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Highways in Croatia are the main transport network in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. The Croatian classification includes several categories of highways: * The main motorway routes are prefixed with an A (for ''autocesta'') followed by one or two digits. They are
controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s with tolls using a
ticket system A ticket system, also known as a closed toll collection system, is a system used on some toll roads in which a user pays a toll rate based on the distance traveled from their originating entrance to their destination exit. The correct toll is d ...
. * Expressways (''brza cesta'') are toll-free limited-access highways with
grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...
intersections and fast speed limits. They are similar to the motorways, but are not always dual carriageways and may have no emergency lanes. Their speed limit is always lower than that of the motorways. They either have standalone designations or are parts of non-motorway state routes, such as the D prefixed highways described further below. * Roads dedicated for motor vehicles (''cesta namijenjena isključivo za promet motornih vozila''), which is another category of limited-access highways. They usually have multiple lanes and separated carriageways but may have at-grade
intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
s. This class of roads has no specific numbering convention, only a dedicated
traffic sign Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduc ...
. State routes (D roads) or portions thereof may be designated in this manner. An example is Jadranska Avenue in Zagreb, designated as Ž1040, a county road. Other than the motorway routes, the national road classification includes the following enumerated categories of routes in the national highway system, with decreasing order of priority: * State roads, which are marked by letter D (''državna cesta'') and a single, double or triple digit number. * County roads always are marked by letter Ž (''županijska cesta'') and a four digit number. * The lowest classification comprises local roads, marked by letter L (''lokalna cesta'') and a five digit number. Road operators differ according to the classification system: The designated motorways are operated by three different concessionaires. The state roads are maintained almost exclusively by Hrvatske ceste, while the county and local roads are managed by various
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
authorities. The road maintenance agencies are governed by various laws issued by the Parliament as well as bylaws issued by the Ministry of Transport.


Motorways

The primary high-speed motorways are called (; singular: ), and they are defined as roads with at least three lanes in each direction (including hard shoulder) and a speed limit of not less than . They are marked with a special road sign, similar to the road sign depicting a motorway/autoroute/autobahn in other parts of Europe. The Croatian motorway () network is long. Motorways in Croatia are defined by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure. The same applies to names of the motorway interchanges and rest areas.


History

A major reason for the motorway construction "mania" of the 2000s is a previous political halt of the major Croatian highway project, today's A1, in the 1970s and 1980s under former Yugoslavia. When Croatia declared independence in 1991, the only true motorways in the country were
Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...
–Kikovica (the westernmost part of today's A6),
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...
(the northernmost part of today's A1) and Zagreb–
Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...
(the central part of today's A3), the latter being part of the Brotherhood and Unity Highway. The dream to connect the two largest Croatian cities Zagreb and Split with a motorway () went back to the times of the Croatian Spring. However, the construction of this project had not happened during Yugoslav period. In 2005, the Zagreb–Split route was constructed. In addition, the A1 was extended towards
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
(currently at Ploče), and the A3 was extended so it connects Zagreb to Croatian borders with both
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
(near Lipovac) and
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
(near Bregana). There is also a motorway from Zagreb to Rijeka, the A6, as well as the A4 motorway from Zagreb to the northeast (Hungarian border) as well as the A2 motorway from Zagreb to the northwest (Slovenian border). The A9 between
Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...
and the Slovenian border is also largely completed. The construction of additional motorways has noticeably slowed in the 2010s, but it continues. , the Cerovlje–Rijeka section of A8, the remaining part of the Istrian Y, is being upgraded from '' semi-highway'' status. The other motorways are in various early stages of development, coming up to a total of 11 motorway routes. The A1 is considered unfinished as it is planned to be extended from Ploče to Dubrovnik.


Operators

The network is managed by 3 operators, of which one is under full government control and other two are operated by joint ventures.


