The Maritsa motorway (, ), designated A4, is a

motorway 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 ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of the Pan-European Corridor IV, between the

Trakia motorway The Trakia motorway (, ) or Thrace motorway, designated A1, is a motorway in Bulgaria. It connects the capital city of Sofia, the city of Plovdiv and the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. The motorway is named after the historical region of ...

(A1), at the town of

Chirpan Chirpan (, ) is a town on the Tekirska River in Stara Zagora Province of south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Chirpan Municipality. As of 2021, the town had a population of 13,391, down from 15,109 in 2013. ...

, and

Kapitan Andreevo Kapitan Andreevo ( ) is a village near the Bulgaria—Turkey—Greece tripoint in Svilengrad municipality, Haskovo Province, southern Bulgaria. As of 2005 it has 948 inhabitants and the mayor is Dimitar Shiderov. Due to the proximity with Turkey, ...

, at the Turkish border. The planned completion of the last remaining stretch of the motorway was in 2013, but a delay occurred and the complete motorway enterеd service in October 2015. It is named after the

Maritsa River Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

History

In October 2010, a 31 km section of the Maritsa motorway between the towns of

Harmanli Harmanli ( , ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Harmanli Municipality. Near the site of Hamanli in Late Antiquity, during the early 4th-century Cibalensean War, the Battl ...

and

Lyubimets Lyubimets ( ) is a small town in Haskovo Province, southern-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Lyubimets Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 7,670.Svilengrad Svilengrad (; ; ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the tripoint of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. Geography Svilengrad is close to the ro ...

, 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 Haskovo ( ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria ...

. The bypass of Kapitan Andreevo village in the border area entered service in August 2014. The construction of Haskovo-Harmanli section began in July 2011 and was completed on 28 May 2015. A long second carriageway near Svilengrad was inaugurated on 7 June 2015, while the other carriageway had been built during the 1980s. The last remaining section, between Chirpan and Haskovo, entered service on 29 October 2015. The construction of the Chirpan-Haskovo and the Haskovo-Harmanli sections of the motorway were co-funded by EU funds allocated for Bulgaria, while a small section at the Turkish border was co-funded with a loan from the

IBRD The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States; it is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers loa ...

. Its route runs parallel to the existing major road 8, which is mainly two-lane and carried much of the road freight to and from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The completion of the Maritsa motorway attempts to reduce this congestion.

Exits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritsa Motorway Motorways in Bulgaria