Maritsa motorway

Maritsa motorway
Автомагистрала „Марица“
Maritsa motorway highlighted in red and yellow
Route information
Part of E80
Length:	43 km (27 mi) 117 km (73 mi) planned 73 km (45 mi) under construction
Major junctions
From:	Chirpan,
To:	Kapitan Andreevo ;
Location
Major cities:	Dimitrovgrad, Haskovo, Svilengrad
Highway system
Motorways in Bulgaria

The Maritsa motorway (Bulgarian: Автомагистрала „Марица“, Avtomagistrala "Maritsa"), designated A4, is a motorway in Bulgaria, part of the Pan-European Corridor IV, which connects Central Europe with Asia. The project links Trakia motorway (A1), at the town of Chirpan, and Kapitan Andreevo, at the Turkish border. Its projected length is 117 kilometres (73 mi) of which 43 km are built. The planned completion of the remaining 73 km (45 mi) of the motorway was in 2013,^[1] but a delay occurred^[2] and the motorway will enter in service in October 2015.^[3]

History

In October 2010, a 31 km section of the Maritsa motorway between the towns of Harmanli and Lyubimets officially opened to traffic.^[4] The new interchange at Kapitan Petvo Voyvoda neighbourhood of Svilengrad, providing direct connection with the border crossing to Greece, also opened in October 2010. During construction, 6000-year-old Neolithic remains were found near Haskovo.^[5] The bypass of Kapitan Andreevo village in the border area entered in service in August 2014.^[6]

The construction of the Chirpan-Haskovo and the Haskovo-Harmanli sections of the motorway are co-funded by EU funds allocated for Bulgaria,^[7] while a small section at the Turkish border is co-funded with a loan from the IBRD.^[8] Its construction runs parallel to the existing major road 8, which is mainly two-lane and carries much of the road freight to and from Turkey and the Middle East. The completion of the Maritsa motorway will attempt to reduce this congestion.

The motorway is named after the Maritsa River.

Exits

Exit	km	Destinations	Notes
	0	(Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Yambol, Burgas)	In service
	36.6	Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad	U/C
	66	Simeonovgrad, Harmanli	U/C
	70.3	Topolovgrad, Harmanli	U/C
	88	Lyubimets	In service
	99	Svilengrad-west;	In service
	102	Svilengrad	Interchange is in service; motorway is half profile built. U/C
	114	Kapitan Andreevo	In service
	117	Kapitan Andreevo Border Crossing; Edirne D100 , Istanbul	In service

References