summer, a fire caused by highly flammable materials stored improperly in the facility's easement caused structural damage to the bridge. During the repair, the 17 columns, 2 bolts and 3 end beams affected by the fire were restored.


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## satanism

ChrisZwolle said:


> Google Earth has new imagery near Dragoman, dated 25 October 2019. You can see the new A6 under construction:


Someone already indicated on the local thread that the traffic has been moved back from the old, cobblestone road(Seen at the bottom left corner on that pic) to the 1st carriageway on a 5km strech just south of Dragoman. This is just 5-6 months after construction started.


----------



## gogo3o

That was necessary. The trucks were moving with 20 km/h on the paved road and now with snow falling they could just stop. Props to the contractor who managed to build this section in time. They could finish the entire lot next summer.

--

Here's some development on A2, several small sections are being built at Boaza and Toros. The gov gave the money without tender to a state-owned company without much expertise, which on term is subcontracting the works. Most of the expropriation is not done and still some supervision contracts are needed. As a result construction permits cannot be issued. On top of that a scandal developed a week or so ago - one of the subcontractors was illegally digging material from a river, which is also a protected area. They ran away when they saw the cameras, but still the damage is done and speculations are going on that the material dug from the river was used to build the base coarse of the motorway.


skyPoint said:


> Няма кое знае какво раздвижване в участъка до Торос.


----------



## Infam0uS

Gabrovo bypass updates (01.12.2019) by skyPoint / mlazarov:


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 motorway updates by EyeFromSky (Kalenik - Pleven road junction):


----------



## gogo3o

The gov secured another 1.38 billion BGN (706 M euro) for the completion of the remaining part of *A2, the Veliko Tarnovo - Buhovtsi section*. The money (from the budget surplus, I assume) will be given without tender to the state-owned company Avtomagistrali.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Is that even legal under EU law? Or will Avtomagistrali act like the developer that will tender the construction contracts?


----------



## gogo3o

It's on the edge of being legal. It's kind of in-house contract and it's allowed by the local legislation (which I believe is in compliance with the EU one).

The issue is that Avtomagistrali has to carry all works and cannot hire subcontractors. They however hire subcontractors, because they do not have the expertise, nor the machinery and workers to build in such large scale, and thus they circumvent the law.

No one is to punish them since it's budget money, not EU funds.


----------



## satanism

Following the same scheme as for the previous stretch, the government has allocated the last missing stretch of A2 Hemus, between V.Tarnovo and Buhovtsi to the state-owned Avtomagistrali EAD, in length of 89KM for construction. The contract is worth about 600mil Euro without VAT.
https://www.investor.bg/ikonomika-i...-poslednite-89-km-ot-magistrala-hemus-295383/

In theory we have the whole missing part of A2 between Sofia and Varna contracted now.That's about 240km.


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 motorway updates (Boaza road junction - Dermantsi) by EyeFromSky:


----------



## Infam0uS

Pomorie bypass updates, a dual carriageway section of European route E87:






Once completed, the travel time from Burgas to the resorts up north (Sunny Beach, St. Vlas, Nesebar) will be significantly reduced.

Credits: skyPoint / mlazarov


----------



## nabludatel50

Bypass Gabrovo, before opening
Thanks* SimeonHr*


----------



## nabludatel50

10 large facilities on the Thrace and Hemus highways were repaired in 2019. These are five viaducts on the Thrace highway, four on the Hemus highway. Thanks RAKATA :






Next year a repair of the viaducts at the 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 20th km of Trakia Motorway, the 19th km of the viaduct on the two bridges is planned for Sofia at the 35th km of Hemus Motorway and to Varna on the bridges at the 33rd and 34th kms of Hemus. The supporting columns of the facilities will be repaired at the 19th, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th km / Korenishki Dol /, both bridges at the 37th km of Hemus and at 37 km of Trakia Motorway. It is also planned to repair the facilities at Botevgrad road junctions at 47 km, Pravets at 52 km, and Dzhurovo at 67 km at Hemus Motorway.


----------



## eurorules

> *100 Kilometers Motorways and Expressways under Construction in 2020
> 
> December 27, 2019*
> 
> 
> In 2020 over 100 kilometers motorways and expressways will be under construction, Bulgaria’s Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Petya Avramova told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. The road toll system covering over 6,000 kilometers of republican roads will start functioning until March 1, 2020, BNR reported.
> 
> Regions in Growth Operational Programme 2017-2020 has been fulfilled very successfully and is a good example how towns and villages can look different with the help of EU funds, Minister Avramova went on to say. 238 projects were completed by end November and EUR 750 million was paid to their beneficiaries. A total of EUR 1.3 billion, or 86% of the programme’s budget has been negotiated. Minister Avramova said.


https://www.novinite.com/articles/2...ys+and+Expressways+under+Construction+in+2020


----------



## Stelian

guess no tender for these repairs also,I mean it is the EU who needs tenders.Mrs.Minister says the program is "very successfully fulfilled".there have been hundreds of mischief and corruption cases in that program alone.It is all media dust...


----------



## eurorules

Stelian said:


> guess no tender for these repairs also,I mean it is the EU who needs tenders.Mrs.Minister says the program is "very successfully fulfilled".there have been hundreds of mischief and corruption cases in that program alone.It is all media dust...


There's no tender, I guess due to the fact the company is government owned.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I wonder how they are getting away with that. According to Directive 2014/24/EU, a public tender is required for works over € 5,548,000 and for services over € 144,000.

However there are certain exceptions;
* the contract value is below € 5.5 million
* it is part of a longer-duration contract, these are called a 'blanket purchase order'. For example, if a contract has been awarded to keep infrastructure in good condition for an _x_ amount of years. In such cases any works fall within that contract.


----------



## nabludatel50

ChrisZwolle said:


> I wonder how they are getting away with that. According to Directive 2014/24/EU, a public tender is required for works over € 5,548,000 and for services over € 144,000.
> 
> However there are certain exceptions;
> * the contract value is below € 5.5 million
> * it is part of a longer-duration contract, these are called a 'blanket purchase order'. For example, if a contract has been awarded to keep infrastructure in good condition for an _x_ amount of years. In such cases any works fall within that contract.


It could be that. The company, which is assigned to Hemus A2, maintains highways in Bulgaria.
Even now there are 165 km under construction: A2 - 69 km, E79 Vidin - Botevgrad - 63 km, A3 11 km, A6 -16 km, Sofia Ring- 6 km.


----------



## satanism

Yep, I believe they're doing it according to the second bullet point. Ofc, this is total BS, but it is not illegal. We'll see how it works out.


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## gogo3o

*@Chris * it's one of the exclusions, IMO it goes under art. 12 of the Directive:



> A public contract awarded by a contracting authority to a legal person governed by private or public law shall fall outside the scope of this Directive where all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
> 
> (a)
> the contracting authority exercises over the legal person concerned a control which is similar to that which it exercises over its own departments;
> (b)
> more than 80 % of the activities of the controlled legal person are carried out in the performance of tasks entrusted to it by the controlling contracting authority or by other legal persons controlled by that contracting authority; and
> (c)
> there is no direct private capital participation in the controlled legal person with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the controlled legal person...


The national act that implements the Directive is the Public Procurement Act and it goes with same definition of this exclusion in art. 14 (1) 5.

However, it's not allowed to hire subcontractors. Avtomagistrali has to carry all works, but they do not have the expertise, nor the machinery and workers to build in such large scale, so they hire subcontractors and thus they circumvent the law. The value of the contracts with subcontractors is not published. 

The first scandal came with a subcontractor who was digging base material from the nearby Vit river. The material dug from the river was used to build the base coarse of the motorway, which could be unsuitable for such purpose. It's clear that a lot of the money for the A2 construction will be stolen, but at least let's hope that the quality of the works will be decent.


----------



## Infam0uS

Happy New Year to everybody! We begin the year with fresh updates from the A2 Kalenik - Pleven section:






Credits: hekimqn / EyeFromSky


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## gogo3o

> The government will satisfy the demands of the carriers and the TOLL system will start with lower tariffs. Only the motorways and first-class roads will be covered by the TOLL system, and the second-class roads will be toll-free.
> 
> This became clear after a meeting of the protesting carriers with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, which lasted 3 hours.
> 
> Carriers have announced that the planned protest on January 13 is postponed after these arrangements have been reached.
> 
> The electronic system for collection of distance-based road charges – toll, will be put into commercial operation on 1 March 2020. The agreement between the government and the protesters is as follows:
> 
> For the first 3 monts BGTOLL will collect the tariffs offered by the carriers, which are lower than those accepted. A new meeting will be held after the 3-month trial period to analyze whether sufficient revenue is generated from these tariffs. If this is not the case, new prices will be negotiated.
> 
> The government expects 450 million revenue from the TOLL System for 2020, and according to carriers, this will also be achieved through their tariffs.
> 
> On Monday, there would be more specifics about the new tariffs offered by the carriers when they are released for public discussion, explained Petya Avramova.


https://www.novinite.com/articles/2...garian+Carriers+won't+Protest+on+January+13th

It's a complete joke. The proposed tariff is far below the WB estimates needed to provide enough revenues. For example Euro 5 HGV w/ 4+ axles will have to pay 0.12 BGN/km on motorways and 0.11 on first class roads. Second class road are excluded from the scope of the system despite building cameras and sensors on such roads.

Euro 5 buses w/ 8+ seats are due to pay the incredible sum of 0.02 BGN/km.

Detailed table >>> here


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## ChrisZwolle

0.12 BGN = € 0.06 km per kilometer. By comparison, most other countries charge at least € 0.20 per kilometer and more in the Alps. 

For example in Hungary the truck toll for a 4+ axle semi truck with Euro V or better is 102.34 HUF/km = € 0.31 per kilometer.


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## gogo3o

WB was hired as a consultant for the implementation of the toll system, and in 2015 came with a 200+ pages document. WB recommended prices such as 0.26 BGN for 4+ axle euro V trucks and 0.17 for buses. These were lower compared to other counties, but much better than what is now going to enter in force. 

Also, WB recommended to include second and third class roads in the scope of the system and the government built infrastructure on such roads like cameras and other sensors. Second and third class roads will become free of charge for trucks and buses, they´ll not pay vignette either.

I´m sure that some people in the administration are pissed too, when the tsar solely overrides expert decisions.


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## MichiH

Bulgaria withdraws EU co-financing application for Struma Motorway section lot 3.2 because the project is very important for road safety


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## satanism

Money is going to A6 instead.


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## mman2012

And the financing for the 3.2 Struma? National budget?


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## Infam0uS

Latest updates:

A2 motorway

Boaza intersection - Dermantsi (19.01.2020)






Kalenik - Pleven (18.01.2020)






A3 motorway

Blagoevgrad-south to Krupnik + Zheleznitsa tunnel

Part 1






Part 2


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## Infam0uS

Quarterly update from the A2 Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi section:

(14.09.2019 / 19.01.2020) 

Part 1

September 2019










January 2020










#

September 2019










January 2020










#

etc



















#


----------



## Infam0uS

Part 2



















#



















#



















#


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## Infam0uS

Part 3



















#



















#



















#



















Once completed in late 2020 / early 2021, the section is expected to connect the town of Targovishte with Shumen and Varna by motorway.

Credits: p0ck0 / Morsko oko


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## Uppsala

A6 is interesting! That it is also called Europe motorway is not strange, as it not only links Bulgaria with Serbia, but with Central Europe and Northern Europe. This is the natural motorway up to both Germany and Sweden 

It is interesting that the work on this suddenly now goes so fast. The work in Serbia is now complete. And now the A6 is the only part missing to have direct motorway from Northern Europe to Istanbul.

*Dragoman - Slivnitsa:*
Here it seems to go impressively fast. Although there is still a lot of work to be done, it seems that you can already see the shape of what is becoming a real motorway here.

*SRB border - Dragoman:*
Here I have some questions: Is the border inspection site already remodeled and adapted to be a real motorway across the border? This since Serbia got ready?
So there is a contract to rebuild the road between SRB-border and Dragoman to the motorway, but nothing has yet begun? When should this start?
Is the entire stretch between SRB-border and Dragoman a widening of the old road so it becomes a motorway? Or will some part go on another route?

*Slivnitsa - Sofia:*
This I know is a pretty good road already. But is there no contract yet to begin construction of the motorway here yet? When will they start this build?
Will this be completely new? Or will parts of this stretch also be rebuilt to motorway?


----------



## Infam0uS

Overview of the U/C Sofia ring road section between Mladost and A1 motorway:






Western bypass of Gabrovo (I-5 road) soon to be inaugurated:


----------



## nabludatel50

Упсала If you look closely you will find 2 large sections that are not a highway:
1. Belgrade Bypass
2. Edirne - Istanbul


----------



## arctic_carlos

^^ 
1. Belgrade bypass is not complete, but there's an alternative motorway through the city centre. In any event, the bypass will be completed in 2-3 years.

2. Edirne - Istanbul is a motorway. Maybe you mean Edirne - Bulgarian border?


----------



## nabludatel50

arctic_carlos said:


> ^^
> 1. Belgrade bypass is not complete, but there's an alternative motorway through the city centre. In any event, the bypass will be completed in 2-3 years.
> 
> 2. Edirne - Istanbul is a motorway. Maybe you mean Edirne - Bulgarian border?


1. It seems to me that both A6 lots will be completed faster than the Belgrade bypass. Currently, you have a full detour of Sofia. It is much better to have a full detour in the capital, than the alternative of getting inside the city - Belgrad or Sofia.
2.I'm not sure exactly where, but a large section around Odrin is not a highway


----------



## arctic_carlos

1. All the sections of the Belgrade motorway bypass are currently in service or under construction and it will be totally completed in September 2022, according to the information provided by forumers on the Serbian threads. On the contrary, construction on some A6 sections in Bulgaria hasn't started yet.

In any event, there's already a motorway through the city (you don't need to leave the motorway and drive through streets with roundabouts, traffic lights and so on).

2. I must confess I had to check wikipedia to know what Odrin is . In any case, there's a motorway between Istanbul and Edirne (including Edirne bypass). Just a short 10 km section between the western end of Edirne bypass and the Turkish-Bulgarian border doesn't have motorway standards, but it's a 2x2 road. You can check it on Google Maps or Google Street View. :dunno:


----------



## Uppsala

^^
*Serbia:*
It's a motorway all the way nowadays. The original motorway through Belgrade is the one that goes through the city center. When this motorway was completed in 1970, it was intended that traffic that would only pass Belgrade would also go on this one. The unfinished Belgrade bypass is thus really just a complement.

So anyone going from Central Europe or Northern Europe to Bulgaria or Turkey can drive on just a motorway from HR-border or H-border to BG border.

*Turkey*
It is true that there is still no real motorway from BG-border to Edirne (Одрин or Odrin in Bulgarian). But this part actually looks like a motorway after all. It is shaped like a dual carriageway and looks like a motorway, but has normal level crossings. So it does not quite meet the requirements to be a motorway. But it still feels like a motorway. This part will probably never be fully rebuilt to motorway, in practice it still works as it does in international traffic.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Turkish side of the border crossing has been hugely expanded in recent years.


----------



## MacOlej

Uppsala said:


> ^^
> *Turkey*
> It is true that there is still no real motorway from BG-border to Edirne (Одрин or Odrin in Bulgarian). But this part actually looks like a motorway after all. It is shaped like a dual carriageway and looks like a motorway, but has normal level crossings. So it does not quite meet the requirements to be a motorway. But it still feels like a motorway. This part will probably never be fully rebuilt to motorway, in practice it still works as it does in international traffic.


It reminds me a bit of the discussions we sometimes have in Poland about building motorways (both A and S classes) towards the eastern border.

We've already built A4, in the near future S12 and S17 should follow (all going to the UA-border) as well as A2 a little later on (BY-border). Some people think that it is a waste of money to build high-speed roads that lead to overloaded border crossings. What's the point in saving 15-30 minutes of driving time when you will then wait a few hours to cross the border?

So it seems reasonable that the Turks are developing the crossing itself instead of upgrading the road leading to it.


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## gogo3o

The section in green has detailed design project. I would however prefer to spend the money on other motorways.


----------



## Infam0uS

Timelapse from Plovdiv to Sofia via A1 motorway:






+ A6 motorway updates (Dragoman - Hrabarsko) from skyPoint (25.01.2020):


----------



## nabludatel50

The construction of a section of the future Europe highway between Kalotina and Dragoman border checkpoints has started. The construction of the 14.5-kilometer stretch is funded by funds from the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union and the national budget. The value of the investment is about BGN 165 million. The deadline for implementation is January 2022.

The beginning of the section is after Kalotina border checkpoint at 1 km and ends just after Dragoman at 15 km. Four road junctions will be built along the route - Kalotina, Turmashka Mahala at 8 km, Dragoman-West at 13 km at the intersection with road III-813 Godech-Gaber and Dragoman-Iztok at 14 km.

For the protection of the environment and the implementation of environmental measures at the 4th km, an overpass / ecotunnel / will be built for large mammals with a width of 40 m with soil cover, allowing the planting of trees and a 3-meter dense noise barrier reducing the light and noise impact of passing cars.

The contractor of the project is "STRABAG BPA" DZZD, with participants: "Strabag" EAD, "Strabag Sp. Z oo, Poland" and "Bituminous GmbH-Bulgaria" EOOD. The value of the contract is about 165 million. The Construction Supervision will be carried out by the Supervision Kalotina - SOP, which includes TRANSCONSULT-BG OOD and PETINVEST-ENGINEERING AD. Their contract is for 3.7 million BGN.

The route of the European motorway between Kalotina border checkpoint and the Sofia ring road is 48 km long and is divided into three sections. Construction of the Dragoman-Slivnitsa section, 17 km in length, began last May and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The construction of the two sections involves the modernization of the existing first-class I-8 road between Kalotina and the town of Slivnitsa and its extension with a second lane to the main gauge. The third section from the town of Slivnitsa to the connection with the Northern Velocity Tangent, 16 km long, will cross a new route. The technical draft for the section is currently being prepared.


----------



## Infam0uS

Monthly drone coverage of A2 motorway by EyeFromSky (Kalenik - Pleven) (15.02.2020):


----------



## roaddor

^^
Stop uploading these videos which bring no useful information whatsoever. When the constructor obtains the building permits, deploys more machinery and really starts constructing the section on a larger scale, then it makes sense to show, however, some real progress. This is total nonsense now even for a local guy, let alone for a foreigner.


----------



## mman2012

roaddor said:


> ^^
> Stop uploading these videos which bring no useful information whatsoever. When the constructor obtains the building permits, deploys more machinery and really starts constructing the section on a larger scale, then it makes sense to show, however, some real progress. This is total nonsense now even for a local guy, let alone for a foreigner.


I am from Romania and I disagree.


----------



## Infam0uS

roaddor said:


> ^^
> Stop uploading these videos which bring no useful information whatsoever. When the constructor obtains the building permits, deploys more machinery and really starts constructing the section on a larger scale, then it makes sense to show, however, some real progress. This is total nonsense now even for a local guy, let alone for a foreigner.


And why would I do that? Are you a moderator or what? If you have objections, I already told you what you need to do some days ago. Don't bring up your road obsessions and useless flaming from the Bulgarian section here.

Here's the latest update from A2 motorway (Boaza - Dermantsi) (16.02.20):






It's more than obvious for everybody that these sections are in their early stages, but this doesn't mean we can't post monthly updates from them. :nuts:


----------



## roaddor

^^
I don't need to be a moderator, dude, to share an opinion. The Bulgarian section (the local one) is not managed correctly for quite some time now. Those in charge already know about it. 

Regarding the videos, this is no meaningful information. They are hanging there for several months just waiting to get permissions. Some scarce earthworks which even do not make a kilometer-kilometer and a half taken together. What can be observed in such type of updates? Almost nothing! When they start building the whole section (16-17km), then post the actual progress when there is such. Or you can leave the owners of the videos to do that themselves.


----------



## nabludatel50

From yesterday 17.02, the toll system cameras are working and the fines are being imposed in large numbers: source https://www.bgtoll.bg/ : 690 are vehicles that have been found by the electronic toll collection system to run on the Republican road network without an e-vignette. Data are at 5pm on Monday. At the same time, 59 vehicles were stopped by mobile toll control teams and paid a compensatory fee to avoid higher fines.

For other offenders, at the end of the day, if they are not stopped in the meantime for verification, the system will issue an electronic slip. Automatic enforcement through the cameras of the toll system has begun today. It aims to discipline consumers so that they are not penalized.



The electronic fiche will be mailed to the addresses of the owners of the respective vehicles. They will have 14 days from receipt of the slip to pay the compensation fee by bank transfer. It is 70 BGN for cars, 125 BGN for vehicles between 3,5 t and 12 t and 175 BGN - for those over 12 t.

In case this does not happen and the electronic slip comes into force, the fines are BGN 300 for cars up to 3.5 tonnes and BGN 1800 for heavy goods vehicles.

The electronic fiche will be canceled upon payment of the compensation fee within the time limit, as well as in cases where the vehicle is declared wanted or the law does not require payment of a toll.

We remind drivers that the validity of e-vignettes, including those issued through the Social Assistance Agency, as well as those of pre-registered vehicles, can be checked on the website www.bgtoll.bg.

Drivers must be careful when entering vehicle data, whether in person or with the assistance of an official.

Responsibility for incorrectly declared data on the registration number of the vehicle, its category or the period of validity of the vignette fee lies with the owner or the user, and in the case of incorrectly declared data, the due vignette fee is not considered paid for the vehicle . Adjustments to the electronic toll collection system are not possible.

The data can be entered in Cyrillic or Latin, as long as it corresponds graphically to the data from the vehicle coupon. Dashes, spaces, or other characters are not written. The zero sign (0) and the letter O are not interchangeable.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The 'vehicle coupon'. What is that? The registration? The license plate?


----------



## Capt.Vimes

Registration papers of the vehicle. 










If i read it correctly, you should put in the system 1RDW01.


----------



## gogo3o

A2, Buhovtsi - Belokopitovo


skyPoint said:


>


----------



## gogo3o

Toll system became operational








source

Ground works began at Dragoman - Kalotina, *A6* motorway








More pics by 7588: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1517032&page=232


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## SevenSlavicTribes

Infam0uS said:


> Struma motorway updates:


3.1. Blagoevgrad - Simitli











old video from 3.3.


----------



## The Wild Boy

Are they going to open Lot 3.2 and 3.1 in the same time, or will they open them separately?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Are they going to open Lot 3.2 and 3.1 in the same time, or will they open them separately?


No. 3.1. will be ready long before 3.2.

actually 3.2. has two separate sections 3.2.1. and 3.2.2.

3.2.1. eastern section (direction North) - blue
3.2.2. western section (direction South) - red










ДЗЗД „АПП ЛОТ 3.2.1“ ще строи 13,2 км от АМ "Струма" през Кресненското дефиле

blue section - 13,2 km - 600 million leva (306 million euro) - 1556 days for construction

this is the landscape


----------



## mman2012

what's the estimated completion date for each 3.1 and 3.2?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

mman2012 said:


> what's the estimated completion date for each 3.1 and 3.2?


3.1. - short before the general elections in 2021
3.2. - short before the general elections in 2025


they plan to open part of 3.1. (from 359+000 to 366+000) at the end of this year and to bypass Blagoevgrad


----------



## sponge_bob

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> 3.1. - short before the general elections in 2021
> 3.2. - short before the general elections in 2025


Both 3.2.1 AND 3.2.2 BEFORE the end of 2025????


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

sponge_bob said:


> Both 3.2.1 AND 3.2.2 BEFORE the end of 2025????


It was a joke!
Nobody really knows when 3.2. will be ready.
What we know is that after a tender they have chosen a contractor for 3.2.1. for 1556 days (but I think the contract is still not signed)
3.2.2. is much easier because it is actiually just an upgrade of the existing main road.

3.2.2. is one of the most dangerous roads in Bulgaria with lot of frontal crashes.


----------



## The Wild Boy

So now are they choosing the red or the blue variant?
I'm assuming both will have an interchange with Simitli that goes towards Bansko, right?


I just saw. Are they really going to upgrade the existing road and make it 1 way, while they build another route for vehicles going the other way. 
But why? This is a really dumb idea. Why can't they already build a completely new highway?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> So now are they choosing the red or the blue variant?
> I'm assuming both will have an interchange with Simitli that goes towards Bansko, right?
> 
> I just saw. Are they really going to upgrade the existing road and make it 1 way, while they build another route for vehicles going the other way.
> But why? This is a really dumb idea. Why can't they already build a completely new highway?


MONEY

850 million leva for this project
vs
1.200 million leva for a new motorway

People from Northern Bulgaria already hate "Struma" calling it Sofia-Thessaloniki summer holiday motorway.


----------



## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> 3.2.2. is one of the most dangerous roads in Bulgaria with lot of frontal crashes.


I drove the road from the Greek border to Blagoevgrad exactly a year ago (well, tomorrow May 26). It was on Sunday though. Nice road, nice landscape!


----------



## sponge_bob

The Wild Boy said:


> I just saw. Are they really going to upgrade the existing road and make it 1 way, while they build another route for vehicles going the other way.
> But why? This is a really dumb idea. Why can't they already build a completely new highway?


Yep, for now anyway.  The blue route will be partially full profile because the tunnels (4 or 5 of them on that sector) will be twin bore tunnels with 4 lanes between them.

Who knows, when the blue segment is _finally under construction_ (I hope by this year) someone may then decide that upgrading the blue section to full 2+2 is cheaper than rebuilding the red bit down below in the gorge to a safer 2 lane road for the southbound traffic,


----------



## The Wild Boy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> MONEY


Such a


SevenSlavicTribes said:


> MONEY


In my country, we have a similar situation, where the "highway" from Skopje to Veles (well Katlanovo to Veles) is still going through a big cliff (gorge) one way, but it's only 2 lanes, there's a lot of curves and the speed limit at most segments is funny 60 km/h. 
It's one of the most dangerous "highways" in my country, and they made a huge mistake. When they were building the segment from Veles to Skopje, which you can notice is an actual highway that goes over the big cliff, has lots of tunnels, viaducts and bridges, has a hard shoulder (emergency lane), and doesn't have 60 km/h speed limit. They have made a mistake even since Yugoslavia, and now nobody is willing to make a new highway parallel to the existing one that goes from Veles to Skopje. 

What they are also going to do here is a really dumb idea. Vehicles will have to drive with a max of 80 km/h, there probably won't be a hard shoulder, only on the new segment, and i don't even need to say that this road goes through towns and villages, so for me this is one dumb and stupid decision that the Bulgarian government has made. 

If you ask me, I'm against this plan and they should make a completely new highway going through Kresna Gorge. 
How could we do it with Demir Kapija Gorge (Demir Kapija - Smokvica Highway), and Serbia with the Grdelica Gorge. Both were projects that were really hard to do. They were once deemed impossible, but now there's proper highways with viaduct, tunnels and bridges running through, and it's all fine. 
If the Bulgarian government considers this as their top priority project, then they should make a proper highway connection. If my country, and Serbia could do it. If even Bosnia, a country with a lot of rough landscape, lots of mountains can build a lot of proper highways, then why can't Bulgaria?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

First of all both directions will be full motorway with hard shoulder.
Second there are no villages in the Kresna gorge and Kresna itself will be bypassed.
The Bulgarian government is under pressure from the European comission, from the ecologist lobby, from the local population and from the construction business.
So this is the (lame) compromise.


----------



## The Wild Boy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> First of all both directions will be full motorway with hard shoulder and no special speed limits.
> Second there are no villages in the Kresna gorge and Kresna itself will be bypassed.


Oh i can see now. 
So the road in the direction from Sofia, will still run through the gorge, but it will also have a hard shoulder, and it will probably have something like a 100 to 120 km/h speed limit despite the many curves? 
Or will they turn the whole blue section into a proper highway, and abandon the red variant?


----------



## sponge_bob

The Wild Boy said:


> In my country, we have a similar situation, where the "highway" from Skopje to Veles (well Katlanovo to Veles) is still going through a big cliff (gorge) one way, but it's only 2 lanes, there's a lot of curves and the speed limit at most segments is funny 60 km/h.
> It's one of the most dangerous "highways" in my country, and they made a huge mistake. When they were building the segment from Veles to Skopje, which you can notice is an actual highway that goes over the big cliff, has lots of tunnels, viaducts and bridges, has a hard shoulder (emergency lane), and doesn't have 60 km/h speed limit. They have made a mistake even since Yugoslavia, and now nobody is willing to make a new highway parallel to the existing one that goes from Veles to Skopje.


Under EU law, since the Mont Blanc tunnel fire, tunnels have to be twin bore if longer than 300m or 500m (one of) . Anyway the bad hald of the Macedonian M1 was built by a much poorer country called Yugoslavia at the time when money was tight, I doubt Macedonia would build it today! There are plenty of non upgraded substandard shiteheaps in richer countries too. 



> What they are also going to do here is a really dumb idea. Vehicles will have to drive with a max of 80 km/h, there probably won't be a hard shoulder, only on the new segment, and i don't even need to say that this road goes through towns and villages, so for me this is one dumb and stupid decision that the Bulgarian government has made.


Because everything to do with the Kresna Gorge has attacted noisy rentacrowd ecomentalists all over Europe.  The Bulgarian government was considering a 15km tunnel for many years,_ the longest motorway tunnel in Europe that would have been_ and through a violent earthquake zone, because of all the noise from these ecomentalists.

The one legged blue route is a better option than the tunnel, lets hope it is developed to its full potential in time but for now it is a case of do something....please just do something!


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Oh i can see now.
> So the road in the direction from Sofia, will still run through the gorge, but it will also have a hard shoulder, and it will probably have something like a 100 to 120 km/h speed limit despite the many curves?
> Or will they turn the whole blue section into a proper highway, and abandon the red variant?


Their plan is to build the blue section first. Than to upgrade the red section. And one sunny day, when Bulgaria is rich enough to double the blue section into a full motorway.
This is a typical Bulgarian plan.
The first option was to build a 15 km tunnel. Considering the cost for the tunnel, the earthquakes in the area and the driving habbits in the region this plan was abandoned...


----------



## sponge_bob

I suspect they will build the blue section and then upgrade the blue section in future rather than upgrade the red section. The ecomentalists will go mad whatever Bulgaria does. Remember that upgrading the red section will involve widening, some straightening, and lots of wildlife overpass structures, and just to keep the ecomentalists happy probably a bicycle lane as well.


----------



## The Wild Boy

Isn't EU fully funding this project.

Just have a look at these beautiful highways:









This is how highways are properly built bypassing gorges, mountains, hills, etc... 

Why wouldn't Bulgaria have money, when my country and Serbia had, and they both finished these parts which previously did not have highways running through them.


----------



## sponge_bob

The Wild Boy said:


> Isn't EU fully funding this project.


The EU no longer "Fully" funds projects, the last one of those was the Sofia ring 4 years ago and since then funding is max 85% dropping to 65-70% after 2023.


