Construction of another 40 km of Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Motorway began on 27 May

On 27 May, construction began on a further 40.14 km of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway, on the section from Ruse to Byala. The symbolic groundbreaking of the site is expected to be attended by Yordanka Chobanova, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works arch. Ivan Shishkov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency eng. Todor Anastasov, Mayor of Ruse Pencho Milkov, Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Vladimirov – Regional Governor of Ruse, MPs and mayors from the region.

The design route of the motorway is 132.84 km in total and is divided into three sections: Ruse – Byala (40.14 km), bypass of the town of Byala (35.4 km), the construction of which began in 2023, and Byala – Veliko Tarnovo (57.2 km).

The section where construction has now started covers the route from km 0+500 to km 40+640. It will pass through the lands of the municipalities of Borovo, Ivanovo, Dve Mogili and Ruse. For the site there is a ready-made technical design, completed expropriations and a building permit has been issued.

For the third section from Byala to Veliko Tarnovo, public procurement for the selection of a contractor for design and construction was announced last year. The tender procedure for the selection of the construction supervision is also to be launched.

The contractor for the design and construction works on the Ruse-Byala section, on which the first sod will be made, is DZZD ‘HEMUS-16320’. It involves: Infra Expert AD, Avtomagistrali – Cherno More AD, Patengineeringstroy-T EAD and Transconsult-22 EOOD. The value of the contract is EUR 448 160 167.62 excluding VAT.

The construction supervision was assigned to the LIDER CONSULT DZZD, which includes: Trafik Holding EOOD, Strol – 1000 AD, EN AR Consult EOOD and De Ni Di EOOD. The value of the contract is EUR 6 513 493.63 excluding VAT.

The project for the construction of Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Motorway is co-financed under the programme ‘Transport connectivity’ 2021-2027, priority axis 2 ‘Development of road infrastructure along the ‘core’ Trans-European Transport Network and road connections’. The grant for the motorway is EUR 524 241 794.11. The site is defined as an operation of strategic importance and its implementation has an important place for international connectivity.

The Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway will start from Ruse at the planned third bridge over the Danube River and will reach the town of Debelets, where traffic will split in the direction of Shipka Pass and the Pass of the Republic. The gauge of the motorway route is G27, with two active and one emergency lane in the direction, a middle dividing strip and banquets. The necessary road junctions and connections are provided so that people from individual settlements can have quick and convenient access to the route. 11 viaducts will be built on the first two sections of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway, 7 of which will be on the Ruse-Byala section. The connection of the republican and part of the municipal roads will be carried out through 10 road junctions. 6 of them are on the Ruse-Byala section and the remaining 4 are on the Byala bypass. Access to agricultural land will be provided through 8 agricultural crossings, 4 of which are on the section Ruse - Byala. Recreational sites are provided, located bilaterally on the route.

The Ruse-Byala road is currently one of the busiest and with a high concentration of severe road accidents. With the new route, the number of accidents along the route will decrease, as traffic will be divided into two separate lanes and transit traffic will be taken out of the settlements. The construction of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway will provide a connection between the countries of North-Eastern Europe via Romania and Bulgaria with Greece and Turkey, as well as between the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. Its construction will improve the transport service of international and domestic traffic, will increase traffic safety and transit traffic will be taken out of settlements. The Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway will be the main link connecting the bridge over the Danube River at Ruse with Veliko Tarnovo, with road I-4 ‘Koritna – Sevlievo – Veliko Tarnovo – p. in Belokopitovo’, with road I-3 ‘Gara Byala – Pleven – Koritna – Botevgrad’ and the future section of the Hemus motorway near Veliko Tarnovo.