Highway A1
The 380 km long highway A1
Zagreb -
Split is the showpiece
project of all previous Croatian governments. The A1 connects
the continental part of Croatia with Mediterranean Dalmatia. Its
construction finished on June 26, 2005. The highway consists of
two lanes in both directions in its full length (except of two
tunnels, at Mala Kapela and at Sveti Rok, the second tubes will
be opened for traffic when the car traffic frequency reaches
adequate levels).
The most important edifice is Sveti Rok Tunnel (5.687 m), which
goes through the famous Velebit mountain range barrier. This
tunnel actually connects two climatic zones (the mountaineous
climate of central Croatia and the Mediterranean climate of
Dalmatia). The most modern, and at the same time the longest
Croatian tunnel, is also along the A1. It is the Mala Kapela
Tunnel (length 5,780 m) which passes through the Mala Kapela
mountain range.
The highway winds itself as a panoramic road through the
Croatian hills, goes along the Dalmatian coast and passes the
world-famous
Krka National Park. There is a service area right
beside a beautiful vantage point near to this National Park. The
construction of this highway will continue rapidly in direction
to the important Ploče sea port (and further on to
Dubrovnik).
The scheduled deadline for constructions up to Ploče is 2008.
During this and the following year, numerous service areas and
petrol stations will gradually be constructed along all Croatian
highways.
Croatia road map -
Other highways
Within the following years, all major
Croatia road map
routes towards the north
(to Slovenia) will be highway connections. Since June 2005 there
are highways from the Slovenian border at Umag in direction to
Rovinj and from the Rupa border crossing to Rijeka.
Croatia road map
scheduled for May 2007, the connection
Zagreb–Krapina/Macelj
border crossing, south of Maribor will be completed.
The eastern and western "wing" of the so-called "Istrian Y"
(expressway connection in Istria) has been opened for traffic
since June 2005. About 2006, the last remaining part in
direction to
Pula in the south will be constructed. It is also
being considered to transform these sections into a highway when
a certain traffic limit will be reached.
The last remaining part of the
Croatia road map -
highway connection A6 between
Rijeka and
Zagreb was constructed in spring 2004. An extension
of the two-way traffic sections is planned for 2008. Within the
following years, a second highway bypass around Rijeka and the
highway connection
Rijeka–Senj/Žuta Lokva to the existing A1
will be built.
A highway connection of
Zagreb and the important industrial city
of Sisak should be constructed until 2008.
Within the next few years, all parts of Croatia
road map -
should be easy
to reach along modern highways. Highways will soon extend from Županja (eastern Slavonia) to Serbia. Construction works along
the European North-South corridor 5C (route E73) between the
Hungarian border at Beli Manastir, Osijek and the Bosnian border
in direction to Sarajevo and further on to the sea port of Ploče
will soon begin. (The connection from Zagreb to the Hungarian
border at Varaždin and Čakovec has already been established.)
Significant tunnel and bridge construction projects in Southern
Dalmatia are already being planned, such as the Biokovo tunnel
near
Makarska, which will connect the panoramic seashore road
with the future A1, and a 2300m long Pelješac bridge, connecting
the Pelješac peninsula to the Croatian mainland (bridging
Bosnian territory). From:
Wikipedia.org
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