> Why wouldn't Bulgaria have money, when my country and Serbia had, and they both finished these parts which previously did not have highways running through them.


Because Sofia has a lot of competing demands for motorways and there are mountains elsewhere in Bulgaria as well, not just on this bit of A3. As for proper mountain motorways this one is 40 years old....and in Bulgaria.





[/quote][/QUOTE]


----------



## mgk920

The Wild Boy said:


> So now are they choosing the red or the blue variant?
> I'm assuming both will have an interchange with Simitli that goes towards Bansko, right?
> 
> 
> I just saw. Are they really going to upgrade the existing road and make it 1 way, while they build another route for vehicles going the other way.
> But why? This is a really dumb idea. Why can't they already build a completely new highway?


Some USA interstates were built in this way, too. It costs a lot less to build one new two-lane roadway that it does two.

Mike


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Isn't EU fully funding this project.
> 
> Just have a look at these beautiful highways:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is how highways are properly built bypassing gorges, mountains, hills, etc...
> 
> Why wouldn't Bulgaria have money, when my country and Serbia had, and they both finished these parts which previously did not have highways running through them.


The Serbian motorway goes all the way through the gorge. This is imposslible in our case, because of fierce ecofundamentalist opposition


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

sponge_bob said:


> The EU no longer "Fully" funds projects, the last one of those was the Sofia ring 4 years ago and since then funding is max 85% dropping to 65-70% after 2023.
> 
> Because Sofia has a lot of competing demands for motorways and there are mountains elsewhere in Bulgaria as well, not just on this bit of A3. As for proper mountain motorways this one is 40 years old....and in Bulgaria.


[/QUOTE]

Yes. Bulgaria has such a motorway since 40 years and nobody really cares. Serbia builds something much easier and celebrates like this:










Serbia has financed the 23 km section with a 400 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank.
Bulgaria is building its motorways either with EU subsidies or with money from the state budget. Never with loans.
Different mentality. Serbia and Bulgaria have both a population of about 7 million people.
The Serbian government debt is 24 billion euro and the Bulgarian state debt is 12 billion euro. 

Another thing is the importance of the motorway for Serbia. Since they have no sea ports the port of Thessaloniki is
vital for their economy. For Bulgaria Struma is just one option.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Struma motorway tunnel with orthodox icon


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Gabrovo bypass
national road I-5 / E-85


----------



## The Wild Boy

Is this map correct regarding the Hemus Motorway? 
Which sections are yet to be built/finished? 
And when will be the interchange from this motorway to the Romanian border? (once it gets finished)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> View attachment 156344
> 
> Is this map correct regarding the Hemus Motorway?
> Which sections are yet to be built/finished?
> And when will be the interchange from this motorway to the Romanian border? (once it gets finished)


yes, it is correct.

lot 1, 2 and 8 are currently under construction
lot 3, 4 and 5 construction expected soon (project works and compulsory purchases of land)
6 and 7 are in early stage of project works










actually they made some changes
this is the last version


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> And when will be the interchange from this motorway to the Romanian border? (once it gets finished)



















I don't know if they will build the blue or the red variant. There is a large ancient Roman town in the area and it depends on the archeology.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Sofia ring road southern arc (A1 Trakia motorway - Mladost district)


----------



## No1

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> Yes. Bulgaria has such a motorway since 40 years and nobody really cares. Serbia builds something much easier and celebrates like this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Serbia has financed the 23 km section with a 400 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank.
> Bulgaria is building its motorways either with EU subsidies or with money from the state budget. Never with loans.
> Different mentality. Serbia and Bulgaria have both a population of about 7 million people.
> The Serbian government debt is 24 billion euro and the Bulgarian state debt is 12 billion euro.
> 
> Another thing is the importance of the motorway for Serbia. Since they have no sea ports the port of Thessaloniki is
> vital for their economy. For Bulgaria Struma is just one option.


Yes it is true, Bulgaria build infrastructure with help of Brussel and EU funds, Serbia not. It is question for Brussel and EU why Serbia have more motorways then Bulgaria and Serbia do more to conected Europe from west and north to south because Serbia conected major borders crossings on Pan-European corridor 10 which Bulgaria not so much even Serbia is not part of EU and Bulgaria is.
I will not talk about monetary policy of both countries and level of debt or why Bulgaria have 3 times more basic money supply and creditt(Mo and M3) than Serbia per GDP i want to tell that for Serbia is not so important Thessaloniki port, it will be much more important Pireus-Athens in future but Serbia also use ports in Kopar(Slovenia) and Rijeka(Croatia) all highways conected and by railway Bar port in Montenegro and by river(Danube) Constantia port on Black sea, it is more and more river ships and barges go from Danube ports in Serbia like Novi Sad and Pancevo to Constantia because most main industrial center in Serbia situated are on big navigable rivers like Sava, Danube or Tisa. It is cheapest way of transport and there is canal in Romania which conect Danube and Constantia port on Black sea which short very much time for transport. So you from Belgrade can go by rivers and seas to Rotterdam(one of greates ports in world), Vienna or Dusseldorf(on of greates ports in europe and biggest inland port) on west and north or Instanbul or Moscow on south and east.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

No1 said:


> Yes it is true, Bulgaria build infrastructure with help of Brussel and EU funds, Serbia not. It is question for Brussel and EU why Serbia have more motorways then Bulgaria and Serbia do more to conected Europe from west and north to south because Serbia conected major borders crossings on Pan-European corridor 10 which Bulgaria not so much even Serbia is not part of EU and Bulgaria is.
> I will not talk about monetary policy of both countries and level of debt or why Bulgaria have 3 times more basic money supply and creditt(Mo and M3) than Serbia per GDP i want to tell that for Serbia is not so important Thessaloniki port, it will be much more important Pireus-Athens in future but Serbia also use ports in Kopar(Slovenia) and Rijeka(Croatia) all highways conected and by railway Bar port in Montenegro and by river(Danube) Constantia port on Black sea, it is more and more river ships and barges go from Danube ports in Serbia like Novi Sad and Pancevo to Constantia because most main industrial center in Serbia situated are on big navigable rivers like Sava, Danube or Tisa. It is cheapest way of transport and there is canal in Romania which conect Danube and Constantia port on Black sea which short very much time for transport. So you from Belgrade can go by rivers and seas to Rotterdam(one of greates ports in world), Vienna or Dusseldorf(on of greates ports in europe and biggest inland port) on west and north or Instanbul or Moscow on south and east.


Serbia had more motorways than Bulgaria in 1990 so nothing changed. The backbone of the Serbian motorway network was build in Yugoslav times. The difference in the total length at the end of 2019 was about 150 km. Since Yugoslav times motorways are more important for Serbia than railways. In Bulgaria it was railways over motorways. Serbia has only 1.278 km of electrified railway tracks vs. 2.870 km in Bulgaria. Not to mention the air traffic infrastructure where Bulgaria has 4 international airports vs. 2 in Serbia. Considering the political relations between Serbia and Croatia and the political ties between Serbia and China the ports of Thessaloniki and Pireus are strategically more important than Rijeka.


----------



## No1

Yes, nothing change. Bulgaria can be in EU and nothing change.
It is not true that most of today serbia highways is built during Yugoslav times. Today Serbia have 925km of full highways(excluding Kosovo, with Kosovo more than 1 000 km) and 33km of 2x2 motorways. Until 1991 there was no more than 350km full highways in Serbia(from today croatin border to Belgrade and from Belgrade to Nish). During ninties because of wars and sanctions there was not too much building of anything in Serbia.
Bulgaria have more airports because Bulgaria live from tourism and Serbia not so much. Also there is more airports in Serbian than just 2.
Political talk is one story but old economic conection between former Yugoslav states are different. Serbia very much trade with former yugoslav republics. I think Serbia have trade surplus with them all, including slovenia and croatia, with Bulgaria also, if i remember date from 2017 maybe is something now different. And like i said Constantia and Bar are very important ports for Serbia.
Oh, public debt in Serbia is bigger than in Bulgaria but interesting is that foreign debt of bulgaria is bigger than serbian.
Like you said, different thinking.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

No1 said:


> Yes, nothing change. Bulgaria can be in EU and nothing change.
> It is not true that most of today serbia highways is build during Yugoslav times. Today Serbia have 925km of full highways and 33km of 2x2 motorways. Until 1991 there was no more than 350km full highways in Serbia(from today croatin border to Belgrade and from Belgrade to Nish). During ninties because of wars and sanctions there was not too much building of anything in Serbia.
> Bulgaria have more airports because Bulgaria live from tourism and Serbia not so much.
> Political talk is one story but old economic conection between former Yugoslav states are different. Serbia very much trade with former yugoslav republic. I think Serbia have trade surplus with them all. And like i said Constantia and Bar are very important ports for Serbia.
> Oh, public debt in Serbia is bigger than in Bulgaria but interesting is that *foreign debt of bulgaria is bigger than serbian*.
> Like you said, different thinking.


This is not the Bulgaria vs. Serbia thread but
Bulgaria has a larger private sector and is more trusted than Serbia on the credit market due to better credit rating.

S&P
BBB+ (Bulgaria)
BBB
BBB-
BB+ (Serbia)


----------



## No1

OK


----------



## No1

And for the end i want to show to my friend Seventribes something he don't know.
This is map of river waterways in Europe










Serbia have more waterways in lenght km than Bulgaria even Serbia don't have exit on open sea but Serbia have big number of navigable rivers and canals in north part of country. Maybe most in Central and Eastern Europe per capita,






List of countries by waterways length - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





And system of navigable rivers and canals like Danube-Tisza-Danube which traverse Vojvodina is not much less then system of canals and rivers in Netherlands. Vojvodina was one huge swamp in past because several big europeans rivers become tributary of Danube in Vojvodina like Sava and Tisza but also Tamish and Big Morava. So there was wind mills which not only mill grain but also pump water out of very fertial land like in Netheralnds.

Vojvodina wind mills:










Because much part of Vojvodina is under strong wind wich is called Koshava, that wind blow from Iron Gates like hair dryer and that is reason why there is big sand area and one of the greates in Europe-*Deliblato Sands*









Deliblatska Peščara - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





*Košava (wind)*





Košava (wind) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org






Very good for wind generators in modern times, Romanians know that also.
Serbian wind generators in that area







So Serbia is not so land lock.
And that is from me.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Nice windmills, but I still believe, that the Serbian motorways toward Greece and toward Bulgaria were upgraded because brother Xi wants to bring more Chinese goods to Central Europe and because more and more transit cargo is using the bridge between Bulgaria and Romania at Vidin bypassing non-EU Serbia.


----------



## No1

Not problem for me. Also that route is longer(more fuel is needed, more money is needed) and is not highway all along like through Serbia and N. Maceodonia to Greece. Someone will lose money to make highways through Carparhian and Balkan-Rhodope mountins. But that is OK, good road and conections are good fo Haemus(Balkan). Serbia will also joined in Vidin becuase there is plan in Serbia for motorway from west Serbia to Bor, maybe Negotin. It is good.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Nice windmills as I said.

Installed wind power capacity by country:
Bulgaria - 691 MW
Serbia - 500 MW


----------



## No1

It si good for Bulgaria. Much more needed than Serbia which have big hydropower stations like Iron Gates 1 and 2 which bulgaria don't have.
*Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station*








Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





You know well that bulgaria must use nuclear power for electricty generation, 1/3 of demand of bulgaria coming from NPP.
Serbia don't need that.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

No1 said:


> It si good for Bulgaria. Much more needed than Serbia which have big hydropower stations like Iron Gates 1 and 2 which bulgaria don't have.
> *Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station - Wikipedia
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> en.wikipedia.org


Installed hydro power capacity by country:
Bulgaria - 2.713 MW
Serbia - 2.936 MW

Tell me now something about the big fat Serbian Nuclear Power Plant.


----------



## No1

My friend it is not about instal power but how much power can translate in energy to your home.

4.224 TWh for Bulgaria





Hydroelectricity in Bulgaria - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





Around 10 TWh in Serbia from HEP.
So wind is more needed for Bulgaria and if russians stop transfer of urainum to Kozloduy, it is problem for Bulgaria.
*TVEL and Kozloduy NPP (Bulgaria) have contracted supplies of nuclear fuel through 2025*





Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation ROSATOM global leader in nuclear technologies nuclear energy


Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation ROSATOM global leader in nuclear technologies nuclear energy NPP engineering NPP construction energy generation nuclear fuel R&D back-end nuclear medicine power engineering nuclear icebreaker fleet wind power plants uranium mining uranium enrichment




rosatom.ru





On other hand, Serbia is mostly self sufficient in electricity production without NPP.

And in how situation are mountins rivers in Bulgaria?



> Bulgaria must take urgent control measures on small hydropower to avoid EU sanctions
> Bulgarian authorities need to take urgent measures to effectively control small hydroelectric power plants.











Bulgaria must take urgent control measures on small hydropower to avoid EU sanctions


Lack of control sometimes leads to the near extinction of species




wwf.panda.org





We in Serbia start the same path but than stop.


----------



## roaddor

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> They will be forced by heavy traffic.


Wrong again. The highest priority in Romania is A1 Sibiu-Pitest which is already U/C. But it will take the whole next period 2021-2027 to be completed. Probably even more time. This is with EU funding together the expensive ring of Bucharest.
A3 is also with higher priority than A6. Through the Carpathians! Some part is already started to be built there if I remember correctly. We go on, A8 is with higher priority than A6. Again difficult terrain through the Carpathians! A5 Brasov-Bacau higher priority than A6, again through the Carpathians! Let's not forget A7 which is luckily not through the Carpathians  but a long motorway towards Siret/UKR border.
So A0, A1, A3, A5, A7 and A8 are all more important for Romania than A6. Lugoj-Calafat doesn't even have a feasibility study yet! If you don't have any arguments, do not write stupidities. Romanians don't care about the bridge at Calafat now, but they will get interested if Craiova is included in the scope of a new bridge at Corabia. It opens hugely Romania both to the Southeast and Southwest as I mentioned before. With the top 5 Romanian cities using the very same bridge, in addition to the international traffic. Sibiu-Pitest and Craiova-Pitest are U/C, guess what will happen with an expressway Craiova-Pleven/A2... There will be continuous motor/-expressway from Cluj to Pleven with only a small two-lane section from Slatina to Caracal. On the other hand the route Lugoj-Drobeta coincides for both bridges towards Vidin and Corabia. Afterwards south of Pleven in Bulgaria it is obvious how the route is developing through the future tunnel Shipka in the central Balkan Mountains. Such a bridge at Corabia will be paid off by the taxes in no more than 10 years.


----------



## roaddor

Regarding the European route E87 in Bulgaria, it must be built sooner or later as an expressway along the Black Sea coast all the way from the Romanian to the Turkish border. Of course the part between Varna and Burgas will be a motorway, namely A5. The traffic will separate at Varna. One leg will go to Durankulak/RO border and further north towards Ukraine, Moldova and Russia. Eventually through a bridge at Isaccea where there is a ferryboat at the moment. The other leg will go through a potential bridge at Silistra/Calaras towards Poland (Warsaw, Gdansk) and Lithuania (Klaipeda). In this way Western Ukraine will also be included in a EU corridor Bulgaria-Romania-Poland-Lithuania with the cities of Lvov and Ivano-Frankovsk.
Turkey will open the bridge at the Dardanelles in 2023, part of the same E87 passing south through Izmir and terminating at Antalia.

So with respect to the BG/RO bridges:

Istanbul-Vienna via Romania, the shortest route is through a bridge at Corabia.
Istanbul-Warsaw via Romania, the shortest route is through a bridge at Silistra.

Another, new bridge at Ruse/Giurgiu is also a must. When Hungary can build 9 bridges over Danube south of Budapest, the latest of which at the cost of a new bridge between Romania and Bulgaria, it is shameful that there are still only two bridges on the lower Danube between BG and RO. Moreover Romanians are not losing anything, as there are always people who are only thinking about Constantsa. On the contrary, Romania benefits a lot from the above mentioned bridges at Corabia and Silistra.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

roaddor said:


> So with respect to the BG/RO bridges:
> 
> *Istanbul-Vienna via Romania, the shortest route is through a bridge at Corabia.*
> Istanbul-Warsaw via Romania, the shortest route is through a bridge at Silistra.
> 
> Another, new bridge at Ruse/Giurgiu is also a must. When Hungary can build 9 bridges over Danube south of Budapest, the latest of which at the cost of a new bridge between Romania and Bulgaria, it is shameful that there are still only two bridges on the lower Danube between BG and RO. Moreover Romanians are not losing anything, as there are always people who are only thinking about Constantsa. On the contrary, Romania benefits a lot from the above mentioned bridges at Corabia and Silistra.


negative
there is NO BRIDGE at Corabia and there will be no bridge any time soon. STOP the SPAM!


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus direction Pleven


----------



## roaddor

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> negative
> there is NO BRIDGE at Corabia and there will be no bridge any time soon. STOP the SPAM!


You suggested that Romania would build A6 because of some traffic and I explained why this would not be the case. The traffic would simply go on A1 towards Bucharest under the current conditions. In addition, I also mentioned what *new bridges* in the nearest future would be of mutual interest to both countries, emphasizing that Bulgaria would have to secure financing on its own for the one at Silistra. Even though Calaras is strategically located among Bucharest, Galats, Constanta and Buzau. By the way a very important bridge for your Varna! 
I assume, however, that Romania will agree to finance partly a bridge at Corabia because its interests there are bigger. This has already something to do with ...surprise Lugoj-Drobeta. But you don't understand at all what I am saying and repeat over and over again your stupidities. 
Think about the matter first and if you have questions, then ask.
Vidin-Botevgrad is not spam, E87 in Bulgaria is not spam, Corabia-Pleven-Gabrovo/tunnel Shipka is not spam!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

roaddor said:


> Vidin-Botevgrad is not spam, E87 in Bulgaria is not spam, Corabia-Pleven-Gabrovo/tunnel Shipka is not spam!


I agree, and keep the discussion civilized, thanks


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Gabrovo bypass opened to traffic today. Any good photos?









PM Boyko Borrisov: How Difficult it is to Build a Bridge and How Fast You Cross It - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency


"How difficult it is to build a bridge, and how fast you cross it. Do you remember when we came here in the mud?", This was stated by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov who inspected the new bypass road in Gabrovo, put into operation this morning.



www.novinite.com





_The section is the largest reinforced concrete *bridge* structure built in Bulgaria so far with a length of 640 m and an opening of 160 m, built by the method of "cantilever concreting". _


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Gabrovo bypass - National road *I-5 *- road* III-5004















































































*

images by* SimeonHr*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

images by *SimeonHr*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

images by *SimeonHr*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes




----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Gabrovo


pascalwithvespa95 said:


> What parts of the Expwy Botevgrad-Vidin are U/C`I understand that Montana and Vidin bypasses are done, but the rest?


I have a new map: they are building a completely new road bypassing the villages of Dunavci and Dimovo.


----------



## Theijs

roaddor said:


> I assume, however, that Romania will agree to finance partly a bridge at Corabia.


It’s a false assumption. Romanian has other priorities, as explained. And that comes with a message by a previous president and later by a previous minister of transport: Romania is not interested in facilitating transit traffic. But I understand the logic of your proposal.


----------



## Infam0uS

Dashcam footage of the Gabrovo bypass:


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Theijs said:


> It’s a false assumption. Romanian has other priorities, as explained. And that comes with a message by a previous president and later by a previous minister of transport: Romania is not interested in facilitating transit traffic. But I understand the logic of your proposal.


roaddor is a notorious armchair strategist in the Bulgarian forum. He is famous for his visions, corridors and projects.


----------



## roaddor

Theijs said:


> It’s a false assumption. Romanian has other priorities, as explained. And that comes with a message by a previous president and later by a previous minister of transport: Romania is not interested in facilitating transit traffic. But I understand the logic of your proposal.


When I said partly, I meant less than 50%, which is quite a good deal for Romania I guess... Provided also that most probably Bulgaria would finance alone the bridge at Silistra/Calaras. But that's okay, it means Bulgaria will simply collect the taxes from such infrastructure over Danube. 
Certain politicians in Romania should, however, be aware of the infrastructure development in Serbia and not only rely on the current situation that Serbia is not part of EU. I am sure our northern neighbours will not be willing to go short of the international traffic from Asia Minor or the Eastern Mediterranean as a whole so easily. It is actually this traffic that justifies the existence of motorways or expressways in countries like Romania, Bulgaria and in general SE Europe. 

@Chris, I got your point. It is weird nevertheless how certain people try kind of putting some stigma on you, merely because they don't underatand or even worse they don't like your opinion. Typical for some local BG guys...
It is as if I call your a spammer because of your roughly 50K comments here in the forum but your vision is far beyond Zwolle or Breda, isn't it?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The guy with the yellow shirt walking next to the good old Czech Tatra 148 dinosaur is Boyko Borissov the prime minister of Bulgaria
He was inspecting the construction of the Sofia ring road southern arch.


----------



## broadpulicer

Initial stages of the construction of a new section of Hemus highway.





Somewhere around 127-128km. Pleven region.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

*national road I-1 Vidin-Botevgrad*










construction works in the area of Ljutidol - Rebarkovo
Ljutidol bypass - 10 km South of Mezdra


----------



## satanism

Heads up to anyone bypassing Sofia South<->East or South<->North

Sofia South Arc (Ring Road) is closed between II-82 and Mladost 4 for the entire summer. Use the northern bypass routes.


----------



## roaddor

Le Clerk said:


> Because you don t understand EU motorway policy. In ANY FS planning you won t see a requirement for "international traffic" but a requirement for traffic adequate for motorway or expressway. And on that, there are motorway projects which have definitely more traffic ATM than A6, quite a lot of them, and at lower cost. And all are under TEN-T, core or comprehensive. This is because the EU does not care for international traffic, but simply for traffic adequate for a motorway.


Sure I don't understand anything from EU motorway policy. Probably some lunatics drew the corridors on the map below by chance.










These are the EU roads with the highest priority and each member state should take care of its constituent part. That doesn't mean a country cannot build other motorways at the same time. But it should make sure that the major TEN-T corridors are realized with respect to the set deadlines. EC provides financial support through different forms, either grants or concessions and wants to see results.

Romania behaves like there are no countries (even not only from EU) south of Danube because literally Romanians are interested only in the construction of motorways to the port of Constanta. This is as if Bulgaria says we are not going to build motorways towards Greece and Turkey because we are only interested in building such towards our Black Sea ports. Or France saying we are not going to build motorways towards Spain and Portugal because we are interested only in our ports on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Simple as that.

In essence let Romania build whatever motorways it wants to build, however, make them paid per mileage as you claim there is a lot of traffic on them. At the same time don't hide from your responsibility to build the so-called Orient/East Med. corridor. Money is available, just prepare the project and apply for funding.


----------



## roaddor

MichiH said:


> Why? I don't know any country who builds motorways for transit while it still struggles with building its most important domestic core routes.


А1 also carries transit traffic. It is one thing to request money from EC for certain motorways based on local wishes. But it is a completely different story to beg for money (grants) for the same motorways by claiming that another motorway from European importance is too expensive. This can be described by one word - impudence.


----------



## Infam0uS

Some of you asked about updates from A6 earlier.

Kalotina to Dragoman:







Credits: skyPoint


----------



## Theijs

It might be Serbian election propaganda, but here is a map with planned (or dreamed) express roads and motorways.








Regarding the discussion of a Romanian express road from Dobreta Turnu Severin to Calafat/Vidin: at present, there is the DN56A.


----------



## roaddor

DN56A doesn't match the criteria of the Orient/East Med. corridor. Neither does DN6 from Lugoj to T.Severin. These are only two-lane roads passing through many villages and other settlements. A complete 2x2 grade-separated road is needed there.


----------



## Le Clerk

roaddor said:


> Sure I don't understand anything from EU motorway policy. Probably some lunatics drew the corridors on the map below by chance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are the EU roads with the highest priority and each member state should take care of its constituent part. That doesn't mean a country cannot build other motorways at the same time. But it should make sure that the major TEN-T corridors are realized with respect to the set deadlines. EC provides financial support through different forms, either grants or concessions and wants to see results.
> 
> Romania behaves like there are no countries (even not only from EU) south of Danube because literally Romanians are interested only in the construction of motorways to the port of Constanta. This is as if Bulgaria says we are not going to build motorways towards Greece and Turkey because we are only interested in building such towards our Black Sea ports. Or France saying we are not going to build motorways towards Spain and Portugal because we are interested only in our ports on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Simple as that.
> 
> In essence let Romania build whatever motorways it wants to build, however, make them paid per mileage as you claim there is a lot of traffic on them. At the same time don't hide from your responsibility to build the so-called Orient/East Med. corridor. Money is available, just prepare the project and apply for funding.


What you posted above is not very accurate. Technically, the accurate TEN-T map for RO&BG, according to EU regulations is the following:











Romania is currently prioritizing TEN-T routes, and I am not going to enter into unnecessary details, but the point is Romania is building according to EU regulations. As for the infrastructure connecting with Bulgaria, the 2 TEN-T routes to Giurgiu-Ruse and from Constanta to the border with BG are currently being upgraded or in preparation for upgrade (BTW: is Bulgaria going to upgrade them on the other side of the border?).

So, again, it is not accurate to say that Romania is not following the EU obligations under TEN-T. In fact, border connections under TEN-T are being upgraded at pace, first on A1, now on A3 with HU, and in parallel on border with BG at Giurgiu (probably the begining of the future A5 Bucharest-Giurgiu) and near Mangalia.


----------



## sponge_bob

Le Clerk said:


> Romania is currently prioritizing TEN-T routes, and I am not going to enter into unnecessary details..... *the 2 TEN-T routes to Giurgiu-Ruse and from Constanta to the border with BG are currently being upgraded or in preparation for upgrade *


Everything in Romania is seemingly 'a priority' making it impossible to find out what is a genuine priority, a priority priority or merely an ordinary decent priority.  

The simple solution is to _believe nothing unless you can find it in a recent satellite photograph._


----------



## Le Clerk

For Giugiu by-pass, which is a 2x2 road, it was contracted last year with Porr, which is a very good builder. Currently it is in design phase.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

motorways & expressways under construction


----------



## The Wild Boy

I was looking around Sentinel, and i noticed some works near Kresna Gorge. 
Are these works for widening the road, and the upcoming highway? 









Sentinel-hub Playground


Sentinel-2 L1C imagery taken on June 17, 2020




apps.sentinel-hub.com


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> I was looking around Sentinel, and i noticed some works near Kresna Gorge.
> Are these works for widening the road, and the upcoming highway?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sentinel-hub Playground
> 
> 
> Sentinel-2 L1C imagery taken on June 17, 2020
> 
> 
> 
> 
> apps.sentinel-hub.com


This is section *3.1.* Blagoevgrad - Simitli
*3.3.* is finished and in operation since 2018.
No works on *3.2.* at the moment. (tenders)










The Simitli section is important because of the road to BANSKO.
The Sentinel images show construction works short before this junction.



























A3 or as we say in Varna "Sofiote holiday motorway" connects Sofia with the Greek beaches and the Bansko ski slopes.


----------



## Uppsala

Le Clerk said:


> For Giugiu by-pass, which is a 2x2 road, it was contracted last year with Porr, which is a very good builder. Currently it is in design phase.



Porr! In my language, it is comical that the company is named so. In my language it means porn 🤪


----------



## roaddor

Le Clerk said:


> What you posted above is not very accurate. Technically, the accurate TEN-T map for RO&BG, according to EU regulations is the following:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Romania is currently prioritizing TEN-T routes, and I am not going to enter into unnecessary details, but the point is Romania is building according to EU regulations. As for the infrastructure connecting with Bulgaria, the 2 TEN-T routes to Giurgiu-Ruse and from Constanta to the border with BG are currently being upgraded or in preparation for upgrade (BTW: is Bulgaria going to upgrade them on the other side of the border?).
> 
> So, again, it is not accurate to say that Romania is not following the EU obligations under TEN-T. In fact, border connections under TEN-T are being upgraded at pace, first on A1, now on A3 with HU, and in parallel on border with BG at Giurgiu (probably the begining of the future A5 Bucharest-Giurgiu) and near Mangalia.


On the contrary, what I said was the very truth. Romania is not doing its job properly with respect to EC investment in the construction of motorways in the country and the connection with Bulgaria and consequently Greece being all part of EU. Romania can plan, design and build whatever motorways on the core or even comprehensive networks it wants but that doesn't revoke its responsibility to build the two major TEN-T corridors on Romanian territory set by the EC. This means build Rhein-Danube corridor which Romania obviously does and also build Orient/East Med. corridor which the country didn't move an inch forward. Since when did your A1 pass by Lugoj I/C in direction of Sibiu? What did you do during all that time? Romania is not into the position to tell EC give us money for the roads we like instead of another one that we don't care. But what you don't care is an EC priority and in the end of the day it is the EC that provides financial resources to Romania. I mean grants i.e. money which is not turned back! There is still time until 2030 and Romania should somehow build Lugoj-Calafat by then. Obviously it won't happen through the usual and sweet way of EU allocation of grants but there are other ways too.

Bulgaria already started building the motorway Vidin-Botevgrad. Smaller part of it will be an expressway. This is the last section from the Orient/East Med. corridor on Bulgarian territory. Thus the country complies to the EC stipulations with respect to the TEN-T corridors, although it also has other internal priorities. No EU funds for it, only own resources. Pay attention that there are no other motorways on the core or comprehensive networks being built with EU money outside this Orient/East Med. corridor. Not like in Romania.

Ruse-V.Tarnovo motorway is on schedule and next year most probably the construction will begin there. Varna-Durankulak is in the plans and will be built when the time comes for it. Bulgaria will bring two motorways to Calafat and to Giurgiu in the next 5-6 years, given the other construction running in parallel. Another major construction through the central Balkan mountains is looming on the horizon. We want to see that Romania commits to the construction of Lugoj-Calafat. A motorway between Bucharest and Giurgiu will be very nice but I don't expect such soon. We need to build however at least two more bridges balanced on the river border, apart from the obvious and future new bridge at Ruse/Giurgiu.

By the way the TEN-T corridor Rhein-Danube is nothing else but North Sea-Black Sea corridor. However it was not decided to enter Bulgaria from Romania. Just mention it.


----------



## Theijs

roaddor said:


> We want to see that Romania commits to the construction of Lugoj-Calafat.


Many people agree with you, but you forget Balkan politics here: one government (let’s say with a red colour) does something else than the successive government with a different colour (let’s say blue) and vice versa.


> A motorway between Bucharest and Giurgiu will be very nice but I don't expect such soon.


Here you might be surprised. Have you ever looked into the Romanian Masterplan for infrastructure?


----------



## roaddor

The government is certainly important but I mean if a country builds a motorway on concession the colour of the government doesn't play such a big role. 

Yes, I have seen the master plan in Romania. Fine if that motorway can be built. The sooner the better.


