Trakia: east west motorway linking Sofia to the Black Sea coast finished for the summer.
Struma: north south 100 mile E79 Sofia-Greece border gets go ahead with help from the EU.
The Trakia Highway near Nova Zagora. Photo © Bikerboy-93, Wikicommons licence.
Out-going ministers insist construction of Bulgaria’s motorway network will continue despite the political upheaval in recent weeks.
The final parts of the Trakia Highway, from Sofia (map) to the Black Sea at Burgas – 225 miles – opens at the end of May. The final 20 mile section is nearing completion. A link road to the Hemus Highway into Sofia should be ready by early June.
Trakia will allow tourists a straight run east-west to and from the coast. Of more strategic importance is the north-south Struma highway from Sofia to the Greece border.
A 10 mile section from Pernik, south west of Sofia, is already in use. The remainder, about 90 miles, has been split into four separate ‘lots’, some already under construction.
The Struma highway heading north near Sofia. Photo © Apostoloff, Wikicommons licence.
Lots 1,2 and 4 are funded, with contracts now signed. Lot 1, a 15 mile continuation of the existing road to Dupnitsa, is on course to finish at the end of this year.
Lot 2, twenty miles from Dupnitsa to Blagoevgrad, will open in 2015. The final stretch, Lot 4, from Sandanski to the border will open March 2014.
The longest stretch, the forty mile Lot 3, Blagoevgrad-Sandanski, which crosses the stunning Kresna Gorge, is still in the planning and preparation stages.
In more good news it was announced last week that Google Street View is now available in Bulgaria. For background on the political crisis click here.
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