Hemus motorway

Hemus motorway
Автомагистрала „Хемус“
Hemus motorway highlighted in red and yellow
Route information
Length:	420 km (260 mi) 170 km (110 mi) built
Major junctions
From:	Sofia
To:	Varna (not constructed from Yablanitsa to Shumen)
Location
Major cities:	Botevgrad, Shumen (future: Pleven, Lovech, Veliko Tarnovo and Targovishte)
Highway system
Motorways in Bulgaria

The Hemus motorway (Bulgarian: Автомагистрала „Хемус“, Avtomagistrala "Hemus") or Haemus motorway, designated A2, is a partially built motorway in Bulgaria. Its planned length is 420 km, of which 170 km are in operation as of August 2015.^[1] The motorway in operation is divided into two sections — the first one links the capital Sofia with Yablanitsa, crossing Stara planina (Balkan mountains), and the second segment connects Varna and Shumen. According to the plans, Hemus motorway would connect Sofia with the third-largest city of Varna, at the Black Sea coast, duplicating European route E70 (Varna–Shumen), European route E772 (Shumen–Yablanitsa) and European route E83 (Yablanitsa–Sofia).

History

The Pravets–Yablanitsa section of the Hemus motorway was officially opened on 5 December 1999. Due to the mountainous terrain through the Stara Planina the section, 5.47 km in length with another 16 km reconstructed, features two viaducts and one tunnel (Praveshki hanove), while the whole Sofia–Yablanitsa section has three more tunnels. The construction of the Pravets–Yablanitsa section began in the 1984 but ceased in the late 1980s due to lack of funds to be finished in 1998–1999.^[2] The 12.8 km section connecting Shumen with Kaspichan to the east was opened on 30 December 2005 and cost 77.6 million leva.^[3] In July 2013 a segment of the motorway at Shumen opened.^[4] In August 2013 a 8.46 km segment, connecting the Sofia ring road and the Yana junction, opened to traffic.^[5] In August 2015, a 4.9 km segment, including the Belokopitovo interchange (with I-2 road), was inaugurated.^[6]

Recent Development

In January 2013 National Company "Strategic Infrastructure Projects" (NCSIP), a state-run company, tendered feasibility study for the remaining sections of Hemus motorway (Yablanitsa-Panayot Volovo).^[7] In 2014 NCSIP signed contracts for drawing conceptual designs for all 8 lots of the motorway. In January 2015, a tender for design and build of 2 lots, between Yablanitsa and the Pleven/Lovech road, has been announced by NCSIP.^[8] In 2016 NCSIP was closed, with all activities being transferred to the Roads Agency. The tender for construction of the Yablanitsa - Pleven/Lovech road was cancelled due to lack of secured financing and later in 2016 a new tender for a shorter 9 km stretch between Yablanitsa and Boaza has been announced.

Exits

Exit	km	Destinations	Notes
	0	Sofia ring road, Botevgradsko shose	In service
	1	Dolni Bogrov	In service
	8.5	Yana	In service
	14	Eleshnitsa	In service
	21.5	Potop	In service
	30.8	Churek	In service
	32	Vitinya	In service
	41	Topli Dol	In service
	43	Echemishka	In service
	47.7	Botevgrad	In service
	53.3	Pravets	In service
	55	Praveshki Hanove	In service
	59.2	Osikovska Lakavitsa	In service
	66.5	Dzhurovo	In service
	74.7	Yablanitsa	In service
		Yablanitsa-Belokopitovo	Planned
	337.3[9]	Belokopitovo	In service
	348	Shumen-east	In service
	361	Kaspichan, Novi Pazar	In service
	374.2	Nevsha	In service
	379.8	Mlada Gvardiya, exit only westbound, entrance only eastbound	In service
	384.1	Parking eastbound	In service
	384.4	Provadia-north (road III-208)	In service
	385.8	Parking only westbound	In service
	390.7	Provadia-east, Gabarnitsa	In service
	400.4	Devnya	In service
	405.4	Povelyanovo	In service
	410.4	Slanchevo	In service
	420.5	Varna Airport	In service
	422.4	Petrol station eastbound (westbound 423.2)	In service
	423.8	Varna-west	In service

Miscellaneous

• Bebresh Viaduct, regarded as the highest motorway bridge in the Balkans with a clearance of 120 m, is part of the Hemus motorway.
• The motorway is named after the Haemus Mons, an ancient name of the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina).

Gallery

• 
  The Viaduct at Vitinya Pass
• 
  Vitinya Tunnel on A-2 Hemus Motorway, Bulgaria
• 
  Echemishka Tunnel on A-2 Hemus Motorway, Bulgaria
• 
  Topli Dol Tunnel on A-2 Hemus Motorway, Bulgaria

References

1. "АМ "ХЕМУС"". ncsip.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 6 August 2016.
2. "Иван Костов откри участъка Правец - Ябланица на магистрала "Хемус"". Botevgradski Vesti. 6 December 1999.
3. "Строежът на "Хемус" е в ръцете на държавата". BiG.BG. 8 October 2009.
4. "Инж. Лазар Лазаров присъства на пускането на движението по участък от АМ "Хемус"" (in Bulgarian). API. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
5. "The New Section of Hemus Motorway – Link with Sofia Ring Road – Road Junction Yana Has Been Opened for Traffic". API. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
6. "Магистрала "Хемус" от днес е с пет километра по-дълга" (in Bulgarian). Dnevnik. 3 August 2015.
7. "Feasibility Study for the Hemus Motorway". ncsip.bg. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
8. "Тръгна процедурата за удължаването на "Хемус" до разклона за Плевен и Ловеч" (in Bulgarian). Dnevnik. 9 January 2015.
9. "API :: Начало". www.api.bg. Retrieved 2015-10-20.

External links

• Hemus FS Summary .pdf at NCSIP (in Bulgarian)