----------



## lampsakos21

For the serbian map that you have posted Theijs is actually a map that contains all the projects that the current administration is setting to begin to work into for the next 5 to 10 years and is the fruit of many agreements between investors and also other governments. With the Romanian government they just have some preliminary contacts so they can see how to advance. As everybody can see they have labelled it as a highway with tolls the BG-Moravita tract .I was also amazed somehow on the variations they have made for the Sombor Vrbas Becej Kikinda expressway and also for the future expressways towards the Zajecar and Negotino that will be very demanding and hard to do due to the mountainous area and also the lack of any kind of connection with the Zajecar-Vidin segment .Maybe some future negotiations between Bulgaria and Serbia will change that . The thing that i have thought and reviewed somehow is this :
Since Hungary is not going to finish the M8 or do the M9 to cut some distance for the Romanian transit drivers that are heading towards Italy and Spain through Hungary ,Serbia is trying to take some benefit out of it through the proposal of the Bg-Moravita highway and the Kikinda -Sombor expressway ( but in my opinion it has to do some negotiations ( my speculation) with Hungary, Romania , Croatia( since many of the transit drivers will head through that country as well if they choose to drive through Serbia) but i think for that one there is going to take a lot of time to organise schedule and realise ), because Serbia has seen the benefits that can obtain by realising projects that facilitate international transiting ( Eu funds and Chinese funds played a major role here ) . I hope that logic will happen in Bulgaria (which is already trying to complete the international transit network ) and Romania ( that as we can see is giving more importance into other projects that have to do more with the domestic traffic)


----------



## Le Clerk

roaddor said:


> On the contrary, what I said was the very truth. Romania is not doing its job properly with respect to EC investment in the construction of motorways in the country and the connection with Bulgaria and consequently Greece being all part of EU. Romania can plan, design and build whatever motorways on the core or even comprehensive networks it wants but that doesn't revoke its responsibility to build the two major TEN-T corridors on Romanian territory set by the EC. This means build Rhein-Danube corridor which Romania obviously does and also build Orient/East Med. corridor which the country didn't move an inch forward. Since when did your A1 pass by Lugoj I/C in direction of Sibiu? What did you do during all that time? Romania is not into the position to tell EC give us money for the roads we like instead of another one that we don't care. But what you don't care is an EC priority and in the end of the day it is the EC that provides financial resources to Romania. I mean grants i.e. money which is not turned back! There is still time until 2030 and Romania should somehow build Lugoj-Calafat by then. Obviously it won't happen through the usual and sweet way of EU allocation of grants but there are other ways too.


Read the TEN-T regulations and then come back. Romania is building according to the EU regulations.

As for A6, it is impossible to build by 2030, as I said a few times already, because that motorway is not even started in any way whatsoever. A FS is needed for a start there, which would take 4-5 years to complete according to the EU regulations (on A1 mountain section the FS took about 4 years and it is not even now completed on 1 lot*). Then one needs the TD which takes at least 2 years on mountain sections. And then tender for works can be organised, selection of contractor and works proper, which on mountain section are given at least 4 years. That takes in total 10 years if no issues pop up, but there are always problems in such complicated projects. So no chance that A6 to be completed by 2030, maybe by 2035 if they start now !

*The FS for Sibiu-Pitesti was contracted in 2015, and that motorway is hoped to be completed by 2030!


----------



## roaddor

Romania is not building according to the EU regulations, Romania has obligation to provide a motorway or an expressway towards Western Bulgaria and Greece. Regardless of the fact whether you like it or not. The money doesn't fall down from the sky in Bucharest. This is not your money! You are talking total nonsense here about A6. Greece built 800+ kilometres of motorways for 10-11 years in very difficult terrain, even the construction works were halted for 2.5 years because of the economic crisis. You just make complaints and excuses. Lugoj-Calafat will be less than 250km with only 60km more difficult terrain from Plugova to Turnu Severin. The rest is just business as usual. And definitely the cost is not 6 bln. euros. Take credit from the European banks, also use own budget and do your job. There is traffic from Poland to the north all the way to Greece and Turkey to the south that is going to use this route.
You are just doing nothing with the apparently clumsy administration in Bucharest, only using that Serbia is still not in EU and the river Danube as a blockade to Bulgaria. But also to Greece. So Romania is not building to EU regulations.
Whom do you expect to build the road in Banat now? The Hungarians from Temesvar?


----------



## cymru1

4,5 to 6 km queue from BG side
Statements that it's bigger from Romania side
+150 heavy vehicles daily YoY (22.06.2020)
30-40 min waiting time for cars and buses
Not bad at all for a bridge on the low traffic road!!!









Близо 6 км опашки от автомобили на Дунав мост 2 | Dnes.bg


Коли и микробуси преминават за 30-40 минути | Dnes.bg




www.dnes.bg


----------



## sponge_bob

One other factor worth noting is that EU 'leverage' has dropped and will continue to drop.

2007-2013 the EU paid 100% of the cost of a project as they covered the VAT portion (which is a circular payment)
2014-2020 the EU paid 85% max and no VAT portion. 
2021-2027 the EU will only pay 65% of the cost of a project.

I strongly suspect the EU will pay for no new roads after 2027 (that _actually _means 2029) and that road funding will go the way of airport funding after 2013. Too much green crap is being loaded into the EU budget as conditions.


----------



## The Wild Boy

I haven't seen many discussions about the types of Interchanges Bulgaria uses on their motorways on this thread, so here this.
I don't know what the traffic volumes on Bulgarian motorways are, but imo in 2020 Cloverleaf Interchanges should be avoided.
This video below, pretty much explains why Cloverleaf interchanges are bad, and why they take a lot of space.




Now i know, Bulgaria is not USA, but still keeping Cloverleaf interchanges around the motorways, then having to get rid of them to just build a new type of interchange, or upgrading them would be more expensive than building completely new interchanges.
I'm glad that in my country, they avoid using Cloverleaf interchanges, and instead use (what i like to call) hybrid interchanges, a mix of many types of interchanges (Trumpet, Cloverleaf, Y, T and Stack Interchanges).
Here's an example:








Stackabouts of the world, unite!


Apparently Kiev considered this montrosity clearly dreamed up by someone who doesn't drive: Because everyone wants to join a tight, two lane, non signal controlled roundabout by looking over their passenger side.




www.skyscrapercity.com





The one thing that Cloverleaf interchanges are useful for is their relative low cost, and that's pretty much it.
They can be used in countries with low traffic, I'm not saying no, but if the traffic levels rise then they should be avoided.

This doesn't also apply to Bulgaria specifically, but to other countries like Serbia and Romania too. I see that Bulgaria uses a lot of Cloverleaf interchanges, even to connect regional roads, which is really dumb. (Cloverleaf interchanges in many countries are used to connect motorways only, and not motorways with regional roads, and vice versa).


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Bulgaria has bigger problems than the design of the motorway intercharges.


----------



## gogo3o

You can check the stats from the traffic counters here:





Кой къде пътува


Натоварване на пътищата в България



experiments.nyordanov.com





Some data is missing due to misfuctioning counters, but it still provides pretty good perspective on the traffic volumes.

I can agree thst the cloverleaves are not the best option in any situation. For example, the interchanges on Sofia ring road with the motorways are designed unsuitably.


----------



## Infam0uS

Sofia Ring Road (01.09.20)

Mladost - Gorublyane


----------



## The Wild Boy

When is expected for that section of Sofia Ring Road to be finished? 

Are they gonna start the remaining section, right after this one is finished?


----------



## roaddor

Autumn 2021 this section should be finished, not sure what is the term according to the contract. The other and last section (8km) of the ring from southwest will not be built right after this one. It will take at least another 6-7 years to be completed.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> When is expected for that section of Sofia Ring Road to be finished?
> 
> Are they gonna start the remaining section, right after this one is finished?


hope your Bulgarian is good enough

Обнародван в ДВ е ПУП за Софийски околвръстен път от бул. "България" до АМ "Люлин"
Тунели и естакади по столичното Околовръстно шосе от "Бъкстон" до "Люлин" - Mediapool.bg

ДВ = Държавен вестник
ПУП = Подробен устройствен план

"Самото строителство трябва да бъде възложено от Агенция пътна инфраструктура и да се финансира с пари от бюджета. Преди няколко месеца премиерът Бойко Борисов заяви, че за тази отсечка вероятно ще са нужни 250 – 300 млн. лева."

The last section is at the stage of planing. Borisov estimates the construction costs at 300 million BGN. If the government provides the money with the 2021 budget, construction may start next year.


----------



## LG_

roaddor said:


> Autumn 2021 this section should be finished, ....


I guess they will open it right befor the parliamentary elections, which are on 28. March next year.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

109,9 km now under construction


----------



## roaddor

LG_ said:


> I guess they will open it right befor the parliamentary elections, which are on 28. March next year.


They should not be in a hurry at all because of that. I read yesterday in an article that the opening is scheduled in spring 2021 but it depends what work they can finish during the colder months.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Sofia ring road


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (16.09.2020)





 

+ exciting first-time footage from Dermantsi - Kalenik (19.09.2020)





 

Credits: EyeFromSky


----------



## Infam0uS

Infam0uS said:


> A2 Hemus motorway
> 
> Boaza - Dermantsi (16.09.2020)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> + exciting first-time footage from Dermantsi - Kalenik (19.09.2020)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Credits: EyeFromSky


Kalenik - Pleven (23.09.2020)


----------



## The Wild Boy

Are the renovations on AM Hemus done? 
The part with the tunnels and viaducts. 

Can i see a dashcam footage of the renovated tunels and viaducts?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Are the renovations on AM Hemus done?
> The part with the tunnels and viaducts.
> 
> Can i see a dashcam footage of the renovated tunels and viaducts?


far from ready




video is 1 year old, some of the construction works are finished and new have started
for tunnels and viaducts check 02:15 to 03:30


----------



## Infam0uS

A3 Struma motorway (19.09.2020)

Blagoevgrad-south - Zheleznitsa tunnel





 

Zheleznitsa tunnel - Simitli


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 Europe motorway

Dragoman - Kalotina


----------



## Uppsala

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> A6 Europe motorway
> 
> Dragoman - Kalotina



So it seems that when you drive all the way from SRB-border to Dragoman, you now see that the road is being transformed into a real motorway.


----------



## sponge_bob

Uppsala said:


> So it seems that when you drive all the way from SRB-border to Dragoman, you now see that the road is being transformed into a real motorway.


Is there not a missing link near Sofia which is a pre motorway standard road (but a good one) ??


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

sponge_bob said:


> Is there not a missing link near Sofia which is a pre motorway standard road (but a good one) ??


The video above shows the blue section. It will be ready most probably til the end of 2022.
The red section will be ready next year - 2021.
The green section (missing) is still not under construction - tenders and land expropriation procedures










The provisional connection between the end of the red section and the Sofia ring road will be the old 2x2 National road *I-8* via Божурище (Bozhurishte)


----------



## The Wild Boy

Upon completion, Tunnel Zheleznitsa will be the longest tunnel in Bulgaria, right? 

What is the completion date for Lot 3.1?

And once they finish Lot 3.1, it will be Lot 3.3 that they will start works on next, right?


----------



## TrueBulgarian

Здравей!


The Wild Boy said:


> Upon completion, Tunnel Zheleznitsa will be the longest tunnel in Bulgaria, right?


Yes, it will be the longest road tunnel in Bulgaria. Naturally, there are longer tunnels if you count the Sofia Metro or the railways. 



The Wild Boy said:


> What is the completion date for Lot 3.1?


March 2022.



The Wild Boy said:


> And once they finish Lot 3.1, it will be Lot 3.3 that they will start works on next, right?


Lot 3.3 was already completed, that's Kresna - Sandanski. Lot 3.2 (Krupnik - Kresna), which is essentially the big bottleneck in the Kresna gorge, is currently being tendered. See more info here: Четири ценови оферти за изграждането на участък от АМ „Струма“ през Кресненското дефиле


----------



## The Wild Boy

What i find interesting is that the new section of Lot 3.2 will be projected with double tunnels, so if any government in the future wants to or decides to, they will basically have to build just a parallel stretch of motorway, and there you go, problem solved. But yeah, until that happens, the motorway will split, and one will go from the other side.

What i also wonder, on the red section once they convert the existing road to 1 way, and add a hard shoulder to it, will it still retain the sharp curves. If so, then the vmax speed won't be any more than 80 km/h, which would totally be bad for such a motorway. Hopefully, they've also planned smoothening the existing curves on the red line.


----------



## Infam0uS

Update after update:

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (15.10.2020)







Edit: The videos just keep popping-up these days. Footage from A2's eastern frontier:

Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi (17.10.2020)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Infam0uS said:


>


These SKODA LIAZ trucks were once build in Bulgaria under Czech license


----------



## Infam0uS

A1 Trakia motorway (20.10.2020)

The long-awaited reconstruction works of the problematic sections after Plovdiv have started. The first one to be renovated is the 12 kilometer stretch between Belozem and Plodovitovo (A4 interchange):


----------



## The Wild Boy

What about widening all parts of A1 (AM Trakia) all the way to the interchange with A4 (AM Maritsa), from 3+3 to 4+4 lanes (3 +3 lanes with 2 extra for hard shoulders).

Putting COVID - 19 aside, since traffic on that section mixes up with the Turks going back to their country (Gasterbeiters), and people going to summer holidays in Burgas, doesn't that drastically increase the traffic on at least that section of A1?
Have they actually considered widening that part of the motorway? 

If they do so, they could fix lots of issues, gradually improve safety and many more. 

Well unless I'm wrong, and there really isn't a need to widen (upgrade) that section to 4+4 lanes.


And another thing, regarding the interchange with A4. Why from the side coming from like Stara Zagora, or even Burgas there's no direct acess to A4. Instead vehicles have to just exit to the nearest city and drive on other local roads, so they can either get on A4 from another Interchange.
I don't know why they decided not to build a full trumpet interchange, and left 1 part unfinished. Is there an actual reason for it, or? 


Otherwise good construction works. It was about time, as many have complained. If you look on Google maps in street view on that section, it's like traveling back in time... I don't know how all this whole time no one gave a damn about it, but i guess it's the same story told everywhere. 
Welcome to the Balkans.


----------



## satanism

There's talk on widening A1 to Plovdiv. Nothing specific currently.
As for the A4/A1 interchange, the traffic that goes A1 westbound and then A4 is negligibly small. They reconfigured the next interchange, which is just a few kilometers to the west so you can U-turn there and continue on A4 if needed.


----------



## Infam0uS

Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - Gorublyane (20.10.2020)







A6 Europe motorway

Kalotina - Dragoman (21.10.2020)


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (26.10.2020)







I-1 road / Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Lyutidol - Mezdra (25.10.2020)


----------



## Uppsala

Infam0uS said:


> A6 Europe motorway
> 
> Kalotina - Dragoman (21.10.2020)




126/5000



The road looks more and more like a motorway now. You can now see all the way that it is a road that is becoming a real motorway


----------



## roaddor

Until the last part (16km) next to Sofia is not built, this is not a motorway.


----------



## Infam0uS

Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - A1 Trakia motorway (01.11.2020)


----------



## Uppsala

roaddor said:


> Until the last part (16km) next to Sofia is not built, this is not a motorway.



Yes, although when construction is complete, it will still change the structure of traffic from Northern Europe and Central Europe to Sofia:

There will be a motorway from the SRB border and up to about 16 km before Sofia. Then there will be a 2+2 road that is similar to a motorway the last 16 km to Sofia. So there will still be a big difference in this way. So it's almost like a motorway all the way to Sofia.


----------



## roaddor

Almost but not a complete motorway! This road 2+2 there is only used as an excuse nowadays for not doing anything in the following period. The width of the lanes is narrower than what it should be. The right lanes, where typically the HGVs are moving, are already damaged. There are left turns for villages without an appropriate approach for them. Totally unacceptable. This road was simply doubled in the past because of a lack of money while the traffic would be easily handled by the existing two-lane road back then. A mistake which is clearly visible today. 
Such 2+2 roads are more suitable in Canada or Russia where there are vast territories between the cities and you still need connect them with a fast road but not a motorway. Not even an expressway. Here we are talking about a major corridor from Asia Minor through the Balkans towards Central and Western Europe. The last section to the west of Sofia will be built and the sooner the better.


----------



## cymru1

*01.11.2020 - "Europe" highway - Lot-2





*


----------



## Sponsor

The rest area doesn't feel like a place to rest. Close to the main roadway, loud, mostly asphalt/concrete covered, little green


----------



## lampsakos21

i have seen that the AM Evropa and also the southeast peripherical road are well done  When the A6 ( Europe) highway will be finished per lot ?


----------



## cymru1

lampsakos21 said:


> i have seen that the AM Evropa and also the southeast peripherical road are well done  When the A6 ( Europe) highway will be finished per lot ?


Lot - 1 - 01/22
Lot - 2 - 11/20
Lot - 3 - N.A.


----------



## roaddor

Section 3 (near Sofia) - beginning of 2023 at the earliest. But taking into account they are not processing the expropriations, the completion of the motorway could be further delayed. Shame!


----------



## cymru1

roaddor said:


> Dragoman bypass is part of section 1 currently under construction. Slivnitsa-Sofia or section 3 is unfortunately delayed. Technical design and mostly expropriations are being prepared. Dragoman-Sofia must have been built at once, not divided.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> section 1 (blue) - U/C
> section 2 (red) - done
> section 3 (green) - in preparation phase
> 
> The road from Slivnitsa (end of section 2) to Sofia is 2+2 single carriageway.





> The construction of *the Europe highway between kilometres 15 and 48 will be financed with funds from the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014-2020* instead of the construction of part of lot 3.2 of the Struma Highway, the government decided today. The second stage of construction of this part of the road to Greece will be financed by the "Transport Connectivity" program 2021-2027, the ministers decided.


----------



## roaddor

^^
I don't care how the last section of A6 is financed, it should be completed as soon as possible. On the other hand, works on A3 (Kresna gorge) will definitely continue as works on A2 and Vidin motorway also continue. In addition Ruse motorway is pending to start the construction while A5 is already in design phase.

I wished Bulgaria had adopted the Greek model of building motorways on concession but we will have to satisfy with the current progress.


----------



## ok2

Uppsala said:


> So what about this?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Google Maps
> 
> 
> Hitta lokala företag, titta på kartor och hämta vägbeskrivningar i Google Maps.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.google.se
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And this?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Google Maps
> 
> 
> Hitta lokala företag, titta på kartor och hämta vägbeskrivningar i Google Maps.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.google.se
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will they widen the road to the width of the motorway all the way to the border itself?
> 
> So will they remove what you see on the links I showed? So there will be a normal motorway border between two countries?





The highway ends/begins at the gas station (Shell). 2x2 from the gas station to the border patrol booths will be nice.


----------



## Uppsala

ok2 said:


> The highway ends/begins at the gas station (Shell). 2x2 from the gas station to the border patrol booths will be nice.
> View attachment 752609


But that's how it's supposed to be, isn't it? 2x2 from Shell to Border point?


----------



## kostas97

satanism said:


> What, on google?


The signs in the video have the number 8 (I-8) instead of A6, as far as Google is concerned, i don't know, it is probably going to take time


----------



## satanism

kostas97 said:


> The signs in the video have the number 8 (I-8) instead of A6, as far as Google is concerned, i don't know, it is probably going to take time


Best answer I can give you is because this is Bulgaria.


----------



## The Wild Boy

Uppsala said:


> But that's how it's supposed to be, isn't it? 2x2 from Shell to Border point?











Here you go. 
Quick Solution done by me. 

Red = new 1 way road. 
Blue = diverted railway tracks

At the end of the day, that section doesn't really need to be a motorway but it can be a 2+2 style express road, a 2+2 Boulevard like road, or a 2+1 asymmetrical road.


----------



## ok2

New drone video from SkyPoint.


----------



## ok2

Uppsala said:


> But that's how it's supposed to be, isn't it? 2x2 from Shell to Border point?


I think we will probably see something similar to what we have at Kapitan Andreevo - Kapikule border crossing. 









Kapitan Andreevo · 6530, Bulgaria


6530, Bulgaria




www.google.com





.


----------



## Uppsala

ok2 said:


> I think we will probably see something similar to what we have at Kapitan Andreevo - Kapikule border crossing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kapitan Andreevo · 6530, Bulgaria
> 
> 
> 6530, Bulgaria
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.google.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


But on TR-border it is exactly that way, that is, at least 2+2 all the way. And it looks like SRB-border will be the same, so at least 2+2 all the way.

Surely it will be at least 2+2 from Shell to border point?


----------



## pascalwithvespa95

honestly though, who cares if 100m are two-, three-, or ten lanes? It is a great improvement that there will soon be a motorway from Bulgaria to Western Europe.


----------



## sponge_bob

kostas97 said:


> The signs in the video have the number 8 (I-8) instead of A6, as far as Google is concerned, i don't know, it is probably going to take time


Google are utterly crap at picking up new or realigned roads. They have their EU HQ in Dublin and still show roads on the map that are 8 years out of date in Ireland.


----------



## ok2

pascalwithvespa95 said:


> honestly though, who cares if 100m are two-, three-, or ten lanes?


In this case it wouldn't really matter as you said because unfortunately Serbia is not a member of EU/Schengen. Years from now when Serbia joins the EU the last 500-1000 meters can be easily converted. Several months back we were discussing the same issue with Struma highway. If you were to look on Google satellite view, Sturma will be directly connected to the highway on the Greek side of the border bypassing the border patrol booths.


----------



## ok2

pascalwithvespa95 said:


> It is a great improvement that there will soon be a motorway from Bulgaria to Western Europe.


Finally.  

You should see what happens in the summer months when tens of thousands of cars are travelling from all over Europe to Turkey and back. The current road is totally inadequate for the traffic volume. I am sure many people will be happy when the construction is over. 

Just click on the link below. 


Google Maps


.


----------



## MichiH

ok2 said:


> You should see what happens in the summer months when tens of thousands of cars are travelling from all over Europe to Turkey and back. The current road is totally inadequate for the traffic volume. I am sure many people will be happy when the construction is over.


The problem is the border check itself. It can only be solved by opening more gates or whatever. The road itself is not the issue.


----------



## roaddor

I don't understand what this fuss is all about. Of course the approach to the border will be 2x2 and the speed limit will be less because it is a border area. There won't be twisted flows like the case of the border with Turkey.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

MichiH said:


> The problem is the border check itself. It can only be solved by opening more gates or whatever. The road itself is not the issue.


As I wrote earlier the Bulgarian Kalotina border station is under reconstruction. There will be more lanes for cars and trucks to speed up the border checks.
With A6 completed Bulgaria expects also more Serbian traffic to Sofia, the Black sea and the ski centers.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway near Pleven


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (23.11.2020)


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi






A3 Struma motorway

Simitli - Zheleznitsa tunnel






Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - Gorublyane


----------



## Stuu

sponge_bob said:


> Google are utterly crap at picking up new or realigned roads. They have their EU HQ in Dublin and still show roads on the map that are 8 years out of date in Ireland.


Yes, but that's because they aren't a mapping service, they provide maps which help direct you to companies which have paid them money


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The vignette prices for 2021 remain unchanged: 









За шеста поредна година през 2021 г. цените на електронните винетки остават без промяна







www.bgtoll.bg





Prices:


weekend: 10 BGN / € 5.10
week: 15 BGN / € 7.70
month: 30 BGN / € 15.35
quarter: 54 BGN / € 27.60
year: 97 BGN / € 49.60


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway (I-1 road)

Botevgrad - Lyutidol (22.11.2020)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Expressway *II-86* Plovdiv - Asenovgrad
upgrade


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Road Infrastructure Agency (API) started public tenders for the first 75,6 km of the *A8 motorway* Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo

API :: АПИ стартира обществената поръчка за проектиране и строителство на първите 75,6 км от АМ „Русе - Велико Търново“


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Sofia ring road - South


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The location: Google Maps

The satellite image is from August. Evidently they removed the entire road at that time, to speed up construction?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Ther same place 1 year ago
Google Maps
Google Maps


----------



## Infam0uS

Infam0uS said:


> Botevgrad - Vidin expressway (I-1 road)
> 
> Botevgrad - Lyutidol (22.11.2020)


Part 2: Lyutidol - Mezdra (05.12.2020)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

API :: Начало







www.api.bg





I cannot access this website. The connection gets timed out. However when I use a U.S. proxy I can access it. Why would they geoblock the Netherlands? (and perhaps other countries as well?)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I was looking at lot 3.2 of the A3 Struma Motorway. This is the Krupnik - Kresna section, through the Kresna Gorge. The lot is split into two contracts: 3.2.1 and 3.2.2

The preferred contractor for lot 3.2.2 is a consortium of GBS and Empresa Portuguesa de Obras Subterrâneas.
The preferred contractor for lot 3.2.1 is a consortium of Evropeyski Patishta, Water Construction Blagoevgrad, Patproyekt and Vahostav SK

Are these Bulgarian companies reputable? This contract will involve a lot of tunneling. The Portugese company EPOS is specialized in tunnels but they have done only one project outside of Portugal so far (a tunnel in Caracas, Venezuela). 

I'm always a bit weary of foreign companies bidding for complex projects abroad while having (almost) no international experience. Lot 3.2 is probably one of the most complex road projects in all of Bulgaria.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> I was looking at lot 3.2 of the A3 Struma Motorway. This is the Krupnik - Kresna section, through the Kresna Gorge. The lot is split into two contracts: 3.2.1 and 3.2.2
> The preferred contractor for lot 3.2.2 is a consortium of *GBS* and Empresa Portuguesa de Obras Subterrâneas.
> The preferred contractor for lot 3.2.1 is a *consortium of Evropeyski Patishta*, Water Construction Blagoevgrad, Patproyekt and Vahostav SK
> *Are these Bulgarian companies reputable*? This contract will involve a lot of tunneling. The Portugese company EPOS is specialized in tunnels but they have done only one project outside of Portugal so far (a tunnel in Caracas, Venezuela).
> 
> I'm always a bit weary of foreign companies bidding for complex projects abroad while having (almost) no international experience. Lot 3.2 is probably one of the most complex road projects in all of Bulgaria.


GBS / *G*lav*b*olgar*s*troy

Glavbolgarstroy Holding | Leadership Through Excellence

They have constructed the new section of the A6 Europe motorway and are working on lot 3.1 A3 Struma near Blagoevgrad right now and the South section of Sofia ring road (you can check the updates above)



















consortium Evropeyski Patishta / *GP Group*

Начало


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A3 Struma motorway section 3.2.1 / 3.2.2

*Sofia - Greek border*
*Greek border - Sofia*


----------



## Uppsala

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> A3 Struma motorway section 3.2.1 / 3.2.2
> 
> *Sofia - Greek border*
> *Greek border - Sofia*



What is this? Are they building a new motorway in Bulgaria that will be built on the same principle as the A1 / E75 in Macedonia between Katlanovo and Veles?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Uppsala said:


> What is this? Are they building a new motorway in *Bulgaria* that will be built on the same principle as the A1 / E75 in *Macedonia* between Katlanovo and Veles?




Eastern South Slavic - Wikipedia


----------



## Uppsala

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> Eastern South Slavic - Wikipedia



And...?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Uppsala said:


> And...?


same people on both sides of the border
same stupid projects


----------



## Uppsala

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> same people on both sides of the border
> same stupid projects



I know! And I know that the Macedonian language is more like Bulgarian than Serbian. I also know that Macedonia, or Northern Macedonia as it is usually called today, is culturally closer to Bulgaria than both Serbia and Greece.

But these are not reasons for how to construct motorways. Instead, they are constructed according to what nature looks like, etc.

The Macedonian motorway between Katlanovo and Veles is really special. Also built during the time when it was Yugoslavia.

The Bulgarian A3 is built in the modern Europe, where the EU is involved. These are motorways from completely different eras.

But will this section of the Bulgarian A3 really be built on the same principle as the Macedonian motorway between Katlanovo and Veles?


----------



## MichiH

ChrisZwolle said:


> API :: Начало
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.api.bg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cannot access this website. The connection gets timed out. However when I use a U.S. proxy I can access it. Why would they geoblock the Netherlands? (and perhaps other countries as well?)


It works pretty fine for me.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Uppsala said:


> I know! And I know that the Macedonian language is more like Bulgarian than Serbian. I also know that Macedonia, or Northern Macedonia as it is usually called today, is culturally closer to Bulgaria than both Serbia and Greece.
> 
> But these are not reasons for how to construct motorways. Instead, they are constructed according to what nature looks like, etc.
> 
> The Macedonian motorway between Katlanovo and Veles is really special. Also built during the time when it was Yugoslavia.
> 
> The Bulgarian A3 is built in the modern Europe, where the EU is involved. These are motorways from completely different eras.
> 
> But will this section of the Bulgarian A3 really be built on the same principle as the Macedonian motorway between Katlanovo and Veles?


We discussed this some weeks ago.
The plan is to upgrade the existing national road in the Kresna gorge with minimal destruction of nature (Sofia - Greek border) and to build a new road in the mountain (Greek border - Sofia)
A full motorway in the Kresna gorge will ruin the nature and a full motorway in the mountain (with lot of tunnels and viaducts) will cost tons of money.
Later (20-30 years) when the government has enough money the mountain road can be upgraded into full motorway.


----------



## satanism

The Wild Boy said:


> Wait, didn't they open that 1~2km part on A3 before??? I think i read a post on this tread saying that a part of A3 before Zheleznitsa Tunnel was opened to traffic.


I drove there in October but i'm having trouble remembering if they had opened the entire piece and now they closed it for something or just half of it (to the interchange). So you might be right.


----------



## The Wild Boy

Also what will they do with that Railway bridge? It seems disused, so it can be demolished, or will they replace it?


----------



## satanism

They'll probably demolish it. It went to rudnik Oranovo, immediately to the side of the road but this one is not used now.


----------



## sponge_bob

Any sign of a contractor being appointed further south on the A3 where bids came in months ago for the Kresna section???


----------



## cymru1

Contractors have been appointed for section 3.2.1 (15 November 2019) and for section 3.2.2 (8 December 2020) but contracts still not signed.

Source


----------



## Uppsala

How is the A6 now? An old railway bridge is to be replaced, how is it going? Guess there are those here in the forum who have some information about the A6?


----------



## cymru1

Seems no significant progress. The latest video - first 10 s.


----------



## sponge_bob

cymru1 said:


> contracts still not signed.


I see why, there is a whole pile of biodiversity 'monitoring' to put in place and a species survey (land tortoises and snakes) to carry out next month after it was cancelled in March 2020 owing to covid. Then they all have to agree on '_method statements'_ ....or how to build a road while not overly disturbing the various species in the area.



https://rm.coe.int/possible-file-follow-up-of-recommendation-no-98-2002-on-the-project-to/16809f6bfb



So it looks unlikely that the Kresna section of the A3 will get going in the first half of 2021.


----------



## The Wild Boy

They still haven't decided how much money will they steal from the people... once they do, you will see the bulldozers on the site. 

Just look at the price per km on this planned motorway and compare it with other motorways going through similar terrain, and you will see. It's clear corruption. 

I fear that this might be another Kičevo - Ohrid, or at least a similar story.


