Serbia Is Renewing and Repairing Its Highway Network
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Serbia is renewing and repairing its highway network Only last year, several sections of highways were completed throughout Serbia, Corridor 10 was completed by putting the southern and eastern branches into traffic, Belgrade and Cacak were connected by the “Milos the Great” highway, and the Y branch connected Subotica and the border with Hungary. The construction of the Belgrade-Zrenjanin highway was mentioned by the Government yesterday as one of the infrastructural priorities. As it was said, this road, which is about 60 kilometers long, will mean more investors in Vojvodina. This highway will be another fast section out of a total of 16 as planned for this year. Thus, the network of highways is expanding, and several large projects have been announced for the next period, such as the construction of the Moravian Corridor, the Frushkogorski Corridor, the Nis-Plocnik highway and several other sections. A total of 16 new fast sections are announced from the relevant institutions. The Chinese are building a highway from Belgrade to Zrenjanin It should be reminded that the construction of the highway from Belgrade to Zrenjanin was first discussed in March last year, when President Vucic announced that construction should start in less than a year. In November 2019, the Government of Serbia formed a working group for the construction of the Belgrade-Zrenjanin and Zrenjanin-Novi Sad highways, which should be implemented by the Chinese Shandong Hi-Speed Group. In January this year, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Chinese company and it was announced that the documentation for the 113-kilometer highway would be completed this year. After that, the Shandong Group announced a tender for the conceptual design in March. The length of the highway from the Borca loop to the end point on the bypass around Zrenjanin will be 58 kilometers, and from Zrenjanin to Novi Sad 45 kilometers. The estimated value of the construction of both highways is around 600 million euros. Which roads are completed? The “Milos Veliki” highway, from Belgrade to Cacak, with a total length of 120 km, was opened to traffic on August 18, 2019. The E-763 motorway route is a branch of the Trans- European Highway that connects its main route from Gdańsk to Athens and Istanbul with the Adriatic Sea and the port of Bar. It connects Obrenovac, Ub, Lajkovac, Ljig, Rudnik, Takovo, Gornji Milanovac and Preljina, and through the Surcin loop it is connected with Corridor 10 and Belgrade. The southern branch of Corridor 10, on the E75 highway, from Grabovnica to the border with Northern Macedonia, was completed and opened to traffic in May last year. It is a section of 95.7 km on one of the most important pan-European traffic corridors that passes through Serbia and connects Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Greece. It connects the following cities and municipalities: Nis, Leskovac, Vladicin Han, Vranje, Bujanovac and Presevo. Serbia is renewing and repairing its highway network By highway to Bulgaria At the end of last year, on November 9, the Eastern branch of Corridor 10, highway E80, from Nis to the border with Bulgaria, a total of 87 km, was opened to traffic. The eastern branch of Corridor 10 connects Serbia with Bulgaria, but it is also important as a transit corridor through which traffic between Central Europe and Turkey to the Middle East takes place. It connects Nis, Bela Palanka, Pirot and Dimitrovgrad. It was also built in the north, so on December 27, 2019, the Y branch was released into public traffic, from the bypass around Subotica to the Kelebija border crossing, with a total length of 24 km. Construction started The Moravian Corridor project, highway E761, from Pojat to Preljina, with a total length of 112.37 km, started on December 15, 2019. According to the Corridor of Serbia, this road connects the central parts of Serbia in the east-west direction, ie the two most important road routes of the country that also belong to the European road network, namely the E75 highway and the “Milos Veliki” highway. It connects the territory in the area of seven municipalities and cities with about 467,000 inhabitants, namely Cicevac, Varvarin, Krusevac, Trstenik, Vrnjacka Banja, Kraljevo and Cacak. In December, the project of the highway Ruma – Sabac and the fast road Sabac – Loznica, with a total length of 77 km, was started. The construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway officially began at the end of August 2019 with the opening of a construction site on the Sremska Raca-Kuzmin section, about 18 kilometers long, whose value of works with the bridge over the Sava is 220 million euros. The deadline for construction is two and a half years. On the section Iverak-Lajkovac, 18.3 km long roads are being built, and as the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure points out, the construction of sector “C” of the bypass is in progress around Belgrade, section Bubanj Potok – Pancevo, total length 31.5 km. This road will connect Bubanj Potok, Lestane and Pancevo. The highway “Vozd Karadjordje”, the so-called Sumadija corridor, will have a total length of about 220 km. This project is planned, and it is a fast road with two lanes in both directions, which will connect central and eastern Serbia, and will be named after the leader of the First Serbian Uprising. On one side, it will go along the route Mladenovac – Orasac – Arandjelovac, on the other Lazarevac – Arandjelovac, where it will connect, from where it will go further towards Raca, Svilajnac, Despotovac and Bor. The highway Nis – Merdare – Plocnik, with a total length of 77 km, is also planned. The Nis – Merdare highway will be part of the E80 highway, and will represent the connection of the Nis traffic hub with Pristina and further, through Albania, with the Adriatic Sea, and will connect the cities of Nis, Prokuplje and Kursumlija with Pristina. The Ministry of Construction also states that several projects are planned. It is planned to Serbia is renewing and repairing its highway network build the section Pozega-Kotroman, 60 km long, on the highway Belgrade-Sarajevo, as well as the highway to Romania – Belgrade-Vrsac- (Vatin), 86 km long. The construction of the 107 km long section of the highway from Pozega to Boljar to Montenegro is also planned, and New Belgrade and Surcin will be connected by a 7.9 km long road. As previously announced by the Ministry, projects worth 2 billion euros are being prepared for next year, as a continuation of investments in infrastructure. Fast roads are also planned In addition to highways, high-speed road projects have been announced – Frushkogorski corridor (47.7 km), Backi Breg-Sombor-Kikinda-border with Romania (175 km), Slepcevic- Pavlovica bridge (15 km), Kragujevac-Mrcajevci (33 km) , loop Pozarevac-Golubac (70 km), Golubac-Donji Milanovac-Brza Palanka and Kladovo-Negotin (146 km) and Paracin-Zajecar- Negotin (140 km), Srbija Danas reports..