STRUMA MOTORWAY

OVERVIEW: This project regards the construction of Lot 3.2 of the Struma Motorway. The Struma Motorway is approximately 126 km long and carries the heaviest volume of traffic of any other route crossing Bulgaria in the North-South direction. It connects six of the largest cities in the western part of the country (i.e., Sofia, Pernik, Blagoevgrad, Vratsa, Montana and Vidin). The Struma Motorway is also part of the Orient/Est-Med CNC. The motorway completion is important from a strategic point of view for the regional development of Bulgaria and the bordering countries. It provides a direct route through Bulgaria to the Aegean Sea. Besides, the motorway will provide significant improvements to the road network of South-East Europe and will create conditions for enhanced cooperation between the countries in the Southern Balkans area. Moreover, as regards the relevance of the project, the completion of the Struma Motorway is also mentioned in the Strategy for the Development of the Transport System of the Republic of Bulgaria until 2020 (2010), as a priority project. The project promoter is the Road Infrastructure Agency (i.e., RIA). GOAL: The major objectives of the project are: - increase employment and generation of economic growth by providing efficient access and improved connectivity within Bulgaria and across its borders; - improve social and territorial cohesion; - improve road safety; - reduce travel time for cross border and intercity traffic; - support the goals of reducing emissions; - improve TEN-T Network and the future interconnectivity of the European road infrastructure, part of which is Struma Motorway.