----------



## Infam0uS

The northern bypass of Burgas is U/C. (03.02.2021)






It will connect A1 motorway and I-6 with I-9 and the resorts up north (Pomorie, Nesebar, Sunny Beach etc.)

Planned completion: Mid 2022. It will be a dual carriageway road and will reduce the transit traffic passing through the city of Burgas.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes




----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 near Botevgrad


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The State Road Agency launched a tender procedure for the *green section* of A6.
16,5 km - 268 million levs (VAT incuded) - 137 million euro.
2 motorway junctions

Стартира обществената поръчка за последните 16,5 км от АМ „Европа“


----------



## The Wild Boy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> The State Road Agency launched a tender procedure for the *green section* of A6.
> 16,5 km - 268 million levs (VAT incuded) - 137 million euro.
> 2 motorway junctions
> 
> Стартира обществената поръчка за последните 16,5 км от АМ „Европа“


Finally, it was about time. 

Btw that's pricey for such a short distance and only a few interchanges. But we all know the real reason why it is that way.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Finally, it was about time.
> 
> Btw that's pricey for such a short distance and only a few interchanges. But we all know the real reason why it is that way.


inflation 

Compare with the 16,3 km section of A2 near Shumen for 119,5 million levs.


----------



## Infam0uS

A1 Trakia motorway

Plodovitovo - Chirpan-east renovation works (06.02.2021)


----------



## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> 16,5 km - *268 million levs* (VAT incuded) - 137 million euro.





SevenSlavicTribes said:


> inflation
> Compare with the 16,3 km section of A2 near Shumen for *119,5 million levs*.


More than twice for the same length?


----------



## cymru1

Maybe expropriation is one of the reason - lands around Sofia are more expensive.


----------



## Infam0uS

Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - A1 Trakia motorway (27.02.2021)






A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (01.03.2021)


----------



## nabludatel50

*А 2* :



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=860092061505773


----------



## Infam0uS

Two sections are approaching completion these days:

Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - A1 (21.04.2021)






A1 Trakia motorway renovations

Chirpan-west - Chirpan-east (17.04.2021)


----------



## Le Clerk

Just to have that cleared out for good, the Government budgeted this year about euro 4 million for Calafat-Lugoj motorway study, which means that the actual start of planning (feasibility study, geo works, design, etc) is programmed for this year.








Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat


Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat, care va lega Oltenia de




www.g4media.ro







SevenSlavicTribes said:


> Romania plans no such road
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Serbia plans something in the distant future.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> so maybe 2121...


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Le Clerk said:


> Just to have that cleared out for good, the Government budgeted this year about euro 4 million for Calafat-Lugoj motorway study, which means that the actual start of planning (feasibility study, geo works, design, etc) is programmed for this year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat
> 
> 
> Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat, care va lega Oltenia de
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.g4media.ro


so maybe 2051

This is very good news for Bulgaria. We will have an alternative to the Serbian motorway to Hungary.


----------



## Le Clerk

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> so maybe 2051


You should play the lottery.  

It is the first time this is budgeted, I guess should be a good sign?


----------



## Adrian.02

Sorry for the off-topic, but I never understood and will never understand this constant
fight between Romanians from southern Romania / Bucharest and Bulgarians.

P.S. If the Danube wouldn't have separated our two countries, you can be sure that we would've had more planned motorways linking our lands😁


----------



## Le Clerk

What are you talking about ?! "Hatred" ?!

A6 is a project with a lower standing among Romania's priorities, that is true, and higher on Bulgaria's. It has been negleted so far by previous socialist governments in Romania, because infrastructure was not at all a priority for them. Now that has changed, but of course it will be hard to make up for all these lost years. Plus, A6 is going to be difficult and expensive to build, due to mountain section. This doesn't mean it cannot go ahead steadily, at a good pace. First, start with a very good planning, which could be delivered by 2023. Then actual works could start by 2024, with building proper taking about 5-7 years, if this government or another keeps this focus on infrastructure.


----------



## MichiH

Le Clerk said:


> First, start with a very good planning, which could be delivered by 2023. Then actual works could start by 2024, with building proper taking about 5-7 years, if this government or another keeps this focus on infrastructure.


Please don't promise dates on this! I think your figures are a best case scenario. Budget for the construction is still a unsolved issue and will be a hard obstacle.


----------



## Le Clerk

I made some reasonable time calculations , I did not make promises. I am not in that position.


----------



## Le Clerk

MichiH said:


> Please don't promise dates on this! I think your figures are a best case scenario. Budget for the construction is still a unsolved issue and will be a hard obstacle.


BTW: it is very very early to budget the construction, when the construction is about 4 years away at least. What they budgeted is expenses this year for FS.


----------



## MichiH

Le Clerk said:


> I made some reasonable time calculations , I did not make promises. I am not in that position.


just make clear that it is your personal opinion. Thanks.


----------



## Le Clerk

Yes, I said I made time calculations. They are not official.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A3 Struma motorway - section 3.1










































some future problems here























images & video by *Bufu9*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

"Macedonia" Boulevard - Sofia


----------



## Le Clerk

Do you know whether this is official or part of a study for a future bridge?!


----------



## Le Clerk

Le Clerk said:


> Just to have that cleared out for good, the Government budgeted this year about euro 4 million for Calafat-Lugoj motorway study, which means that the actual start of planning (feasibility study, geo works, design, etc) is programmed for this year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat
> 
> 
> Guvernul finanțează cu 20 milioane de lei studiul de fezabilitate pentru culoarul Lugoj-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat, care va lega Oltenia de
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.g4media.ro



BTW: this is not exactly motorways, but it is related to Calafat-Vidin bridge, the Ro gov approved the upgrade of Craiova-Calafat railway to 160 km/h speed, part of Orient-East Med corridor, including the needed investment of euro 600 million.
*Source*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Road *II-81* between Sofia ring road and Kostinbrod will be a 2x2 exspressway.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Is this sign to indicate a vignette? Are they located at each road, because as I understand all numbered roads require a vignette?


----------



## pascalwithvespa95

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is this sign to indicate a vignette? Are they located at each road, because as I understand all numbered roads require a vignette?


In cities they are not required.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is this sign to indicate a vignette? Are they located at each road, because as I understand all numbered roads require a vignette?





pascalwithvespa95 said:


> In cities they are not required.


Yes it is a vignette sign at the town border.


----------



## The Wild Boy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> Road *II-81* between Sofia ring road and Kostinbrod will be a 2x2 exspressway.


Isn't there already an express road to there? 

Btw i see that this Road II-81, naturally it's a shorter route to get to the Montana Province. 

Why didn't they consider building that express road from here, it would've been much shorter, albeit the terrain is also much harder (so that could possibly explain it). 

Google maps gives me exactly that road as a shorter way to get to Montana and Vidin from Sofia:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

So these signs are placed at every town border in Bulgaria that is part of a numbered road?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> So these signs are placed at every town border in Bulgaria that is part of a numbered road?


generally YES, but there are some exceptions around Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv with roads to suburban villages in the same municipality.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Isn't there already an express road to there?
> 
> Btw i see that this Road II-81, naturally it's a shorter route to get to the Montana Province.
> 
> Why didn't they consider building that express road from here, it would've been much shorter, albeit the terrain is also much harder (so that could possibly explain it).
> 
> Google maps gives me exactly that road as a shorter way to get to Montana and Vidin from Sofia:
> View attachment 1430715
> View attachment 1430716


You are right! They are just renovating the existing expressway.


















About Petrohan pass. Well, the terrain, the money (long tunnel needed) and this... NATURA 2000


----------



## satanism

Pretty much.


----------



## Infam0uS

Brief update from the Sofia Ring Road:

Mladost - A1 (02.05.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Sofia ring road - Ljulin junction


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (05.05.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

"Macedonia" Boulevard - Sofia

*WW2 bomb found



































46 kg

Заради авиобомба с взривател: Отцепиха част от центъра на София*

Sofia was hit with over 30.000 British-American bombs


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A1 Trakia motorway


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway - lot 10 Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi
16 km


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (10.05.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Sofia ring road - South

















Oct 2019



























Oct. 2019


----------



## Infam0uS

Northern bypass of Burgas (12.05.2021)






Sofia Ring Road

Mladost - A1 (13.05.2021)


----------



## cymru1

*Construction Vidin - Vratsa highway in Bulgaria - Lot-1*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 Europe motorway construction seen from the train






the provisional rail bridge


----------



## cymru1

cymru1 said:


> *Construction Vidin - Vratsa highway in Bulgaria - Lot-1*



*Construction Vidin - Vratsa highway in Bulgaria - Lot-2*


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Dermantsi - Kalenik (31.05.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The video above is from the purple section West of Lovech.

A2 Hemus motorway - *lot 2 (km 102 - km 122)
















*


----------



## lampsakos21

do we know which lots of the Hemus highway when will be completed per year ? is there any kind of interactive map like peundemerg romanian online map ? Did they manage to make any FS for the gap between veliko trnovo and Varna ?Sorry if my question is annoying but i was always wondering if they want to do the whole Haemus highway in the near future .Thanks in advance ! Keep up the great work dear forum's members


----------



## Infam0uS

Northern bypass of Burgas (20.06.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Vidin - Montana motorway
ancient treasure with Roman coins discovered at the construction site 



































Древно съкровище изненада археолозите край строящ се път във Видинско (снимки)


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (30.06.2021)


----------



## b.w.

And fresh video from Sofia bypass road ( southeast section) from Boyana junction to crossing with A1( Trakiya motorway)


----------



## LG_

^^^^
3 types of portal signs in just 7 km.
So crazy


----------



## lampsakos21

any updates or thoughts about Petrohan Pass?









Work on design of tunnel under Petrohan pass to continue


Minister of the Environment and Water Asen Lichev has permitted, by letter, the Road Infrastructure Agency to present for environmental impact assessment the options for a route for a tunnel under Petrohan pass. Minister Lichev...




bnr.bg


----------



## The Wild Boy

Ah yes, triggering the eco - activists once again and causing another Kresna Gorge scenario. 

Traffic isn't any high there, so i don't think there's a need for a tunnel, well unless weather issues then maybe a 1+1 tunnel? If traffic grows in the future, they could build build another side of the tunnel and turn it into 2+2, why not.


----------



## satanism

Even the local section is very divided on the Petrohan corridor. I, personally, think this should be a priority. IMO traffic there is plenty already now, as this is the shortest (By a lot) route to Northwestern Bulgaria+ it has potential to attract a lot of transit traffic as well. Besides, it will be the only good alternative to the already problematic Vitinya pass.


----------



## bat_naso

satanism said:


> Even the local section is very divided on the Petrohan corridor. I, personally, think this should be a priority. IMO traffic there is plenty already now, as this is the shortest (By a lot) route to Northwestern Bulgaria+ it has potential to attract a lot of transit traffic as well. Besides, it will be the only good alternative to the already problematic Vitinya pass.


It's divided because this project appeared out of nowhere when the actual Botevgrad-Vidin connection is U/C and Petrohan would be redundant. Especially when we still have no connections North-South in the middle or eastern part of the country.


----------



## ok2

Karaborsa said:


> after entering bulgaria trough serbian border, the road is very very bad in shape.... and this after more then 2 years of construction.


You should visit New York to see some bad roads. I am sick and tired of replacing tires and rims. However, I do agree that the temporary road (about 2km) is in a really, really, really bad shape and I am surprised that Strabag did not plan better.


----------



## Theijs

Is there any new drone footage of the A6 from the section of the replaced railway bridge until the border with Serbia?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Theijs said:


> Is there any new drone footage of the A6 from the section of the replaced railway bridge until the border with Serbia?


I shared the latest video 17 days ago.
We have some terrestrial footage from A6 (Dragoman junction)


----------



## cymru1

Theijs said:


> Is there any new drone footage of the A6 from the section of the replaced railway bridge until the border with Serbia?


From 2-nd of July






Update


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

images by *lazarovbg*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Vidin - Montana motorway


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (16.07.2021)


----------



## Infam0uS

A3 Struma motorway

Blagoevgrad-south - Simitli + Zheleznitsa tunnel (17.07.2021)


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Dermantsi - Kalenik 

Part 1 (Dermantsi - Ugarchin) (19.07.2021)






Part 2 (Ugarchin - Kalenik) (21.07.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A3 Struma motorway - section 3.1. Blagoevgrad - Simitli




















































landslide


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

images by *Bufu9*


----------



## bat_naso

dipano said:


> Stop lying, of course it is the same in both directions! Obviously if you had travelled there, you would have known about the conditions. The maximum allowed speed is 80km/h, approaching the roundabouts drops to 60 and in the roundabouts is 40 - mainly for safety reasons.
> This road is not an expressway, by no means.


Roaddor-e stop the spam and personal attacks everywhere! It's 90 on the straights, I drive this road almost daily.


----------



## b.w.

BG_AT said:


> Hello!
> 
> How much does Dizel cost at the moment in Bulgaria? In Lewa for example🤔


This site will clarify things whit prices of fuels in Bulgaria right now. All are in BGN.




__





Цени на горивата в България днес :: Fuelo.net


Fuelo.net - намерете най-евтиното гориво в България днес




m.fuelo.net


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

BG_AT said:


> Hello!
> 
> How much does Dizel cost at the moment in Bulgaria? In Lewa for example🤔


from 2,05 to 2,31 leva (1,05 - 1,18 euro)


----------



## dipano

bat_naso said:


> Roaddor-e stop the spam and personal attacks everywhere! It's 90 on the straights, I drive this road almost daily.


I am not another user you are referring to! It is clearly visible from the links here what the speed limit is. Show a sign for 90km/h restriction. If there is such, when was it put? Originally everything was set to 80km/h. I drove last month on this road there and the speed limit was still 80km/h. By the way if it is changed to 90km/h, why the speed limit near the roundabouts and in the roundabouts themselves is still 60km/h and 40km/h respectively? It doesn't make any sense. They should also then be changed to 70 and 50.
I don't like the lies which are spread that this stretch is an expressway and even a speed limit of 90km/h would make it an expressway. It is merely a *boulevard* between the two close cities, with a lot of objects along it.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

dipano said:


> I am not another user you are referring to! It is clearly visible from the links here what the speed limit is. Show a sign for 90km/h restriction. If there is such, when was it put? Originally everything was set to 80km/h. I drove last month on this road there and the speed limit was still 80km/h. By the way if it is changed to 90km/h, why the speed limit near the roundabouts and in the roundabouts themselves is still 60km/h and 40km/h respectively? It doesn't make any sense. They should also then be changed to 70 and 50.
> I don't like the lies which are spread that this stretch is an expressway and even a speed limit of 90km/h would make it an expressway. It is merely a *boulevard* between the two close cities, with a lot of objects along it.


boulevard in the fields... you are so smart


----------



## Infam0uS

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> As you can see from* 9:40* the future rest area (direction Varna) is still an archeological excavation site.
> The road agency gave the construction company additional time to complete the project - December 2021.


I thought the same, thanks for clarifying. Here is the second part:


----------



## dipano

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> boulevard in the fields... you are so smart


Read some of your previous comments before you talk about smartness. Even its name is blvd. "Asenovgradko shose". The airport of Plovdiv is accessed by this road. There are lots of commercial objects along its path. There are also industrial objects. 

The truth is this road won't turn into an expressway if it is not widened south of Asenovgrad in the Rodhope Mountains. If we assume it was an expressway, you would save not more than 5-6 minutes between Plovdiv and Asenovgrad. This is not a big difference at all.


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 Europe motorway

Dragoman - Kalotina (27.07.2021)






Credits: skyPoint


----------



## b.w.

A3 Struma highway ( lot 3.1 ) The last segment of the lane direction Kulata( Greek border) is ready.




Credits : Doctor Drone


----------



## b.w.

And another video of the same place showing the construction process.




Credits: Bulgarian Infrastructure Agency ( API )


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

dipano said:


> ^^
> This is not an expressway at all. It is kind of city boulevard which goes outside of the city borders. *The speed limit is indeed 80km/h:*


NO, it's *90 km/h*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A3 Struma motorway


































Как върви строителството на най-дългия тунел в България (галерия)


----------



## b.w.

And again video from Botevgrad - Mezdra expressway ( part ot Vidin - Botevgrad highway )




Credits: Balkanec.bg


----------



## b.w.

And one dash cam video showing current condition after rehabilitation of the northern arc on the Sofia Ring Road( after 13 min. of the video ) .And of course southern and eastern part of the road as well.




And current status of western part of the road too.




Credits : Saentist


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Several bridges between Sofia and Boaza have been renovated / are undergoing renovations. These include:

3:05 Korenishki Dol
6:19 Bebresh






Credits: Drone Reporter


----------



## b.w.

A2 Hemus motorway lot 1 Boaza-Dermanci (15.26 km.)




And bridges construction of the same lot




Credits : EyeFromSky


----------



## Infam0uS

Brief aerial footage from the other side of the motorway:






The opening date of the Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi section has been delayed to Q4 2021 due to archaeological excavations.

Credits: mediapool.bg


----------



## xpitron

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> NO, it's *90 km/h*


It is a total mess with the speed restriction on that road. To be more precise, there are signs for 90km/h which are immediately cancelled afterwards by such for 80km/h. This makes the application of the former totally useless. They exist but their effect is zero. The picture above clearly shows a camera which controls the boisterous drivers.


----------



## Ni3lS

I will be driving from Sofia to Bansko and then on to Thessaloniki in Greece at the beginning of September. We will be crossing the border on a Tuesday afternoon I guess, should I count on any trouble or delays? (To those here who have experience with that border crossing)


----------



## xpitron

Ni3lS said:


> I will be driving from Sofia to Bansko and then on to Thessaloniki in Greece at the beginning of September. We will be crossing the border on a Tuesday afternoon I guess, should I count on any trouble or delays? (To those here who have experience with that border crossing)


Shouldn't be a problem, especially if you are vaccinated. Hopefully Covid conditions don't worsen in September. I assume you'll enter Greece through Kulata/Promachonas. Use only this BCP.


----------



## b.w.

A6 Europe motorway Lot 1(Kalotina border crossing - Dragoman)




Credits : Radoslav Zlatinov


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Dermantsi - Ugarchin (18.08.2021)


----------



## Theijs

b.w. said:


> A6 Europe motorway Lot 1, Kalotina border crossing - Dragoman


When will lot 2 be ready for opening?


----------



## b.w.

Theijs said:


> When will lot 2 be ready for opening?


I think it is already in operation. Only lot 3 (the connection of road I-8 with Sofia ring road) is missing. But the missing part is already in the process and the winner of the construction tender is expected.


----------



## b.w.

Here's a little map for Europe motorway








Lot 1 ( Kalotina border crossing - Dragoman) U/C - in blue
Lot 2 (Dragoman - Slivnitca ) in use - in red
Lot 3 ( Slivnitca - Sofia Ring Road( Northern tangent) in tender procedure - in dark green


----------



## b.w.

There is more information in Wikipedia








Europe motorway - Wikipedia







en.m.wikipedia.org




And last information about tender procedure in Bulgarian








Десет кандидати да строят последните 16.5 км от магистрала "Европа" за 270 млн. лв. - Mediapool.bg


Десет кандидати подадоха оферти за строителството на последните 16.5 км от магистрала "Европа", която ще свърже София с граничния пункт "Калотина". Индикативната стойност на обекта е 270 млн. лв. с...




www.mediapool.bg


----------



## Infam0uS

Theijs said:


> When will lot 2 be ready for opening?


Dragoman - Slivnitsa is already in service. 0:13 - 2:38 in the video below.


----------



## Theijs

Sorry, typo. I wanted to ask when will Lot 1 be ready for opening?


----------



## b.w.

Theijs said:


> Sorry, typo. I wanted to ask when will Lot 1 be ready for opening?


I'm not sure about the exact month but I think it was March 2022. However, it is more realistic to be a summer next year.


----------



## Theijs

If the A6 Lot 1 (including upgraded border crossing) can be opened before the summer holiday season of 2022, would be great.


----------



## b.w.

A2 Hemus motorway lot 2.2 Ugarchin - Kalenik 7 km.













Credits: EyeFromSky


----------



## vadimz

Can somebody clarify financial situation with Hemus? Without political part of the problem, please 

Is *Boaza - Pleven section* already paid, or at least promised to be paid?


----------



## b.w.

I will try to explain the situation as much as I can. The previous government set aside BGN 2 billion for the construction of Hemus. This includes the sections from Boaza to Veliko Tarnovo. But from Pleven to Veliko Tarnovo for lots 4, 5 and 6 there is no building permit yet. The first 3 (1,2 and 3) are built as we seen in the videos above. Not at the pace we want, but it is being built. The rest are frousen while building permits are ready and land expropriations are made.


----------



## b.w.

However, it was done some work on lots 4 and 5.








And one video on one of bulgarian tv chanel showing what has been done after all.


----------



## Uppsala

b.w. said:


> A6 Europe motorway Lot 1(Kalotina border crossing - Dragoman)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Credits : Radoslav Zlatinov



At least it looks like a motorway all the way now, even if it's not used yet 😀


----------



## vadimz

b.w. said:


> I will try to explain the situation as much as I can...


Thank you. I followed situation in general (including Sentinel Hub and all drone videos from all the channels) 

But I absolutely do not understand financial situation, do you mean that contracts of 'Avtomagistrali' with all the subcontractants for lots 1-3 and 4-5 are still valid, just money will come slower from the budget?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

b.w. said:


> I will try to explain the situation as much as I can. The previous government set aside BGN 2 billion for the construction of Hemus. This includes the sections from Boaza to Veliko Tarnovo. But from Pleven to Veliko Tarnovo for lots 4, 5 and 6 there is no building permit yet. The first 3 (1,2 and 3) are built as we seen in the videos above. Not at the pace we want, but it is being built. The rest are frousen while building permits are ready and land expropriations are made.


+ we hope that lot 10 (16 km) will be ready by the end of the year.


----------



## b.w.

vadimz said:


> But I absolutely do not understand financial situation, do you mean that contracts of 'Avtomagistrali' with all the subcontractors for lots 1-3 and 4-5 are still valid, just money will come slower from the budget?


Well you guessed right. Contracts with subcontractors are still valid. The current government put aside 500 millions for money which were for the construction of the highway. But still 1.5 billion BGN left in the accounts. My opinion is that future governments need to allocate additional money from the budget for construction of this motorway. Especially for the lots that haven't started yet.


----------



## PhiK

vadimz said:


> Thank you. I followed situation in general (including Sentinel Hub and all drone videos from all the channels)
> 
> But I absolutely do not understand financial situation, do you mean that contracts of 'Avtomagistrali' with all the subcontractants for lots 1-3 and 4-5 are still valid, just money will come slower from the budget?


He absolutely did not disclose the full situation.

Old government used a European rule that allows state companies to perform public works without a public tender (in house procurement). 

However the State owned Avtomagistrali which received the money from the government does not have the capacity to perform the works on its own.

So it hired subcontractors (in violation of BG and EU rules) hiding them as suppliers of equipment. This was a veery clear violation from the start but explaining why it was done and not sanctioned would be me going into the political part which is not the topic.

Now the new government and new management of Avtomagistrali is debating whether to continue with previous unlawful subcontracting agreements or announce public tenders.

Another separate problem is that Avtomagistrali has paid said subcontractors around 35-40% in advance. Even for lots that do not have a technical project and a Building permit. And as these subcontractors have not provided bank guarantees but insurance agreements, there is fear that if the agreements are terminated, the subcontractors will not return the advance payments and the insurance companies will go bankrupt, unable to pay insurance compenaation under all the agreements at the same time (we are talking about BGN 450 million only for the lots without a permit)


----------



## b.w.

PhiK said:


> Now the new government and new management of Avtomagistrali is debating whether to continue with previous unlawful subcontracting agreements or announce public tenders.


+ There will be delays and surcharges no matter what they choose to do.


----------



## xpitron

Why do you keep posting this crap here? The foreigners could not care less about the political disputes in the country. Bulgaria still doesn't have a regular government and the temporary appointed one (made of former communists) did everything to halt the construction of the motorway. This situation continues for almost 5 months now. As a result of that A2 will be delayed. 
The general problem in Bulgaria with respect to the highways, however, is much deeper. The country needs a totally different aporoach to build new and maintain the existing motorways. This could happen on concession in order to have plenty of good quality roads which will be easily integrated in the European network. Pay as you go so to say. All the prerequisites exist for doing this but it is not done.


----------



## PhiK

It doesn't seem that you proved anything on the contrary to what I said. Would you be so kind to say which of the facts laid down by me, directly concerning the construction of the Hemus highway, is incorrect?


----------



## xpitron

I am saying that nobody from abroad cares about such things. They want to see how the motorways actually progress and the fact is that A2 construction is halted because some people are simply trying to make a mountain out of a molehill in order to gain political advantage. 
By the way all of these road projects use subcontractors everywhere including Western Europe, no matter what the contract is or how it is awarded. So certain type of information is hugely misinterpreted in Bulgaria.


----------



## MichiH

xpitron said:


> I am saying that nobody from abroad cares about such things.


Am I nobody?


----------



## Theijs

xpitron said:


> The foreigners could not care less about the political disputes in the country.


I do care!



> Bulgaria still doesn't have a regular government and the temporary appointed one (made of former communists) did everything to halt the construction of the motorway. This situation continues for almost 5 months now. As a result of that A2 will be delayed.


This [political dispute] explains the current (extra) delay, and makes us understand the situation.

So yes, as foreigners and users of roads in Europe we do care and would like to know the background information regarding road construction.


----------



## b.w.

To support your discussion above two videos from A2 Hemus motorway lot3 


















Thanks to EyeFromSky


----------



## xpitron

Theijs said:


> I do care!
> 
> 
> This [political dispute] explains the current (extra) delay, and makes us understand the situation.
> 
> So yes, as foreigners and users of roads in Europe we do care and would like to know the background information regarding road construction.


There are specific issues which foreigners cannot understand unless they have lived in the country for at least 10 years and know well how the certain things go in Bulgaria. I won't talk about the details here. That's why I said that nobody from abroad cares. All that matters in the end is whether the motorway in this case A2 is being built or not. Right now it is hardly being built. Hopefully things change soon for the better but before that Bulgaria needs first a strong government with clear priorities to build the remaining motorways and fast.


----------



## bat_naso

Theijs said:


> I do care!
> 
> 
> This [political dispute] explains the current (extra) delay, and makes us understand the situation.
> 
> So yes, as foreigners and users of roads in Europe we do care and would like to know the background information regarding road construction.


Ignore that user. He's a famous troll under a new account. Thank you for your opinion and interest in Bulgarian infrastructure.


----------



## Theijs

bat_naso said:


> Ignore that user. He's a famous troll under a new account.


@xpitron reminds me of @ginfer !


----------



## xpitron

bat_naso said:


> Ignore that user. He's a famous troll under a new account. Thank you for your opinion and interest in Bulgarian infrastructure.


Really, on what basis do you call me a troll 😂? Is it so difficult for you to accept the truth?

Hemus, which is a local name for A2 in Bulgaria and btw only the Greeks understand what it means because it has a Greek origin ☺, is used by the current *temporary* government to accuse the previous, regular one of doing illegal things. Why is that? Because of pure jealousy that they are losing control and obviously support among their voters. They had plenty of time in the past (more than 40 years) to build this motorway but did absolutely nothing! The motorway firmly stopped in the mountains (the Balkan mountains) east of Sofia near Botevgrad and some 60-65km west of Varna on the Black Sea. Just as a note, the whole length is 425km. When A2 indeed got started again a couple of years ago after heavy debates and waste of time where it should pass, not to mention about the fake appeals and the expropriation dramas, some people began really to see it as a threat because they were out of power for quite some time. In the meantime other motorways were built in Bulgaria from the EU funds by the same so to say pro-western government. Hugely delayed before that too. And this was too much for some people, more famous with the fact that the EC always stopped the financial package for Bulgaria when they came to power in the last 15 years since Bulgaria joined the EU. Nowadays the very same people use A2 and the other motorways only as pretext to play their political games. Of course at the expense of their construction. I also expext delays with other currently built motorways and also such sections scheduled to begin soon.

To conclude, all our neighbours Turks, Serbs, Romanians (traveling towards Timisoara or Arad), possibly even Greeks as well as other people from Europe or Asia are seeing what a parody A6 is nowadays in a small town called Dragoman, west of Sofia. It is about an unbuilt overpass which continues with months. This ridiculous situation is again due to a big extent to the lack of understanding of the current government which is most probably delaying the payments towards the contractor. A6 in that section is built purely by the state budget.


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (28.08.2021)






Credits: EyeFromSky


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

xpitron said:


> To conclude, all our neighbours Turks, Serbs, Romanians (traveling towards Timisoara or Arad), possibly even Greeks as well as other people from Europe or Asia are seeing what a parody A6 is nowadays in a small town called Dragoman, west of Sofia. It is about an unbuilt overpass which continues with months. This ridiculous situation is again due to a big extent to the lack of understanding of *the current government which is most probably delaying the payments towards the contractor*. A6 in that section is built purely by the state budget.


You deserve a BAN for such fat lies, little TROLL


----------



## xpitron

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> You deserve a BAN for such fat lies, little TROLL


Not at all, what I say is the very truth. Don't worry the days of this weak administration are counted. You have a very serious mental problem though, better go to a good psychiatrist to cure your illness.


----------



## Infam0uS

A3 Struma motorway

Blagoevgrad-south - Krupnik (27.08.2021)






Botevgrad - Vidin expressway 

Lyutidol - Mezdra (28.07.2021)


----------



## b.w.

And beautiful views from the old part of Hemus motorway A2 





Thanks to B & T


----------



## Ni3lS

Drove the first stretch of Struma today. They were hard at work at Blagoevgrad this Saturday night 

(Random pic of the sunset from the A3)


----------



## b.w.

New fresh video of Hemus motorway A2 lot 10 Belokopitovo - Buhovtci














Credits : skyPoint


----------



## b.w.

And new video from west side of the same motorway - lot 1. Construction of bridges and viaducts.














Thanks to EyeFromSky


----------



## Ni3lS

Drove part of the A3 again today on our way back from Rila National Park (So beautiful!)










This is where the A3 currently terminates just beyond Blagoevgrad. The elevated alignment on the left is future A3.




















Challenging lot right here, with the long crossing and twin-tube tunnel right after



















Hard to see but they were actually working on a national holiday! 










Here is a finished stretch that is partly in use (or looks like it anyway)


----------



## BG_AT

Hello !

Is there a website where i could see all highway parts of the A6 and A2 that are planned and that are in construction when when they would be finished?

For example like this romanian website: 


http://proinfrastructura.ro/proiecteinfrastructura.html#map=8/45.861/23.065/0



Is there a same or similar website also for Bulgaria anywhere i could see?


----------



## xpitron

Uppsala said:


> I understand that A3 feels important to get finished.
> 
> But what is the most important motorway project in Bulgaria right now?