Motorways and sections


List of motorways


Motorway sections under construction


Planned motorway sections


Traffic cost revenue

In 2022, the network had a traffic of 80,172,262 vehicles, including 70,344,584 light vehicles and 9,827,678 heavy vehicles (difference by axle height). The travel cost is 9.00 euros per 100 km for light vehicles in closed system and 6.00 euros in open toll system, while for heavy ones are 39.00 euros per 100 km in closed system and 21.00 in open system. Those costs generate a revenue of 426.5 millions of euros (without VAT) in 2022.


Accidents

Two third of motorway fatalities (67%) occurred in the third of the year between July and October.


Expressways

There is a wide variety of types of expressways in Croatia, in terms of number of lanes, accessibility and types of intersections comprised. They range from four lane expressways with grade-separated intersections and limited access - distinguished from the motorways by lack of emergency lanes only - to four or six lane urban expressways with numerous at-grade intersections and traffic lights or two lane limited access roads with grade separated intersections. The expressways include both incomplete motorways, built in stages, and some state roads (with either limited access, more than two traffic lanes, grade-separated intersections or any combination thereof). There are even some instances of county roads which may be regarded expressways such as Jadranska Avenue (Ž1040). As a rule, the expressways are not tolled; however, major tunnels on the expressways are tolled.


List of completed expressways


Expressway sections constructed but not opened


Expressway sections under constructions


Planned expressway sections


State roads

State roads are defined by legislation as important routes for road traffic between various parts of the country. Classification of a road as a ''state road'' does not describe actual conditions of the road itself. State roads in Croatia are assigned one, two or three digit numbers which generally comply with the following pattern (although there are some exceptions to the rules): * 1-9 are assigned to trunk roads, normally of considerable length, spanning between borders of various neighboring countries. An obvious exception to this is the D9 state road; however, it spans from
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
border and the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
, along the southernmost portion of Pan-European Corridor Vc. * 10-99 are assigned to arterial roads on the mainland. * 100s are assigned to island roads * 200s are assigned to border crossing access roads. * 300s are assigned to junction roads, connecting towns or cities (but not other state roads) to motorways or other major roads. Notable exceptions to this are D307 and D310 state roads, although the D307 originally did not connect to the D29, but only to the A2 motorway. * 400s are assigned to mainland port and airport access roads. * 500s are assigned to connecting roads, connecting two different state roads. Notable exceptions to this rule are the D503 which connects to a port and the D516 which connects to a border crossing checkpoint. * 600s are provisional designations. For example, the road containing
Pelješac bridge The Pelješac Bridge (, ) is a cable-stayed bridge in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia. The bridge provides a fixed link from the southeastern Croatian semi-exclave to the rest of the country while bypassing Bosnia and Herzegovina's short coast ...
, from
Komarna Komarna is a village in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, in the municipality of Slivno, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Slivno. It is the largest village in the municipality and located near the village of Klek, Croatia, Klek. The village is south of the N ...
( D8) to Ston ( D416), was designated as D674. At the moment the state roads in Croatia have a combined length of .


D1 - D9


D10 - D77


D100 - D128


Tolls

In the Republic of Croatia, primarily a closed toll system is applied to the entire motorway network tolls with multiple entrances and exits. The use of motorways is charged by mileage and vehicle category. At the entrance on the motorway, the user picks up the entrance card (or a record recorded on the ENC device) and the payment is made on exit toll stations according to the length of the trip. The open system is in use at toll stations Bregana(A3) and Rupa(A7).


Safety

Croatia had 70 road deaths per million inhabitants estimated in 2022.


See also

* Transport in Croatia * Hrvatske autoceste * Autocesta Rijeka – Zagreb * BINA Istra * Autocesta Zagreb – Macelj * Hrvatske ceste * List of controlled-access highway systems * Evolution of motorway construction in European nations * Speed limits in Croatia


Maps


References


External links


HUKA - Croatian Association of Toll Motorways Concessionaires


{{Motorways in Europe Road transport in Croatia