site.bta119 Km of Roads Will Be Built in 2019

104 ECONOMY-REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT-MINISTER-INTERVIEW

119 Km of Roads
Will Be Built
in 2019


Sofia, December 30 (Ekaterina Toteva and Valeria Dimitrova of BTA) - Nearly 119 km of new roads will be built in 2019, says Regional Development Minister Petya Avramova in a BTA interview. They will be funded through budget allocations and the EU-backed Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure and the Connecting Europe Facility.

The estimated cost of road construction is approximately 1 billion leva. In addition, 709 km of national roads will be rehabilitated for nearly 516 million leva, she adds.

In 2018, the government gave the greenlight to projects totalling 3.7 billion leva, according to Minister Avramova.

She recalls that a new road design ordinance is being drafted and one of the measures to improve road safety is related to stricter requirements for road drainage to avoid conditions for aquaplaning. In sections with more complex traffic lighting will be mounted to ensure better visibility and safety. Design speed for each class of road will be determined based on its transport functions, road characteristics and terrain features.

Minister Avramova reports that between 2007 and 2020 investments to improve road safety will total nearly 663 million leva.

A review of the national road network has shown that 12 per cent of roads are in excellent condition, 27 per cent are in good condition, 23 per cent are in satisfactory condition, 13 per cent are in unsatisfactory condition and 25 per cent of roads are in poor condition. Third-class roads are in the worst condition as nearly 8,000 km need repairs at an estimated cost of little over 930 million leva. In addition 112 road facilities need to be renovated for an estimated 165 million leva.

Minister Avramova affirmed the aim of the Regional Development Ministry to complete by 2024 the Hemus motorway which links Sofia and Varna on the northern Black Sea coast. With better planning, expediency and work quality Struma motorway will also be completed by the set deadline in 2023 so as not to lose EU funding.

Avramova says that World Bank experts are expected to submit a proposal for road tolling options and the span of the road tolling system which will be put up for public consultation. Afterwards they will have to be approved by the European Commission.

The government will invest 1.2 billion leva in the modernization of the water sector in 2019.

Avramova says that the current National Programme for the Energy Efficiency of Multi-residential Buildings will conclude in 2019 but ways to continue the scheme are being considered. LI/PP

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