Everything is important. A6, A3, A2, A7 all the way to A4 at least, A5 too. There is not such thing as most important because all these motorways are hugely delayed. A6 by the way is nothing else from being a part of A1 but it was artificially separated. When A6 and A3 are completed, they will be used by all Europeans traveling to Greece east of Thessaloniki.


----------



## Uppsala

Infam0uS said:


> The unfinished A2 should be top priority right now. Once completed, the Sofia - Varna motorway will service 2 million Bulgarians in the northern part of the country. Plus, it could link with Bucharest via A7 in the future, the capital of a neighbouring EU country.
> 
> Besides, one section of A6 is already in service and Kalotina - Dragoman will open by next year. The remaining 2x2 road to Sofia is in good condition anyway.



Yes it is true! Next year there will be a motorway from SRB-border to Dragoman, then a 2+2 road from Dragoman to Sofia, then again a motorway from Sofia to TR-border. This actually means that it will then basically be a motorway all the way between, for example, Germany and Turkey, as the 2+2 road between Dragoman and Sofia can in any case be seen as almost a motorway.

So when the motorway between Dragoman and SRB-border is completed, it means a very important step for the whole of Europe's motorway network.


----------



## sponge_bob

Has the planning application actually gone in for permits to build the A3 'around' the Kresna yet and if not how long will it take before the project is fully permitted and can be tendered????


----------



## xpitron

Infam0uS said:


> The unfinished A2 should be top priority right now. Once completed, the Sofia - Varna motorway will service 2 million Bulgarians in the northern part of the country.


This is not true. Sofia-Bucharest will be travelled only partly along A2. More precisely via Pleven and a new bridge at Nikopol/T.Magurele. This means it has nothing to do with Varna. Romania is going to build its motorway Bucharest-Alexandria. The rest will be history. A2 has only a local meaning from European stand point. That's why it couldn't receive any resources from the EU funds. First design a proper port and then talk about top priority of A2 towards Varna.

Sofia-Istanbul, Sofia-Thessaloniki, Sofia-Belgrade are much more important than Sofia-Varna alone. You don't have to complain so much in Varna. A1/Burgas is nearby. ☺


----------



## xpitron

sponge_bob said:


> Has the planning application actually gone in for permits to build the A3 'around' the Kresna yet and if not how long will it take before the project is fully permitted and can be tendered????


Even the contractors are already known but the contracts themselves are still not signed because of misunderstandings between the EC and Bulgarian authorities about certain details regarding the eastern path of the road. Consequently the financing is put on hold until all issues are cleared up. In the meantime there are constant appeals from ecomentalists as you call them who are deliberately tarnishing Bulgaria's reputation in front of the EC because they have other incentives which have nothing to do with nature in general.


----------



## The Wild Boy

xpitron said:


> misunderstandings between the EC and Bulgarian authorities about certain details regarding the eastern path of the road


What specifically? Eastern part you mean from Zheleznitsa to Kresna or the other way?


----------



## xpitron

^^
It seems there is a mismatch in the number of bridges due to redesign. There are also additional environmental requirements which need to be met. Hope everything is resolved soon.
On the eastern part of the road from Kresna to Zheleznitsa.


----------



## The Wild Boy

xpitron said:


> ^^
> It seems there is a mismatch in the number of bridges due to redesign. There are also additional environmental requirements which need to be met. Hope everything is resolved soon.
> On the eastern part of the road from Kresna to Zheleznitsa.


Does this mean that the price could change? 

As i said, that motorway is going to cost a lot of money. Can a different government dictate the price of a given motorway, or they decide it once and the price stays regardless of the government changes?? I assume redesigning could only raise the price of that motorway. 

Also, i asked but didn't get an answer. 

What is the AADT on I-1 and I- 8?
Have there been any measurements done on these roads?


----------



## xpitron

The Wild Boy said:


> Does this mean that the price could change?
> 
> As i said, that motorway is going to cost a lot of money. Can a different government dictate the price of a given motorway, or they decide it once and the price stays regardless of the government changes?? I assume redesigning could only raise the price of that motorway.
> 
> Also, i asked but didn't get an answer.
> 
> What is the AADT on I-1 and I- 8?
> Have there been any measurements done on these roads?


The overall cost is affected but I don't think the difference is big. More important is whether the whole route complies to the EIA. This is normal when the stake is so high and there could be many intermediate steps until the final agreement is reached. If the job is done correctly, I don't think different governments in power should influence the construction. After all each of them has interest to build A3 through the gorge of Kresna with resources from the EU funds. 

I don't know what the AADT on I-8 & I-1 is. Which locations are you interested in? Because these are very long roads from the Serbian to the Turkish border and from the Romanian to the Greek border respectively. There are also broken counters which don't record data. This type of information helps but it is often used as an excuse not to build a certain highway. I generally don't follow these numbers. Bulgaria has up to ten major routes through its territory which will carry for sure a lot of traffic when built.


----------



## Uppsala

xpitron said:


> The overall cost is affected but I don't think the difference is big. More important is whether the whole route complies to the EIA. This is normal when the stake is so high and there could be many intermediate steps until the final agreement is reached. If the job is done correctly, I don't think different governments in power should influence the construction. After all each of them has interest to build A3 through the gorge of Kresna with resources from the EU funds.
> 
> I don't know what the AADT on I-8 & I-1 is. Which locations are you interested in? Because these are very long roads from the Serbian to the Turkish border and from the Romanian to the Greek border respectively. There are also broken counters which don't record data. This type of information helps but it is often used as an excuse not to build a certain highway. I generally don't follow these numbers. Bulgaria has up to ten major routes through its territory which will carry for sure a lot of traffic when built.



But isn't the most important transit route still the one that goes from SRB-border to TR-border?


----------



## xpitron

It is indeed, with respect to Western/Central Europe and Turkey. You are asking me whether you can travel from Niš to Thessaloniki through Bulgaria (A3)? Sure you can and this route will become more and more attractive in the near future. Not to mention what will happen when Bulgaria joins Schengen. The time for driving along Nisava and Struma motorways will be almost the same as that for driving along South Morava and Vardar motorways, if I can put it so. Sofia is also planning a western bypass (not the ring road) which will shorten the route through Bulgaria even more but it is a long-term project. I am talking here about the HGVs with respect to the port of Thessaloniki. While for leisure traveling, a lot of Serbs visiting Kavala, Thasos and the whole Aegean region there, A3 in Bulgaria is choice #1. Btw some of the best wild and wide sandy beaches on the Aegean Sea in Northern Greece are located east of river Mesta/Nestos. Hopefully Bulgaria and Greece also build a motorway from A4/Haskovo to Komotini/A2. So you can also travel in that direction through the Eastern Rhodopi Mountains. As well as for the port of Alexandroupoli. 👍


----------



## Ni3lS

I just uploaded the stretch of A3 from Kresna to Kulata  Smooth sailing, really nice to drive!


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Dermantsi - Ugarchin (25.10.2021)






Ugarchin - Kalenik (27.10.2021)






+

Northern bypass of Burgas (25.10.2021)


----------



## Infam0uS

The Mladost - A1 section of the Sofia Ring Road is officially completed.


----------



## b.w.

From the same place


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (29.10.2021)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

xpitron said:


> This is not true. Sofia-Bucharest will be travelled only partly along A2. More precisely via Pleven and a new bridge at Nikopol/T.Magurele. This means it has nothing to do with Varna. Romania is going to build its motorway Bucharest-Alexandria. The rest will be history. A2 has only a local meaning from European stand point. That's why it couldn't receive any resources from the EU funds. First design a proper port and then talk about top priority of A2 towards Varna.
> 
> Sofia-Istanbul, Sofia-Thessaloniki, Sofia-Belgrade are much more important than Sofia-Varna alone. You don't have to complain so much in Varna. A1/Burgas is nearby. ☺


STOP THE SPAM, LITTLE TROLL!


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 Dragoman junction


----------



## b.w.

A6 again but this time video from 04/11/2021
Motorway construction near Dragoman




Thanks to Avtomagistrali


----------



## Infam0uS

Sofia Ring Road:

In late September the northern arc was repaved:






Mladost - A1 at night:


----------



## abdok15

Construction of Lot1 of the A2 Highway


----------



## b.w.

A6 Europe motorway Lot 1
Dragoman - Kalotina (serbian border)




Thanks to skyPoint


----------



## Infam0uS

Northern bypass of Burgas. (09.12.2021)






Credits: skyPoint.


----------



## cymru1

cymru1 said:


> View attachment 2376952
> 
> 
> Makresh junction - Bela junction
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Credits: @ivamaneva93




End of December update






Credits: @ivamaneva93


----------



## Uppsala

b.w. said:


> A6 Europe motorway Lot 1
> Dragoman - Kalotina (serbian border)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks to skyPoint



It looks really good! Big parts look as if they can soon even be opened to traffic. On the other hand, it is seen that the part with the railway bridge is complicated. You can see there is a lot of work left there.


----------



## b.w.

A3 Struma motorway 
The entire length of lot 3.1





Credits : @skyPoint


----------



## b.w.

And the whole part of the southern arc of Sofia ring road photographed at night.





Thanks to Drone Reporter


----------



## pawel-l

I don't understand it. Is it temporary state or final? It looks that it blocks planned road.


----------



## b.w.

pawel-l said:


> I don't understand it. Is it temporary state or final? It looks that it blocks planned road.
> View attachment 2548080


According to the project, this is a temporary bridge.Which will be removed when this will be built. The railway will be above.


















Pictures : Radoslav Zlatinov


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Dermantsi - Kalenik (29.12.2021)


----------



## РодопчанинѢ

b.w. said:


> According to the project, this is a temporary bridge.Which will be removed when this will be built. The railway will be above.
> View attachment 2548618
> 
> 
> View attachment 2548619
> 
> 
> Pictures : Radoslav Zlatinov


Note: This curve is calculated for 80kph(R = 250m with 7% Superelevation)


----------



## Uppsala

РодопчанинѢ said:


> Note: This curve is calculated for 80kph(R = 250m with 7% Superelevation)



I'm still impressed with how they manage to widen this old road to become a complete motorway. Before the widening started, I think the road was very far from the motorway standard. I was completely convinced that they would build a completely new road on a new stretch and not widen the old road so it becomes a complete motorway. I thought the mountainous nature was too difficult to widen the old road. But apparently it's going well, as the road is now almost a motorway now


----------



## The Wild Boy

How will Katolina and Dragoman be linked other than the motorway, since the motorway is essentially an upgrade of the existing road. On the maps, i can't see any other secondary road that will take up the slower vehicles, tractors and horses.

Say for example if someone wants to go cycling from Dragoman to Katolina, maybe to explore the nearby caves, mountains, etc... is there any other alternative to that other than cycling on the motorway, which I'm pretty sure is not allowed.

The local road from Dragoman towards the current U/C motorway ends here:









And after that point there are no connections to the village Novo Brdo, and Katolina, as far as i can see.

Maybe they could extend that local road if the terrain allows, like i have shown below:









Usually in such cases when upgrading and widening an already existing road is that you have to build a completely new alternative road so it can be used by the villagers, slower traffic, tractors, etc... in this case, due to cost factors and the terrain it was not possible to build the motorway on a new route. It just wasn't worth it for Bulgaria, and i think for what it is this is a perfect choice that they are doing right now, but if they don't provide both places a secondary road connection, slower vehicles may end up taking the motorway or taking a huge detour though the villages across the mountains.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

@The Wild Boy
There is a road between Dragoman and Novo Bardo via Dragoil and the Dragoil monastery.


----------



## The Wild Boy

My bad, i see it now. Thanks for pointing out.


----------



## Uppsala

Does anyone here know how old the road is between SRB-border and Dragoman? Because the road should still be quite old, right? Despite the fact that it is now being rebuilt into a complete motorway.

The old railway bridge that they removed and replaced with a new one now looked very old. It looked to be at least from the 1920s-1930s. Maybe the 1940s. But I do not think at all that it was built as late as the 1950s.

It also looks as if the road has been rebuilt over the years, as if it had passed through the villages before, but changed a bit so that it instead goes outside.

So how old is the road between SRB-border and Dragoman?


----------



## РодопчанинѢ

Uppsala said:


> I'm still impressed with how they manage to widen this old road to become a complete motorway. Before the widening started, I think the road was very far from the motorway standard. I was completely convinced that they would build a completely new road on a new stretch and not widen the old road so it becomes a complete motorway. I thought the mountainous nature was too difficult to widen the old road. But apparently it's going well, as the road is now almost a motorway now


I wish that they try to find a way to design that curve for 90kph(Rmin = 370m with 7% Superelevation), but I guess that this was not possible.

As per our design guidelines minimum for a Highway is 100kph(Rmin = 600m with 6% Superelevation) and 90kph for expressways.

At the end of the day I am happy that this road got an upgrade.


----------



## xbox36O

Has any other route been studied?


----------



## РодопчанинѢ

xbox36O said:


> Has any other route been studied?


I have no idea. I am not aware of any publicly available information for planned and proposed routes, but I know that as per process when a new route is being planned the designer should propose up to 3 variants to choose from.

This is an upgrade of current road, so process might be different here.


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Kalenik - Pleven (01.01.2022)


----------



## Uppsala

РодопчанинѢ said:


> I have no idea. I am not aware of any publicly available information for planned and proposed routes, but I know that as per process when a new route is being planned the designer should propose up to 3 variants to choose from.
> 
> This is an upgrade of current road, so process might be different here.



They seem to have known for a long time that the section from the SRB-border would be widened and rebuilt and that it would not be a new road. I remember a few years ago while they were in Serbia building the motorway from Niš to the border, I remember there were questions about why nothing happened in Bulgaria. Why did they not build a new road as well, when a new motorway was built in Serbia. I remember the answer even then was interesting. It was claimed that it was not needed. The answer was that only a part closest to Sofia was to be replaced, but part that was to be replaced was already a 2+2 road. The part that was closer to the SRB-border would never be replaced, only rebuilt. That was already an interesting answer. They did not think that anything needed to be done, because almost everything already existed, it would "just" be rebuilt.

Today we see that it is actually true. It is the old road that they are rebuilding, but which is actually becoming a complete motorway despite this.

Compare that in Serbia a new road was built between Niš and the border.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Infam0uS said:


> A2 Hemus motorway
> 
> Kalenik - Pleven (01.01.2022)



18:10 from the video
The A2 / II-35 intercharge will be 2x2 so later the entire II-35 can be upgraded 2x2 between Pleven and Lovech.

Two sections from this road are already 2x2


----------



## krzysiek997

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> 18:10 from the video
> The A2 / II-35 intercharge will be 2x2 so later the entire II-35 can be upgraded 2x2 between Pleven and Lovech.
> 
> Two sections from this road are alredy 2x2


Thats likely to be planned to happen at some point. Prove: Lovech bypass is built as 2x2 Grade-sep. expressway, refurbished in '18 (by looking at street view) Thats just 14 km break Lovech - A2 motorway.


----------



## Pilav

Any info or news about Skopje - Sofia highway?

Happy New Year


----------



## cymru1

Pilav said:


> Any info or news about Skopje - Sofia highway?
> 
> Happy New Year


The best joke of 2022


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

cymru1 said:


> The best joke of 2022


The North Macedonian side is bulding an express road, slowly.
The Bulgarian side is repairing the old road, a bit faster.


----------



## Uppsala

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> The North Macedonian side is bulding an express road, slowly.
> The Bulgarian side is repairing the old road, a bit faster.



It's an E-road. It's E871. But there is a blue sign for road number here. Normally, E-raods are marked in green.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Uppsala said:


> It's an E-road. It's E871. But there is a blue sign for road number here. Normally, E-raods are marked in green.


Only motorways have green signs in Bulgaria.


----------



## cymru1

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> The North Macedonian side is bulding an express road, slowly


From what I saw it's hard to say this is an expressway. This is just a single carriageway may be with some 2+1 sections.









[NMK] North Macedonia | road infrastructure • патна...


Few photos from the reconstruction of the Kumanovo-Stratsin road [A2], part of the road to the border with Bulgaria [Corridor 8]... These photos are from the first section Kumanovo-Vojnik village, in length of 15,2 km. The second section Vojnik-Stratsin is almost completed...




www.skyscrapercity.com


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

yes
they are just slightly upgrading the old 2x1 road with some 2x1 +1 sections
It is not really an expressway, but they think it is enough for their traffic with Bulgaria ...
just like everything else
But we can't blame them because our road looks the same.
Google Maps

At least we have a plan to build a highway between Dupnitsa (A3) and the border at Gyueshevo.
Maybe in 2030. Who knows.










visitors from North Macedonia to Bulgaria
Bulgarian passport holders not included


----------



## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> The North Macedonian side is bulding an *express road*, slowly.





cymru1 said:


> From what I saw it's hard to say this is an *expressway*. This is just a single carriageway may be with some 2+1 sections.


yep, an express road is not an expressway.

I'd say:

*Motorway *(according to _Convention on road traffic done at Vienna on 8th November 1968_)*:*
2 carriageways, grade-separated, access-controlled, no U turns

*Expressway:*
2 carriageways, (mostly) grade-separated

*Express road:*
1 carriageway, 2+1 or 1x2 (mostly) grade-separated, not through villages


----------



## Nisany

Uppsala said:


> They seem to have known for a long time that the section from the SRB-border would be widened and rebuilt and that it would not be a new road. I remember a few years ago while they were in Serbia building the motorway from Niš to the border, I remember there were questions about why nothing happened in Bulgaria. Why did they not build a new road as well, when a new motorway was built in Serbia. I remember the answer even then was interesting. It was claimed that it was not needed.
> ...


This is done in Bulgaria because of pure stinginess. However the solution toward the Kalotina/Gradina BCP in particular is justified here because if you look closer at the relief from Dragoman to the border, you will notice that we should build at least 5-6 km of tunnels or even more provided we had to keep the old road. There is simply no space enough for both. The railway line also passes there so it makes things even more complicated. Better build it like that, otherwise God knows when it will be built. There is in fact another road through Berende but it is not suitable for trucks. What is left now is to add a secondary BCP north of the Nisava river as backup for the local traffic. Just like Horgos for example.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 near Kalotina

the railway bridge

























images by @REAKT0R


----------



## The Wild Boy

Our express roads are just 1+1 2 way, with 2 smaller hard shoulders on each side. They are grade - separated, acess controlled, they are hot median - separated, and have a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Officially they are classified as a road reserved for motor vehicles.

The term expressway, much like the term highway is broadly used in America. Usually there an expressway would refer to a highway with more lanes, or a highway running though / near a city (what we call here urban motorway). The correct term name for 4 lane median - separated roads (with or without hard shoulder) that do not meet the criteria to be called a motorway, like not wider lanes or not wider hard shoulder is just express road. It's just that in our case we chose to go with a 1+1 variant with 2 smaller hard shoulders, and countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia chose to go with 2+2 variants, and in special occasions like in Romania, Hungary, Poland and even Bulgaria you can have express roads which are 4 lane and have a hard shoulder. In Poland they behave more like motorways and they actually are motorways. Except they are not called such. The only difference is the lane width and the quality they are built of.

The sign that we use for express roads and that I'm pretty sure most other countries in Europe use as well:


And i don't know why, several sites show official documents that we apparently have blue motorway type of signs that apparently "are used" for express roads.


The only country that i know that uses blue motorway signs for express roads, is Albania.

I have literally never seen such signs in my country and i think that it's just a plain stupid idea to use blue - motorway signs for express roads. Just stick to the road reserved for motor vehicles type of sign and that should be fine. That's what we actually are right now, unless they plan to change that.

And yeah maybe in our case using that variant of express roads might not be the best, but for many people it's also not worth it to do a 4 lane median - separated connection, when at that point we can widen the road a bit and end up with a motorway. This is the main reason why our express roads are like that. They can easily get upgraded in the future, by just adding a second carriageway, much like what's happening right now on the Belgrade Bypass. The question on many of those express road sections is that whether such an upgrade would be needed sooner or later.
Štip - Kočani seems to be handling the traffic fine, Štip - Radoviš is more or less a similar story. Express way to Bulgarian border there from Strumica should also handle the traffic fine, it won't really necessitate for a motorway connection. It's a similar story with Bitola - Medzitlija express road, but for Gradsko - Prilep and the express road towards Kriva Palanka, i think that the need for turning them into motorways will be much sooner than needed.
For Gradsko - Prilep turning that express road into a full profile motorway would not make sense, as the best option here is to build a motorway from Veles to Prilep through Babuna mountain.

We should have built a motorway towards the border with Bulgaria, but saddly that didn't happen. I always said that the benefits would be bigger, both Sofia and Skopje should have been linked with a motorway connection for various reasons. We have to stop looking at every single thing for historical related stuff that end us causing more issues, and we should focus more on creating a better future for both countries and ensuring a better connectivity. Something that we have failed at, yet we had several good chances. 2 motorways towards Bulgaria, fell down in the water like that...

Hopefully one day someone at least revives the idea to build a bypass of Kumanovo and a motorway connection at - least towards Rankovce.

Right now there may not be a huge amount of traffic, but the new investments in that region, building new roads and improving existing ones will surely draw in more traffic. A lot of people (especially from the south - eastern region) actually avoid going towards Bulgaria though Kriva Palanka, simply because the road is in a bad state. They either go all the way towards Strumica, then go to Petrich and join the A3 from there, or they go from Delcevo. That is however changing now on A2 and we should only see more and more traffic coming in towards Kriva Palanka and Deve Bair border crossing. Time to make A2 attractive again, hopefully we can finish our express road from Rankovce to Kriva Palanka by the end of this year or beginning of 2023. There's already a small segment left for future extension towards the Bulgarian border, as i discussed in my country's forum. That express road will end in a interchange, somewhere before Kriva Palanka, but in the future if they decide so, they can extend the express road to make it bypass Kriva Palanka (which will be surely needed) and have it go towards the border with Bulgaria.










PDF File showing the route of the Rankovce - Kriva Palanka express road.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Our express roads are just 1+1 2 way, with 2 smaller hard shoulders on each side. They are grade - separated, acess controlled, they are hot median - separated, and have a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Officially they are classified as a road reserved for motor vehicles.
> 
> The term expressway, much like the term highway is broadly used in America. Usually there an expressway would refer to a highway with more lanes, or a highway running though / near a city (what we call here urban motorway). The correct term name for 4 lane median - separated roads (with or without hard shoulder) that do not meet the criteria to be called a motorway, like not wider lanes or not wider hard shoulder is just express road. It's just that in our case we chose to go with a 1+1 variant with 2 smaller hard shoulders, and countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia chose to go with 2+2 variants, and in special occasions like in Romania, Hungary, Poland and even Bulgaria you can have express roads which are 4 lane and have a hard shoulder. In Poland they behave more like motorways and they actually are motorways. Except they are not called such. The only difference is the lane width and the quality they are built of.
> 
> The sign that we use for express roads and that I'm pretty sure most other countries in Europe use as well:
> 
> 
> And i don't know why, several sites show official documents that we apparently have blue motorway type of signs that apparently "are used" for express roads.
> 
> 
> The only country that i know that uses blue motorway signs for express roads, is Albania.
> 
> I have literally never seen such signs in my country and i think that it's just a plain stupid idea to use blue - motorway signs for express roads. Just stick to the road reserved for motor vehicles type of sign and that should be fine. That's what we actually are right now, unless they plan to change that.
> 
> And yeah maybe in our case using that variant of express roads might not be the best, but for many people it's also not worth it to do a 4 lane median - separated connection, when at that point we can widen the road a bit and end up with a motorway. This is the main reason why our express roads are like that. They can easily get upgraded in the future, by just adding a second carriageway, much like what's happening right now on the Belgrade Bypass. The question on many of those express road sections is that whether such an upgrade would be needed sooner or later.
> Štip - Kočani seems to be handling the traffic fine, Štip - Radoviš is more or less a similar story. Express way to Bulgarian border there from Strumica should also handle the traffic fine, it won't really necessitate for a motorway connection. It's a similar story with Bitola - Medzitlija express road, but for Gradsko - Prilep and the express road towards Kriva Palanka, i think that the need for turning them into motorways will be much sooner than needed.
> For Gradsko - Prilep turning that express road into a full profile motorway would not make sense, as the best option here is to build a motorway from Veles to Prilep through Babuna mountain.
> 
> We should have built a motorway towards the border with Bulgaria, but saddly that didn't happen. I always said that the benefits would be bigger, both Sofia and Skopje should have been linked with a motorway connection for various reasons. We have to stop looking at every single thing for historical related stuff that end us causing more issues, and we should focus more on creating a better future for both countries and ensuring a better connectivity. Something that we have failed at, yet we had several good chances. 2 motorways towards Bulgaria, fell down in the water like that...
> 
> Hopefully one day someone at least revives the idea to build a bypass of Kumanovo and a motorway connection at - least towards Rankovce.
> 
> Right now there may not be a huge amount of traffic, but the new investments in that region, building new roads and improving existing ones will surely draw in more traffic. A lot of people (especially from the south - eastern region) actually avoid going towards Bulgaria though Kriva Palanka, simply because the road is in a bad state. They either go all the way towards Strumica, then go to Petrich and join the A3 from there, or they go from Delcevo. That is however changing now on A2 and we should only see more and more traffic coming in towards Kriva Palanka and Deve Bair border crossing. Time to make A2 attractive again, hopefully we can finish our express road from Rankovce to Kriva Palanka by the end of this year or beginning of 2023. There's already a small segment left for future extension towards the Bulgarian border, as i discussed in my country's forum. That express road will end in a interchange, somewhere before Kriva Palanka, but in the future if they decide so, they can extend the express road to make it bypass Kriva Palanka (which will be surely needed) and have it go towards the border with Bulgaria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PDF File showing the route of the Rankovce - Kriva Palanka express road.












Д7 "Автомобилен път" 

|||...We should have built a motorway towards the border with Bulgaria, but saddly that didn't happen. I always said that the benefits would be bigger, both Sofia and Skopje should have been linked with a motorway connection for various reasons. We have to stop looking at every single thing for historical related stuff that end us causing more issues, and we should focus more on creating a better future for both countries and ensuring a better connectivity. Something that we have failed at, yet we had several good chances. 2 motorways towards Bulgaria, fell down in the water like that...|||

The Bulgarians needed 30 years to realize that the missing infrastructure between the two countries is not just a coincidence but well planed policy of foreign lobbies in both countries. The same lobbies who are brainwashing the children with lies and fairytales about the past.


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## Uppsala

The Wild Boy said:


> Our express roads are just 1+1 2 way, with 2 smaller hard shoulders on each side. They are grade - separated, acess controlled, they are hot median - separated, and have a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Officially they are classified as a road reserved for motor vehicles.
> 
> The term expressway, much like the term highway is broadly used in America. Usually there an expressway would refer to a highway with more lanes, or a highway running though / near a city (what we call here urban motorway). The correct term name for 4 lane median - separated roads (with or without hard shoulder) that do not meet the criteria to be called a motorway, like not wider lanes or not wider hard shoulder is just express road. It's just that in our case we chose to go with a 1+1 variant with 2 smaller hard shoulders, and countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia chose to go with 2+2 variants, and in special occasions like in Romania, Hungary, Poland and even Bulgaria you can have express roads which are 4 lane and have a hard shoulder. In Poland they behave more like motorways and they actually are motorways. Except they are not called such. The only difference is the lane width and the quality they are built of.
> 
> The sign that we use for express roads and that I'm pretty sure most other countries in Europe use as well:
> 
> 
> And i don't know why, several sites show official documents that we apparently have blue motorway type of signs that apparently "are used" for express roads.
> 
> 
> The only country that i know that uses blue motorway signs for express roads, is Albania.
> 
> I have literally never seen such signs in my country and i think that it's just a plain stupid idea to use blue - motorway signs for express roads. Just stick to the road reserved for motor vehicles type of sign and that should be fine. That's what we actually are right now, unless they plan to change that.
> 
> And yeah maybe in our case using that variant of express roads might not be the best, but for many people it's also not worth it to do a 4 lane median - separated connection, when at that point we can widen the road a bit and end up with a motorway. This is the main reason why our express roads are like that. They can easily get upgraded in the future, by just adding a second carriageway, much like what's happening right now on the Belgrade Bypass. The question on many of those express road sections is that whether such an upgrade would be needed sooner or later.
> Štip - Kočani seems to be handling the traffic fine, Štip - Radoviš is more or less a similar story. Express way to Bulgarian border there from Strumica should also handle the traffic fine, it won't really necessitate for a motorway connection. It's a similar story with Bitola - Medzitlija express road, but for Gradsko - Prilep and the express road towards Kriva Palanka, i think that the need for turning them into motorways will be much sooner than needed.
> For Gradsko - Prilep turning that express road into a full profile motorway would not make sense, as the best option here is to build a motorway from Veles to Prilep through Babuna mountain.
> 
> We should have built a motorway towards the border with Bulgaria, but saddly that didn't happen. I always said that the benefits would be bigger, both Sofia and Skopje should have been linked with a motorway connection for various reasons. We have to stop looking at every single thing for historical related stuff that end us causing more issues, and we should focus more on creating a better future for both countries and ensuring a better connectivity. Something that we have failed at, yet we had several good chances. 2 motorways towards Bulgaria, fell down in the water like that...
> 
> Hopefully one day someone at least revives the idea to build a bypass of Kumanovo and a motorway connection at - least towards Rankovce.
> 
> Right now there may not be a huge amount of traffic, but the new investments in that region, building new roads and improving existing ones will surely draw in more traffic. A lot of people (especially from the south - eastern region) actually avoid going towards Bulgaria though Kriva Palanka, simply because the road is in a bad state. They either go all the way towards Strumica, then go to Petrich and join the A3 from there, or they go from Delcevo. That is however changing now on A2 and we should only see more and more traffic coming in towards Kriva Palanka and Deve Bair border crossing. Time to make A2 attractive again, hopefully we can finish our express road from Rankovce to Kriva Palanka by the end of this year or beginning of 2023. There's already a small segment left for future extension towards the Bulgarian border, as i discussed in my country's forum. That express road will end in a interchange, somewhere before Kriva Palanka, but in the future if they decide so, they can extend the express road to make it bypass Kriva Palanka (which will be surely needed) and have it go towards the border with Bulgaria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PDF File showing the route of the Rankovce - Kriva Palanka express road.







The Wild Boy said:


> The sign that we use for express roads and that I'm pretty sure most other countries in Europe use as well:
> 
> 
> And i don't know why, several sites show official documents that we apparently have blue motorway type of signs that apparently "are used" for express roads.
> 
> 
> The only country that i know that uses blue motorway signs for express roads, is Albania.



Italy also has a system of green and blue motorway signs. Green motorway signs are Autostrada and are real motorways. Blue motorway signs are Superstrada and these are considered more like expressways.

The roads that have blue motorway signs often have shulders that are not as good or lack them. The road is not as well maintained. But they are always a standard that is still seen as motorways in an international perspective.

