Bulgaria to open further 17km of Trakiya motorway linking Sofia and Bourgas
A further 17 kilometres of the Trakiya Motorway, from Yambol to Petolachkata near the town of Sliven, will open this coming weekend, Bulgaria’s Regional Development and Public Works Minister Liliana Pavlova said on August 23 2012.
The side of the highway in the direction of the Black Sea city of Bourgas will open on August 25 and the other lane, in the Sofia direction, will open the following day.
Pavlova said that steps would be taken to avoid traffic congestion. Around the peak of the summer season, Bulgaria’s roads linking major inland cities and the seaside see heavy traffic.
She said that a number of new road signs were being put up to prevent travellers being confused. A few weeks ago, after a new section of Trakiya Motorway was opened, there were media reports of motorists travelling from Bourgas towardsSofiahaving difficulty finding it because of a lack of signposts.
Pavlova acknowledged that it was “unpleasant” that on the Yambol to Petolachkata section of the highway there were “no fuel stations, not even a toilet” and said that authorities had urged the private sector to open fuel stations and facilities along the road, but so far there had been no takers.
She said that the opening of the new section of the highway would effectively reduce the travelling distance between Sofia and Bourgas by 30km.
Separately, Bulgaria’s Cabinet agreed on August 22 to release an extra amount of nine million euro for the construction of roads important to national infrastructure, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio said.
Further financing is necessary for the urgent construction of roads with special relevance for the social and economic development of the country, such as the eight km connection of Hemus Motorway and the Sofia Ring Road, the four-lane highway from Bourgas to the resort of Sunny Beach, the rehabilitation of roads along Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast and other projects, Bulgarian National Radio said.
(Map: Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency)
