Another 16.3 km of the Hemus Motorway in the direction of Varna - between Buhovtsi and Belokopitovo are ready

Minister Shishkov handed over the permits for the use of the section and the road junction “Buhovtsi - South” to the Chairperson of the Board of the RIA

The traffic on the 16.3-kilometre section of the Hemus motorway between Buhovtsi and Belokopitovo has been released. Almost 145 million BGN have been invested in the construction of the section from the national budget.

This is a step towards the construction of the Hemus Motorway, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works architect Ivan Shishkov said at the opening of the route. He thanked those involved in the construction and wished them safe traffic and good maintenance. The Minister handed over the permits for use of the newly constructed section and the reconstructed road junction “Buhovtsi - South” to the Chairperson of the Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency Engineer Ivo Ivanov. Together with Deputy Minister Zahari Hristov, Targovishte Regional Governor Stanimir Parashkevov and Shumen Deputy Regional Governor Hristo Pavlov they cut the ribbon of the newly opened route.

All the problems associated with the design and future construction of the Hemus Motorway have now been resolved. There is one for every problem, Minister Shishkov told the media.

Asked whether the Hemus Motorway will also be declared a national object like the motorway between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo, Minister Shishkov replied that this has already been done. The north-south corridor is extremely important. I hope its design and rapid construction will continue. There was no road junction planned with the Hemus Motorway. We hope that together with the project of the Motorway Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo a design solution will be found and the facility that will connect the two motorways, Minister Shishkov said.

Replying to a question, he informed that the section opened today between Buhovtsi and Belokopitovo is designed for a speed of 120 km/h. BGN 19 million, which is budgeted, remains to be paid to its builders.

The section has two lanes of traffic with two lanes in each direction and two emergency lanes, a median strip, leading lanes and shoulders. At the beginning of the section the road junction “Buhovtsi - North” provides the crossing of the Hemus Motorway with the road III-5102 Buhovtsi - Makriopolsko. There are 7 viaducts along the route of the section, a bridge over the river Pakosha, 10 agricultural underpasses, at the end of the section at the road junction “Belokopitovo” the road connections are built to connect the motorway with the first-class roads Ruse - Razgrad - Shumen and Sofia - Targovishte - Shumen.

With the new section, the journey from the road junction “Buhovtsi - Sever” to Varna, which is about 103 km, will be entirely on the highway, increasing traffic safety and shortening travel time.

The contractor of the section is the Company under the Obligations and Contracts Act “Hemus-16320”, which includes Infra Expert AD, Patengineeringstroy - T JSC, Avtomagistrali - Tcherno More JSC and Transconsult 22 Ltd. The value of the contract is BGN 143 742 000 including VAT.

The construction supervision was carried out by the Company under the Obligations and Contracts Act “Consultants Hemus 2 - 2016”, which includes Euroconsult AD, Strol 1000 JSC and PS Consult EOOD. Their contract is for BGN 1 192 036,36 including VAT.

The total length of the Hemus Motorway from Sofia to Varna is approximately 420 km. In operation are the sections from Sofia to Boaza and from the village of Belokopitovo to Varna, which have a total length of 175 km. With the new section, more than 191 km become operational.

The road junction “Buhovtsi - South” was also reconstructed, providing the necessary throughput of motor vehicles from the road I-4 Sofia - Targovishte via road III-5102 to the beginning of the new section of the Hemus Motorway at the road junction “Buhovtsi - North”. 

The overall completion of the Hemus Motorway is a priority of the state road administration, as the economic and social development of Northern Bulgaria and the modernization of the region is linked to the construction of the motorway and the provision of fast and safe road infrastructure between Sofia and Varna.