For Italians, blue motorway signs will not be the same as "real" motorway. It must therefore be a green sign to be a real motorway. In addition, roads with blue motorway signs usually lack tolls. For Italians, it is often considered a toll to be a real motorway. But from an international perspective, it will still be like real motorways in any case. Many countries such as Germany, France, the UK, Poland, Norway, or the Netherlands have blue motorway signs for all motorways. There are no green in these countries but only blue. So those who come from these countries obviously think that when they see a blue motorway sign in Italy, it is a real motorway and nothing else. And tolls are missing in several European countries as well. Germany and Sweden, among others, do not have tolls on the motorways. So, of course, Germans who see a blue motorway sign in Italy think it's a real motorway.

Not even the standard of the blue Italian motorways says anything other than that it is just a motorway. In Germany, there are older motorways in poorer condition and without shoulders.

It is possible that several countries in Europe should introduce the Spanish Autovia sign. It points to a road that is a bit in the middle between the motorway and the expressway.


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## The Wild Boy

Uppsala said:


> Italy also has a system of green and blue motorway signs. Green motorway signs are Autostrada and are real motorways. Blue motorway signs are Superstrada and these are considered more like expressways.
> 
> The roads that have blue motorway signs often have shulders that are not as good or lack them. The road is not as well maintained. But they are always a standard that is still seen as motorways in an international perspective.
> 
> For Italians, blue motorway signs will not be the same as "real" motorway. It must therefore be a green sign to be a real motorway. In addition, roads with blue motorway signs usually lack tolls. For Italians, it is often considered a toll to be a real motorway. But from an international perspective, it will still be like real motorways in any case. Many countries such as Germany, France, the UK, Poland, Norway, or the Netherlands have blue motorway signs for all motorways. There are no green in these countries but only blue. So those who come from these countries obviously think that when they see a blue motorway sign in Italy, it is a real motorway and nothing else. And tolls are missing in several European countries as well. Germany and Sweden, among others, do not have tolls on the motorways. So, of course, Germans who see a blue motorway sign in Italy think it's a real motorway.
> 
> Not even the standard of the blue Italian motorways says anything other than that it is just a motorway. In Germany, there are older motorways in poorer condition and without shoulders.
> 
> It is possible that several countries in Europe should introduce the Spanish Autovia sign. It points to a road that is a bit in the middle between the motorway and the expressway.


Yes. 
Spanish Autovia sign is perfect, but it shows and clearly resembles a 4 lane road. 

From my perspective the best option is to just keep the green motorway sign, and use the one i sent above for both 4 lane express roads, 2 lane express roads or 2 lane fast roads. Avoids much less confusion and simplifies things more. I see the blue motorway sign as a more confusion than anything else. 

The other option would be like you said, to use the Autovia sign for 4 lane express roads (with or without hard shoulders), since it's less confusing for many, resembles less of a motorway sign, and actually has a better meaning. 

And then keep the sign of roads reserved for motor vehicles only for 2 lane fast roads or 2 lane express roads. 

I generally find it a waste to put dedicated type of signs for every new type of road, be it 4 lane express road or 2 lane. This is why i say the combo green motorway + blue car sign used for road reserved for motor vehicles is the best choice, most simplest and least confusing.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

*railway *
*motorway* direction Caribrod
*motorway* direction Dragoman









image by @Foreigner037


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## Ni3lS

Here is a video of the A2 Hemus Motorway I made on my trip last year. It's the full segment that is currently open just East of Sofia. I drove the A2 to Varna many years ago as well but haven't been to the Black Sea since.


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## Theijs

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> *railway *
> *motorway* direction Caribrod
> *motorway* direction Dragoman
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> image by @Foreigner037


When should this curve with new railwaybridge be ready?


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## cymru1

I've seen this bug in Veliko Tranovo - hope not to cause such problems for A2 and A7


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## cymru1

A6 Green section - contract signed. 660 days for construction works.



















„Главболгарстрой“ ще строи последния участък от магистрала „Европа“


Агенция „Пътна инфраструктура“ (АПИ) е подписала договор с ДЗЗД „Европа – 2022“ за строителството на последния участък от автомагистрала „Европа“




www.economic.bg


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## SevenSlavicTribes

cymru1 said:


> A6 Green section - contract signed. 660 days for construction works.
> 
> View attachment 2665019
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> „Главболгарстрой“ ще строи последния участък от магистрала „Европа“
> 
> 
> Агенция „Пътна инфраструктура“ (АПИ) е подписала договор с ДЗЗД „Европа – 2022“ за строителството на последния участък от автомагистрала „Европа“
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.economic.bg


price 222,5 million lev (113,8 million euro)
6,9 million euro / km

A6 must be ready by the end of 2023

red section - 17 km - 117,3 million lev
blue section - 14,5 km - 165 million lev
green section - 16,5 km - 222,5 million lev


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## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 the Green section


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## AθΕνΙαΝ

So this last lot of A6 will complete the whole motorway route from central Europe to Sofia and further on to Istanbul. Now all we need is to get rid of the stupid border checks for passenger cars .


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## SevenSlavicTribes

AθΕνΙαΝ said:


> So this last lot of A6 will complete the whole motorway route from central Europe to Sofia and further on to Istanbul. Now all we need is to get rid of the stupid border checks for passenger cars .


Serbia is not EU member and Bulgaria is not a Schengen country. I'm not optimistic about the border checks.


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## satanism

There are some minor details to the statement above. Like the interchange just before/after the border was actually downgraded to at-grade (For some ridiculous unknown reason) and the fact that there's a traffic light on the eastern bypass of Sofia, which on it's hand is not classified as a motorway and never will be.


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## lampsakos21

satanism said:


> There are some minor details to the statement above. Like the interchange just before/after the border was actually downgraded to at-grade (For some ridiculous unknown reason) and the fact that there's a traffic light on the eastern bypass of Sofia, which on it's hand is not classified as a motorway and never will be.


So how are they going to connect properly the A3 ( "Struma" Highway ) with the A6 ( "Europe" Highway), if the section of the eastern ring road of Sofia is not a proper highway ?If i remember well that part is a proper highway


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## The Wild Boy

Which part exactly has a traffic light? 

Also, from what i can see most Bulgarian border checkpoints have an at - grade intersection right before the border. It's a similar story in Kulata border crossing, border crossing with Turkey and other border crossings probably.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Which part exactly has a traffic light?
> 
> Also, from what i can see most Bulgarian border checkpoints have an at - grade intersection right before the border. It's a similar story in Kulata border crossing, border crossing with Turkey and other border crossings probably.


There is a pedestrian crossing with traffic light at the Sofia ring road (East) near Kazichene

Google Maps


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## SevenSlavicTribes

lampsakos21 said:


> So how are they going to connect properly the A3 ( "Struma" Highway ) with the A6 ( "Europe" Highway), if the section of the eastern ring road of Sofia is not a proper highway ?If i remember well that part is a proper highway


The connection between A3 and A6 is the Sofia Ring Road West










A3 motorway ends here

Google Maps

you follow the Sofia Ring Road West (direction Varna and Burgas)

Google Maps

Google Maps

and you reach the A6 junction (when the missing A6 section is ready they will probably add a Belgrade sign here)

Google Maps


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## stickedy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> There is a pedestrian crossing with traffic light at the Sofia ring road (East) near Kazichene
> 
> Google Maps


That could be easily solved with a pedestrian bridge.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

stickedy said:


> That could be easily solved with a pedestrian bridge.


that's the plan
but our bureaucracy is slow


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## satanism

Well...apparently it's not that easy, since this TL has been there all my life, claimed a few lives and all that.

Eastern ring has nothing to do with A3. But the point stays for the western ring too. It's not a motorway either.

Kulata is a different story. Once Bulgaria joins Shengen, the plan is to do a different alignment of the road on both sides, without any border infrastructure in place.No such plans for the Serbian point.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

There is no need for a motorway connecting A3 and A6.
The 2x3 Sofia ring road West is more than enough for the traffic.
The 90 km/h speed limit is a bit slow but we have much bigger problems in other parts of Bulgaria.
Google Maps


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## AθΕνΙαΝ

satanism said:


> Kulata is a different story. Once Bulgaria joins Shengen, the plan is to do a different alignment of the road on both sides, without any border infrastructure in place.


How's that progressing? Are there being talks towards an agreement for Schengen entry?


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## SevenSlavicTribes

AθΕνΙαΝ said:


> How's that progressing? Are there being talks towards an agreement for Schengen entry?


France and the Netherlands veto the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen zone.

European Commission: Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia Should Join Schengen


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## satanism

AθΕνΙαΝ said:


> How's that progressing? Are there being talks towards an agreement for Schengen entry?


Sporadic info pops up...but eventually it will happen. My theory is it will be a (part of a) bargaining chip for lifting the veto on NMK....could be a silent transaction too


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## AθΕνΙαΝ

Hope so. I really look forward to a time when Balkan countries stop being viewed as the black sheep of Europe and travel being free like the rest of the continent (which is not the case right now cause of the situation but anyway).


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## SevenSlavicTribes

AθΕνΙαΝ said:


> Hope so. I really look forward to a time when Balkan countries stop being viewed as the black sheep of Europe and travel being free like the rest of the continent (which is not the case right now cause of the situation but anyway).


The Netherlands and some other Western European countries see Bulgaria and Romania as a comfortable bufferzone between the millions of Arab migrants in Turkey and Western Europe.


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## Theijs

I wonder if the new government of The Netherlands will be more positive towards enlargement of the Schengenarea.


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## SevenSlavicTribes

България предвижда нов граничен пункт със Северна Македония и магистрала от Дупница до Гюешево

Bulgaria will build a highway connecting A3 at Dupnitsa with the North Macedonian border.


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## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> България предвижда нов граничен пункт със Северна Македония и магистрала от Дупница до Гюешево
> 
> Bulgaria will build a highway connecting A3 at Dupnitsa with the North Macedonian border.


Sounds good and it seems to be "close": Google translated: "between 3 and 5 years before the first sod is dug for such a project. To shorten the time, the expropriation of property will be faster. "

I guess it will be a "simple" 2-laned road? Or 2+1? Or even grade-separated? It's about 50km, I guess it won't be built at once? OpenStreetMap


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## SevenSlavicTribes

MichiH said:


> Sounds good and it seems to be "close": Google translated: "between 3 and 5 years before the first sod is dug for such a project. To shorten the time, the expropriation of property will be faster. "
> 
> I guess it will be a "simple" 2-laned road? Or 2+1? Or even grade-separated? It's about 50km, I guess it won't be built at once? OpenStreetMap


2 x 2 motorway

A3 ДУПНИЦА - КЮСТЕНДИЛ - ГЮЕШЕВО

and to the East ДУПНИЦА - САМОКОВ - A1










There was a joint session of the BG and NMK governments in Sofia


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## aubergine72

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> The Netherlands and some other Western European countries see Bulgaria and Romania as a comfortable bufferzone between the millions of Arab migrants in Turkey and Western Europe.


I don't know how they think that way considering that they're already packed with Arabs.


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## The Wild Boy

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> 2 x 2 motorway
> 
> A3 ДУПНИЦА - КЮСТЕНДИЛ - ГЮЕШЕВО
> 
> and to the East ДУПНИЦА - САМОКОВ - A1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There was a joint session of the BG and NMK governments in Sofia


Wait so now there's going to be a full profile motorway connection from the Bulgarian side? 

I haven't been really following the news, but i have heard that there were talks about building a motorway from our side as well. Some politicians were saying whether it should be "4 lanes or 4,5 lanes", and i didn't understand what they meant by that. I'm assuming they meant whether the road should be 4 lanes without hard shoulder or with hard shoulder (motorway). 

I think now is the perfect chance to get a motorway project going from both sides. We should better connect both countries and not divide. 

Once i find more news regarding the plans for our side, I'll post it in the thread of my country, but from what it seems there's a clear initiative for building a motorway towards Kriva Palanka and Deve Bair border crossing. 

They also plan to add an airline Skopje - Sofia which is another welcomed thing. There are a lot of people from my country who travel specifically to Sofia to get on international flights (flights that don't run in my country), so having a motorway connection, new railway connection and an air line will be always a welcomed thing. 

This "new government" that we have, is more or less a similar story to what we had before, but at least there's some new people who have at least some different thinking and perspective. I hope that both sides build a complete motorway connection as it will matter a lot, and it's going to bring many positive changes to the regions there both from my country's side and from Bulgaria's side. 

The current express road u/c can actually be upgraded to a motorway connection fairly easy, you just build a second carriageway, redesign the overpasses / interchanges to have space for a second carriageway, and that's it. Now since the contract with the Italians has been terminated on our side and we've yet to choose a new builder for the remaining sections of the Rankovce - Kriva Palanka express road i would not be surprised if the plan completely changes to build a motorway connection instead, and i hope that that happens. 

And I see that map that you posted contains a lot of road projects in Bulgaria with are shown as planned motorways. Does this mean that the new government in Bulgaria changed the plans for it's express roads (like Vidin - Botevgrad) and plans to build them as motorways now? I can see that the map is from 2016, so I'm assuming it isn't that accurate.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Vidin - Montana will be a motorway
Montana - Botevgrad - expressway

as a whole, the map is still up to date


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 Europe motorway

Dragoman - Kalotina (22.12.2021)






A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (07.02.2022)


----------



## The Wild Boy

Any updates on what was decided for A3 through Kresna? What do you think is the most likelihood outcome?


----------



## kostas97

SevenSlavicTribes said:


>


According to that map, the A6 is U/C all the way from Sofia to Kalotina (which is the real thing if i am not mistaken) but the same goes for the A2 from Lovech to Shumen (not the case) and the A5 among others....what is going on? I was kinda confused here....maybe it's because i don't speak Bulgarian but somebody clarify this.


----------



## cymru1

kostas97 said:


> According to that map, the A6 is U/C all the way from Sofia to Kalotina (which is the real thing if i am not mistaken) but the same goes for the A2 from Lovech to Shumen (not the case) and the A5 among others....what is going on? I was kinda confused here....maybe it's because i don't speak Bulgarian but somebody clarify this.


А6 - Lot 3 contract signed - construction works not started
A2 - the blu & green part is under construction 
A5 - in project phase


----------



## Infam0uS

kostas97 said:


> According to that map, the A6 is U/C all the way from Sofia to Kalotina (which is the real thing if i am not mistaken) but the same goes for the A2 from Lovech to Shumen (not the case) and the A5 among others....what is going on? I was kinda confused here....maybe it's because i don't speak Bulgarian but somebody clarify this.


A6 - Kalotina - Dragoman is U/C. Dragoman - Hrabarsko is completed and a contract has been signed for Hrabarsko to Sofia.

A2 - Boaza to Pleven/Lovech is U/C along with Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi.


----------



## b.w.

The conceptual design for the continuation of missing part of Sofia Ring Road from Boyana district to Ovcha Kupel residential area. 





Thanks to vbsky


----------



## b.w.

And in connection with the talks between the Ministers of Transport of Bulgaria and Romania two videos presenting the conceptual design for a new bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu


----------



## b.w.

And current situation with the existing bridge





Credits : Balkans All Around


----------



## stelver

@kostas97, unfortunately the Bulgarian governments didn't learn their lesson in the last at least 25 years. I mean they didn't understand how Greece built their motorways - Egnatia, Ionian, Olympian. Even the completion of the Aegean one between Athens and Thessaloniki. That's why there are big motorway parts still missing in Bulgaria and you see some patchy works here and there on the map. There is not a single new motorway tunnel through the Balkan Mountains! There is still no A3 through the Kresna gorge (Sofia-Promachonas), which by the way should have been built for the Olympic games in 2004! There are some missing tunnels in the Rhodope Mountains, even not 2x2. This is the reality in Bulgaria, I say again unfortunately, and we are already in 2022.

Speaking in the context of Bulgarian-Greek connections, are there any plans in Greece to upgrade Ormenio-Ardanio along the Maritsa/Evros river to an expressway in relation to the new TEN-T Baltic-Black-Aegean Seas corridor? Also are there plans in Greece for a new BCP Paranesti-Devin in the Rhodopes? Only for light car traffic of course.


----------



## stelver

b.w. said:


> And in connection with the talks between the Ministers of Transport of Bulgaria and Romania two videos presenting the conceptual design for a new bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu


This bridge is fine but it's part of a bigger project, namely a paid motorway from Ruse to the Greek border north of Komotini and a connection to the A2 in Greece. So I am not sure it can be implemented as a separate object. Moreover from what I see in the animation, the new bridge is located west of the existing one. Clearly visible from the island on the Romanian bank. This is quite different from what the Bulgarian Transport Ministry is actually planning. That is the new railroad bridge is planned to be east of the old bridge. 
By the way the new bridge at Ruse/Giurgiu is eligible to receive European financing, lying on the new TEN-T corridor mentioned in my previous post.


----------



## Capt.Vimes

These videos were not created by or for the government. The bridge will not be placed there. No point in discussing them.


----------



## Ni3lS

An upgrade is long overdue. The current bridge is really a pain, I even remember driving over a part of sand / gravel road in the middle of the bridge back in 2015. This seemed to be solved in 2019. When I see the bridge tolls in Euro's it makes me smile, because they don't mention that if you want to pay in Euro's that they will not give you change. My first time I paid 10 Euro's to cross this bridge and was in the end happy I made it across without a tire puncture 😂


----------



## stelver

It doesn't matter who makes the design. The point is that the bridge in the videos above is connected to a different motorway from Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo, which was not approved. Hence that bridge won't be built.


----------



## kostas97

stelver said:


> @kostas97, unfortunately the Bulgarian governments didn't learn their lesson in the last at least 25 years. I mean they didn't understand how Greece built their motorways - Egnatia, Ionian, Olympian. Even the completion of the Aegean one between Athens and Thessaloniki. That's why there are big motorway parts still missing in Bulgaria and you see some patchy works here and there on the map. There is not a single new motorway tunnel through the Balkan Mountains! There is still no A3 through the Kresna gorge (Sofia-Promachonas), which by the way should have been built for the Olympic games in 2004! There are some missing tunnels in the Rhodope Mountains, even not 2x2. This is the reality in Bulgaria, I say again unfortunately, and we are already in 2022.
> 
> Speaking in the context of Bulgarian-Greek connections, are there any plans in Greece to upgrade Ormenio-Ardanio along the Maritsa/Evros river to an expressway in relation to the new TEN-T Baltic-Black-Aegean Seas corridor? Also are there plans in Greece for a new BCP Paranesti-Devin in the Rhodopes? Only for light car traffic of course.





stelver said:


> @kostas97, unfortunately the Bulgarian governments didn't learn their lesson in the last at least 25 years. I mean they didn't understand how Greece built their motorways - Egnatia, Ionian, Olympian. Even the completion of the Aegean one between Athens and Thessaloniki. That's why there are big motorway parts still missing in Bulgaria and you see some patchy works here and there on the map. There is not a single new motorway tunnel through the Balkan Mountains! There is still no A3 through the Kresna gorge (Sofia-Promachonas), which by the way should have been built for the Olympic games in 2004! There are some missing tunnels in the Rhodope Mountains, even not 2x2. This is the reality in Bulgaria, I say again unfortunately, and we are already in 2022.
> 
> Speaking in the context of Bulgarian-Greek connections, are there any plans in Greece to upgrade Ormenio-Ardanio along the Maritsa/Evros river to an expressway in relation to the new TEN-T Baltic-Black-Aegean Seas corridor? Also are there plans in Greece for a new BCP Paranesti-Devin in the Rhodopes? Only for light car traffic of course.


The Ormenio-Ardanio road is (for the most part) already a single carriageway expressway, with a few grade separated crossings, however....those are subject to change, and renovation works (new signage, new asphalt and construction of new interchanges) are also taking place, while the same goes for the Provatonas bypass (the only missing part of the new road). I don't think there is going to be any effort in further upgrading the road, it is also not needed because of the traffic rates.
There is an upgrade plan for the railway in that corridor, upgrading it and benefitting the connection with Turkey, as well.....I don't know about the corridor in Bulgaria, though.
Lastly, I have no idea about the Drama-Paranesti road, I haven't heard anything concerning that road stretch.


----------



## sponge_bob

stelver said:


> It doesn't matter who makes the design. The point is that the bridge in the videos above is connected to a different motorway from Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo, which was not approved. Hence that bridge won't be built.


It seems _a new_ Ten -T core corridor is being created which will run Bucharest - Ruse - East Greece near Turkey and connecting to the A2 in Greece. It will be called the 'Baltic - Aegean' corridor and unlike other core corridors the target completion date is 2040 rather than 2030 and it is called the " extended core ". This will require a complex north south expressway through the balkan mountains in the middle of Bulgaria to deliver it. It will be a road/rail corridor as well, not just road. 160kph rail speeds at least. 

It was announced in Brussels before christmas but the European parliament has to vote on it in the near future.


----------



## stelver

sponge_bob said:


> It seems _a new_ Ten -T core corridor is being created which will run Bucharest - Ruse - East Greece near Turkey and connecting to the A2 in Greece. It will be called the 'Baltic - Aegean' corridor and unlike other core corridors the target completion date is 2040 rather than 2030 and it is called the " extended core ". This will require a complex north south expressway through the balkan mountains in the middle of Bulgaria to deliver it. It will be a road/rail corridor as well, not just road. 160kph rail speeds at least.
> 
> It was announced in Brussels before christmas but the European parliament has to vote on it in the near future.


This is true and its development in Greece depends much on the expansion or building a new deep marine port of Alexandroupoli. Then the traffic will drastically increase in the area. This Baltic-Aegean branch of the new TEN-T corridor (a motorway) could enter Greece either at Ormenio or north of Komotini with a tunnel under the Makaza pass. Same holds for the railway. In Bulgaria it actually coincides with the former pan-European corridor IX and follows the route of I-5.


----------



## stelver

kostas97 said:


> Lastly, I have no idea about the Drama-Paranesti road, I haven't heard anything concerning that road stretch.


It will be very useful to open a new connection Drama/Paranesti-Devin for local traffic below 3.5 tons. Some settlements are cut off now and the detour is too big. It will boost tourism of course too. In a broader scale this means the fastest route Plovdiv-Drama/Kavala. As far as I know there is a good existing road from Drama up in the mountains as far as somewhere north of Elatia. North of Paranesti the road can be rehabilitated. In Bulgaria we have a good road as far as south of Devin. It remains to build the last stretch and join the two countries there in the Kozhari-Elatia area. I'm not even sure if a tunnel will be needed for crossing the border itself.


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Makresh - Bela (14.02.2022)


----------



## Robertkc

Infam0uS said:


> Botevgrad - Vidin expressway


What's the revised completion date for the entire length of the expressway (Botevgrad - Vidin)? I found an old article form 2018 stating Dec'21 which is obviously wrong now...


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Infam0uS said:


> Botevgrad - Vidin expressway
> 
> Makresh - Bela (14.02.2022)


video shows part of the *red section*












Robertkc said:


> What's the revised completion date for the entire length of the expressway (Botevgrad - Vidin)? I found an old article form 2018 stating Dec'21 which is obviously wrong now...


blue section South - 2024
green section - 2027 - no construction works at the moment, only planning
red section - 2027
blue section North - 2027


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway - *section 3*







*

























*


----------



## satanism

Robertkc said:


> What's the revised completion date for the entire length of the expressway (Botevgrad - Vidin)? I found an old article form 2018 stating Dec'*3*1 which is obviously wrong now...


There, fixed it for ya


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway - section 10 (some 105 km from Varna)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway - *section 2*


----------



## b.w.

A 3 "Struma motorway"
Tunnel Zheleznitca


----------



## panda80

Hi, drove at the begining of January from Montana to Vidin on I-1. Enjoyed a lot the drive, there are nice views to the mountains and the Danubian Plains. The construction site for the expressway is to be seen from many points on the I-1. I can understand the need for the expressway, as this is an important transport corridor, however I found the traffic on the actual road relatively light, there are some trucks, but they can be overtaken on the long straight lines. However the waiting times at the border were high, stayed about 2 h there. Filmed the whole drive, including the Danube Bridge:


----------



## Infam0uS

A3 Struma motorway

Simitli - Blagoevgrad-south (19.02.2022)


----------



## The Wild Boy

Any news regarding Lot 3.2?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Burgas bypass
National road I-9



















*in the future I-9 will reach III-9008 








*


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Kresna gorge

there will be no motorway here


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They're now going for a design that takes the entire motorway out of the gorge? I thought the plan was originally to build one huge tunnel, then a split roadway (reusing the existing road in one direction). Now it's entirely rerouted outside of the gorge again?


----------



## MichiH

@ChrisZwolle



SevenSlavicTribes said:


> A3 Struma motorway section 3.2 will be redesigned by the new Bulgarian government.
> The entire section will be outside the Kresna gorge
> 
> Екоминистърът: За да бъде довършена, "Струма" трябва да мине извън Кресненското дефиле


----------



## sponge_bob

That redesign should be easy. Were all the tunnels on the half motorway that was to be outside the gorge...the plan in recent years after the long tunnel was dropped..not all full profile tunnels anyway as they are all 500m plus in length???


----------



## The Wild Boy

sponge_bob said:


> That redesign should be easy. Were all the tunnels on the half motorway that was to be outside the gorge...the plan in recent years after the long tunnel was dropped..not all full profile tunnels anyway as they are all 500m plus in length???


The alignment will more or less be the same. What i heard from the conference they held is that apparently only one segment where the motorway was meant to "descend" was in a wrong place, so they would have to change that. Other than that yeah, alignment is more or less fine.

For tunnels some were single tube, some twin tube (possibly if that plan went on, maybe for an expansion in the future). You can view the video of the project here.


----------



## Infam0uS

Northern bypass of Burgas (14.03.2022)


----------



## Pilav

Do you have any map of current Bulgarian highway network?


----------



## PhiK

Pilav said:


> Do you have any map of current Bulgarian highway network?


The map here is largely up-to date: 









Highways in Bulgaria - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 Europe motorway

Dragoman - Kalotina (26.03.2022)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 Hemus motorway






*section 1*


----------



## Uppsala

Infam0uS said:


> A6 Europe motorway
> 
> Dragoman - Kalotina (26.03.2022)



It's interesting! As it is now, you can see how the whole motorway will look like. It is actually already a motorway, but it is not finished yet and not opened as it officially is yet. But it is actually a motorway already now. At least in its structure.

It is also interesting to see how dt is going to be at the railway. On the old road there was a regular railway bridge. But now it is becoming like a small tunnel for the motorway and the railway will go on top of the tunnel.


----------



## gogo3o

Vehicles between 3.5 tons and 12 tons from July 1 to pay between 2 and 7 stotinki per kilometer to cross the second-class roads. Currently, the second-class road network is included in the scope of the toll system, but the rate for it is zero cents per kilometer. The proposal for changes in the Tariff of tolls, which are collected for the passage and use of the national road network, was made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Grozdan Karadzhov. At his initiative, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works held a public discussion on the proposed amendments to the Roads Act and the Tariff of tolls collected for the passage and use of the national road network. Representatives of the branch organizations were invited to the working meeting.

The value of all types of vignettes will decrease by 10%, and where the amount is not an integer, it will be rounded up in favor of consumers. The reduction will take effect in January 2023. Thus, for example, the most sought-after vignette - the annual one, which currently costs BGN 97, would cost BGN 87.3 next year. This means that it will be rounded to BGN 87...

Read further:








Второкласните пътища ще са платени за тежкотоварните автомобили от 1 юли


Винетките поевтиняват с 10% от януари 2023 г. Превозните средства между 3,5 т и 12 т от 1 юли да плащат между 2 и 7 стотинки на километър за преминаване през второкласните пътища. В момента второкласната пътна мрежа е включена в обхвата на тол системата, но ставката за нея е нула стотинки н




www-mrrb-bg.translate.goog













Still lower than majority of countries in Europe (if not all).


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

*under 3,5 t *
- 87 leva (44,50 euro) yearly vignette

*3,5 - to 12 t *(EURO VI + EEV)
motorways - 0,10 leva (0,05 euro) per km
1st class roads - 0,06 leva (0,03 euro) per km
2nd class roads - 0,04 leva (0,02 euro) per km

*over 12 t / 3 axes* (EURO VI + EEV)
motorways - 0,26 leva (0,13 euro) per km
1st class roads - 0,22 leva (0,11 euro) per km
2nd class roads - 0,19 leva (0,10 euro) per km

*over 12 t / 4 axes* (EURO VI + EEV)
motorways - 0,35 leva (0,18 euro) per km
1st class roads - 0,32 leva (0,16 euro) per km
2nd class roads - 0,29 leva (0,15 euro) per km

*busses* *3,5 - to 12 t *(EURO VI + EEV)
motorways - 0,04 leva (0,02 euro) per km
1st class roads - 0,03 leva (0,015 euro) per km
2nd class roads - 0,02 leva (0,01 euro) per km

*busses* *over 12 t *(EURO VI + EEV)
motorways - 0,05 leva (0,025 euro) per km
1st class roads - 0,04 leva (0,02 euro) per km
2nd class roads - 0,03 leva (0,015 euro) per km


----------



## Ni3lS

I made this video of the I-4 last fall. Some impressions of what they will have to work through next on the Hemus motorway project.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

🔼 one of the most dangerous roads in BG


----------



## Ni3lS

Nothing beats Byala - Ruse 🙃


----------



## cymru1

Infam0uS said:


> Botevgrad - Vidin expressway
> 
> Makresh - Bela (14.02.2022)



Makresh - Bela (31.03.2022)






Credits: @ivamaneva93


----------



## Corvinus

gogo3o said:


> Still lower than majority of countries in Europe (if not all).





SevenSlavicTribes said:


> *under 3,5 t *
> - 87 leva (44,50 euro) yearly vignette


Switzerland is lower here, with a CHF 40.- yearly toll sticker for a fast-road network in the range of 2000 km, often through challenging terrain. A referendum 8 years ago to hike yearly sticker price up to CHF 100.- and introduce shorter-period stickers was rejected.
Still, BG price looks fair enough, indeed lower than most others, the fast-road network is constantly growing and a generous 140 km/h for motorways (120 for motor traffic roads) limit applies.


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Makresh - Ruzhintsi (03.04.2022)


----------



## kostas97

Why is the Botevgrad - Ruzhintsi section displayed as a single carriageway expressway in OSM (with only the Ruzhintsi - Vidin as a dual carriageway road)?


----------



## simonik

kostas97 said:


> Why is the Botevgrad - Ruzhintsi section displayed as a single carriageway expressway in OSM (with only the Ruzhintsi - Vidin as a dual carriageway road)?


Everything from Vidin to Botevgrad/A2 will be dual carriageway. Vidin-Montana a motorway, the rest towards Botevgrad will be partly a motorway or an expressway. There will be some sections in the very south of this route where the speed limit will be less than 110km/h.

Here by the way are the plans of Bulgaria to finish its motorways and expressways.










Red sections: to be finished by mid 2025
Most of green sections: by mid 2032
Yellow sections and the rest of green: by 2040.

There will be some changes for sure regarding the yellow sections in the future. For example, the direct route from Sofia to Montana through the Western Balkan Mountains won't develop as a motor or expressway. There will be a single tube tunnel for the local traffic under the Petrohan pass on the existing road and that's it.

