The cost of the highway will amount to 1.5 billion lv without VAT
The ‘Improved Blue Version’ is the chosen route.
Click on the image for a larger view of the map.
The main advantage of the newly chosen route is that it is going to pass along as many towns and villages as possible. The highway is to connect the capital of Bulgaria to the Black sea town of Varna. The completion of the motorway is expected to improve the economic state of three Bulgarian regions – the North-Western, the Northern Central and the North-Eastern. Up to 2,9 million people will have immediate use of the main arterial road.
Four alternative routes have been thoroughly reviewed. After the analysis two of the possibilities received even further examination. These are the ‘Improved Blue Version’ that passes at an equal distance by Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech and the ‘Green Version’ that goes along the currently existing I-4 main road. The ‘Improved Blue Version’, which is the chosen one, is considered to be the best option even from an ecological point of view. Some of the villages in Veliko Tarnovo region that will be relatively close to the highway, when finished, are Varbovka, Butovo, Rositsa, Mihaltsi, Stambolovo, Vodoley, Resen, Nikyup, Paskalevets, Polski Senovets, Kutsina, Krusheto and Draganovo and also the town of Pavlikeni.
The construction of Hemus highway is going to be divided in 8 lots and will be completed in three stages. The end of March is the deadline for a construction firm, which will have to work out a plan for the execution of the first stage, to be picked out. The aim is for construction works to start in 2016 but it is still not clear where the funding for the project will come from.