The yellow route Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad through the Central Balkan Mountains is totally useless because it will simply duplicate the adjacent central green route, which will also connect bigger and more important cities in Central Bulgaria.

The yellow route from Yambol to the Turkish border at Lesovo/Hamzabeili makes no sense. Much better is the continuation of the future Black Sea motorway/A5 from Burgas towards the border with Turkey at Strandzha/Malkoclar. It can join A3 where the Edirne and Kirklareli counties meet. This is the point where the motorway from Malkara and the recently opened Gallipoli bridge is planned to make contact with A3 in Turkey. Thus the traffic from Tulcea & Constanta in Romania, also Varna and Burgas in Bulgaria will travel to Istanbul and also to Izmir or vice versa. Regarding Yambol and Central Bulgaria, a new expressway section could be built from a bit north of Strandzha/Malkoclar towards Yambol/Sliven and further towards Gabrovo. Actually from the intersection with the national road 79 in Bulgaria. Whereas from this crossing point the motorway coming from Burgas can continue as an expressway towards Slivengrad in direction of Alexandroupoli in Greece.

Ruse-Shumen/A2 (not shown on the map above) definitely a future expressway, even should be a motorway.
Plovdiv-Karlovo-Gabrovo is a potential expressway. 

Last but not least a new expressway Gabrovo-Pleven-Oryahovo/Becket bridge could be developed in the future. It will join the future A6 Lugoj-Craiova in Romania.

The rest of the yellow routes Varna-Durankulak/RO border, Dimitrovgrad-Makaza/GR border and Dupnitsa-Ihtiman/A1 & Potop/A2 remain valid.

New bridges to be built on Danube with Romania: Oryahovo-Becket, Nikopol-Turnu Magurele, Ruse-Giurgiu (second motorway bridge) and Silistra-Calarasi.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. ☺


----------



## simonik

Here is a graphical representation of what I wrote above.


----------



## The Wild Boy

simonik said:


> Here is a graphical representation of what I wrote above.
> View attachment 3051463


Great representation and useful info.
You will just want to correct A3 through Kresna Gorge, since from what was told here, it will be a full profile motorway. This is unless something has been changed.


----------



## simonik

This is kind of extended network. Also couple of tunnels in the Eastern Balkans Mountains on the state road 7 should be constructed. If all this is built, I am sure the bottlenecks which are present today for the transit traffic at the Turkish, Romanian and even Greek borders as well as through certain parts of Bulgaria will disappear. There are also other BCPs that can be opened for the local traffic.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Le Clerk said:


> Any way, what I said was that it would be a shame if the HSR line is planned to stop in Bucharest while it could continue through in Bulgaria and end in Greece maybe in Thessaloniki or even better Athens.


the HRS line can be Budapest - Bucharest - Ruse - Varna

but for the ruling eites in Sofia Ruse and Varna are distant unimportant regions with no need for modern infrastructure. Even the very important Ruse - V. Tarnovo motorway project is moving slowly as if we have all the time in the world. It's just not important enough for the city of Sofia and the governments ruling there.

so there will be nothing South of the Danube
this is Bulgaria and her stalinist centralization


----------



## Le Clerk

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> the HRS line can be Budapest - Bucharest - Ruse - Varna
> 
> but for the ruling eites in Sofia Ruse and Varna are distant unimportant regions with no need for modern infrastructure. Even the very important Ruse - V. Tarnovo motorway project is moving slowly as if we have all the time in the world. It's just not important enough for the city of Sofia and the governments ruling there.
> 
> so there will be nothing South of the Danube
> this is Bulgaria and her stalinist centralization


IMO, the cost effectiveness of such an investment is difficult at best, but catching large cities on the way makes the argument better. Ruse and Varna are on the old route of Orient Express, and they are large enough to warrant such a line. Time to rebuild the Orient Express.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Asparuhovo - Aytos pass road
Republican road III-208 connecting A2 and A1
Aytos pass is the lowest pass in Stara Planina Mountain (390m,a.s.l.)
It is the fastest road link between the coastal Varna region and A1 Trakia motorway.


----------



## Infam0uS

Modar - Tsarevets underpass in Plovdiv (April 2022)






The link will connect the western and southern districts of the city.


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Makresh - Bela (06.05.2022)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Also visible on Sentinel-2 imagery from May 1:


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Boaza - Dermantsi (05.05.2022)






Dermantsi - Kalenik (05.05.2022)






Kalenik - Pleven (05.05.2022)


----------



## Apaemperor

I was surfing online and came across a video about the A4 (Автомагистрала Европа).
There are construction works in which the asphalt is replaced.
The works were ongoing when we drove back to The Netherlands from Turkey but I wanted to share this so that everyone knows what's going on there right now.
The road quality of the way in the direction of Kapitan Andreevo Border Crossing is very bad but I predict that this is just temporary
Link:


----------



## Apaemperor

This is the current situation at the A6/E80 (Автомагистрала Европа)
Link:


----------



## Apaemperor

This is the current situation on the A3 (Автомагистрала Струма) at the Zhelenitsa Tunnel


----------



## mman2012

Apaemperor said:


> This is the current situation on the A3 (Автомагистрала Струма) at the Zhelenitsa Tunnel


Any opening date revealed yet? Seems things are advancing quite well


----------



## Apaemperor

mman2012 said:


> Any opening date revealed yet? Seems things are advancing quite well


No, not in this video but I guess that the tunnel and the section will open soon because the asphalt is already been built.


----------



## The Wild Boy

If they have resolved the issues with the landslides that have occurred on this section, then I'm pretty sure they can open this section this year.

Hopefully preparatory works & construction starts on the remaining stretch of A3 in the coming years, since that has been decided to go completely through the mountain, much like one of the carriageways was planned in the previous plans with small alignments.

Someone should add the latest section of A3 on OSM.


----------



## Apaemperor

This is the current situation at the A6 (Автомагистрала Европа)


----------



## BG_AT

does anybody know what the AdBlue and "normal" Diesel costs at the moment for example at the OMV petrol stations in bulgaria?
on the website of omv.bg i couldnt find such informations 

OMV serbia, that means omv.rs has such informations on their website.


----------



## BG_AT

Am i right that the A6 highway from Dragoman to Sliwniza is fully completed and opened in both direction ?
From Dragoman to the Border (to Kalotina) is still under construction?
What is here the current situation? When could it be opened fully?


----------



## Apaemperor

BG_AT said:


> Am i right that the A6 highway from Dragoman to Sliwniza is fully completed and opened in both direction ?
> From Dragoman to the Border (to Kalotina) is still under construction?
> What is here the current situation? When could it be opened fully?


I've saw a Instagram post about it and sadly it states that it won't be expected that it will be finished this year


----------



## sun20

Does anybody know why they don't keep the Vidin-Calafat bridge traffic statistics up to date?



Дунав мост Видин - Калафат :: Статистика за трафика до 07.06.2022



LE: they updated it.


----------



## sun20

*Bulgaria and Romania are launching simultaneous feasability studies at five locations on both sides of the Danube to build new bridges*, the transport ministry said after a meeting in Bucharest of the Bulgarian-Romanian working group on connectivity under the auspices of the two prime ministers. 









Пробив: Започват проучвания за петте моста на Дунав едновременно


България и Румъния започват едновременни предпроектни проучвания на петте локации от двете страни на Дунав за изграждане на нови мостове, това съобщиха от министерството на транспорта след срещата в Букурещ на българо-румънската работна група по свързаността, която е под патронажа на двамата...




www.24chasa.bg


----------



## Infam0uS

A6 Europe motorway

Kalotina - Dragoman (04.06.2022)


----------



## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> Bulgarian construction companies won the tenders for the first two sections of the Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo motorway.
> 
> section 1 - 40 km
> Автомагистрали - Черно море АД - Шумен
> 
> section 2 - 35,5 km
> Грома Холд – When it's hard


Desgin & Build contracts? When should works in the field begin? When should the sections be opened for traffic?


----------



## sponge_bob

MichiH said:


> Desgin & Build contracts? When should works in the field begin? When should the sections be opened for traffic?


You would expect 2026, 1 year design and 3 year build in that terrain.


----------



## cymru1

SOFIA (Bulgaria), July 20 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency said that it has selected two local tie-ups in a public tender for the construction of a 75.6 km stretch of Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway - part of a major road link connecting the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.

The government agency is seeking EU funding for the entire motorway's construction under the upcoming operational programme Transport Connectivity 2021-2027, it said in a press release on Tuesday.

The tender had attracted five bidders and is worth 982.7 million levs ($514.2 million/502.4 million euro) in total, according to an earlier statement.

The first winning consortium, Hemus-16320, is made up of Infra Expert, Avtomagistrali - Tcherno More, Patinzheneringstroy-T and Transconsult-22, and will be in charge of the technical design and construction of Lot 1, the Ruse-Byala section of the future motorway, RIA announced on Tuesday. The construction works on Lot 1 are worth an estimated 536.4 million levs.

For the works on Lot 2, the Byala bypass, the road agency picked the AM Ruse Tarnovo tie-up, which includes Evropeiski Patishta, Groma Hold, Vodno Stroitelstvo-Blagoevgrad, Avtomagistrali Hemus and Patproect 2000. Lot 2 is worth 446.3 million levs.

The planned motorway has a total length of 132.8 km, with the final section, or Lot 3, to connect Byala to Veliko Tarnovo.

In a separate notice on Tuesday, RIA said it launched a 24.6 million levs tender for the supervision of the construction of the 75.6 km of motorway. The tender is again divided in two lots, which correspond to those of the construction works. They are worth 13.4 million levs and 11.2 million levs, respectively.

The deadline for submission of bids is August 15.

The current project will involve the construction of 22 bridges and viaducts of 15 km length in total, five tunnels as well as road junctions, overpasses, underpasses and rest areas, RIA added.

The Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway is seen as a priority project as it is a major road link between countries of northeastern Europe with Greece and Turkey via Romania and Bulgaria, connecting the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.


----------



## sun20

Will the contracts be signed right away or is there a period of time in wich the other bidders could contest the outcome of the tender?


----------



## cymru1

Yes, there is a period of time for the other players to appeal. If no appeals then the contract could be signed. I'm not aware of the time frames for both.


----------



## The Wild Boy

What happened with this part of the A6 motorway that was meant to start construction?


----------



## satanism

The Wild Boy said:


> View attachment 3536618
> 
> 
> What happened with this part of the A6 motorway that was meant to start construction?


The contractor is selected, there is currently a tender for audit services related to the construction in final phase. This should be U/C fairly soon.


----------



## b.w.

Lot 10 of Hemus motorway A2 (Belokopitovo - Buhovtci) is nearly done. 




Video posted by @REAKT0R


----------



## Darioz

The Wild Boy said:


> View attachment 3536618
> 
> 
> What happened with this part of the A6 motorway that was meant to start construction?


The construction of this section should have already started but there are delays with the expropriations. Who knows if they start building it until the end of the year or even later in 2023... Fortunately it will be on a new route and we won't see the misery during the construction of the other two sections. It is better for the contractor, it is better for the traffic, it is better for all. 

By the way there's a serious problem with A3 through the Kresna gorge. The EIA term is running out because the Bulgarian government has fatally delayed the construction of that last and most difficult section of A3. As a result the motorway cannot be finished in time to meet the deadline of 2027 and most probably Bulgaria will build it by the state budget. A new EIA permit should be issued and the whole process starts again. It might even turn out that Bulgaria returns the European financing for the rest of the motorway which was built with EU support. Not surprising at all with this stupid left administration!


----------



## Theijs

Darioz said:


> It might even turn out that Bulgaria returns the European financing for the rest of the A3 motorway which was built with EU support. Not surprising at all with this stupid left administration!


What is the situation now? I thought the government collapsed about a month ago and new elections are looming…


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Theijs said:


> What is the situation now? I thought the government collapsed about a month ago and new elections are looming…


The same 4 parties from the old coalition tried to form a new government ... and failed, because their leaders hate each other.
Or because the sponsors of their leaders hate each other. New elections in October. And the same story again.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

sun20 said:


> Will the contracts be signed right away or is there a period of time in wich the other bidders could contest the outcome of the tender?


There will be no contests, because those who won section 1 came second for section 2 and vice versa. Both consortiums are happy with the outcome.


----------



## Darioz

Theijs said:


> What is the situation now? I thought the government collapsed about a month ago and new elections are looming…


Almost nothing is really progressing the way it should do. The last two years were lost for the construction of motorways in Bulgaria, practically only in talking and witch hunting. This, however, also has a positive side because the European Commission should carefully observe what people they give their money to. Secondly, some people in Bulgaria should make up their mind and bring another government which will move the construction forward. It simply doesn't go with nowadays left bulshit and some "wannabe" europeans in Bulgaria.


----------



## satanism

Strongly suggest to ignore that one above.
There's a reason for the joining date.


----------



## Theijs

If the there is no new road construction going on in BG for already 2 years, than you can’t blame solely the current government. There have been 3 elections on a row, if I recall well.

Moreover, a road authority should be able to do its job without continuous involvement of politicans. Functionaries/bureaucrats have a different role than politicians. 
So the delay since January 2022 has its roots elsewhere, I assume…


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Theijs said:


> If the there is no new road construction going on in BG for already 2 years, than you can’t blame solely the current government. There have been 3 elections on a row, if I recall well.
> 
> Moreover, a road authority should be able to do its job without continuous involvement of politicans. Functionaries/bureaucrats have a different role than politicians.
> So the delay since January 2022 has its roots elsewhere, I assume…


Ignore Ruddor/Darioz 
Of course there was motorway construction in the last 2 years. Section 10 of A2 and section 1 of A6 will be ready this year. 32 km of new motorways.
Vidin - Botevgrad is making progress, Zheleznitsa tunnel on A3 is in the last stage.


----------



## Darioz

Vidin-Botevgrad is making absolutely no progress in the last at least 6 months. There is only one bypass around Dimovo under construction and this is all for a 190km route. Again no EU money for this former Orient-East/Med corridor. The current Bulgarian administration is doing nothing in this regard.
Why don't you mention anything about the land slidings before and after the tunnel Zheleznitsa on A3? This situation is like that for more than a year and obviously incapacitates the usage of the tunnel. 

Get ready to return the EU financing for A3 because it cannot be finished even untill the end of 2030!


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A6 from Dragoman to Kalotina (border with Serbia)


----------



## PhiK

There is a simple reason for the collapse of highway construction in Bulgaria in the last year. Each year passing by, GERB's government's tender procedures for highway constructions deteriorated:


In the 2009-2011 period, there were (mostly) fair tenders where 10+ companies participated among them foreign companies which also sometimes tend to win;
2011+ the foreign companies started to be disqualified before opening of the price proposals and the only competition was left between Bulgarian companies;
2016+ some Bulgarian companies started to be disqualified before opening of the price proposals and the only competition left was between select Bulgarian companies with government connections;
2019+ they simply dropped the tender procedures at all - they assigned the construction works in house to the Bulgarian Highway building company. By law it was obliged to build the highways on its own and hiring of subcontractors was prohibited. In reality they assigned 100% to subcontractors chosen without any competitive tender procedures.

Therefore, currently most road construction projects are absurdly unlawful. The new government was in a dillemma whether to stop all construction works or whether to pay under the unlawful contracts. They chose the middle ground (pay 50%, etc.) but the government collapsed and this scheme wasn't fully implemented too.


----------



## Infam0uS

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> A6 from Dragoman to Kalotina (border with Serbia)


Here's another perspective:


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

PhiK said:


> There is a simple reason for the collapse of highway construction in Bulgaria in the last year. Each year passing by, GERB's government's tender procedures for highway constructions deteriorated:
> 
> 
> In the 2009-2011 period, there were (mostly) fair tenders where 10+ companies participated among them foreign companies which also sometimes tend to win;
> 2011+ the foreign companies started to be disqualified before opening of the price proposals and the only competition was left between Bulgarian companies;
> 2016+ some Bulgarian companies started to be disqualified before opening of the price proposals and the only competition left was between select Bulgarian companies with government connections;
> 2019+ they simply dropped the tender procedures at all - they assigned the construction works in house to the Bulgarian Highway building company. By law it was obliged to build the highways on its own and hiring of subcontractors was prohibited. In reality they assigned 100% to subcontractors chosen without any competitive tender procedures.
> 
> Therefore, currently most road construction projects are absurdly unlawful. The new government was in a dillemma whether to stop all construction works or whether to pay under the unlawful contracts. They chose the middle ground (pay 50%, etc.) but the government collapsed and this scheme wasn't fully implemented too.


Road construction became a profitable income source for the mafia in Bulgaria.

but this was not invented here...

Focus - The road to hell: Italy's 'Mafia Motorway'
Mafia runs road construction - The McGill Daily


----------



## Darioz

Just as a comparison, Romania obtains 7 billion euros for infrastructure projects from the Recovery Fund with completion term 2026. These are the motorways A7 (most of it), some non mountainous sections of A8 and if I am not wrong some sections of A3. In addition money will be allocated for railway projects too. In contrast Bulgaria will obtain, pay attention, 0 (ZERO) euros from this Recovery Fund. There is not a single stretch of motorway in Bulgaria which is included to be built until mid/end of 2026 by this program! Some people to seriously think about why is that, as there were plenty of motorways in Bulgaria which could be done this way.



Le Clerk said:


> @sponge_bob
> 
> I believe you asked about Romania’s cohesion funding for 2020-2027. It was approved today by the EC.
> 
> 
> 
> *Sustainable transport*
> 
> _€7.2 billion from the Cohesion Fund and the ERDF will further develop multi-modal and more sustainable modes of transport. A particular focus will be given to trains and railways, and to the expansion of sustainable public transport in cities. Investments in Trans-European Networks – Transports (TEN-T) will improve the links with peripheral regions over the Carpathian Mountains and facilitate access to industrial centres. This will in turn contribute to growth and labour mobility.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Inforegio - EU Cohesion Policy: €31.5 billion for Romania's economic, social and territorial cohesion, competitiveness and green and digital transition in 2021-2027
> 
> 
> EuropeanCommission – Regional Policy - Inforegio
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ec.europa.eu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _





Le Clerk said:


> Yes. The Recovery Fund has another euro 7b for Romania’s infrastructure by 2026.


----------



## Le Clerk

Darioz said:


> Just as a comparison, Romania obtains 7 billion euros for infrastructure projects from the Recovery Fund with completion term 2026. These are the motorways A7 (most of it), some non mountainous sections of A8 and if I am not wrong some sections of A3. In addition money will be allocated for railway projects too. In contrast Bulgaria will obtain, pay attention, 0 (ZERO) euros from this Recovery Fund. There is not a single stretch of motorway in Bulgaria which is included to be built until mid/end of 2026 by this program! Some people to seriously think about why is that, as there were plenty of motorways in Bulgaria which could be done this way.


Romania (former USR party which left the governing coalition was in charge of the negotiations with the EC) negotiated very heavily with the EC to obtain a very large allotment for infrastructure from a fund that was meant mainly for green investments. A great deal is for railroads but also for motorways: 320 km on A7, 60 km on A8, 42 km on A3 and 10 km on A1. Though I think deadlines are so tight that some projects will fall through this funding. 

However, AFAIK Bulgaria also got its own recovery plan, though I do not know much about the allocations.


----------



## Darioz

^^
It doesn't matter how many kilometres of motorways Romania will manage to build in the end from this pool of money. Of course the more, the better. The point is that money is available and as soon as the Romanian governing body for road infrastructure finishes the expropriations and the building permits are issued, the construction can start. It is much better to do something with extra EU financing than do nothing.

I don't know tbh for what Bulgaria will use the resource from the Recovery Fund but it will be a total waste of money and time. I also don't know how much this resource is. The facts are that there's not a single motorway to be funded like that which is ridiculous. A2 is a very good candidate, Vidin highway (it doesn't have a number yet) is a very good candidate too. Parts of A7, which by the way is going to be delayed again from the current BG administration, is also a good pick. Even A5 could be financed like that. In the end there is absolutely nothing!

So once again the European Commission should be very careful what money it provides to Bulgaria and to what people in power. Rule of a thumb is that you don't give money to left and green garbage as well as some "wannabe" europeans especially in countries like Bulgaria.


----------



## Shenkey

Another example that shows that it pays double to combat corruption first.


----------



## Darioz

Sure that happens not only in Bulgaria. There should be strong control about the degree of finished against unfinished planned motorways. Otherwise the construction is inefficient. Much better is to provide money for motorways which require some tax per driven distance. In other words you'll have good motorways but you'll pay for them. Not immediately - after 15, 20 or 30 years. The level of maintenance will also be different. 
Such motorways are built much faster.


----------



## PhiK

Shenkey said:


> Another example that shows that it pays double to combat corruption first.


Yes, but Darioz is a fanboy of corruption, that is the problem.


----------



## Darioz

^^
No, dude. It all starts from planning. Bulgaria has problems even to design some good routes of motorways, searches for the cheapest solution and avoids building tunnels and more complex bridges. That's why you have the worst motorways in the whole EU and not only in EU. Afterwards let anyone continue with the hilarious claims about the big construction of roughly 30km in the last couple of years.


----------



## kraxx

Darioz said:


> ^^
> No, dude. It all starts from planning. Bulgaria has problems even to design some good routes of motorways, searches for the cheapest solution and avoids building tunnels and more complex bridges. That's why you have the worst motorways in the whole EU and not only in EU. Afterwards let anyone continue with the hilarious claims about the big construction of roughly 30km in the last couple of years.


Since "we" have the worst motorways "you" are welcome not to comment or use them in any way. National nihilism was never considered a good attitude.


----------



## Darioz

kraxx said:


> Since "we" have the worst motorways "you" are welcome not to comment or use them in any way. National nihilism was never considered a good attitude.


I'll write as much as I wish because this is the very truth, no matter how you try to delete or block access of other users to the threads you "moderate". First travel a bit around Europe and then talk about such infrastructure in Bugaria. Even after 15 years of EU support, the country has made very little progress with its motorways because it doesn't know how to design modern roads of this type and also didn't learn how to use effectively the available otherwise European resources. You build some cheap 2x2 roads with dubious quality and they exist only at some places in the plains. But the country's regions are still not well connected among each other on the one hand side and also with the neighbouring countries on the other. Look around the garbage along your motorways! There's also no maintenance whatsoever. Look around the old signage, you can't even change these according to the standards in EU. Look around the dilapidating interchanges with the auxiliary roads, especially at the overpasses connecting to the smaller towns and cities. This a total mockery of motorway infrastructure in Bulgaria but people like you can be proud of it.


----------



## LG_

You've quite well determine the problems around the Bulgarian motorways. Since you declare yourself as Bulgarian what would be the most suitable solution of them?


----------



## Darioz

Change the model of financing, make better design through difficult terrain and build the missing motorways. Also renovate the existing ones. You can use foreign expertise. It is really insulting for me that a transit country like Bulgaria has such a small and tbh bad motorway infrastructure. The country needs between 2700 and 3000km of good quality motorways and expressways.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I was looking into the Vidin - Vratsa - Botevgrad motorway / expressway. 

Vidin - Ruzhintsi is under construction as a greenfield motorway. Ruzhintsi - Montana appears to be in planning stage. Montana - Vratsa as well.

But there is also construction ongoing between Mezdra and Botevgrad. What is the design standard for this segment? Is it a motorway or some other type of upgrade? Most of it appears to be a direct expansion of the existing I/1 road, with bypasses at villages. This part of the route runs through mountainous terrain.


----------



## satanism

ChrisZwolle said:


> I was looking into the Vidin - Vratsa - Botevgrad motorway / expressway.
> 
> Vidin - Ruzhintsi is under construction as a greenfield motorway. Ruzhintsi - Montana appears to be in planning stage. Montana - Vratsa as well.
> 
> But there is also construction ongoing between Mezdra and Botevgrad. What is the design standard for this segment? Is it a motorway or some other type of upgrade? Most of it appears to be a direct expansion of the existing I/1 road, with bypasses at villages. This part of the route runs through mountainous terrain.


It will be a 2+2 expressway, no emergency lanes, but grade-separated with a 90km/h design speed. It looks like the "motorway" standard ends in Montana, the road onwards will likely be in a 2+2 expressway format. Could have to do with the separation of flows between the Montana-Botevgrad section and through Petrohan pass. Ideas of upgrading II-81 are being entertained currently.


----------



## BG_AT

Does anybody know if it is at the moment allowed to enter and exit serbia like transit just with the bulgarian identity card or do i need the bulgarian passport? whats the regulation at the moment?


----------



## aubergine72

BG_AT said:


> Does anybody know if it is at the moment allowed to enter and exit serbia like transit just with the bulgarian identity card or do i need the bulgarian passport? whats the regulation at the moment?


All you need is dve cherveni.


----------



## BG_AT

It was a serious question from my side 
Please, whats the situation? Does anybody has informations?


----------



## satanism

BG_AT said:


> It was a serious question from my side
> Please, whats the situation? Does anybody has informations?


How is it a serious question? The procedure has been the same for the past 11-12 years, there's zero outlook for it to change and every summer you're here asking pretty much the same questions all around.


----------



## b.w.

And speaking about Vidin - Botevgrad motorway/expressway there's a fresh video from Bela - Ruzjintci section. Unfortunately progress is very slow.





Thanks to @ivamaneva93


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> I was looking into the Vidin - Vratsa - Botevgrad motorway / expressway.
> 
> Vidin - Ruzhintsi is under construction as a greenfield motorway. Ruzhintsi - Montana appears to be in planning stage. Montana - Vratsa as well.
> 
> But there is also construction ongoing between Mezdra and Botevgrad. *What is the design standard for this segment? Is it a motorway or some other type of upgrade? *Most of it appears to be a direct expansion of the existing I/1 road, with bypasses at villages. This part of the route runs through mountainous terrain.


Mezdra - Botevgrad will be an EXPRESSWAY.

something like this
Google Maps


----------



## Le Clerk

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> If the Romanians are smart, they will start doing the job now, and not after Vidin - Botevgrad is ready and the endless wave of Turkish & Bulgarian trucks floods the villages and towns at the DN6.


Yes, that is true, A6 planning should be sped up in order to allow for earlier building of this motorway. Especially the part from Craiova to Lugoj, and the connection with Calafat.

We might even see next year the tender for works for Craiova-Filiasi section of A6 towards Drobeta, which is currently under FS+TD, with deadline Q1 next year. But the rest of A6 needs similar planning first.


----------



## crt765

ChrisZwolle said:


> I fear that Bulgaria has missed the boat in terms of EU co-financing for road projects. Poland and Hungary made the most of it, but recent rounds of infrastructure grants were almost entirely devoted to railways, not motorways. Romania played it smart by getting € 3 billion for roads under the recovery fund, but what does Bulgaria get?


Totally agree with this sentiment. Funding for Kresna dries up at the end of 2023 and nobody knows if Bulgaria will have to return the money. EU is pivoting towards rail infrastructure to meet climate goals. EU funds for road infrastructure only cover 60-70% of total cost now for 2021-2027.


----------



## sponge_bob

There will still be EU funding for roads 2021-2027...actually after 23.... but how much? Perhaps €15bn EU wide of which 100km of mountain A1 in Romania alone could swallow almost €3bn. 

It is a steadily shrinking pot and after 2030 the Baltic-Aegean corridor will swallow a lot of that pot. I still think the Kresna has a chance but if it fails _again_ the money will likely go to the corridor south of Ruse instead....which is nearing construction.


----------



## crt765

sponge_bob said:


> There will still be EU funding for roads 2021-2027...actually after 23.... but how much? Perhaps €15bn EU wide of which 100km of mountain A1 in Romania alone could swallow almost €3bn.
> 
> It is a steadily shrinking pot and after 2030 the Baltic-Aegean corridor will swallow a lot of that pot. I still think the Kresna has a chance but if it fails _again_ the money will likely go to the corridor south of Ruse instead....which is nearing construction.


Basically whatever gets finished by end of 2023 will be with EU funds. No guarantees after that. So A6 and Struma lot 3.1


----------



## sponge_bob

Still funds there but the Struma/Vidin E'way/ Romanian A6 qualify for €3-4bn of them even at 70% max co funding. Especially the A6.


----------



## satanism

I just thought of summarising what we can expect to finish or be u/c in Bulgaria, the next 2-4 years. In my opinion, ofc.

*Certain stretches:*
Vidin-Bela
Struma 3.1 except the last few kms before 3.2 as no certainty where they should be built.
Hemus Lots 1-3,10
A6 end to end
Botevgrad-Mezdra

*Stretches with good chances:*
Hemus Lots 4,5,6
Ruzhintsi-Bela (Vidin Expy)
A7 Russe-Byala incl bypass

*Stetches with some chance:*
Some part of A5
Hemus Lot 9, maybe partially
A3 Lot 3.2

Everything else remains for the future. This includes the remaining bits of A2,A5,A7, and Vidin Expy. That's the confirmed stuff, then we move to Sci-Fi territory, such as the stretch to NMK.


----------



## Pitchoune

At the end, the only region of Europe that still needs EU help for its roads is Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans. Since the EU is poised to invest massively soon in Ukraine and Moldova, Romanian and Bulgaria can be included in the same vision. So that EU continues to invest in roads only in that region.


----------



## bat_naso

Pitchoune said:


> At the end, the only region of Europe that still needs EU help for its roads is Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans. Since the EU is poised to invest massively soon in Ukraine and Moldova, Romanian and Bulgaria can be included in the same vision. So that EU continues to invest in roads only in that region.


Good luck with the Moldova and Ukraine investments "soon". Sadly.


----------



## Pitchoune

We already started, but not on roads yet.


----------



## Darioz

Bulgaria should start building tolled motorways like Greece for example or Croatia. Otherwise one motorway will wait for another's completion. This is extremely inefficient and the rate of construction now is not even satisfactory. Nobody is going to wait until 2050 or even later to upgrade the comprehensive network. 

As far as the long queues for crossing Danube at Ruse and Vidin are concerned, nothing positive will happen unless new bridges at Nikopol and Silistra are not built. 
Even if Bulgaria and Romania join Schengen soon, which I doubt, the long river border needs to be unlocked. That will ensure the faster integration into the European network.


----------



## sponge_bob

Serbia, which has a bit more motorway/expressway than Bulgaria, and more transit traffic and tolls most of these roads, only pulled in €250m a year on their toll road network in 2019 and after the annual maintenance costs/ loans were covered most likely only had €100m a year for 'new' stuff.


Darioz said:


> Bulgaria should start building tolled motorways like Greece for example or Croatia. Otherwise one motorway will wait for another's completion.


----------



## PhiK

sponge_bob said:


> Serbia, which has a bit more motorway/expressway than Bulgaria, and more transit traffic and tolls most of these roads, only pulled in €250m a year on their toll road network in 2019 and after the annual maintenance costs/ loans were covered most likely only had €100m a year for 'new' stuff.


Is there any data suggesting that Serbia has more transit traffic than Bulgaria? While Serbia holds one of the roads for Greek goods to Central and Western Europe, There is also significant transit traffic in Bulgaria to Romania, which bypasses Serbia.


----------



## sponge_bob

I would think Serbia has more transit traffic than Romania, yes. But I was trying to point out that tolls may not deliver a huge cash cow if implemented.


----------



## Студио UQ

The Kresna Gorge is in protected lands under the Nature 2000.
So, the only solution is a tunnel beneath it, but the Bulgarian politicians don't want to build a modern, super innovative and safe for the environment tunnel.
And because of this, the A3 Struma motorway will not see any progress until a new brave enough politician is found to give the green light for the project - lot 3.2 Krupnik - Kresna.


----------



## Darioz

sponge_bob said:


> Serbia, which has a bit more motorway/expressway than Bulgaria, and more transit traffic and tolls most of these roads, only pulled in €250m a year on their toll road network in 2019 and after the annual maintenance costs/ loans were covered most likely only had €100m a year for 'new' stuff.


Serbia is building its motorways at a good pace. The most important transit ones are already done. Paradoxically if the country relied on the EU grants like Bulgaria and given the sluggish procedures, who knows, they would still be playing with A1 around Grdelica. 
Right now they are building three big bridges on Danube and Sava, two more waiting on the queue list. The hard A2 will gradually gain momentum and if the Chinese get the green light, this motorway towards Montenegro/Adriatic Sea will happen before some much awaited motorways in Bulgaria. A2 alone has 40km of tunnels and bridges/viaducts. A5 is U/C, Belgrade's bypass will be finished next March, 3 big tunnels are being built at the moment, some other stretches here and there in the country. And you imply that they should reject this model of credit-building infrastructure and wait for some pre EU accession funds? 😂

Well, tell that to the Turkish trucks which are travelling lately en masse through the BCP Kalotina/Gradina, the major BG-SRB border point. And this is only the beginning because the traffic is searching the ready motorways. 

Pay attention that Via Carpathia is also going through Serbia in direction of Thessaloniki and while some dumb people are only talking about bypassing Serbia, whole Romania and half of Bulgaria can easily be bypassed. Bregovo/Negotin is also a very promising BCP in the future. 😉

Greece has more than 2600km of motorways and expressways nowadays, most of them built this century in a challenging terrain. Another at least 300km are in different phases of construction. Well maintained paid roads (with exception of A2 which is state owned). Compare this with the 850km of motorways in Bulgaria, poorly maintained and tell me which model is better.


----------



## Студио UQ

There is a news from today that part of the A6 Evropa highway, 14.5 km lot Dragoman - Kalotina will be finished and ready to use in a month - by the end of September 2022.

Строителството на участъка Калотина - Драгоман от АМ „Европа“ се извършва без спиране на трафика по път I-8 | Агенция "Пътна инфраструктура" (api.bg)


----------



## satanism

Студио UQ said:


> There is a news from today that part of the A6 Evropa highway, 14.5 km lot Dragoman - Kalotina will be finished and ready to use in a month - by the end of September 2022.
> 
> Строителството на участъка Калотина - Драгоман от АМ „Европа“ се извършва без спиране на трафика по път I-8 | Агенция "Пътна инфраструктура" (api.bg)


Only the first 7km if the article is to be trusted. Also what the footage confirms.


----------



## Студио UQ

satanism said:


> Only the first 7km if the article is to be trusted. Also what the footage confirms.


Reread the article:
first 7 km by mid September
next 8 km by end of September


> Asphalt works were completed in the section from the 1st to the 7th km. It is expected to be completed by the middle of September this year. In the next 8 km to Dragoman, the loose asphalt concrete layer /binder/ will be laid in the final stage, after which the building asphalt layer will also be laid.


----------



## Darioz

Студио UQ said:


> The Kresna Gorge is in protected lands under the Nature 2000.
> So, the only solution is a tunnel beneath it, but the Bulgarian politicians don't want to build a modern, super innovative and safe for the environment tunnel.
> And because of this, the A3 Struma motorway will not see any progress until a new brave enough politician is found to give the green light for the project - lot 3.2 Krupnik - Kresna.


No need at all to build a large 15km tunnel in the gorge. Another solution exists mainly through the western side of the mountain with a series of tunnels, the longest one being roughly 5km. The project even goes with a high-speed railway line but nobody really tried to pay attention! The pseudo-ecologists wouldn't even have a single argument against it because the big trucks could easily pass through the gorge on rails. There's still time to fix certain things today and choose the optimal route.


----------



## satanism

Студио UQ said:


> Reread the article:
> first 7 km by mid September
> next 8 km by end of September


Highly doubtful for the second part....but let's see..


----------



## xbox36O

What about a motorway through the valley?


----------



## The Wild Boy

xbox36O said:


> What about a motorway through the valley?


You mean a motorway through the Kresna Gorge itself...

No. I think the answer speaks for itself why. No one, no one wants a motorway through the Kresna Gorge, as it was originally envisioned in the late 90's.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

A2 in Stara planina


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> And you are telling me that after the new assesment of compatibility with the ecological network "Natura 2000" of the entire section is made, then could they "revive" this route, or will they directly go with a tunnel variant?
> 
> If Bulgaria in the end decides to build a 20km long tunnel... well it will probably be (as wikipedia and certain websites were claiming) the 3rd longest in Europe...
> 
> And i guess we will see ourselves after 15 - 20 years when motorway Struma gets completed???
> 
> Edit: Also, how was the project illegal, if it literally bypasses the entire Kresna Gorge and most natura 2000 sites??? What do the ecologists, or rather should i say eco - mentalists want now???!!!    They will want the motorway further higher in the mountains, or in a long tunnel that could lead to many problems and delay the project for years and decades... while the existing road through the Kresna Gorge will stay as one of the deadliest in the Balkans... this is getting ridiculous.
> 
> In - case anyone didn't read, in my reply in the above post (which contains another reply of mine from some time ago), i explain exactly why I'm not a fan of the long tunnel variant and why it will be a bad decision for Bulgaria to go with.


The Wild Boy, I'll tell you what Bulgaria will do: NOTHING
This Kresna gorge section will remain a 2x1 national road with 50 km/h speed limit.
This motorway section is a hot potato at the cost of 1 billion euro
The whole EU Green radicals are against the proposed route up in the hills and everybody knows that a tunnel will be a disaster.
Motorway in the Kresna gorge is no option because of the local people and the nature.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

xbox36O said:


> What about a motorway through the valley?


ever heard of Radical environmentalism ?


----------



## kostas97

The case of the road through Kresna reminds me of the Tempi valley in Greece, where, after negotiations that took years, an allignment with tunnels (one of them, the T2, is the longest in the Balkans at 6 km) and normal open road (costing about a billion € or what, was decided for ~30 km. The whole road was U/C for at least 10 years and the old one was very dangerous, with slidings happening every so often. I don't know how often this happens in Kresna (or if it happens) but there must be a way to finally get it over with....


----------



## sun20

What do you think about building a narrower road (and tunnel) through the gorge? A 14-16 meters wide 2+1 (alternating) road for example (this will avoid head-on collisions) or even a 1+1 road without at-grade intersections; and of course with many ecoducts for wildlife.

I don't know what the traffic figures (AADT) are and wether they would allow a narrower road than a motorway.


----------



## Darioz

kostas97 said:


> The case of the road through Kresna reminds me of the Tempi valley in Greece, where, after negotiations that took years, an allignment with tunnels (one of them, the T2, is the longest in the Balkans at 6 km) and normal open road (costing about a billion € or what, was decided for ~30 km...


That's true, the case of the Kresna gorge is similar to that of Tempi valley and only one longer tunnel of approximately 5km is actually needed in the western slopes of the mountain. Then several other shorter tunnels of length 1-1.2km can be implemented, taking into account that the terrain is not that difficult to the south. There is still time to be built by 2030 but I suppose there will be a separate charge to pass the gorge. I would also recommend that TERNA should take part in the construction of the longer tunnel and some of the viaducts because the Bulgarians companies in general lack this experience.


----------



## Theijs

Darioz said:


> The case of the Kresna gorge is similar to that of Tempi valley in Greece and only one longer tunnel of approximately 5km is actually needed in the western slopes of the mountain. Then several other shorter tunnels of length 1-1.2km can be implemented, taking into account that the terrain is not that difficult to the south.
> 
> There is still time to be built by 2030 but I suppose there will be a separate charge to pass the gorge. I would also recommend that TERNA should take part in the construction of the longer tunnel and some of the viaducts because the Bulgarians companies in general lack this experience.


If we go back to a previous post of The Wild Boy, which alternative (number) do you propose?


----------



## Darioz

There was a project for combined railroad tunnels, if I am not wrong, 6 years ago but it was never considered by the administration. At the same time not all possible variants are properly examined, namely passing through the western slopes of the mountain. Partly due to the lack of design expertise, partly due to the bigger price. That's why Bulgaria hasn't built a single motorway tunnel larger than 500m in the last 30 years. Zheleznitsa tunnel is the only exception and it was financed by EU. I believe very similar issues exist in Romania too. 

How did Greece build its motorway network full of tunnels and viaducts through hard terrain? The key is in the way of financing and maintenance afterwards.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Theijs said:


> If we go back to a previous post of The Wild Boy, which alternative (number) do you propose?


the logical solution is number 3 - the entire motorway East of the Kresna gorge


----------



## Darioz

This above is only a partial solution which means one of the roads will be used in direction of Sofia while the other, existing one will be used in direction of Thessaloniki. But it is not a motorway in its pure sense. Later, after at least 20-25 years, the whole motorway should be built on the eastern slopes of the mountain according to the project. This approach will be even more expensive in the end. People, however, who want immediately the whole transit traffic out of the gorge, don't care at all about the final cost. They (some Bulgarian pseudo-ecologists) have been blocking the construction for years, filing all the time complaints in Brussels about the disadvantages of the project. Even referring to the Bern convention about the wild life movement in the gorge. I haven't seen a single hare nearby the road for so many years of passing there but it's making a mountain out of a molehill problem for some people and of course it is heavily politicized.

@MichiH, I see you are responding with some angry emoticons. What does that bother you so much how many tunnels and bridges Bulgaria will build through the gorge of Kresna on A3? This as if I ask you why Germany and Austria cannot build a motorway with tunnels for so many years under the Alps east of Zugspitze and connect directly Munich and Innsbruck.


----------



## satanism

sun20 said:


> What do you think about building a narrower road (and tunnel) through the gorge? A 14-16 meters wide 2+1 (alternating) road for example (this will avoid head-on collisions) or even a 1+1 road without at-grade intersections; and of course with many ecoducts for wildlife.
> 
> I don't know what the traffic figures (AADT) are and wether they would allow a narrower road than a motorway.


Generally a no-go.The road RN doesn't have many intersections anyway. Pretty much we're talking all in all 1....maybe 2.


----------



## crt765

satanism said:


> Generally a no-go.The road RN doesn't have many intersections anyway. Pretty much we're talking all in all 1....maybe 2.


So 2+1 through Kresna is not possible? Seems like the most logical and cheapest solution.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

crt765 said:


> So 2+1 through Kresna is not possible? Seems like the most logical and cheapest solution.


between the rocks and the river


----------



## Darioz

This is a good *temporary* solution until A3 is biult through the gorge. However, they should increase the speed limit to 70km/h so that the whole column moves faster.


----------



## Rusonaldo

Hello colleagues from Bulgaria. I run a channel on YT about roads. I'm going to be making a movie about the ViaCarpatia road now. I want to devote a large part of the film to roads in Bulgaria. Will the planned motorway from Romania (Kalafat) to Sofia be built in the next 10 years, or are they very distant plans for now? And the second question - when is this section of the A3 motor planned to be opened? Thank you








Avtomagistrala "Struma" to 1







www.google.pl


----------



## satanism

crt765 said:


> So 2+1 through Kresna is not possible? Seems like the most logical and cheapest solution.


Nope, first the traffic especially in the summer would already be over the capacity of such a road. Then, any construction/widening in the gorge basically defeats the purpose of moving the motorway away. Besides, there are specific commitments afaik to the EU to make that route a motorway.


Rusonaldo said:


> Hello colleagues from Bulgaria. I run a channel on YT about roads. I'm going to be making a movie about the ViaCarpatia road now. I want to devote a large part of the film to roads in Bulgaria. Will the planned motorway from Romania to Sofia be built in the next 10 years, or are they very distant plans for now? And the second question - when is this section of the A3 motor planned to be opened? Thank you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Avtomagistrala "Struma" to 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.google.pl


1.Which one?
2.Nobody knows


----------



## Rusonaldo

satanism said:


> 1.Which one?
> 2.Nobody knows


1. From Calafat


----------



## satanism

Rusonaldo said:


> 1. From Calafat


For the time being it's not planned as a motorway all the way. But there's a good chance we have a continuous route from Calafat to Sofia on a 2x2 grade separated road 10 years from now.


----------



## satanism

j.bartos1978 said:


> Hello! Is Kalotina-Dragoman already open?


It's open for traffic under construction. It's not open as a motorway.


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Lyutidol - Mezdra (24.09.2022)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

What's the current status of the II/86 border crossing to Greece south of Rudozem?

A press release earlier this year said that it would open 'in this year' while news from 2021 indicated an opening at the end of that year.

It appears that the works on the Bulgarian side have been completed for a while, but may still be ongoing on the Greek side?



https://www.mtc.government.bg/en/category/1/new-border-crossings-greece-open-port-alexandroupolis-becomes-strategic-common-transport-connection


----------



## satanism

ChrisZwolle said:


> What's the current status of the II/86 border crossing to Greece south of Rudozem?
> 
> A press release earlier this year said that it would open 'in this year' while news from 2021 indicated an opening at the end of that year.
> 
> It appears that the works on the Bulgarian side have been completed for a while, but may still be ongoing on the Greek side?
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.mtc.government.bg/en/category/1/new-border-crossings-greece-open-port-alexandroupolis-becomes-strategic-common-transport-connection


Yep, Greeks doing their thing not pushing themselves too hard


----------



## aubergine72

satanism said:


> Yep, Greeks doing their thing not pushing themselves too hard deliberately sabotaging road connections to Bulgaria


Fixed


----------



## Infam0uS

Northern bypass of Burgas (10.10.2022)


----------



## mman2012

I'm having trouble understanding the structure of this overpass, aren't the red arrow roads doubling the green ones?
What I am missing?


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## satanism

mman2012 said:


> I'm having trouble understanding the structure of this overpass, aren't the red arrow roads doubling the green ones?
> What I am missing?


 This is supposed to cover local traffic and separate it from the transit one. That area is expected to develop into a commercial/industrial one I guess.


----------



## cymru1

ChrisZwolle said:


> What's the current status of the II/86 border crossing to Greece south of Rudozem?
> 
> A press release earlier this year said that it would open 'in this year' while news from 2021 indicated an opening at the end of that year.
> 
> It appears that the works on the Bulgarian side have been completed for a while, but may still be ongoing on the Greek side?
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.mtc.government.bg/en/category/1/new-border-crossings-greece-open-port-alexandroupolis-becomes-strategic-common-transport-connection


According to this source from today, the opening is delayed for the Q4'23









Новият граничен пункт с Гърция ще се забави


Граничният пункт „Рудозем – Ксанти“ най-вероятно ще заработи едва към края на 2023 г. Изграждането на пункта бе завършено през миналата година, но довеждащата инфраструктура до него се оказва проблем




www.economic.bg


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## Capt.Vimes

*16.3 km *Lot 10(Buhovci - Belokopitovo) of "Hemus" motorway will be officially opened tomorrow.









Утре министър Шишков ще открие 16,3 км от автомагистрала „Хемус“ между Буховци и Белокопитово


Утре, 18 октомври, министърът на регионалното развитие и благоустройството арх. Иван Шишков ще открие новопостроения участък Буховци – Белокопитово от автомагистрала „Хемус“. Церемонията ще се състои от 11:30 часа в началото на новия 16,3-километров




bta.bg


----------



## Infam0uS

A2 Hemus motorway

Belokopitovo - Buhovtsi, final glimpse before the inauguration today:


----------



## Ni3lS

That seems perfectly legal 😅


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm wondering, how much of the motorway length in Bulgaria actually permits 140 km/h?

This new stretch of A2 seems to have a 120 km/h speed limit. You'd think a brand new motorway would be built to 140 km/h specifications.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I've browsed through that video... what is up with all the 80 km/h speed limits at every bridge?


----------



## Stuu

ChrisZwolle said:


> I've browsed through that video... what is up with all the 80 km/h speed limits at every bridge?


Does it mean only when it is icy?


----------



## Ni3lS

ChrisZwolle said:


> I'm wondering, how much of the motorway length in Bulgaria actually permits 140 km/h?


A fair bit. In my experience, if it depends on local traffic, it's all 140 km/h 🙃 The A3 South of Sofia is pretty much all 140 km/h with the exceptions of some small segments. Same for the A1 and A4. The A2 has more limitations, especially in the mountainous part just East of Sofia.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> I've browsed through that video... *what is up with all the 80 km/h speed limits* at every bridge?












Табела Т14 – При сняг и зимни условия
Sign T14 - in case of snow and winter conditions


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes




----------



## Capt.Vimes

ChrisZwolle said:


> I'm wondering, how much of the motorway length in Bulgaria actually permits 140 km/h?
> 
> This new stretch of A2 seems to have a 120 km/h speed limit. You'd think a brand new motorway would be built to 140 km/h specifications.


This is a topic of a heated discussion on the BG forum.


----------



## Stuu

Google Streetview has images from this month for the Dragoman-Serbia border section. Mostly looks close to completion


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Shiny crash barriers!


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

it's far from ready


















































images by* Bufu9*


----------



## The Wild Boy

Some segments also lack a hard shoulder, for quite obvious reasons. But i don't mind that.

What will happen with the section after the gas stations to the actual border. Will that stay in a 1+1, 1+2 formation or? What are the plans for that?

Can we expect entire A6 ready by 2024?


----------



## satanism

The Wild Boy said:


> Some segments also lack a hard shoulder, for quite obvious reasons. But i don't mind that.
> 
> What will happen with the section after the gas stations to the actual border. Will that stay in a 1+1, 1+2 formation or? What are the plans for that?
> 
> Can we expect entire A6 ready by 2024?


The current contract for upgrade of I-8 was from KM +1.000 to +15.500. Right now the dual carriageway starts iirc from KM +1.100 because of some unexpected expropriation issues. They will finish the first 100m soon enough. KM+0.000 to KM +1.000 is actually part of the border control point area and any activities there should happen with the contract for the border point upgrade. I have no clue if any roadworks are included in the contract's scope for the border facilities.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Wild Boy said:


> Some segments also lack a hard shoulder, for quite obvious reasons. But i don't mind that.
> 
> *What will happen with the section after the gas stations to the actual border. Will that stay in a 1+1, 1+2 formation or? *What are the plans for that?
> 
> Can we expect entire A6 ready by 2024?


 2 x 2









ГКПП - граничен контролно-пропускателен пункт


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

The Road Agency signed the contract for the first section of the *Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo motorway*

lenght - 40 km
cost - 876,5 million levs (VAT not included) ~ 448,3 million euro
completion date - in 2120 days

АДФИ не откри финансови нарушения при магистрала Русе – Велико Търново


----------



## MichiH

I think we discussed it before, but when the motorway will be completed in late 2028*, it will end directly at the river bank east of Ruse albeit there is not yet any agreement with Romania on the exact location for a new bridge? Sure, it's also a bypass for Ruse and it is always possible to reconstruct the motorway alignment, but still. Looks like gambling... and putting pressure on Romania...

*Why almost 6 years construction period?


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

MichiH said:


> I think we discussed it before, but when the motorway will be completed in late 2028*, it will end directly at the river bank east of Ruse albeit *there is not yet any agreement with Romania on the exact location for a new bridge*? Sure, it's also a bypass for Ruse and it is always possible to reconstruct the motorway alignment, but still. Looks like gambling... and putting pressure on Romania...
> 
> *Why almost 6 years construction period?


Because it's an engineering contract - design and construction.

Design–build is probably the most discussed and controversial issue in transportation construction today. A popular contracting method in the private sector for many years, it has not seen significant use in the public sector. Under the design–build approach, design and building of a project are performed by a single company or a joint venture of companies. This approach provides the government with one source of responsibility for the project. The design–build group shares information throughout the project, beginning with the design phase. The responsibility for all problems is centralized in the design–build firm. Design–build does face legal barriers in some states where the process is not allowed.

https://www.mtc.government.bg/en/ca...romania-agreed-third-bridge-over-danube-river

26.09.2022

Bulgaria and Romania agreed on a third bridge over the Danube River. The infrastructural facility will be constructed at Ruse – Gyurgevo. For this purpose, an agreement will be signed between the two countries. In another document, they will regulate the commitments of the two countries for the implementation of the Fast Danube Project and the creation of a joint company to manage the activities of the project. This was agreed upon by the Deputy Prime Ministers of both countries, Hristo Alexiev and Sorin Grindeanu, at a meeting in Bucharest.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Did you copy that from an American source? Because design-build contracts are totally regular throughout Europe, but the U.S. is very far behind with modern contracting, many U.S. states don't even have legislation in place that allows DB or PPP projects.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

ChrisZwolle said:


> Did you copy that from an American source? Because design-build contracts are totally regular throughout Europe, but the U.S. is very far behind with modern contracting, many U.S. states don't even have legislation in place that allows DB or PPP projects.


North Carolina Department of Transportation

The situation in Bulgaria is similar to the situation described in the text. Design - build contracts are controversial issue here.


----------



## sun20

_27.10.2022 
The European Commission is ready to co-finance the construction of a third bridge over the Danube River, as well as a project to improve navigation on the river. The funds may come from the Connecting Europe Facility, but before that Bulgaria and Romania must sign an agreement to start the construction of the bridge facility.

The topics were discussed during a video conference call between the Commissioner for Transport Adina Valyan and the Minister of Transport Hristo Alexiev, reports the press center of the department.

The readiness of the EC gives hope that the "Danube Bridge 3" project can be launched. In recent years, Bulgaria and Romania have only submitted requests for the construction of the bridge, but concrete activities have never been completed.

European Commissioner Valyan expresses the opinion that our country should speed up the preparation of the projects related to "Danube Bridge 3" so that they can be presented by mid-January 2023 in the current call for proposals under the Mechanism for connecting Europe. The Bulgarian minister informed that Bulgaria has already sent Romania a draft agreement for a third bridge, on which the opinion of our northern neighbor is awaited._









ЕК е готова да съфинансира трети мост над Дунав


Европейската комисия е готова да съфинансира изграждането на трети мост при Русе и Гюргево, както и проект за подобряване на корабоплаването по р. Дунав.




www-economic-bg.translate.goog


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes




----------



## MichiH

^^ I think that 6 years for a D&B contract is still long for the region - compared to other contracts in BG or RO.
And if I got it right, the exact location ot the bridge is not yet agreed with Romania and thus a risk for the motorway contractor or the Bulgarian authorities if anything needs to be changed.

btw, who is the contractor?


----------



## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Vidin - Makresh (31.10.2022)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

MichiH said:


> ^^ I think that 6 years for a D&B contract is still long for the region - compared to other contracts in BG or RO.
> And if I got it right, the exact location ot the bridge is not yet agreed with Romania and thus a risk for the motorway contractor or the Bulgarian authorities *if anything needs to be changed*.
> 
> btw, who is the contractor?


the consortium includes:

„Инфра Експерт“ АД 
„Автомагистрали – Черно море“ АД
„Пътинженерингстрой-Т“ ЕАД
„Трансконсулт-22“ ЕООД.

nothing will be changed
the Romanians agreed about the bridge location between Ruse and Marten


----------



## MichiH

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> the consortium includes:
> 
> „Инфра Експерт“ АД
> „Автомагистрали – Черно море“ АД
> „Пътинженерингстрой-Т“ ЕАД
> „Трансконсулт-22“ ЕООД.


Are all Bulgarian companies?



SevenSlavicTribes said:


> nothing will be changed
> the Romanians agreed about the bridge location between Ruse and Marten


It is still time - during the design phase of the contract - to agree on details. We will see


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

MichiH said:


> Are all Bulgarian companies?
> 
> It is still time - during the design phase of the contract - to agree on details. We will see


No foreign companies participated in the bidding process.


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway South of VIDIN (river Danube in the background)


----------



## sun20

Do you have a cross section of this expressway?

LE: nevermind, i found it at page 460. Although wikipedia speaks about "gabarit G-28"


----------



## Infam0uS

A3 Struma motorway

Blagoevgrad-south - Simitli (28.10.2022)


----------



## SevenSlavicTribes

lot of Romanian license plates at the Bulgarian-Greek border near Kardzhali.


----------



## bat_naso

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> lot of Romanian license plates at the Bulgarian-Greek border near Kardzhali.


In the summer it is full of praznaglava neighbor drivers. Really need that bypass of Kardzhali asap!


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## Le Clerk

SevenSlavicTribes said:


> lot of Romanian license plates at the Bulgarian-Greek border near Kardzhali.


what are they doing there at this time of the year?!


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## SevenSlavicTribes

Video shows the summer traffic. Look at the green landscape.


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## RebelOtter

bat_naso said:


> In the summer it is full of praznaglava neighbor drivers. Really need that bypass of Kardzhali asap!


Can you translate what “praznaglava” means?


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## MichiH

RebelOtter said:


> Can you translate what “praznaglava” means?


Wallachians = Romanians?


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## Le Clerk

RebelOtter said:


> Can you translate what “praznaglava” means?


empty headed ?! 😀
though I am not sure this is accurate.


PS: I totally agree, it is mindless to drive so many km in the sun and heat, wait for hours at the border checks, instead of taking a much more comfortable flight.

If Romania and Bulgaria were to enter Schengen then the situation would change significantly.


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## cymru1

RebelOtter said:


> Can you translate what “praznaglava” means?





https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radu_II_of_Wallachia


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## gogo3o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radu_II_of_Wallachia


One of the Wallachian rulers was known under such nickname if you are wondering where this came from. Romanian drivers seem to be a lot reckless. But that applies also to Bulgarian and... Turkish ones.

--

Our minister speaks of extending Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway up to Makaza checkpoint, which eventually will please our northern neighbours. Design is to be prepared first, it will cross the Balkan Mountain through Hainboaz pass. I've checked the API site and tender is still not announced.
БТА :: Министър Шишков: Възложил съм проектиране на магистралата от Русе към Маказа (bta.bg)


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## aubergine72

Le Clerk said:


> empty headed ?! 😀
> though I am not sure this is accurate.
> 
> 
> PS: I totally agree, it is mindless to drive so many km in the sun and heat, wait for hours at the border checks, instead of taking a much more comfortable flight.
> 
> If Romania and Bulgaria were to enter Schengen then the situation would change significantly.


What flight is there to Thassos and the area?


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## Le Clerk

aubergine72 said:


> What flight is there to Thassos and the area?


I frankly do not know, I never went to Thassos. But TBF, there are a lot of families with children who go to the area, and by car can be a lot cheaper than by airplane.


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## nabludatel50

RebelOtter said:


> Can you translate what “praznaglava” means?


It is not good to make such insulting hints towards the neighbors from Romania. All of us in Bulgaria recognize the great economic successes of Romania. The highway construction in Romania is also impressive. As an employee of a manufacturing company, I can say that we also work very well with Romanian distributors. Very accurate and precise.
But it's scary when you see Romanian drivers, what miracles they do on the roads in Bulgaria. About 40% drive like mortals without regard to signs and markings, as if their lives depended on "overtaking". They cause many cases of severe disasters. I don't know if that's how they drive in Romania. Take it easy, people


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## SevenSlavicTribes




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## PovilD

nabludatel50 said:


> It is not good to make such insulting hints towards the neighbors from Romania. All of us in Bulgaria recognize the great economic successes of Romania. The highway construction in Romania is also impressive. As an employee of a manufacturing company, I can say that we also work very well with Romanian distributors. Very accurate and precise.
> But it's scary when you see Romanian drivers, what miracles they do on the roads in Bulgaria. About 40% drive like mortals without regard to signs and markings, as if their lives depended on "overtaking". They cause many cases of severe disasters. I don't know if that's how they drive in Romania. Take it easy, people


I feel empathy to Romania as citizen of quickly developing Post-Soviet country.
There are similarities between us. Harsh dictatorship (though not as harsh for us in the 80s but still harsh) to relatively liberal and rich place.

Romania seems to had switched quick from Third Wordly place to something more resembling Central European countries though still work needs to be done.
I call it rudiments of the past like road culture and other things. I can find rudiments in The Baltics too.


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## Infam0uS

Botevgrad - Vidin expressway

Makresh - Bela (October 2022)


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## SevenSlavicTribes

Video shows part of the red section









The ancient ruins from 14:10 make things very complicated.
The ruins stand near the Roman road connecting Bononia and Ratiaria at the Danube with the port of Dyrrachion at the Adriatic sea.


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## sun20

The romanian Minister of Energy announced today that Romania & Bulgaria will resume negociations for the construction of Nikopol - Turnu Măgurele Hydroelectric Power Plant.



> Romania and Bulgaria will resume negotiations to build the hydropower plant from Turnu Măgurele - Nicopol. The hydrotechnical project will have 840 MW of installed power, of which 420 MW is the Romanian part, with a total production of 4400 GW per year, respectively 2200 GW for Romania. Today we agreed with the Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Rosen Hristov that it is a necessary, very important project to ensure energy independence and security. I held these discussions with Minister Hristov at the 26th Conference organized by the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe with the theme "Energy & Development 2022", in Athens.











Virgil Popescu


Virgil Popescu. 35.086 de aprecieri · 1.907 discută despre asta. Ministrul Energiei Deputat PNL - Parlamentul României




ro-ro.facebook.com


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## ChrisZwolle

A quick comparison on Wikipedia shows that this dam will be larger than Iron Gate II, but smaller than Iron Gate I in terms of installed capacity.

Still, a great opportunity for a road connection across it.

It would be one of the largest dam projects in Europe of the last few decades perhaps? I'm not an expert on dams I don't recall any huge dam projects this century.


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## cymru1

sun20 said:


> The romanian Minister of Energy announced today that Romania & Bulgaria will resume negociations for the construction of Nikopol - Turnu Măgurele Hydroelectric Power Plant.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Virgil Popescu
> 
> 
> Virgil Popescu. 35.086 de aprecieri · 1.907 discută despre asta. Ministrul Energiei Deputat PNL - Parlamentul României
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ro-ro.facebook.com


 Too good to be true.


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## vadimz

PovilD said:


> I feel empathy to Romania as citizen of quickly developing Post-Soviet country.
> There are similarities between us. Harsh dictatorship (though not as harsh for us in the 80s but still harsh) to relatively liberal and rich place.
> 
> Romania seems to had switched quick from Third Wordly place to something more resembling Central European countries though still work needs to be done.
> I call it rudiments of the past like road culture and other things. I can find rudiments in The Baltics too.


Thank you very much for political and economical lecture, we all should appreciate it and take information into account. But this is *Bulgarian* thread and it's about *road infrastructure*.


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